Why would anyone subject themselves to this?!?

I guess they have the right motivation!

To add insult to injury, BP has spent millions of dollars on a marketing campaign to improve their image in the public. These dollars would have been better served in the hands of the people that have been effected by this disaster. The best marketing campaign for the company would have been reacting quickly to the spill, refunding the lost wages of the small business owners that were impacted by the spill and showing a community that they actually care about them. The problem is they only care about the bottom line which according to many estimates looks great for the second quarter regardless of the oil spill.

In their efforts to spin the crisis in pathetic commercials, they have the nerve to act as if even though they destroyed the environment and jobs, they still should receive a pat on the back because they hired the people whose jobs they took to help clean it up! Seriously! This is all a result of poor planning by a global company that had plenty of resources to prevent this disaster in the first place. Hopefully the new CEO will do a better job of planning for future problems that may arise from offshore drilling. After all the people of the gulf coast need and deserve their lives back!

While people are out spending in the malls and buying things they cannot afford, certain industries tend to suffer during this time of year. Technology spending is down, and a lot of companies that provide services are suffering. The holidays represent a time when most people spend money on tangible goods, such as electronics, etc.

What should entrepreneurs in service related industries do? There is hope! Find a way to be the one that connects the consumer to the product. You should become the person that is the middle man. Tis the season to be creative!

If you want to have a business, you must first have the commitment to do things the “old fashioned” way. Building a business requires hard work, perseverance, and determination. All of the vision in your business should be guided by you, managed by you and controlled by your laboring for your dream. In those beginning years, if you want something done for your business, you should be on the front lines fighting to make it happen!

My mother raised us with the philosophy, “Don’t expect others to do what you can do for yourself.” Mom’s wisdom holds true with a small business. You need to be your hardest working employee! When you work hard, dreams can become reality and a business can grow from a concept to a viable company.

Providing new services to customers is important, but when those services infringe upon the current services I have a problem with that. I know you are wondering, “Where is all of this angst coming from?” My mobile phone company, in an effort to provide a new service, took away an important feature on my plan without informing me. They said it was a “gliche” in the system that they only seemed to discover six months into my use of the plan.

Basically, I use my blackberry as a modem in addition to all the other things you can do with a blackberry. The irony of this situation is I have an “everything plan” that seems to include everything but my mobile broadband access. The technical question here is how does an everything plan, on a blackberry, include unlimited email, internet, texting and phone but somehow exclude unlimited mobile broadband “phone-as-modem access. The mobile broadband phone-as-modem uses the “unlimited” phone line! If you are familiar with how blackberrys function this argument will make complete sense.

This company’s “Simply Everything” plan should be changed to the “Excludes Something” plan or the “Simply Everything but Broadband” plan. Apparently when this company added the “call to any mobile phone” upgrade they took away the service I valued the most! Although I will not mention the company, I will say that I am going to sprint to their competitors and maybe next I will tell you if they have a better plan!

The second type of quitter is the one that gets in the game and quits at the first sign of adversity. This type of quitter runs away from the prospect of losing even though the game is not over. Even if you are in the third quarter in football and you are down by 30, there is still another quarter to play. (Sorry for all the football analogies, but this is my favorite sports season!)

Now the loser is the must underrated individual. Here is a person that tried and as a result of not being successful the first time is deemed a loser. The problem with this ideology is it teaches people losing is an end result instead of a pathway. After all, some of the most successful individuals in the world were “losers.” The average millionaire has had seven failed business before they created the profitable one. Many major sports athletes were cut from teams and as a result refined their skills and reached the top of their sport.

Many lawyers, doctors, and teachers had poor grades in high school and as a result focused in college and went on to graduate school. And finally many people were working jobs that told them they were not doing a good job or they didn’t need them anymore and as a result let them go. In the process of evaluating this life changing event, many of these people created successful businesses. Quitting is not trying, losing is learning. Losing is opportunity. Losing is learning what you can win!

I view this as my faith with works. Sight + Belief= Action. If you can see beyond where you are to where you are going and believe it will happen, all you have to do is take the proper actions to make it happen. God’s grace always requires something on our part. There is a difference between sight, belief and action…independently they have self serving definitions, but when aligned together they create a formula for success. What you see is the vision, what you believe is the mission and the action is the process!

I am currently in talks to start a city wide day of service where I live.  When customers are willing to invest in us through purchasing our products and services as entrepreneurs, we must equally invest in them and our communities.   There are many ways we can give back, from tutoring at a local high school to providing a part of our service for free to a non-profit. Entrepreneurship driven by passion should be routed in service.

Although our businesses are designed to make money, our passion should be directed towards something greater.  Does your product/service meet a need? Are you showing others how to get free through the avenue of entrepreneurship?  Are you willing to share ideas with others that have just started out.  Are you going to volunteer your time to a community initiative?

We are enriched more and more by the more we give to others and invest in others.  This is what it is all about.  When I started my business, my goal was to free up time to participate in more of the service projects I am passionate about.  I am excited about using my business, this magazine and every other avenue I have at my disposal to effect change, encourage others and help to support communities. I want every one to find a need and try your best to fill it within your resources or your area of influence.

In your first years of business there will always be more sacrifice than glamor, more work than money, more need than supply, and more challenges than you ever could have anticipated. It is really an uphill battle. If your are willing to face everything the journey throws at you however, you will climb to the top.

You may have to trade P.F. Chang’s for some funyuns onion rings, you may have to trade in steak for a potato half baked. You may have to miss that outing with the fellows and the ladies, forsake shopping frivolously and spending unnecessarily. You may just have to drive a car that can get you from A to B not designed for people to see.

What are you willing to give up to get to the place you wanna be?

I often wondered if they asked the light company,”Can you spot me a couple of kilowatts?” or if they would tell their mortgage company,”How about I just pay you half of the note every month?” You see, my time is valuable and my service is valuable. As entrepreneurs, we work hard at perfecting our craft to offer the best service possible.

If a customer is trying to barter on your price it is almost an insult, especially when you are offering the service at a lower rate than your competitors. I’ve learned over the years that sometimes you must fire a client! This will save you headaches in the future. All business is not good business! You’ve worked hard to start your business and you deserve to be paid for it if you give your clients all you’ve got.

The next time a customer ask you for a lower price, fire them! This was some of the best advice one of my business mentors gave me. He said,”When you are starting out, many entrepreneurs don’t want to act like they need the money, but the reality is you do so you cannot afford to compromise on price. ”

One thing I learned from IBM is if your service is valuable, there are people that will value it and pay for it. Do not accept anything less than what you are worth!