The James Dicks Blog

When a situation makes you stumble in life, are you the type of person to fret about your circumstances or are you more likely to do something productive to alleviate the problem? The old Chinese Proverb states that “a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” But imagine if the first step is never taken; the journey can never begin. That’s where the mind set is today in the business environment; terrified and anxious of taking that first step for whatever reason, but without a practical approach in the development of a solution, the ultimate result probably won’t suit your goal. In short, if you want something to happen, you have to do something.

The first thing you must determine is just what it is you want to do; what are you passionate about. If you do not have a strong desire to accomplish a project then you will never do it. Many people finally start producing when they’re down to their last dollar or when the doctor gives them bad news and tells them “do this or else!” But greater self-control is the answer. Determine your passions and then move forward from that point.

Change your thought process by visualizing that your final goal is already accomplished. You will be amazed at the results of this action. Something magical starts to happen in your life when your mind sends you positive messages and allows you to visualize a successful end result. Write your goals down, and keep pictures of your final objective(s) posted on the refrigerator, in the car or in your office area. Visualization of your final objective can definitely help you successfully get there.

Make sure you set aside some time at regular intervals to measure your progress. One thing to keep in mind – don’t allow yourself to be blinded by your positive thoughts. I know that sounds strange, but there are times when you need to assess your progress very critically. Don’t give yourself a break; be tough on yourself. Things will go wrong, accept that fact and then regroup and get back on track. It’s important to determine what is working and change the stuff that isn’t.

Finally, the most important person to help you become successful is you so make sure you develop a healthy respect for yourself. You have to believe that you will ultimately succeed in what you are trying to accomplish. Never give up. Imagine Thomas Edison literally trying thousands of filaments before he landed on the perfect one that made his light bulb a success. How many strike outs did Babe Ruth have to experience before he hit his 714 homeruns? The fact is, you will probably fail as much or more than you will succeed in this life but never stop trying.

Start today developing a highly upbeat approach to your life. All things are possible if you have the right attitude to get them done. You must create an extreme ambition to succeed and then generate a realistic plan to realize this success, while being disciplined and bold enough to execute your plan to conclusion. Don’t become the inactive business owner with that “deer in the headlights” expression. Determine your direction so you can finally establish where you’d like to go. It’s time to make your first move toward a successful end result. Take that first step and start your journey today.

One of the major effects of the current economic downturn is that many people are putting their credit cards away and only using cash to make all their daily purchases. I know that the American population has a long way to go before it will totally accept such a radical premise as a cash-only existence. But the situation we now find ourselves in may make it the better way to live day-by-day, at least at the personal level. But with the recent changes in the credit card industry and the increase in interest rates, more and more consumers are now using cash (and that includes debit cards) to make their important daily purchases.

In 1950, Diner’s Club issued the very first “plastic money” to a very small consumer base; about 200 customers who used the card at 27 restaurants in New York City. By the late 1950’s the credit card industry really changed how we handled our spending habits and buying on time became extremely popular, if not the norm among the population in the United States. In 1959, it was the Bank of America that issued the very first, truly universal credit card but only in California but by the mid-1960’s their card was available for use on a coast-to-coast basis.

So what’s your plan for 2010? If you decide that a cash-only lifestyle is how you want to live the rest of your life, you must first create a budget. That is the key to making this whole plan work. You must know how much you need to spend in any particular area. A budget is the simplest form of a “cash-in and cash-out” system and by using only the money that you have on hand has a way of encouraging you to not spend what you do not have; which runs contrary to all of the hype that you see for credit and credit cards in our American society.

Those who have already started using cash-only have experienced a real decline in their spending. That’s because they are only spending money in their personal or small-business banking accounts. By using a debit card, you still have the convenience of using a card while not being encouraged to spend more than you have. You now have a limit and you have a financial plan in the form of your monthly budget.

Some people argue that if you don’t have credit, you can’t build your credit rating but that’s not entirely true. There are methods of building your credit without a credit card but most times this will include borrowing money. You might get your car financed, and then pay off the entire amount after a couple of months. You may also consider getting a secure credit card (which is really just a debit card that is reported to the credit bureaus) to help you build a credit rating without using true credit. But be very careful when it comes to the fees they charge; many are very high.

Another interesting sidebar of living without credit is that people who are doing so have noticed they are sleeping better at night knowing that they don’t have a mountain of debt weighing on them. If you are mentally healthy then chances are you will also become physically healthy too. Stress is everywhere in life and if you can rid yourself from the stressful situation of a debt load then that’s all the better for your personal well-being.

