While Keeping Your Sanity and Ethics Intact
Most days, there’s nothing better than running a business you can call your own. You make the rules. You call the shots. You get to do what you love each and every day — and get paid for it! Running a business and watching it grow is a little like having a child: it’s one of the most rewarding tasks you’ll ever take on — and one of the most challenging.
You can set up your company so that it runs as smooth as the apple juice running down your baby’s throat. And then something happens — as it always does; remember Murphy’s Law? The cogs that seem to jump into the smooth-running machinery are ever-present, always lurking, just waiting to throw you off with some nasty little piece of business that’s as integral to running a business as dirty diapers is to raising a child.
Why Can’t They Just Behave?
Running a business solo is one way to avoid the nasty business of dealing with employees. But you can only get so far when you’re doing all the work. Having people work for you is amazing in many ways; they allow you to grow and expand and even, maybe, take a day off now and then.
But getting other people to care about your clients and the future of your business can be difficult. It’s like trying to get your kids to realize that if they do their chores properly, the whole household runs smoother. Correcting mistakes, fixing mishaps and getting everyone to follow directions are challenges for both entrepreneurs and parents.
The hardest part of being in charge is letting someone go, especially when they beg for another chance. It’s doubly difficult when you really like them. But firing an employee is part and parcel of being the boss. It’s nasty business, but someone has to do it every once in a while. A few tips for making it a little easier include:
- Keep track of the employee’s foibles, leaving little for them to disagree with.
- Give them a warning, so that when they mess up again, they’re prepared for the axe.
- Let an employee go early in the pay cycle, so they still have a paycheck coming as they look for a new job.
- Stick to the facts. They aren’t bad people. And they don’t need to know how they’ve messed up your life temporarily or how truly bad their work is. They just need to know that you can’t afford to keep them on.
But We Had a Deal!
Poor-paying customers or clients that refuse to honor a contract pose another of the nastier sides of running a business. There’s an entire industry that collects bad debts because very few small businesses have their own collections department. And face it; most people are pretty good about paying what they owe — what they’ve agreed to. It’s that one percent, though, that can ruin your 99 percent love affair with being the boss.
You have options, although none of them is very much fun. When a client refuses to pay in a timely manner, the first thing you need to do is to stay on it. Don’t let matters slide. Regular calls, invoices and emails are in order. A few more tips that come from Nolo.com include:
- Stay calm and don’t let calls or emails get too personal.
- Maintain a tone of urgency.
- Ask the client if she has financial problems and offer to work out a payment plan.
- Offer to settle for a lower final payment. (This may be sound more appealing after about six months of non-payment.)
- Hire a collections agency to send letters for you. For a flat fee, averaging about $30, they can send a few letters and make a few calls on your behalf, using their proven techniques.
- Sell the debt to a collection agency as a last resort. They’ll pay you 50 percent of the total due (at the most). But, hey, sometimes, that’s better than nothing.
Give Me a Break
Running a business is not for the faint or weak of heart! You always end up doing things that you never really bargained for. In addition to those two nasty examples above that every small business owner eventually has to face, you know the other downsides of being the boss if you’ve been running a business for more than a few months:
- You’re the last to get paid.
- There’s no paid time off … and often little time off at all.
- No one covers you when you’re sick.
- Slow periods can leave you questioning yourself relentlessly.
- The company bennies generally suck.
But oh, the freedom! And when it’s good, it’s very good. A big payday can make you forget all about that slow-paying customer or that incompetent you hired. Just like when you watch your kid walk down the aisle in a cap and gown — or better yet, when your offspring sends you money, the joy of running a business far outweighs the nastiness involved. That is, if you love roller coasters and parenting.
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