Homework - Keep it away from the Dog

Put this thought in your head for the weekend and share for Monday...

1. An example where the 80/20 rule contributes to inefficiency in your business.
2. A behavior, business practice, or procedure that you follow where you are potentially an obstacle or a bottleneck.
3. Identify the Lowest Value/Worst Use of Time activities that you practice on a weekly basis.

Spotlight on Integrated Staffing & Customer Events

Spotlight on Integrated Staffing & Laurie Labrie

Thank you Laurie for presenting on Monday. I may be speaking for most of us, that we definitely benefited from getting a more rich understanding of how Integrated can solve many problems and alleviate a good deal of risk related to employment area of our businesses.

A PEO, or Professional Employer Organization, is essentially a more efficient business model for managing the Human Resource aspect of businesses with 5 to 25 employees (for Integrated).

The idea is that (A) Efficiency and (B) Cost Benefits can be realized by introducing best HR practices to an organization. Some of the practices that achieve this result include (1) Implementation, Outsourcing & Streamlining of HR Processes (2) Management of Turnover through proper Screening and Continuing Evaluation/Education (3) Availability of Better Group Benefit Packages.

Thank you Laurie. Please put your thinking hats on to obtain a referral for Laurie.

We will post the Integrated presentation here, in the near Future.

Customer Appreciation & Events
My apologies as my notes are limited this week, so please post if you remember any other valuable nugget. Key to our discussion (Thank you Patrick Fuller) was the topic of leveraging our success with an existing Customer and hosting an event that benefits that Customer "Customer Appreciation". During these events it is possible to present a case where the Customer may benefit from your services and allow the Customer to market their products services to a mix of joint customers and clients.

Several venues are available, from Cheese and Crackers in our own offices, at client sites, function space in hotels, bank meeting rooms, wine shops for tastings, restaurants, etc. Patrick Fuller has utilized these venues successfully and is a wealth of information in organizing and strategizing (aside from his normal financial expertise).

Opportunity from me for SBEA members?
This concept brings up an interesting "Opportunity" for the group. We can certainly start testing "mini-venues" for each others clients.

I'm in the process of getting a newsletter together where I'll be able to make a Soft Introduction of Laurie Labrie, by introducing her as a subject matter expert on the recent Independent Contractor Law developments. I'd like to encourage each of you to take advantage of the same concept where there is an applicable cross benefit from your expertise to my clients.

Ah... but the catch! (Laurie, sorry I didn't tell you this). The real strategy behind the soft introduction is not simply to give my clients useful information about Laurie or about new laws, but rather to make Laurie familiar in the event we can do a joint presentation down the road.

*Tracking Readers of Newsletters
What is really interesting is that through my newsletter, I will be able see exactly who clicks on Laurie's article. So I'll know exactly who to ask to come and listen to her on another topic.

Looking for an Article

Hi Everyone,

I'm just about ready to launch my newsletter; Each month, I would like to feature an outside professional wishing to reach my contacts with relevant information. If anyone has anything ready made that they would like to submit, please send it along.

Laurie, for instance as we discussed - a blurb about changes to Mass independed contractor law as well as link referrence to the law itself - perhaps even a reference to Mass Health Care reform and a link to the MAConnector website. A great segway "Two important happenings for Massachusetts Businesses"

Another idea that can spurt all of you to write: 5 Most Common (fill in the blank) Mistakes Clients Make

I'm in a pinch and would like to submit by Monday the latest. 250 to 500 words is fine.

Reciprocal Links

Not sure if you are aware that there is value to this, but you can research it a little if you need to. http://www.apromotionguide.com/recipro.html. Anyhow, I am listing each of your websites on my website under a page called "links". It is not an easy page for a visitor to find, however it is picked up by search engines.

Having each of you on my website actually raises your ranking.

Would it be possible for all of us to reciprocate?

Spotlight: Rob Pellegrini

Spotlight: Rob Pellegrini

Dave had previously asked that I further discuss my “spotlight”.

