BANKING ON TRUST

I learned something a few years ago. How to meet or beat expectations and what to do when something went wrong. Remember, “No matter what, SOMETHING will go wrong” – its just the nature of business. 

There is with in all of us, a “Bank of Goodwill”. Whether we know it or not, we add goodwill to, or withdraw our approval from, this “bank account” depending on how things are going. We do it with families, friends, clubs, organizations, and it can be translated to almost anything. 

It applies to businesses, big ones and small local ones. Some people or groups we automatically open the account with a large amount of “Good Will”, some start off in the negative balance range. It is entirely individual to each of us. But as a group, it has tremendous impact on who we like or who we trust. They go hand in hand.

A client’s perception of your business and whether you met their expectation can be influenced by something as simple as how requests are handled. Interaction with your employees can color their attitude toward your business and being a repeat client. 

How you distinguish what is occurring, is how the “total balance” is reflected in “bank balance”. Everyday, each action and each person working in with you is adding or subtracting from the balance in “The Bank of Good Will” customers carry in their heads.

When trust is high, and expectations are being met these are “deposited” to the account increasing value. When questions are answered, fully and in a way that can be understand, another plus to the “bank” account. Lots of little things add up to large additional deposit sums. Without even knowing it, every day that goes by, when it is a good one, and no bad event, no crass or tacky behavior by an associate - a plus goes in.  

Everyday business, just answering the phone, having someone respond in a respectful manner, smiling at a customer and thousands more daily interactions can generate large deposits to the “Bank of Good Will”. 

Occasionally, there is a hic-cup, something negative occurs and a withdrawal is made. Sometimes there is a bigger problem, and the withdrawal is larger. These withdrawals, negative things, that decrease balances in the “Bank”, are not the creation of any one person or one occurrence. Rather they are an accumulation. 

It is actually hard to overdraw the account because we, as people, have a huge degree of respect & trust for our neighbors. It’s very American to be forgiving. But when there is a steady drip, drip, drip of problematic issues, the account balance begins to enter dangerously low balance territory. There is a direct correlation between Good Will and its currency - Trust. Damage one - you damage the other. 

            Make your business a BILLION DOLLAR BALANCE in the BANK OF GOOD WILL!

YOGA....YOGA DEN...AMAZING!

Who knew? Well the YOGA DEN knew, but I didn't.

"Restorative" & "Gentle" Yoga are an amazing way to get in touch with yourself. Feeling stressed? (and who among us isn't?) Feeling cranky...my default setting somedays. Feeling the need to stretch it all out? If any of these are the questions - YOGA DEN IS THE ANSWER!!

What have you got to lose - stress, irritation, knots in your muscles? Plus you can feel good about the soothing wonderfulness of doing something just for you!!

Need to "GIT 'er DONE...Fast. Friendly, Focused on YOU!

Tools, Trucks, Cement Mixers - or we can mix it for you. We got you covered. When you need to do a job the right equipment is under our roof... Ready for you. Come on in and we can make the work a little bit easier...after all the right tool for the right job makes it happen.We're here in Norco, CA - Horsetown USA....LOCAL & Ready to serve you!

It's going to be HOT - and YOU WON"T CARE !!

Okay, we know where we live. Southern California - it gets hot here - and as much as we appreciate Southern California Edison and the air conditioning they deliver to us on those days when we can't take the heat anymore...we have options. Yes - I said "options" - a different way to make us cool...although I am certain you, personally - are cool - remember temperatures rise and these guys at MOHR POWER will make you life better...certainly cooler - and in the middle of a Southern California summer - cooler is better......Oh, I forgot - and you will SAVE buckets of MONEY. Give them a call - its a free estimate....free is good...

Not just a Senator - a Family friend

Last Thursday I revealed to the world (the world of Corona, Riverside,Norco and Eastvale), how I "assisted" Senator Feinstein during her appearance at the Good Morning Corona Valley (GMCV). 


My "assist" was basically comprised of NOT spilling a glass of water on her red suit, while I tried to do my own David Copperfield disappearing act as I grabbed my ringing phone from beneath the podium. All this while my friend "Diane"(that's Senator Feinstein to you), was speaking to the business people of our community. I am certain I was big help. 
Well, imagine my surprise when my sister Lorraine, after reading my post, called & explained that our family has a long history with the Senator. Hell, we're practically family...


Here's the story.....Once upon a time when Diane - was running for office (Senate?) she made an appearance at an event in Mendocino, Ca for the newly established Ocean Sanctuary Foundation (yes....my sister is a tree hugger, and ocean protector on the side). Lorraine attended the event, in fact, she was in charge of selling the newly minted T-Shirts that proclaimed "OCEAN SANCTUARY" in various hues of blue. Now, you know the deference & respect I showed the Senator when I was bending over basically between her skirt and the podium....well it's evidently a family trait to be ....shall we say....less than subtle when in the presence of Diane Feinstein.
The Senator had, like Julius Caesar, come to the event - saw - and conquered. The crowd was dispering and she was making a strategic exit....surrounded by her escorts - or are they guards? When my sister looked up and saw her walking away. Always the subtle "marketeer" of the family she proceeded to yell out - "SENATOR SENATOR SENATOR or maybe Diane, Diane, Diane..... who stopped dead in her tracks to see who was yelling at her - and that tiny pause, was Lorraine's opportunity. She said (loudly), "You want to by a T Shirt don't you? And now the people standing nearby turned and gazed at our Senator - who, good politician that she was, said....and I quote..."Well I guess I do now"! Lorraine's memory is hazy after that because she thinks the Senator borrowed the money from an assistant and got the hell out of Dodge. But she had accomplished her T-Shirt mission.


