The Jholdas Group

We’ve survived the 100 Years’ Recession. It’s not over but if you’re still in business then you are likely to be. So what do we do now? PAY ATTENTION TO THE LITTLE THINGS.

So what are they? Unnecessary expense? Customer retention? Cash flow? Turning fixed cost into variable (read “staffing”)?

It’s time for every business leader to identify what needs to be addressed for the next  2 years. Be bold and courageous.

When was the last time you GAVE your customers business instead of asking FOR their business. My guess is that it’s been a long time. Your customers are hurting and anything you can do help them will strengthen the bond you already have. So what do they need? Among other things they need business. So, who in your network or client base can you pass on to them? Why not make all of our customers stronger at the same time?

I stopped in the Atlanta airport to get a sandwich at the Wall Street Deli (Concourse A). What I saw and experience there was special.

Gloria, a young lady behind the counter, clearly saw it as her mission to make folks feel welcome and make their day a little better. I watched as she welcomed people, asked them about their trip and where they were from, and wished them a great trip; all the while she was making sandwiches at about twice the speed of her coworkers.

I just returned from a consultation on Business as Mission hosted by Wheaton College. We wrestled with definitions, purpose, values, environmental issues, the proper use of profits, treatment of employees, and a host of other topics. I came away with a profound respect for the diversity in the Body of Christ and the huge journey we have yet to travel in our pursuit of “kingdom business.” I also came away with a great encouragement that I am not alone in this quest and that there are people–far smarter and more spiritual than I–who are also seeking to understand and unleash the powerbof business for the glory of God.

Thanks to Carla Brown for sharing this:

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, "I don’t get it!
You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or … you can choose to be in a bad mood.
I choose to be in a good mood."
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or…I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or… I can point out the positive side of life! . I choose the positive side of life.
"Yeah, right, it’s not that easy," I protested.
"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live your life."
I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw him about six months after the accident.
When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I’d be twins…Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or…I could choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
He continued, "..the paramedics were great.
They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man’. I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes, I replied.’ The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity’."
Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."
He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude… I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all, is everything.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34.
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

I am having a hard time thinking of any business that operates by revealing their cost of goods and the markup they put on it to arrive at a price. I’m sure there are some but I can’t think of them. What do I care how much markup this can of soup has on it? Or the car I buy? Or the shirt? Or the round of golf? The only thing I care about is the price.

When a prospect or client tries to go the markup route, try to steer them to the real question: how much are you willing to pay? What cost are you able to work with? And never bring it up yourself…NEVER.

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