Just in time for Thanksgiving, I’m going “cold turkey.” I’m cutting off my business credit cards.  No more credit for me.  I have a couple of online expenses I pay by credit card, and I’m making sure to pay the full balance off each month.  And I’m going to pay off my current balances, so I don’t have to pay those ridiculous rates.

But, wait a minute…. I didn’t have the cash to pay off the balances, so I thought I would find a new business credit card with a 0% balance. I figured I could pay off the new card before the high interest rate kicked in.

But, wait a minute…This is what got me in trouble in the first place.  The first credit card balance got too high, so I took out the second one at 0% APR and transferred the balance to it.  Then the rate jumped up!  I found out they can cancel the 0% “introductory” rate if you miss even one payment by 3 days.  Ouch!  So then I had two cards with high balances and high interest. Adding another credit card to the pile is easy.

Only a few minutes searching and I easily found a 0% APR card.  I could fill out the application online and get approved and be on my way to balance transfer nirvana within just a few days.

Gee, you suppose that’s how we got into this mess in the first place?  According to a report called “The Secret History of the Credit Card,” the credit card industry has been manipulating us for about 25 years, since deregulation and the lifting of the cap on interest rates.  It is a “fine print” campaign by the credit card companies to entice people to get these low interest or 0% APR cards, then put ‘gotchas’ into the fine print.

Well, no more.  We’re waking up to the shell game.  And we are “Mad as Hell and not going to take it anymore.”  Right! Right?

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Here are a few possibilities, just to get you thinking:

• Trade credit/vendor financing.  Getting credit from vendors works well for equipment and office purchases for startup and expansion.
• Seller financing for buying a business.  Having the seller as your bank may be the only way to get a loan for a business purchase these days.
• State grants.  Many states  have grants or tax incentives for certain categories of business owners (women, minorities, veterans, disabled) and businesses in disadvantaged or disaster areas.

What other creative financing have you considered?

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Part of Pfizer’s problem was an ad campaign featuring noted heart specialist Robert Jarvik (maker of artificial hearts). The Jarvik campaign was pulled in favor of one featuring an average Baby Boomer, back in September.  But Lipitor is set to go “generic” in 2011; it will be interesting to see if Pfizer will come up with another drug in place of this one

People have always taken too many drugs, and now with the growth of drug ads everywhere in the media, people are taking WAY too many drugs.  I am happy that the economic downturn is forcing people to look at their prescription drug expenditures and to cut back.

The flip side of this discussion, of course, is that some people won’t take medications they should take.  Or they will take medications and not have enough money to eat.  That’s sad and true, but it may also be possible that there are other more natural ways to get the same effect.

For example, a nutritionist told me that Red Yeast Rice has been shown to be effective in lowering cholesterol.   Read the Mayo Clinic’s page detailing this supplement.  They give it an “A” in lowering total cholesterol, LDL’s, and trigyceride levels. I don’t know the cost of the Red Yeast Rice, but I’m sure it isn’t as much as Lipitor.

Do you know of any other natural alternatives to high-priced medicines?  Do you think we Baby Boomers should start considering natural healing, alternative medicine, to save money and be healthier?

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Why does raising prices help “recession-proof” your business?  Three reasons:

1.  Since most businesses tend to under-price, it gets you closer to a realistic price for your work or for your products.  For products, it gives you a bigger margin (you get to keep more of the price of the product).  For services, it gives you a better hourly rate for your time.  And as I always say, “time is money.”

2.  If your sales are down, you are still ok because you are making enough on each sale.  You can sell fewer and still have enough money to pay your bills.  And that’s the point of recession-proofing.

3.  And you can still do “specials” (as KitchenIdentity suggested), and do some discounting (just a little; don’t go crazy) to people who might be good sources of referrals or additional business later. 

Raising prices brings you clos

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• No Retirement Income. Most of us (with a few exceptions like my husband) will have no  guaranteed retirement income.  Annuity pensions have gone the way of the carrier pigeon (long gone, never to return).
• No more company contributions to 401(k)s.  Many companies are using the downturn as an excuse to save money by cutting their contributions to 401(k) plans. We won’t be getting any help from our companies in contributing to our retirements.  It will be up to us.
• Don’t count on Social Security.  We have all known for a long time that the Social Security system is in serious trouble.