During my presentation, I described my main areas of practice and ideal source of clients. I am licensed to practice both in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Basically, I practice in the areas of Real Estate Development and Estate Planning. My career began at Mark Janos’ office on Harris Street (Newburyport), where I mainly practiced business law, collections and estate planning. From there, I went “in-house” with Cumberland Farms, Inc. / Gulf Oil, where I coordinated site selection, land acquisition, permitting, environmental matters, and construction issues for several hundred real estate projects throughout New England and along the East Coast. As Senior Real Estate Counsel, I was also responsible for drafting and negotiating construction, maintenance, and environmental contracts.

Through my land use practice, I have represented clients in over 80 municipalities throughout New England. Last year, I joined the firm Smolak & Vaughan LLP (S&V) in an Of Counsel capacity. We have represented real estate developers and others in over 120 cities and towns in Massachusetts. The projects we handle range from representation of a national company on permitting and environmental matters throughout eastern Massachusetts, to a $200 million+ development project involving the redevelopment of over 2 million s.f. of commercial space, along with 650 residential units, on a 170-acre parcel.

Ideal Clients / Client Sources:

My ideal clients consist of: developers, engineers, real estate brokers/agents (commercial and residential), land owners, entrepreneurs, and existing businesses. Anyone in need of collections assistance is also appreciated, as I have handled collections for several local engineering firms and lending institutions.

On the development side, my best referral sources tend to be engineers, real estate brokers, developers, and corporations looking for local representation on permitting matters. On the estate planning side, my best referral sources tend to be financial planners, real estate brokers/agents, mortgage brokers, and accountants.

Highest and Best Use…

This mornings discussions was dominated by discussions several areas centralized around the challenge of utilizing the “Highest and Best Use” of time and activity. We discussed:

• Pulling back, limiting your hours in the office, and why
• Identifying and Removing Obstacles, especially ourselves
• Hobbies that generate business
• Selective Ignorance (of interruptions, ie phone, email, and voicemail)
• Systems and disaster planning
• 80/20 and Clients that expect to much
• Branding/Credibility
• Home work and Follow up

Pulling Back/Removing the Obstacle

Have you started the 4 Hour Work Week yet? We can all use ideas from Tim Ferris in our businesses, which in discussion we mostly agreed can change how we our utilize resources in our businesses.

Where can we identify the highest and best use of our time and activity? We discussed many cases where we over-work ourselves, in the belief that we have to in order to operate in the best interests of our clients and businesses. I think it was Kevin who brought up the fact that there are activities we take care of that are best done on our own, if we want them done right. We have all subscribed to that theory at some point and may even be card carrying members, but the challenge is to ask ourselves whether it is really in the best interest of our businesses and in our lives if we truly seek growth in each?

Laurie brought up the fact that her most successful clients spend the least amount of time in their businesses (working on your business as opposed to in your business). The E-Myth, which I’m positive we’ll be referring to as we move forward (add it to your list) systems are important as they play a role in getting you to identify potential systems in your business that can free you up to focus on the highest and best use of our time and activity.

Although I haven’t finished reading Tim Ferris’s book, I sure that systems hand-in-hand and critical reducing the amount of time you spend in the office. The time reduction should “in theory” avail ourselves to higher value activities, hobbies, or family activity. My recent poker activities (for example) seem to have had an unanticipated business networking result that may lead to more business. Laurie mentioned that her clients had quite a bit of “hobby” activity. Where can we identify and remove ourselves as obstacles in our business, and propose a new system to provide more freedom?

Anyone have clients who expect to much? Sometimes we refer to these as C or D clients and we all have them. From time to time these clients can make the 80/20 rule look like more like 99/1. Rob recently went on vacation on to find himself not being able to completely get away from “the client” due to circumstances that he believed required his contribution. What could he have done?

