Plain Talk: Be a Better Businessperson By Rob Buksar We all now live in the land of predatory economic giants. It was not like this when most of us got in this business. For those of us who have at least two dol- lars in the aftermarket, we got our start in friendlier, gentler times. Times when a bunch of business savvy was just plain unnecessary. Government, insur- ance, and energy companies were so small a part of our costs we never gave ita second thought. Now they all might as well be a major stockholder de- manding a large monthly dividend. In earlier times doing business was easy. Even though we developed into great technicians and rebuilders, far too many of us never really learned how to develop into better businesspeople. As long as there was enough money to stay current with the bills, pay the help, and take a paycheck home, that was good enough. Now, don’t start feeling bad be- cause you didn’t graduate from the Harvard School of Business. Being a great businessperson just wasn’t nec- essary to make a decent buck in this country. But that sure is not the case now. If you see any small business not only surviving but moving forward in this day and age, it is by no accident or luck. This is someone knows how to do business and run with the big guys (Who by the way are now playing a new game called adversarial econom- ics—t is their intention to either con- sume, absorb or destroy anything in their potential market.). Being profit- able is not enough for these big guys. They only consider themselves victo- rious when they’ re the last man stand- ing. Such a shame when greed is sanc- tified like that, but that’s how it’s be- come. Now ask yourself, can you compete with and win against not only something that large, but an entity whose desire is to have it all? Not just no, but hell no! Why? Because we’re not even on the same playing field with these giants. So, let’s get back to the little guy who is prospering in the midst of these giant predators. What is he doing to stay profitable and moving forward? Somewhere between here and there our small but prosperous reman owner learned he could not work in the business and on the business at the same time. He discovered the techni- cal work of a business and business that does that technical work are two totally different things. Like most of us, our prosperous guy started out the same way. He first learned the techni- cal end of our business and that was more than enough info to carry him, like us, for decades. But times and circumstances changed. While our guy was in back rebuilding a special or balancing pis- tons, AutoZone put all his indepen- dently-owned parts stores out of busi- ness. Then shortly after his stocking dealer’s repair shop turned into bread and milk stores, it finally dawned on him. How can I keep an eye on what’s going on in my business and industry when I devote all my time working in the business? Furthermore, how do I continue and better my education? Where do I learn to become a better businessman when I’m consumed dig- ging through core drums? The answer to those three vital APRIL, 2001 survival questions is never and that is the wrong answer. Our small shop owner realized that his technical skills as arebuilder no longer qualified him to run his own business. This was a shocking realization since these skills alone had successfully carried him for so long. His fortunate revelation was to learn that in order to survive in a Y2K world economy, he would have to become a much better businessperson. So as a small reman shop can we compete and win against the big guys? The answer is absolutely no. The real question is do we have to compete against the big guys in order to sur- vive? The answer to that is absolutely no also. Our route to salvation is working at becoming far better businesspeople than we are now. Do we know how to target a market and go after it? How about developing a business plan and mission statement? Do we really know how to calculate our costs? Do we take advantage of current technology we can use? How about forming alli- ances with folks you formerly per- ceived to be competitors, in order to help one another? The list goes on. Within the realm of better business conduct is the route to long-term prof- itability and success with or without the big guys. Rob Buksar is owner of Hoosier Electric Co., Gary, IN. Page 1 of 1