Plain Talk Charting An Alternate Course By Rob Buksar A number of good friends who are also suppliers to electrical rebuilders recently called and chewed me out a . new backside. “Rob, you have be- come too down beat, gloom and doom, negative.” Considering their feedback I drew the conclusion that they were all nuts and hadn’t a clue what they were ban- tering about. Furthermore, I called each of them and told them never to call me again until they had something worthwhile to say. If you believe I really did that come on by and Ill sell you a bridge cheap. Truth of the matter is I deeply con- sidered their perspective and have re- alized there was a lot of truth to their comments. Although my outlook on this industry and small business remains (in my heart of hearts) bleak for far too many of us simply because we won’t change or grow. I make no ex- cuse for this perspective because, frankly, I’m confident I’m right. However, everything I’ve written for the ERE or anything else has al- ways included an alternative. In other words, this will be our outcome unless we combine and stop this problem in mid-flight…get educated or be eradicated…advertise or vaporize… get the drift? I believe to the core of my being a negative outcome is assured for any of us who continue to do the exact same things and are expecting different re- sults. But I can take the hint and am not too proud to take correction. I sup- pose I’ve spent too much time talking about the outcome and not enough dis- cussing alternatives. Let’s change di- rection and chart our course toward alternatives. Here’s acommon mistake far too many of us small guys make. We fo- cus and devote 100 percent of our time, energy and resources on doing it-doing it-doing it. We become hope- lessly caught in our immediate day-to- day survival and neglect planning for the future and acting on that plan. The problem is, the future is always upon us. Sadly, we end up painted into a comer by those future circumstances and end up really getting hurt. I am not trying to insult your intel- ligence. Suggesting I don’t understand is aplace you don’t ever want to go. I have been a one-man “dog and pony show” for 25 years. I’ve had no em- ployees and as many as 35. I’ve made a ton of money at times and also starved. This game at a small level is one I’mreal familiar with. Because of this I can say with absolute confidence that greatest, most valuable, and yet absolutely overworked and unmanaged capital asset is you! I dare say most small rebuilding shops are centered around a key fig- ure who is almost always the owner. If you could work 7 days a week, 24 hours a day you still couldn’t stay on top of all your responsibilities. It’s doubtful you have someone good enough and affordable around to del- egate some of your burden to. So the facts remain the same: you are con- sumed doing it-doing it-doing it just keeping your boat afloat. Since you’re depleted trying to make the day work, the future is sel- dom addressed. Such is the challenge JANUARY, 2001 of being a small guy. Most of us could change places and never know we left our own shops because most of the problems are the same. Following is what I propose as the first survival step. By the way, I put myself at the top of the list for needing and implementing this advice. Take a real hard look (let’s call ita study) at the amount of time you are spending in and around your business. Carry and keep a daily time log and track your activities in 30-minute in- crements. Do this for a full 30 days. Don’tslack off or miss any—accuracy is vital to your success. At the end of 30 days transfer your daily log onto a wall chart or poster board. At this point it’s imperative to have the entire month’s activity laid out in from of you where it can be reviewed and analyzed. I can absolutely assure you after studying a month’s worth of your own activity you’ll be in for a real surprise. I’ll bet as much as 25 percent of your activity can either be eliminated or in- expensively put in someone else’s court. This will open up a gold mine of opportunity —if you put this newly dis- covered time to good use. For example, let’s assume you’ re devoting 65 hours a week to your busi- ness. For those of you who are glut- tons for punishment (that’s me), let’s assume only 15 percent of your time can be freed up. Stop and do the math. Fifteen percent of 65 hours is 9.75 hours. Quite frankly that’s a whole bunch of time that, spent productively, can improve the future prospects of your business and life. With 9.75 hours freed up from his- torical shop activity you can now: – Devise and put into motion anew advertising campaign. – Make at least nine new sales calls every week to potential customers. Page 1 of 2