We have all been living in LA-LA land if we think our employers and the government are going to help us in retirement.  We can’t wait around for the new administration or anyone else to hand us money or to give us back the 30% many of us lost on our retirement funds.  The only way we will all survive is to help ourselves, by building our own companies and, as Charlie says, “making our own economy.”

I will continue to use Small Business Boomers to give you ideas for possible businesses you can start, to show you ways to save money on start-up and growth, and to help you find ways to make those businesses profitable so you can put away money for retirement.  Thanks for listening.

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Of course, I had to  check out places where you can get training in how to do book binding.  I found that the Guild of BookWorkers has many study opportunities around the U.S. and the world.  The Guild has been in existence since 1906, and is dedicated to “kinship” between those in the “hand book crafts.”

In Iowa, theUniversity of Iowa Center for the Book has a 24-hour graduate program in book binding, and there are many special programs and exhibits of book binding each year.  I’m sure your area has similar types of opportunities.

I will put book binding on my list of possibilities for when I retire.  The list is already too full, but who cares?

http://www.uiowa.edu/~ctrbook/programs/requirements.shtml

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From Fox News - A “Two-Fer”  (meaning we getBill along with Hillary)

OR

From Atlantic Online “An Inspired Idea” 

What do you think?

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Today is the last day of Larina Kase’s Blog Tour for The Confident Leader.  I’m excited that Larina chose to stop by Small Business Boomers today.  Larina did an interview for my new book The Complete Guide to Working for Yourself, and I found her to be gracious and motivational.  She was a joy to interview.  In this interview, Dr. Kase talks about baby boomers and leadership.

So, before today’s interview, a little bit about Larina:

Larina Kase, PsyD, MBA is a professional speaker, author, and recognized expert in peak performance, anxiety and stress management, leadership, and entrepreneurship.  She has a doctorate in psychology and masters in business administration, and her unique approach is regularly seen in media such as Inc., Entrepreneur, SELF and on national TV and radio. She is the author or coauthor of 7 books including The New York Times bestseller The Confident Speaker. She has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs and executives from companies such as Verizon, Intel, Morgan Stanley, & Ernst & Young…. and me, of course.

Let’s get to the interview:

 Q: Dr. Kase, how can baby boomers who are considering their next career move bring their previous experience into new leadership situations?

A: It’s interesting because a lot of the most important skills to be an exceptional leader are not the skills that most people think of as leadership per se. Instead, they are characteristics of emotional intelligence, things like empathy, listening skills, organizational awareness (understanding the big picture and vision of the organization as well as politics), confidence, and emotional regulation (keeping appropriately calm or energized no matter what the situation.

I encourage leaders to take inventory of their experience with aspects such as these. Ideally they not only write down their own views but gain feedback from others, either with 360-degree feedback or other forms of collecting data (ideally, anonymously for maximum honesty).

In taking your own inventory, first become aware of your strengths. Do this by writing down your key accomplishments and accolades in your career. Then take note of what underlying characteristic the achievement exemplified or built.

For example, “In my sales role, I achieved the highest sales in our region.” This achievement was due to natural strengths in listening to people and understanding where they’re coming from (empathy and influence). This achievement developed my self-awareness and emotional regulation by dealing with high-pressure sales situations.

Most emotional intelligence skills can be learned. We’re all stronger in some areas than others and we want to capitalize on our strengths as well as develop the areas that are important in our leadership roles.

Q: Why do we know what we need (and even want to do) but we don’t do it?

We high-achieving types are great consumers of knowledge. We always want to learn more and be our best, but most of the time we struggle with turning our knowledge into action. There are many reasons for this, including:

• The timing isn’t right
• We don’t have the right support or other resources
• We aren’t committed to making the change
• We don’t yet have the skills to successfully take action

These reasons can be legitimate and important to consider and manage, or they can be excuses. The #1 reason that we don’t take action is fear. We doubt ourselves and get paralyzed with indecision. When fear is active, these reasons all feel very legitimate, when in reality they are not important.

The key, then, is to critically evaluate your readiness to take action when you are not feeling particularly anxious about the change. If you need to address these factors, do so, and while you have momentum, start taking action!

Q: What are the keys to making difficult decisions?

A: There are essentially two processes at our disposal for making decisions. The first is rational (based on our thoughts), and the second is emotive (based on our feelings). The second includes the feelings that you’re aware of (excited, interested, skeptical, unsure, afraid, etc.) as well as your intuition or gut feeling.

