RP> DH> I can either tell you the short or long version, I'll do both,
RP> DH> I think I'll tell you the short version first, since I can do that in
RP> DH> one word "FREEDOM"...
RP>I have to agree...that's _one_ of the many virtues available to owners of
RP>businesses...tax-deductible Wednesday golfing is also available to some as
RP>well......
RP> DH> Now to the long version. This is a dream I've had since high
RP> DH> school, I guess it's because I didn't like school. Don't get
RP> DH> me wrong I'm all for education, it's just that I don't like
RP> DH> getting up before noon. 
RP>Okay, so I recognise the joke in that last sentence, but I think you know 
as
RP>well as I that running one's own business sometimes mandates getting up at
RP>`odd hours' well before Noon. In my particular case, I like being able to
RP>work at _any_ hour of the day than to be stuck in a 9-to-5 routine, 5-days 
a
RP>week. Often, I'm up into the wee hours of the morning putting the 
"finishing
RP>touches" to clients' projects: it only matters that I meet their 
deadlines..
RP>and collect a cheque from them later on. I admit that there have been 
imes
RP>when my efforts had extracted heavy tolls against me, but there's no way 
I'd
RP>give up what I have. No way at all !
It all goes back to that single word "FREEDOM"
RP> DH> Customer Service What's Happening To It?
RP> DH> Have you noticed a deterioration in the caliber of sales clerk's
RP> DH> in some of the large chain stores?
RP>Though this aspect is most pronounced at the large department stores, it 
s
RP>nonetheless just as prevalent at smaller outfits as well. Alone, this 
proves
RP>that old maxim that "Nobody cares like an Owner does"... I've yet to meet 

RP>company owner that didn't care about pleasing his/her customers !
Oh so true...
RP> DH> As I said, I'm not naming names but last month so-in-so lost a 
customer
RP> DH> and a $6,000 sale with the prospect of future sales of equal amounts,
RP> DH> just because the clerk would much rather talk to a friend on the
RP> DH> "Company" phone.
RP>Exactomundo !
RP>At one of my concerns, I've installed a policy of no personal calls in or 
ou
RP>with the exception being "Emergencies", and given this program some 
teeth"
RP>by requiring such calls - if made - to be logged daily alongside any long-
RP>distance calls. Staffers making personal calls on Company Time have the 
tota
RP>costs of them deducted from their pays. To make that aspect legal, I ask 
for
RP>each worker to sign a `Promissory Note' to the effect. I further make it 
cle
RP>that "...the Company Phone is there so that our customers can contact us, 
an
RP>for us to maintain contact with the suppliers that make it possible for us 
t
RP>satisfy our customers." Too many incidents of personal calling would - and
RP>have already - resulted in job loss to offenders; the frequency of such 
call
RP>we consider "proprietory information", just to make the game more
RP>"interesting".
RP>What led to my implementation of the above policy was, in fact, the 
activiti
RP>of ONE (now former) Staffer. She had been told, time and again, to refrain
RP>from making or taking any personal calls during the time that she worked 
wit
RP>us. She constantly ignored our warnings: the day came when I was fed-up 
with
RP>paying for _her_ long-distance personal calls, and I called her into my 
offi
RP>to confront her with the evidence: over $60.00 a month in such calls 
lone.
RP>And _still_ she adamently lied to me as she "justified" the calls as being
RP>her "contacts" with some other entity elsewhere that was in our industry 
(th
RP>phone number checked out to a private individual and not a corporate 
entity)
RP>The average duration of her calls were 15-30 minutes _per day_ ! After 
showi
RP>her this information - and the phone company records - I asked if she 
intend
RP>to re-imburse my company. She couldn't she said. I decided to give her one
RP>more chance to redeem herself...and that's when I introduced the log 
sheets.
RP>Alas, the poor girl decided less than a week later to ignore the
RP>ramifications, and re-assumed her old habits. Two weeks afterwards, she
RP>received her Pink Slip in the envelope containing her normal paycheque and 
a
RP>final cheque.
Some people never learn...
RP>Shortly afterwards, I placed a formal policy along the lines of the little
RP>experiment I've outlined above company-wide. It's been a great success to
RP>date !
I would think so, such conduct by staffers can be very costly, in more
than one way...
RP> DH> Are You A Prospector Or Miner?
RP>I'm BOTH ! I don't _always_ hit upon the gold, but at least I try ! More
RP>importantly, I'm a "Doer", since it's _my_ responsibilty to keep my 
orkers
RP>busy earning their net-worths. * I'm * the guy that has to "think ahead" 
for
RP>them; * I'm * the guy that has to "take the fall" when things do go awry. 
In
RP>essence, * I'm * where "The Buck Stops", though there are detractors out 
the
RP>claiming that Owners _always_ pass s--t downwards to the "lesser" ranks in 
a
RP>given organization.
Maybe I did not make my point clear enough. A miner is a 9to5'er, a wage
earner, employee. They follow the instructions laid out by the
prospector, entrepreneur, business owner...
RP>In ending, I'd like to say that "...It's tough being at the Top", though 
t
RP>doesn't necessarily need to be lonely too ! Being in business for one's 
self
RP>is fun, and filled with freedom, yes, but when there's work to be done, 
it's
RP>very serious in nature. In my case, I get the opportunity to meet and talk
RP>with a number of very interesting people, to do a lot of very interesting 
ne
RP>work, and to "play" with a lot of materiel that * I * personally could not
RP>afford. It's also extremely _educational_: no matter how much (past)
RP>experience
RP>I may have, I've come to respect that there's * always * "something new"
RP>(even if Old Sol has seen it all before) !
True, True, True, It's been nice. Let's keep in contact. Thanks for your
thoughts...
Dave
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