So there you have it....our family keeps running into Diane - literally, that's me, and figuratively - that's my sis.... We are bound together - 2 goofball chicks, and the dignified Senator from California... and that's the way it will stay. At least until my niece and nephew have their own encounters with the good Senator - and I'm sure they will  - it's in the stars..


P.S.(Why didn't Diane hug me - when she saw it was one of the crazy Ardaiz girls - is what I want to know) 

Register...It's NOT just for voting anymore!

Every single web site you go to wants you to REGISTER, BECOME A MEMBER, SIGN UP FOR OUR SPECIAL OFFERS! Ever get tired of it?

I can assure you that if you register, sign up, or become a member, you will be subject to much love, and many, many emails. That's why every day since I bought a lipstick at ULTA there is a new special offer - just for me! Well, me, and the other 50,000 people they send the same offer to.
I like being able to look things up at stores on-line but this is a bit much. I don't want to be tagged like those cattle you see with the "earring" that identifies them as "well-done".

I am not a rare and exotic species who needs to be reminded daily that I need what they have, In fact, it irritates me. How about you?

Fire up the grill...we're ready for summer!

A vacation in your backyard.... Holiday at    home.....Fun that doesn't need an extra tank of gas....Anyway you say it - its a Mike Jenkins Pool or Spa - just outside your back door. Maybe there are waterfalls, soothing waterfalls, maybe it's the best way to end a hot and muggy day - dive in and swim to your hearts content. Your best vacation spot. Mike is your guy...knowledge, attention to detail, and quality. Resistance is futile.....you will LOVE your new pool! 

Are you TRYING to confuse me?

OK, small business needs to be run like a business. We all know this. There's no sense to buying something your company can't possibly afford because, "It's a write-off". Yeah it is - but first you have to PAY for it, then you get to write it off. Maybe the rules are different for giant corporate entities, a bit more "elastic", maybe so flexible the rules lay on the floor - like my kitchen mat, but nonetheless for the rest of us (78% - of businesses have less than 10 employees -remember?) we are expected to be upright and do the right thing. We are expected to read all contracts, understand all agreements, proof all leasing papers and the like.

So then, imagine my gasp when I upgraded a company IPod, and was given this message, "Please read & accept our new license agreement", alright, now you know I'm not a complainer , but this "new agreement" was 37 pages long. Long story, made short - guess what - I just paged to "ACCEPT" and moved on. But this brought a thought to mind.

Companies, and individuals revive this kind of "amendment", or agreement alteration ALL the time. Credit card Acceptance agreements, Company Credit Cards new and updated "changes to our agreement with You" - etc. Pages & pages, and then when you think your done - more pages. What do you do? What do we all do? Well, in some cases we don't have to DO any thing, these are simply the new rules, sometimes we have to initial, or even press OK. Since we don't have a spare room full of lawyers on staff, we simply cannot read these missives, and even if we do - DO WE UNDER STAND THEM? We are all bound by contracts, but this seems one-sided. Or, are we doomed to a world where we have to live by 10 pages of rules in 5 pt type that we would never agree to - if we had a choice.

Oh - and about the "not a complainer comment - don't ask my family and friends - they have some misguided notion that I "occasionally" complain..... Note To Self - explain to them how wrong they are.

Policies..we don't want no stinkin' policies (1 in a series)

That's our policy, you hear it and you want to scream - I'm a person not a policy", but policies can be your best friend as a small business owner or executive. Think of policies as problem-solvers. In fact they are a "time-travel" solution to problems. You can solve a problem now that might not pop up for 5 years. Really. It's like having Spock or Scottie at your side as you go when no Man or Woman has gone. For those of you younger than the Star Trek generation - use your Firefly analogies. (Okay maybe LOTR or Harry Potter would be more generationally in tune)

With policies in place, you can resolve issues that you presumed, would NEVER happen, and then a few months later --- the never-gonna-happen-issue is square in your face. Well, probably a person is square in your face, or a client, or a customer, or even an employee - but you have thought this through and because you have a policy and a POLICY MANUAL, you're prepared.

If you are member of a peer group, or belong to an association, Widget Manufacturers of America, for example, that has expertise with your business you may be able to draw on their knowledge for a Policy Manual. You can read and adapt these for your own company.

At some point in your business dealings I can almost guarantee that your clearly defined policy manual will save you sleepless hours and (I can hear the sighs) save you money. Small business is rebooting during our "Great Recession", and that money that is better put toward promoting you and your product or service.

We will give examples of various policies that you might want to think about including in your "Time Travel" manual. And look forward to hearing from you about how policies helped you, your company or averted a potentially negative situation.

Small business is BIG ...... seriously

Big...small....it's all a matter of perception and definition, right? Well how big does SEVENTY-EIGHT (78 %) sound to you? Can I have 78% of that cake? How much is a 78% reduction in my house payment? I'm going to get a 78% increase in my income. Sounds big to me.


Well, here's even more BIG news! Seventy-eight percent (78%) of the businesses in this country have 10 or less employees. Whoa! This doesn't count the "large employers" who have up to 20 employees. So even thought the county, state and federal government keep talking about helping small business, they mean business under 500 million. We are nano-sized and yet together we are 78% of the businesses in the USA.


What we want to do on this blog is promote, support and recognize the LOCAL businesses that really make up our cities. Those of us engaged in small business have special needs, we have local knowledge, and we produce genuine jobs in our communities.


SO WE BEGIN!