Economic forces and fears are “in play” that can sometime force our decision to take the good, with the bad. There is no substitute for the word “courage” in trying to fix this situation, because in order to fix it, a tremendous amount is at risk including the potential loss of clients that contribute heavily to your bottom line. However, long-term success in terms of business growth and personal fulfillment are highly unlikely if we don’t at least address it. I’ve recently tried selective ignorance with email and voicemail, which Ferris points out as a positive step in reclaiming more “highest use” territory, an although I’m still experimenting – I do see opportunities to stop being a slave to rapid fire interruptive impediments from clients and staff. Charlie, congrats on getting rid of the Blackberry. iPhone anyone? How is this relevant in each of our businesses? What steps can we take to improve on this?

Systems

The critical feature a business needs to free up the entrepreneur is Systems. We discussed disaster proofing our businesses, which is outlined in the E-Myth as a way of developing our organizations into systems and processes that can handle most if not all situations. If we find ourselves over-reliant on ourselves to always have to be there to ensure everything “goes right”, then we may have on opportunity to create a system. Perhaps, someone can comment here to enrich this conversation, as I haven’t read the book in a decade.

Can it be done in an organization that is riddled with an 80/20 problem and the business owner working a 60 hour workweek? It would probably help alleviate some of those problems, but both issues seem symbiotic and worth attacking simultaneously.

Kevin, what are the systems at Stoneridge responsible for the “Street Credibility” it maintains. It seems that, across the board – customers, attorneys, mortgage brokers, etc appreciate the brand of Stoneridge. Beyond individual efforts, is there a system responsible for this? What can we apply from it?

Homework

Okay, students…just kidding. When we began, we agreed that an important core value in building a strong network organization was to share business issues so that as advisors, we can offer real and timely solutions where we might not otherwise have easy and consistent access.

In the spirit of today’s conversation, let’s advance the discussion by peeling the onion back a bit to expose problems and identify opportunities for solutions and perhaps action items. As succinctly detailed as possible, please provide the following:

1) An examples where the 80/20 rule contributes to inefficiency in your business.

2) A behavior, business practice, or procedure that you follow where you are potentially an obstacle or a bottleneck.

3) Identify the Lowest Value/Worst Use of Time activities that you practice on a weekly basis.

Attendence

Thank you Kevin Wallace, Lisa Jewitt, Patrick Fuller, Charlie Palmissano, Rob Pellegrini, David Kiley, and Laurie Ann LaBrie for your attendance. Next week we look forward to your homework answers and also to Laurie Labrie’s introduction/presentation.

Request for Ideas & Other New Info

Can I suggest that we advance Monday's discussion by proposing topics or objectives as comments on this blog?

Also, can we have a volunteer to make a presentation either Monday or the following week? Please repond by commenting on the blog, if you haven't subscribed yet.

For those not successful on the blog, it is possible to send a group email to all members herein by sending to sbe-alliance@googlegroups.com.

Real Estate Related Matters

The Market
I suppose its about time we chatted about this, having two mortgage brokers in the room and an agent. Pat Fuller asked Kevin, "What's going on out there?".

Kevin (please comment), was excellent in his description of local conditions which are impacting pricing, seller behavior, buyer behavior, etcetera. In a nutshell, the market is flooded with inventory, but transactions are happing on pace with prior years. Princing has come down.

Some of the Reasons
-Inventory dilution; sellers are holding prices too high/too long on the market, when they may be better off holding
-Sellers that need to move are not realistic in following the market
-Banks and other lenders are toughening their lending standards; will restrict the number of buyers in the market (What's the opportunity here?)
-Consumer costs are increasing, dollar doesn't buy as much. This doesn't do well for the family who just barely recently qualified to buy, who isn't increasing their income fast enough. Credit cards will be hit first, then a refinance if possible. If not possible, the owners may have to just walk away.

Mortgage Info Tidbits
-Thanks Mike for the breakdown on A Paper, Alt A, B-Paper, Stated and No Income
-Bottom line is our clients if a move is on the horizon must pay attention to their credit scores as it will be hard to refy and purchase without top-notch scores. 680/20% down, with disclosed income will always be bankable. Michael, any info links that can be spell this out in more detail?

