Great Years Ahead for Business

Will the recently completed 2024 election affect the rise of new business and increased profits for existing companies?  The stock market seems to indicate it will, as everything moved upward after the president was voted in and the value of the U.S. dollar also went up. 

Can having a conservative in the highest office of the United States really make a difference for American business?  A"Yes" answer is more than possible since the new president (for Jan.2025-Jan.2029 ), Donald Trump, is more than a politician who proved his abilitiy to overcome obstacles during a prior (Jan.2017-Jan.2021) term, he has successful businesses himself.  Not only that has he surrounded himself with a team that plans to cut through the red tape of the bloated bureaucracies that are holding entrepreneurs and organizations back.  The new presedential team promises to remove regulations that prevent economic growth and/or facilitate inflation.  For both business and their product/service consumers (U.S.A. citizens), there is also the promise of less taxation, more available energy at lower costs, and reduced interest rates.  If that happens, it should bolster profits for business and savings for Americans, thus helping the economy for almost everyone.

Can they really recover from the years (2021-2024) of cultural decline and economic disaster and do that within a four year term?  Since their party now has a conservative majority, determined to make a difference for America, in both the House and Senate of Congress - the "Yes" is a higher probability if they will cooperate and work together.   It looks like America will be a great place for businesses again and better years are directly ahead for everyone.   

NOTE: Interesting post-election article on government leadership vs corruption and regulation: Trump’s Win Suggests We’re Nineveh, Not Sodom- Now It’s Time to Decontaminate the Place

Leaders Must Understand Conflict Resolution

Managers and team leader who can manage conflict effectively will make a more positive influence on their employees and provide an example for problem solving.  Workplace conflict is a natural occurrence and is going to happen anywhere people intereact and share ideas.  Therefore, having a the sill of conflict resolution is an important business strategy.  Leaders wh have the ability to not only manage conflict, but to teach individuals and teams to do the same will help move projects forward and keep the work environment feeling like a safe place for all.  

Conflict management tips from consultants who have shared their expertise on this blog:

• Anger at Work 
• Listening: The Cure for Ongoing Conflict
• Managing conflicts that are value driven
• Conflict, everybody has it! Can it be productive

Yes conflict can be uncomfortable, but hiding from it instead of confrontig the underlying issues will greatly interfere with current and future work that require interfacing with others.  The natural human instinct during conflict is flight or fight.  Instead of avoiding conflict, it should be seen as an opportunity to look at an issue from all sides to determine the best approach, find common ground, get commitment to the best solution, and develop a process that will best for everyone involved.  Conflict resoultion requires effective training to overcome typical instincts and deal with conflict before it can get out-of-hand.  Skill development required for good conflict management training include: effective listening, interpersonal communication, negotiation, and collaboration.  

For more advie on conflict resolution, check out these longer articles:

• How to Master Conflict Resolution
• 14 Conflict Resolution Strategies for the Workplace

Requiring Skills Over College Degrees for Employee Placement

 Once upon a time, people were hired for jobs based on the skills they had for doing the job and the desire to learn new tasks via on-the-job training.  In the same line, people received career  promotions based on their knowledge of the company values, personal productivity, ability to supervise work tasks, flexibility to step when an employee was out, and accountability to reaching company goals.    

Then came the idea that college degrees were more important than actual ability when hiring new employees or promoting within the company.  After all, they could attend training to learn company values and work processes.  For some jobs the subject of the degree was key, for others the type of degree did not matter so much as as having the diploma.  Training organzations grew to fill the demand for in-house trainng.  At the same time, Human Resource officers were touting "general studies" as a rounded education that would result in a more relevant and modern work force. Followed by training departments being the first department to go if the company had to do lay-offs because products or services were not selling.

As higher education became less educational, the any degree at the Bachelor level and generic MBAs no longer  help companies move forward and meet their goals, the age of "certification" and "specialization" came about.  In other words, companies were returning to requiring skills necessary for immediate success on the job.  Harvard Business Review says "Skills requirements will overtake degree requirements as the'paper ceiling crumbles." in 9 Trends That Will Shape Work in 2024 and Beyond.  Finally, managers and Human Resources decide it is time to return to hiring for skills over eduction. This is not a move backwards, but a return to common sense for business success.  Forbes agrees "Changes in hiring practices that emphasize selecting candidates with the specific experiences and skills needed for a role, rather than qualities such as educational attainment or age, are a part of the industry's response and will continue to be a strong trend." in their article The 10 Biggest Business Trends For 2024 Everyone Must Be Ready For Now.  

