A FREE electronic magazine... November 20, 2002
============================================================
B I G B U C K S I N A B A T H R O B E
Make More Money & Have More Fun With Your Small Business!
============================================================
Publisher: Dave Balch, "The Stay-at-Home CEO"(tm)
"David made over $5 million at home and wants to help you
do the same or more"
Mark Victor Hanson, co-creator of the #1 best
selling "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series
============================================================
I n T h i s I s s u e . . .
============================================================
1. A "Quickie" - Personal Observation
2. Feature: Article
"Lessons From the Horse"
3. Feature: "Ask Dave" - My take on your business problems
Bankrupt client
4. Feature: "Meanwhile, back at the ranch..."
The inevitable
5. About "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe" Newsletter
6. Who the heck am I, anyway?
7. How to get on or get off of this list
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TREMENDOUS RESPONSE TO MY ANNUAL
SUBSCRIBER SURVEY!
You are on our list as <$email$>
(To be added/deleted from this list scroll to end for link.)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
PLEASE FORWARD THIS issue to each of your friends who have
small or home-based businesses; they'll LOVE you for it!
(Be sure they know it's from you, or they'll think I sent
it without asking, which is a big no-no!) Thanks!
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Copyright (c)2002, A Few Good People, Inc. ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11111 A "Quickie" - Personal Observation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last night my wife and I had dinner with some good friends
and we were talking about one of our local supermarkets. It
seems they had a friend who bought some bread, milk, and
eggs there. When she got home she discovered that the bread
was stale, the milk sour, and the eggs rotten.
It happens.
The question is, "How did the market handle it?" Not too
well, in my opinion.
Oh, sure, they exchanged the items; that's the easy part.
In the process, though, they had to tell her a long, sad
story about how they have no control over the distributors
who sometimes take the eggs out of date-expired cartons and
put them in more-recent dated cartons, and then they...
blah, blah, blah.
Customers don't want excuses, they want good service. Don't
fix the blame, fix the problem!
Besides, you could be giving your customer too much
information. In this case, I wouldn't want my customer to
know that the problem was out of my control; how can the
customer have confidence in me if they know that?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
SIGN-UP FOR MY FREE MIN-E-SEMINAR:
"Secrets of an Actual $5 Million Home Business"
Eight e-mails in eight days that will change the way you run your
small business!
http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/secrets/mine1.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
22222 A r t i c l e "Lessons From the Horse"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Dave Balch, "The Stay-at-Home CEO(tm)"
When I first learned about horses, all I knew about them was
the flies, the smell, and the sore rear-end after spending
time in the saddle. My wife has always been interested in
them (as the line in the movie goes, "What's the deal with
chicks and horses??") so I thought I'd at least give it a
try.
I'm glad I did.
I first got acquainted with them at a ranch not far from our
home. On one of my first rides we were with Joyce, the
owner of the ranch, and we could hear an off-road motorcycle
in the distance. My horse started to get nervous and was
prancing around, which made ME pretty nervous because I had
no idea what I was doing and the last thing I wanted to do
was get off the horse "unintentionally", if you know what I
mean.
As the motorcycle got closer and the horse got more nervous,
I thought it would be best to turn the horse away from the
sound so he wouldn't be frightened when it came into view.
WRONG.
Joyce yelled out, "Turn the horse TOWARD the noise. Face
the danger; when he sees what it is he'll be okay." I did,
and he was.
"Face the danger." Think about that; those are words for
all of us to live by. When there is something we are afraid
of it is critical that we face it head on; trying to ignore
it will only make things worse. No matter how frightening
it may seem at the time, the more you know about a problem
the easier it is to deal with.
For example, let's say you're worried about your cash flow.
(If you're in business for yourself, you probably ARE
worried about cash flow!) The more you think about it and
all of its ramifications, the scarier it seems. "All of
these bills to pay... I've got to get these invoices out...
when will they pay me... I have to wait for their checks to
clear... maybe I can get one of my vendors to give me a
little more time..." and on, and on.
It's way too easy to say to yourself, "I'll deal with this
tomorrow" but then you have a gut-wrenching day worrying
about it. Don't do that to yourself.
Face the danger. Make a cash flow spreadsheet.
1. Divide the spreadsheet into two sections; money going
out (your bills), and money coming in (your income).
2. Make columns from left to right for each month.
3. List everything you can think of under the appropriate
headings and put the dollar amounts in the column(s) for
the month(s) in which those dollars will be coming in or
going out.
4. Total each section.
5. Subtract the outgoing dollars from the incoming dollars
in each column.
BINGO! You now have a cash flow, and you can see which
months you will be short, and by how much. It's a funny
thing; no matter how bad the news is, it isn't as scary when
you can look at it in black and white. And, the more
detailed you make the cash flow the less scary it gets. You
can download a free sample cash flow worksheet at
http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/cashflow.htm )
Face the danger. It works for the horse; it will work for
you too.