Banks
-Are the banks holding or short-selling? Locally, we discussed one instance where they are holding. It might be interesting to obtain info on what dynamics keep a bank from selling. It seems in the case of one local builder, there was not enough upside to meet the minimum bank price and property was not auction-able. There has to be a point where they bust though, anyone know?

Appraisers
-Last six months of comparatives is yielding lower values; this is making it harder for consumers to refinance. Shouldn't have an effect as much on home purchase if a realtor is performing diligence in Market Analysis.

Attendence: Thank you Lisa Jewette, Michael Gallatis, David Kiley, Patrick Fuller, and Craig Childs, and Kevin Wallace Next week, we should have a full house; if anyone would like to suggest a topic in advance or voluteer their conceptual map on Rob's sheet, please shout!

Learning Who We Are / Leveraging Pro-Bono Work

This week we started by recapping the prior weeks events which was highlighted by Rob Pellegrini's Presentation along with a visit by Integrated Staffing.

PRIOR MEETING RECAP
I know I missed that meeting, but I'm hoping that Rob wouldn't mind posting his own download and thoughts about how that how that went. And perhaps Michael Gelatis, as he was emphatic about what he learned could comment on the specifics. Sounds like Integrated Staffing was a hit and I'd love to read more if anyone cares to comment.

It did bring up a good discussion on reasonable compensation/S-Corp/LLC issues, which I'd be happy to share with anyone one on one. Key points: LLC's can be taxed in a multitude of different ways; Owners may or may not be eligible for payroll; Not all income necessarily has to be taxed for Self-employment tax purposes. It sounds like there may be some misunderstanding between member/manager and how that might be related to compensation. Rob and Dave should probably sit together and work that out where it's not as simple as what could be covered in one of our meetings.


NEW AND REHASHED TOPICS AND IDEAS
Who We Are, What we Do, Why are We Here
I believe there is a common sentiment that we would like to see direction and action items attached to our meetings in our quest for crystallizing who we are and what we do. In presenting the question "Before the end of the year, what I'd I really like to accomplish in this group is:"

• David Kiley - would love to see the group utilize each other as a board of advisers that we have some responsibility towards the trying and measurement of common ideas and best practices. One such deliverable is a communication plan.
• Charlie Palmissano - is wants to establish outside exposure in the form of a periodic, perhaps semi annual presentation to the public or to our clients in a forum or even perhaps to other people in need.
• Rob Pellegrini - wants to complete a group map that establishes where we have cross-over with clients, referral sources, ideas and services, etc. This is critical to tighten our relationships and establish a better foundation prior to the establishment of a seminar.
  

Shrinking Non-Productive Activities
Not sure how this came up, but it lead to an awesome discussion that may help Lisa Jewett. We can thank Charlie for bringing up Tim Ferris's book, the 4 Hour Work Week and the 80% 20% Rule; It generated a question (as I recall) from Lisa as to whether Pro-Bono assistance is
a worthwhile activity.

In case you missed it (and Lisa - please elaborate), Lisa offers help at the Women's Crisis Center in Newburyport to assist women in need in rebuilding there credit in order to obtain financing for potential home ownership. I understood the heart of the question to be "Where do I draw the line for activities that produce goodwill, where profit may not exist at all." As you can imagine, for Lisa, this is an extraordinarily time consuming process designed to give a woman, who's credit and maybe confidence has been compromised, a fair shot.

A dynamic discussion followed in which it was suggested that:

• She keep doing it because of the enjoyment
• Leverage the success of the situation to gain exposure to executives and donors related to the Crisis Center
• Turn the body of work into a Lisa sponsored "Program" where those who have been helped by Lisa can "pay it forward" as a part of a social contract for utilizing her expertise.

ATTENDANCE
David Kiley, Charles Palmissano, Patrick Fuller, Lisa Jewett, Michael Galatis, and Rob Pellegrini
Next week we hope to see you again.
If you missed us and have questions please post!