We owe it to ourselves to use both of these processes when faced with a difficult decision. First, assess your gut reaction. What feels right? Then go through a logical analysis, weighing the pros and cons. Then assess your emotional reaction again. Has it changed?

Bear in mind that much of the research on decision making shows that people are happier with their decisions when they go with their gut reaction or follow their heart. This may be because we try to rationalize our decisions based on what we think we “should” do, but it’s sometimes difficult to change our feelings based on reason.

Our feelings are most helpful in making a decision when they are positive ones. Positive feelings (happiness, liking, interest) compel us toward something while negative feelings (fear, sadness, jealousy) compel us away from something. For example, if you are nervous your feelings may tell you to avoid taking action when in reality this is not the best choice.

So, when in doubt, or if you’re stuck, go with your feelings, especially if they are positive ones.

Q: What are the top 5 mistakes that people make when confronting an important change?

A: When faced with an important decision or change most people make one of the following common mistakes:

• They avoid the opportunity. They choose to settle for the status quo rather than going after an incredible change because they fear failure and humiliation.

• They go after the opportunity before they are ready. They plunge right in (knowing that if they don’t take action, they never will). The problem is that they haven’t adequately prepared. They haven’t lined up the resources and support that they need. They haven’t created a plan. They may be successful, but it is more due to luck than strategy.

• They dilute their responsibility. They go after the opportunity, but choose to be a follower rather than a leader. This way, if it doesn’t work, they aren’t to blame, but if it does, they can claim partial victory.

• They rely on old crutches. They go for it, but do so with their old crutches and habits which hold them back from truly pursuing the opportunity.

• They retreat at the first sign of failure. Unfortunately many people escape from uncomfortable situations too early—before they have a chance to get used to the anxiety and achieve their goals.

You see, avoidance is the number one killer of confidence and high-achievement. All five of the mistakes above entail some form of avoidance. The solution is to make a choice and stick to it 100%.

Q: How can Baby Boomers in businesses find out more about becoming confident leaders?

A: My new book The Confident Leader: How the Most Successful People Go from Effective to Exceptional provides a 6-step formula for taking on key challenges, making difficult decisions, and navigating outside your comfort zone.

The second half applies the formula to key business areas such as staying focused and motivated, marketing yourself, standing out, and dealing with difficult people. It includes interviews with business leaders such as Seth Godin, Tim Sanders, and Joe Vitale. Learn more and get bonus offerings for business owners at  The Confident Leader.

Thanks, Larina, for including Small Business Boomers in your blog tour.

Images from Performance and Success Coaching - used with permission

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Today we don’t have the same concern about banks -the FDIC says it will protect money in bank accounts, but many people are still nervous.  And nervous people do strange things.

The sale of safes is booming, as people look around and decide that they can’t risk their money in the market, and the interest rate on bank and money market accounts is non-existent.

One big reason for the safes: people are buying gold and silver as their prices rise.   The price of gold is on the rise (you can watch a live gold price site to see minute-by-minute changes).

You may also want to buy a safe if you have valuable papers and you don’t want them in a safe deposit box.  My husband says the “fire proof” label doesn’t really protect you in case of a fire.  But the safe deposit box at the bank might be closed when you need that passport or certificate.

Would you consider buying a safe?

How about putting a bow on it and calling it a Christmas present?

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There ain’t no free lunches in this country. And don’t go spending your whole life commiserating that you got raw deals. You’ve got to say, ‘I think that if I keep working at this and want it bad enough I can have it.’

Wait a minute!  Isn’t Lee Iacocca the same guy who engineered the  “bailout” of Chrysler back in 1979?  So, Lee, have you forgotten that you received the proverbial “free lunch”?  Or, did you?

One of my favorite economic concepts is the principle of TANSTAAFL - There Ain’t No Such Thing as a Free Lunch.  In other words, you might think it’s free, but you will pay for it, one way or another.  This works for big companies who think they are getting a bailout, but everything (especially “handouts” from the federal government) comes with strings.  Look out for those strings.

We have forgotten about good old hard work and ethics and all the things we Baby Boomers learned in school and taught our children.  Maybe we all need to go back to school, or at least we ought to spend some time working in a homeless shelter or soup kitchen.

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