Regarding those other things: the flies can be controlled,
the smell is actually quite pleasant when you begin to enjoy
the horses, and the sore rear-end isn't so sore after you've
done it a few times. Hmmm... there are a few more lessons
right there...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
33333 "A s k D a v e"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Can I help you with a business problem? I will field
business questions in every issue. Send them to
mailto:Dave@DaveBalch.com )
Ask whatever you'd like... all letters will remain anonymous.
Maybe my 2-cents'-worth will help you make "Big Bucks"!
(Maybe not!)
Today's question:
----------------
Dear Dave:
I run a small advertising business and the dreaded has
happened. One client was late in paying and so I kept
billing him. I now received a letter from him that he has
filed bankruptcy in July (it's October), his lawyer was
supposed to notify all his creditors, but he has found out
some of us were not notified. He has a rather large piece
of property for sale because of his business failure. My
question is if and when he sells this property will I as a
creditor be paid for my services, or what actions if any do
I need to take now?
A.H.
Dear A.H.
I'm happy (for me), but sorry (for you) to report that I
have not had any experiences with bankruptcies on either
side of the filing. What I'm saying is that I don't have
any idea, but I think that you should contact an attorney
to see what your rights are and what you can do to get in
a good position to collect at least something.
Only you can decide if the amount at stake is worth it...
you may want to consider a Jacoby & Meyers type of
attorney if the amount is medium. Usually attorneys like
this have some sort of free consultation and they could
probably tell you in a few minutes whether it is worth
proceeding. If it isn't, be brave, swallow the loss,
learn from it (i.e. get payment or partial payment in
advance), and move on.
Let me know what happens so I can 'file' it for the next
person that asks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
44444 "M e a n w h i l e, b a c k at the r a n c h..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A glimpse into the life of this "Stay-at-Home CEO"
(Photos and short bios of the complete "cast of characters"
are posted at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/theranch.htm )
It was bound to happen eventually.
When you think of all of the birds that fly from tree to
tree all around our property, you realize that it is
inevitable; you just don't know where or when or how bad it
will be. Here's the story...
Chris was out watering her roses and having a "conversation"
with Henry (one of our resident Ravens). She often does
this because Henry talks to her and it would be rude if she
didn't respond. She walked across the driveway, Henry flew
overhead to a different tree and, well, do I have to spell
it out? Chris got hit on the neck and shoulder!
Was it intentional? We'll never know, but keep this in
mind; Henry is a VERY large bird.
'nuff said.
-------------------- CHRIS' CANCER UPDATE
The second-stage reconstruction surgery is behind her now;
it has been 8 days since the surgery and she hasn't taken a
single pain pill. What a trooper!
She had a post-op appointment a few days ago and Chris wore
the Carmen Miranda hat that she got at a hat party a few
months back. It is tall and full of plastic fruit; really a
sight to see.
The surgeon walked in and burst out laughing, which was
remarkable because he is a pretty serious guy. I think she
threw him off because he forgot to remove one of the
stitches on her side; now I have to do it.
Tomorrow we begin the process of radiation, which involves a
consultation and marking the exact location. Treatments
begin the week after Thanksgiving, and will be every day,
Monday through Friday, for SIX WEEKS. It's a 45-minute
drive each way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
55555 A b o u t "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome! You are receiving this because either:
-You requested it on my website or after seeing me at a
speaking engagement
-I know you personally and thought you'd like it
-I asked you if I could send it and you said "Yes"
-Someone forwarded it to you because they thought you'd
like it.
If you don't want to receive future issues, scroll to the
bottom for instructions on how to be removed from the list.
No harm, no foul, no hurt feelings!
My goal is a bi-weekly newsletter that will:
-help you with your small or home-based business
-share articles of interest
-be informal and informative
-answer specific questions asked by readers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
66666 W h o t h e H e c k a m I, A n y w a y ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've generated over $5 million (so far!) from my own
home-based software business and I have a lot to share with
you about how I did it and what I learned along the way.
Now, as a professional speaker, I offer programs that will
help you and your employees "Make More Money and Have More
Fun" with your small or home-based business!
Visit me at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com for descriptions
of the programs and educational resources that I offer.
The "Big Bucks Boutique" offers resources and materials that
will help you "Make More Money and Have More Fun" with your
business. Take a look at
http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/boutique.htm
AOL users:
<A HREF=" http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/boutique.htm ">GO!</A>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
77777 H o w to S u b s c r i b e / U n s u b s c r i b e
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please note:
- This newsletter is sent every other week.
- Comments and suggestions are always welcome!
- Your information is NEVER intentionally shared with
ANYone for ANY reason. PERIOD.
- Contact me at mailto:Dave@DaveBalch.com
- HOW TO GET ON OUR LIST: If this issue was forwarded to
you and you would like to receive your own copy (and OF
COURSE you DO!), you can sign-up at
http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com
A Few Good People, Inc.
P.O. Box 824
Twin Peaks, CA 92391
1-800-366-2347
|
