Small Business Boomers

I received a rant today from a good friend who is a dentist, and I want to publish it in full:
I have to talk to you about this.  Why aren’t the high schools educating people anymore?????   I am looking for another assistant, but their English is TERRIBLE!  These applicants can’t write in complete sentences.  They fail to capitalize the first letter of sentences.  They write “i” instead of “I”.  Geez!!!!!
 
I told one applicant yesterday to go take a business English course if she wanted to succeed in the work environment.  
The worst offender was a guy who purported to be a …read more

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In tough times, it’s sometimes necessary to let employees go (nice way of saying you’re laying them off).  However you say it, it’s not a pleasant task, for either of you. But sometimes there are ways to keep employees on the payroll.  Here are some suggestions:
1.  Reduce Hours.  This is the easiest one, for you.  Particularly for hourly employees, you can cut back on hours.  Make sure that you are also cutting back on duties and not expecting that person to work fewer hours and accomplish the same tasks.
2.  Cut Benefits.  I know, this isn’t something you want to do …read more

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In my “day job” I talk to a lot of Millenials who want to go into health care practices as “associates,” working with baby boomers.  These young people come to me with contracts and want my opinion.  I don’t give legal opinions (I’m not a lawyer and I don’t play one on TV), but I do walk them through the contract and ask questions:  “What does this mean?”  “Why is this section here?”  “Here is what I think this means.”  And sometimes, “What the bleep is this?!”
I recently saw a contract that was written by …read more

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The situation I talked about yesterday, with the travel agent who got mad because the doctor didn’t use her agency to book a trip, has another twist to it.  The patient was 20 minutes late for her appointment.  And she was typically at least 15 minutes late for every appointment.  I told the doctor she should have been “fired.” (I realize health care providers have a little different situation, since they can be sued for abandonment if they just stop treating a patient.)
In your business, have you ever been tempted to get rid of a customer? Here are some of …read more

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Being in business is scary. And one of the scariest things about being in business is having to deal with scary employees…Nightmare employees. Not that they run around like Freddy or Jason (I can never keep those two straight), but they cause you nightmares.
For example (true stories):

The young woman who had her mother write a note for her “excusing her” from working a business event
The young woman who showed up for her interview with her mother in tow
The father who berated the business owner for giving his daughter a poor evaluation, because it “damaged her self-esteem”
The woman …read more

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