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 DH> I can either tell you the short or long version, I'll do both, 
 DH> I think I'll tell you the short version first, since I can do that in 
 DH> one word "FREEDOM"...
I have to agree...that's _one_ of the many virtues available to owners of
businesses...tax-deductible Wednesday golfing is also available to some as
well......
 DH> Now to the long version. This is a dream I've had since high 
 DH> school, I guess it's because I didn't like school. Don't get 
 DH> me wrong I'm all for education, it's just that I don't like 
 DH> getting up before noon. 
Okay, so I recognise the joke in that last sentence, but I think you know as
well as I that running one's own business sometimes mandates getting up at
`odd hours' well before Noon. In my particular case, I like being able to
work at _any_ hour of the day than to be stuck in a 9-to-5 routine, 5-days a
week. Often, I'm up into the wee hours of the morning putting the "finishing
touches" to clients' projects: it only matters that I meet their deadlines...
and collect a cheque from them later on. I admit that there have been times
when my efforts had extracted heavy tolls against me, but there's no way I'd
give up what I have. No way at all !
 DH> Customer Service What's Happening To It?
 DH> Have you noticed a deterioration in the caliber of sales clerk's 
 DH> in some of the large chain stores?
Though this aspect is most pronounced at the large department stores, it is
nonetheless just as prevalent at smaller outfits as well. Alone, this proves
that old maxim that "Nobody cares like an Owner does"... I've yet to meet a
company owner that didn't care about pleasing his/her customers !
 DH> As I said, I'm not naming names but last month so-in-so lost a customer
 DH> and a $6,000 sale with the prospect of future sales of equal amounts,
 DH> just because the clerk would much rather talk to a friend on the
 DH> "Company" phone.
Exactomundo !
At one of my concerns, I've installed a policy of no personal calls in or 
ut,
with the exception being "Emergencies", and given this program some "teeth"
by requiring such calls - if made - to be logged daily alongside any long-
distance calls. Staffers making personal calls on Company Time have the total
costs of them deducted from their pays. To make that aspect legal, I ask for
each worker to sign a `Promissory Note' to the effect. I further make it 
lear
that "...the Company Phone is there so that our customers can contact us, and
for us to maintain contact with the suppliers that make it possible for us to
satisfy our customers." Too many incidents of personal calling would - and
have already - resulted in job loss to offenders; the frequency of such calls
we consider "proprietory information", just to make the game more
"interesting".
What led to my implementation of the above policy was, in fact, the 
ctivities
of ONE (now former) Staffer. She had been told, time and again, to refrain
from making or taking any personal calls during the time that she worked with
us. She constantly ignored our warnings: the day came when I was fed-up with
paying for _her_ long-distance personal calls, and I called her into my 
ffice
to confront her with the evidence: over $60.00 a month in such calls alone.
And _still_ she adamently lied to me as she "justified" the calls as being
her "contacts" with some other entity elsewhere that was in our industry (the
phone number checked out to a private individual and not a corporate entity).
The average duration of her calls were 15-30 minutes _per day_ ! After 
howing
her this information - and the phone company records - I asked if she 
ntended
to re-imburse my company. She couldn't she said. I decided to give her one
more chance to redeem herself...and that's when I introduced the log sheets.
Alas, the poor girl decided less than a week later to ignore the
ramifications, and re-assumed her old habits. Two weeks afterwards, she
received her Pink Slip in the envelope containing her normal paycheque and a
final cheque.
Shortly afterwards, I placed a formal policy along the lines of the little
experiment I've outlined above company-wide. It's been a great success to
date !
 DH> Are You A Prospector Or Miner?
I'm BOTH ! I don't _always_ hit upon the gold, but at least I try ! More
importantly, I'm a "Doer", since it's _my_ responsibilty to keep my workers
busy earning their net-worths. * I'm * the guy that has to "think ahead" for
them; * I'm * the guy that has to "take the fall" when things do go awry. In
essence, * I'm * where "The Buck Stops", though there are detractors out 
here
claiming that Owners _always_ pass s--t downwards to the "lesser" ranks in 
ny
given organization.
In ending, I'd like to say that "...It's tough being at the Top", though it
doesn't necessarily need to be lonely too ! Being in business for one's self
is fun, and filled with freedom, yes, but when there's work to be done, it's
very serious in nature. In my case, I get the opportunity to meet and talk
with a number of very interesting people, to do a lot of very interesting new
work, and to "play" with a lot of materiel that * I * personally could not
afford. It's also extremely _educational_: no matter how much (past) 
experience
I may have, I've come to respect that there's * always * "something new"
(even if Old Sol has seen it all before) !
 >>> Continued to next message...
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