Finally, as you are learning to live within this new, cash-only lifestyle, make sure you teach your kids about money. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the various school systems around the nation, from elementary to college; just do not do a good job of teaching our young people about their finances. Because of this, they take a large amount of financial ignorance into their personal lives and the nation’s consumer economic problems are perpetuated. So, using common household lessons, teach your kids about money and credit. Put that at the top of your New Year resolution list.

We are inundated on a daily basis by the 24-hour news and business channels that the United States has experienced the worst of the economic downturn and is now coming out of the greatest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. But if you ask your neighbor, you’re likely to discover that the typical American family just doesn’t buy it; they aren’t feeling any better today than they did yesterday.

In a recent poll of more than 1,000 Americans conducted by CNN/Opinion Research Corporation, 84% of those surveyed believe that the U.S. economy is still very much in recession which is s slight improvement from September’s poll where 87% felt the recession was still alive and well. This kind of public sentiment, while heartfelt, seems to be just the opposite of what the nation’s economists are telling us; that the “Great Recession” has finally come to an end.

Economists are in almost universal agreement that, according to the numbers, the worst of the economic slowdown appears to be behind us. According to the latest reading on gross domestic product, the U.S. economy grew at a 2.8% annual rate in the three months ending in September, the broadest measure of the nation’s economic activity. And while job losses continue, the number of jobs lost in November fell to 11,000, the smallest amount of any month since the start of 2008, while the unemployment rate fell to 10% from 10.2%. Plus a recent survey of top economists from the National Association of Business Economists found 81% agreed that the recession was over.

So, why the discrepancies?

While there have been some economic improvements, economists believe that it will take a long time, perhaps even years to dig out of the economic upheaval that this recession caused. Because the improvements have been slight, the average American family just doesn’t feel it yet. One economist put it this way, “The hole is a very big hole this time and the recovery is very modest so it might take us a number of years to get out of the hole.” And this startling result also came to the surface recently. While economists are getting more optimistic, the consuming public appears to be getting even more pessimistic. The same poll found that only “15% believe the economy is starting to recover from the problems it faced in the past year or so, down from 17% who saw improvement in the previous poll in September.” And the public also believes that things will get worse before it gets better.

This is something that the retail industry didn’t want to hear during the biggest shopping period of the year. Holiday shopping so far has been less than stellar. A recent Christmas Retail Survey released during the first week of December by America’s Research Group (ARG) and UBS showed that sales were weaker this year than in 2008. Of those consumers not shopping, an overwhelming number, 95.1%, said they will wait until just before Christmas (some even said they’d wait until December 24) to get more items on sale.

And further evidence of a shaky American consumer base, the most recent Consumer Credit report released by the Federal Reserve showed that Americans borrowed less for a record ninth straight month in October, another sign that consumer spending will remain weak and make it more difficult for the economy to produce a sustained rebound. And unless the U.S. consumer develops some confidence in the nation’s economic foundation, the chances for recovery are probably negligible.

We are all hoping for a more profitable 2010, and the last thing I want to be is pessimistic (it just goes against my nature). But until our national housing and mortgage industry is repaired, until the banks start loaning money again, until jobs start picking up, until the confidence of the American consumer is bolstered by a feeling that our economy is, in fact, returning to normal, this country could continue to experience the same economic doldrums in the New Year. Let’s hope the effects of the technical economic improvements economists are seeing today will soon show themselves fundamentally to those of us who live on Main Street USA.

When I look back on 2009, I realize that it was an extremely challenging year and many things I wanted to accomplish just didn’t get done for one reason or another. I’m still very proud of what I did accomplish in my business and my personal life and I’m sincerely confident about the prospects for the next year. It never pays to dwell on the bad times when so much of what happened this past year served to teach us valuable lessons; lessons that could never be taught or experienced in a classroom environment, even at the finest business college in the world. The challenge today is discovering fresh ways of effectively applying the lessons we learned this year while assuring ourselves of a better year ahead.

We can only learn from our mistakes after we admit that a mistake actually occurred. We all must realize that without experiencing mistakes in our lives, we would never learn or grow. So, when you look at it from that point of view, our personal blunders can actually turn out to be positive events. Think about how each of us expands our horizons. We don’t just gobble down every fact we can about a subject and instantly become experts. We practice and develop an understanding of the topic; then when we then make our mistakes we simply adjust our methods to develop positive solutions.