Great List of Business Management and Success Quotes

Inspirational quotes are used in motivational speeches, business presentations, and training sessions as a way to drive home the desired  principles.  People remember quotes that resonate with them or are from famous people they respect the opinion of.  

This post is the beginning a few success quotes that will resonate with most business owners and professional people.  Starting with the Will Rogers quote ("Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.") in the image, which applies to anyone with a vision or purpose - whether it is personal or professional.  Mr. Rogers is basically saying if you have an idea to implement or a job to do, get moving on it or someone else will and you will get left behind feeling crushed by your lack of momemtun.  

I want this to be a good list that continues to grow as a great reference for others.  Please feel free to add your own favorite quote to the list by including it as a comment on this post.  

"If you don't drive your business, you will be driven out of business." - B. C. Forbes

"Great companies are built on great products." - Elon Musk

"And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department." - Andrew Carnegie

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." - Colin Powell

"First-rate people hire first-rate people; second-rate people hire third-rate people." - Leo Rosten 

Low Value Programs Killing Business Is Killing Jobs

Do things that create profit matter for business anymore?  Does a little money from the government outweigh the value of business reputation or the big money from customers?

 It seems that the writer of the Forbes article  "The Business Case For Diversity (DEI) May Be Backfiring" thinks it should not matter as much as the feelings of potential employees - not current staff.  If a company does not value generating profit, then how can it afford to keep or hire employees?  If it does not have innovative, trust-worthy, flexible, and qualified personnel; how can a business succeed?  These programs are not resulting in qualified hires, instead they have led to experienced employees complaining about and leaving some companies.  Most employees complaining said they felt less valued so their productivity, creativity, quality, and participation in teamwork suffered.  Those employees then exposed why they left and showed samples of training matierials in videos and on social media.  That exposure led to customers finding out, about the programs that were vastly different from what they valued and then looking for alternative companies to fill their needs.

Still want diversity and equality?  "Why Diversity Programs Fail" in Harvard Business Review says to stop forcing re-written EEO-type initiatives based on race or gender, instead promote volunteer training and mentorship.  The studies this article shares show people get along better working together equally, rather than being told what to do or not do based on gender or race criteria. It now seems that diversity and equity programs tend to divide people instead of increasing inclusiveness, motivation or unity.  The technology areas seem to be suffering the most due to falling quality in systems because of limited qualified candidates in quota related hiring.  So why do government agencies want force or reward these programs?  Why do consultants still push the programs if they do not meet the client's needs? Are the consultants hurting the economy by personally getting richer if their client companies profilts decline or start on a path of going-out-of-busines?  

Understand these terms and the history:

• DEI =Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion  - 2021 Executive Order  
• Government subsidized on-the-job re-training to promote exclusion
• Government sponsored education prior to joining workforce to discourage equality
• Education substituted SEL & CRT (mutation of Karl Marx's Critcal Theory) 
• EEO =Equal[ity] Employment Opportunity (jobs) - 1964 Civil Rights Act of Congress
• Open education and job options to promote a diverse workforce at all levels  

What is the difference between Equity and Equality?  Basically, some are treated differently or all are treated equally.  The majority of people want to be treated equal to others, a few want to be better than others, while none want to be less than others.  Most workers find these forced re-training programs more divisive, not inclusive.  So which kind of employer should companies try to be?  Common sense says treat everyone the same. If not the same, at least based on productivity and responsibility instead of some physical trait that they have no control over. Will businesses expect education to change or will they continue to look for certifications rather than degrees for competent people?  Will human resources have to go back to looking for qulaiied workers tather than some abstract number?

If installing these programs adversely affects ingenuity, morale, productivity, motivation, or profits; will it kill business?  If businesses get boycotted when customers find out they are doing this newest training, will that affect their bottom-line profits?  After seeing what this program does to business, should this acronym be redefined as Death to Empowerent and Innovation? (Or as recently published Discrimination, Exclusion, Indoctrination in Twitter MEME as well as the trending hashtags #DeathToDEI and DEIisDead...)  If businesses die, where will people work?  Logically, when there are less businesses, then there will be less jobs.  Less jobs means killed jobs, which means fewer opportunities for employment.

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Real Marketing Options for Every Business

 

If you have tried lots of marketing options presented in articles or given to you by "next generation" advisors, have you had success?  Maybe a little, but probably not a lot.  So did you waste your money on marketing?  Again, maybe a little if you learned what not to do but for sure if you are still listening to people who are giving you the wrong advice for the type of business you have.  What works for big businesses may not work for small businesses.  What works for selling retail products direct to consumers/customers - does not work for selling products and services to corporate clients.    

