Ah, Halloween. A great excuse for dressing up like a princess, stuffing our children into pumpkins, and of course, eating lots and lots of candy. And since it is that time of year, let’s look at some scary situations that may arise in your business.
1. Eat that Frog - From Mark Twain, via Brian Tracy; Mark Twain once said, “If the first thing that you do when you wake up in the morning is to eat a live frog, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that’s probably the worst thing that’s going to happen to you all day long.”
Okay, so you may not want to eat a live frog; however, don’t ruin an entire work day by procrastinating. If you have a tough phone call to make, collections that need to be made, or have an employee to discipline, get it done first thing. The rest of the day will be easy after that.
2. Interview questions – So you are ready to make that new hire, but you aren’t sure what questions you can ask because you think the Human Resource Police will get you?
Fear not, entrepreneur! You can check out the do’s and don’ts of interview questions from monster.com, here. Monster.com….you get it….because of Halloween? Yep, we thought it was clever, too.
3. Networking – One of, if not the biggest source of business for entrepreneurs, is referrals. Then why do so many entrepreneurs put off networking? Because it can be scary! You are filled with a room of strangers and you don’t know what you should do.
Don’t worry. They are just like bees. They are more afraid of you than you are of them. Or is that snakes? Anyway, you can be successful by having an elevator pitch handy, listening intently to what the other person is telling you, and simply collecting a few business cards.
4. Reading an Income Statement – Do you ever pick up an income statement and feel like you are playing a game of “Where’s Waldo”? There are a lot of numbers and it can be a little overwhelming.
Key things to look at are how you compare to your year-to-date numbers from last year, how much you are spending on expenses compared to other businesses in your industry, and if you are making enough profit.
And as always, you can always consult your favorite CPA firm for any assistance!
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