It makes no difference what the topic is; when we first learned to walk, all of us probably fell down more than we stood on our own two feet. When we first started learning Algebra equations, we no doubt got more wrong that right. So, when you look at it that way, the mistakes you’ve made along the way have actually helped you become the success you and your business are today. That’s not to say that you should strive to make errors in life, but when you do, you should be prepared to quickly examine them carefully and learn that by changing the way you accomplish any particular task will probably lead you to certain success.

While I’m on the topic of success, one thing that we all need to be very mindful of is the fear of success. So many people today just won’t allow themselves to succeed and when failure does occur (and it will) they interpret that as a sign of weakness and create an internal obstacle that keeps them from experiencing accomplishment. Always remember that it’s the difficult times that create the opportunities in our lives. The more mistakes you make, the more opportunities for you to learn and the more you learn, the more proficient and confident you’ll be in your given vocation.

Mistakes will occur now and then, but you must never allow them to hold you back from attaining your personal goals. Maintain an optimistic approach to life and keep pushing your situation forward; this is how noble ideas are shaped. If you become withdrawn and lose confidence because you made an error, you place an internal roadblock between you and any opportunity that might make itself available. On the other hand, with the proper attitude, your mistakes can become the very source of all future achievements in your life.

I’m sure that we all made a lot of mistakes this year and I’m also certain that we’ll all be making a few more next year. The most important thing to remember is to become deeply aware of your personal situation from day-to-day and adjust quickly to insure that the damaging results produced as a result of your mistakes are simply not allowed to take hold. Just plan to quickly apply the lessons learned from your mistakes and you can be sure that considerable success won’t be too far behind.

The ability to conduct business efficiently in your specific area of expertise is certain to be one of the most critical aspects of your daily routine. In these difficult economic times, the unconditional professional skills of making things happen in your business will set you apart from the rest of the competition. Most times it’s your staff that puts you over the top; they are the ones that make things operate effortlessly and profitably.

When you think about it, you’ve spent quite a lot of time and money training your staff to accomplish the tasks that have, up to this point, helped to craft a successful business. But today’s environment is forcing business to stockpile cash and other assets, and the fastest and most efficient method of increasing your internal cash flow is by cutting the payroll; or is it? You won’t get an argument that it might be the fastest method but it may not be the most cost effective approach in the long run. While things may be volatile today, bad situations always have a way of improving.

Your staff is not only a trusted group internally but your employees have, no doubt, created positive and productive relationships with your customer base as well. They know your product better than anyone and they also know your customer. That is a very important combination because positive customer relations are more likely to translate into future sales.

While many businesses believe that the customer base is the most important asset of any business they couldn’t be more wrong. Without a highly skilled group of employees there would be no customer base. Each individual has their strong points; most probably have more than one to offer. Develop an understanding of everyone’s string points and assign the right person for the right job. Your staff comes in everyday and deals positively with your customers; they keep the books on track, handle the new orders or answer the phones. They do hundreds of other things that can’t even be quantified; they do their jobs so well that you never seem to have a problem. Things run like clockwork because your staff holds it all together.

Don’t get me wrong, there are times when things haven’t run as smoothly as I’d like but that’s why management exists. Sometimes management has a “bad hire” and that can cause quite a few problems; especially to a small business. Those issues must be dealt with quickly but you should know who your “core” employees are; you know who can be counted on to come in at night or on a weekend, if needed, without complaint. You know who is always there to help bolster his or her fellow employees when they have a tough day. You know who the sales person is that never makes excuses but keeps the bottom line solvent. You can’t lose these people; they have a vast amount of corporate memory and that helps to run your business. But more importantly they have a work ethic that is difficult to find these days. You know who is loyal to the company and you also know who is only there to collect a pay check. There is a big difference.

As I said earlier, the economic slump we currently find ourselves in will pass; they always do. When it does, you will want to be in a position to hit the ground running. So, if at all possible, try saving the cash flow by cutting programs before you are forced to cut people. A well-qualified and loyal group of employees is the most valuable asset of any business. It’s the people who control a business – not the other way around. If you have a well-trained and professional staff you must try to hold on to them through the use of any retention programs you have at your disposal. During the challenging times, a feeling of sincere camaraderie will help your business escape the next tight spot the company encounters. Your people are your most important asset.

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