If your company is a small business, instead of hiring a consultant, try some of the ideas in 14 Cheap and Effective Small-Business Marketing Strategies.   Notice this article does not mention social media until option 10 and then only as a way to continue the efforts from other options.  Do not jump on a social media platform immediately because someone told you it worked for them.  To be effective  social media must provide something for the reader and must target the people you want reading your posts.

• You may also want to check out blog posts on Marketing via: Website, Blogging, and Video Media  or On-line Press Releases and Article Directories for more more tips related to options 5-10 in article above.

If you are Business to Consumer (B2C) retail seller or service provider, 7 Tips for Consumer Marketing emphasizes digital areas such as ecommerce stores and social media for brand awareness.   The article briefly explains the basic differences between B2C and B2B marketing.  It targets getting customers and repeat business through special offers , customization, and using various strategies to market and grow your business.

If you are Business to Business (B2B) product or service provider, according to The Ultimate Guide to B2B Marketing you should to concentrate on understanding your competition and the standard sales cycle to actually get sales.  The guide compares B2B and B2C marketing differences in a simple chart.  It also explains what you must do before marketing and then explains how to build a multi-faceted marketing strategy.  Social media is more for business brand awareness and most likely will not directly result in sales, but it can be the first place corporate leaders and buyers may find out about you if your marketing plan is done well.  

• B2C or B2B, you may also want to check out blog posts on Marketing via:  To Blog or Not to Blog…that is the Expert’s Question or What Is the Best Alternative for Social Marketing?
  

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Business and Politics: Boycott Likely, BUYcott NOT

Even as many corporations see great losses and a few go bankrupt, their leadership is still failing to recognize that politics in marketing for business is not a good idea.  Using ESG index and DEI initiatives as indicators for business is driving too many out-of-business by alienating customers and landing on "Go Woke Go Broke" boycott lists. Those alienated customers are now looking for entrepreneurs who start-up businesses with either the opposite politics or preferably no politics at all.

Business magazines, newspapers, and blogs are taking note and urging companies to return to concentrating on profits over politics.  

• Newsweek article "As 'Woke' Businesses Face Right-Wing Wrath, Culture War Capitalists Cash In" emphasized  consumers are "are likely to boycott over a political position they don't like but are not likely to "buycott" over stances they agree with." Newsweek also published  "Now Conservatives Embrace Boycotts and Regulations" and "Go Woke, Go Broke? Millennials Say It's True" which suggests this generation greatly disagrees with the supposed new marketing genius of young Gen-?.  
• In blog post "Go Woke, Go Broke: 8 Examples of Companies Facing Consequences," a digital marketing professional explains "From a business mindset, politics should be a big no-go zone. If you are silent about an issue, you might receive pressure from a few activist groups, but things will likely quiet down soon enough, and people will forget about it."
• New York Post shared a former CEOs opinion in article "Woke, Inc: Why I’m blowing whistle on how corporate America is poisoning society." where he notes "... the answer is to do the hard work of rediscovering who we really are."
• The liberal-left VOX media website admits "ripple effects of conservative consumer activism are real" in finance and business article "The conservative boycott playbook is kind of working."

If businesses want to survive, company leadership needs to stop listening to bad advice, research the facts, and understand that politics in marketing can kill their profits and possibly drive them out of business.  Corporate leadership needs to get back to basic business concerns and strategic planning based on items key to success.

Some companies claim they are supporting social issues  because their human resources think it might get younger people to be interested in working for the organization as employees. But, does it get loyal or competent employees? Which matters most to the bottom line - customers or employees?

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Is Your Company Failing?

COVID shutdowns caused a lot of small businesses to fold during and after, even though a few entrepreneurs seemed to flourish (especially those that provided delivery services) through it.  Bigger businesses upgraded their websites to increase online sales and went to Zoom meetings (and contine to do so for travel cost savings) to keep things going.  

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Although people are supposed to be back-at-work now, there is still a crisis in the world of business as inflation rises, regulations increase, and the economy has not yet recovered.  Large and small companies continue going under for various reasons.   

Wondering how to tell if the company you work for or the business you own is about to go out-of-business? 

Check out these articles for employees:

• Signs Your Company Might Soon Go Belly-up from ZD Net
• 9 Red Flags that Layoffs or Closings May Be Imminent on Otterwize blog

Check out these articles for owners :

• The 4 Most Common Reasons a Small Business Fails via Investopedia (1. Financing Hurdles, 2. Inadequate Management, 3. Ineffective Business Planning, 4. Marketing Mishaps)
• Why Small Businesses Fail: Top 8 Reasons for Startup Failure by ZenBusiness