Business Beware Blog: Giving Your Business a Voice

Never Get a Real Job

Okay if you don’t know who Scott Gerber is then we suggest you get to know him. We have had the pleasure of talking with him on the show twice already and each time it’s been oh so awesome. And he will be on the show in the next coming weeks so don’t miss it!

Here is some info and background on Scott’s book: (taken from Amazon)

A lot of business books hold your hand, make you feel good, and are set to convince you that your passion and “unique” business idea are enough to plow through your competition, garner new leads, and make millions just because you can write a business plan that says so.

This is not that kind of book.

A twenty-something hustler, rainmaker, and bootstrapper who has survived and thrived despite never having held the proverbial “real” job, Scott Gerber is the ultimate “Generation Y-er.” He’s a self-taught serial entrepreneur who built several successful businesses without storied business connections, a business school background, executive training—or investment dollars. And in Never Get a “Real” Job, he shows you how he succeeded so you can overcome today’s chronic conditions of mass unemployment, underemployment, and dead-end 9-to-5s.

Gerber gives you the no-bull reality on turning your business idea into a viable enterprise capable ofgenerating real income now—based on his hard-knocks lessons learned in the entrepreneurial trenches. From the perils of doing too much too fast, to bogging down a promising start-up with infrastructure long before it’s needed, Gerber has experienced firsthand how you can sabotage your own business. Never Get a “Real” Job will help you avoid the costly mistakes that can take down your enterprise at any time, helping you to get off the ground, establish your business, and keep it successfully up and running.

But Gerber isn’t just giving you a collection of war stories. He gives you insights from a fellow young entrepreneur on how to start from absolutely nothing—building a viable business model from the ground up. Along with straight-shooting advice on creating contacts and cultivating clients, he offers practical, affordable, step-by-step instructions on how to constantly analyze, refine, and target your business offerings—while minimizing wasted time and keeping you on track.

With vast resources like online tools, Web sites, checklists, and hard coaching, as well as thousands of dollars worth of connections to free and discounted small business services, Never Get a “Real” Job takes you off the unrewarding resume and cover letter cycle, while putting you on the road toward becoming a self-sufficient business owner, and creating a life that gives you a real shot at the success you deserve.

Sounds sweet huh? Well get on over to Amazon and get the book, get it for a friend and wrap it up as a gift or get it for a family member and put it in their stocking (it’s perfect size!).

Check out Scott’s site Never Get a Real Job and make sure to watch the show when we have Scott come on the show and chat with us about his book.

Twas the Non-Paying Customer

1. Customer refused to pay.

2. Business sent out late notice after late notice for over 7 months.

3. Business is about to give up and not worry about collecting money.

4. The business owner finds Business Beware *tada!*

5. Sends beware letter to customer.

6. Customer sends check in the mail 7 days later.

7. Business keeps all the money ($1890) and can afford to give out Christmas bonuses (kidding).

Lesson learned: use Business Beware to your advantage and collect the money that you’re owed and keep it ALL.

**Testimonial sent in by Kyle Davis of Jackson, TN

The Retail Chronicles

Okay Black Friday is over with and we all survived or at least most of us did. As we all know this is only the beginning of the holiday shopping for the upcoming Christmas season or as we say here at Business Beware “Tis the season for….the CustoMonster shoppers.

In the spirit of the holidays and CustoMonsters we decided to open the floor up to all of you retail workers out there (and anyone wanting to share stories that can’t necessarily post a bad customer on the site) where you can share your stories of CustoMonster encounters you experience.

There are going to be some great ones we can just feel it. To submit your story just visit here and send it over to us so we can get it posted. Make sure and spread the word about it so others can join in and submit theirs too. If yours is just flat out unbelievable and we just can’t pass up then we will have you come on the show and chat with us about it.

Better Business Bureau: When the foundation cracks!

For over one hundred years both consumers and businesses have relied on the Better Business Bureau to be the rock, tell the truth, be the point of reference between disputed relations and more than anything help both sides. is it just coming down to a point of pay for a good mark?  Is this no worse than a student paying for a good grade?  A contractor paying for illegal bid information?   A sports figure throwing a game for money?  Sure it’s the same thing!   But coming from a “non-profit” organization like the BBB is just down right wrong. 

I used to be a member of the BBB years ago.  After paying out many thousands of dollars I decided that the investment was not worth the little or no return I was getting on my dollar.  Then after many attempts by the BBB of strong arm tactics telling me if I joined that they could help “protect” my reputation I was done with them forever.  I have also been told that if I paid my dues that my rating would improve quickly!  What did you say?  Looks like I wasn’t the only one that this was suggested to.  I guess they have finally tried their nazi tactics to many times on the wrong people.  Here is a link to a youtube.com video that 20/20 did on the BBB.  Very enlightening to say the least. (watch the clip at the bottom)

In over 30 years of being a business owner I have heard the phrase” I’m gonna call the BBB on you and complain………”, only three times.  Each and every time my response to them was,  If you have time to waste go on and waste it because you’d be better off sicking your poodle on me!  If they weren’t mad before the conversation just heated up.  Every business person gets tired of hearing this watered down threat.  Don’t get me wrong there are some very unscrupulous companies out there, but there are some award winning wacko customers too.  We commonly call them our “CUSTOMONSTERS.” 

This is just another slap on the face of Americans In this age of major companies falling or having to be bailed out,  Problem with all of this is with the BBB now finally showing their true colors it really makes what little strength they had start to trickle away!  As I said before the worst of it is this is a not for profit organization.  There is no profit left I guess when you have outlets in over 100 cities in the U.S. and many of the directors of these outlets are well into six figure salaries!  Wow, sounds like they might need a bail out soon too.

No matter what anyone says, we need an organization like the BBB.  Just as much as we need Business Beware to help balance the scales.   What a great opportunity each has to be an advocate for the business and the consumer. 

All I have got to say is make it right BBB.  You definitely will lose income by dropping the strong arm tactics, but will re-strengthen your company and regain some of the trust you have lost or keep going the same way and you are doomed!  When you make a mistake admit it and correct it then move on. 

Although the verdict is out, right now we give the BBB a grade of “F”, but if you send me a payment I can re-evaluate my findings and do a little grade curve.

People know what we stand for here at Business Beware and some friends sent this over to us via Twitter to take a look at. So of course it got us thinking that we had to take action and talk about what’s going on with the BBB. We will be talking about it in the upcoming show episodes and of course through our blogs and articles. So send in your thoughts as well we would love to hear from you and maybe even have you on the show to chat with us about it.

P.S.Who gives Wolfgang Puck a bad grade seriously?!

Are you ready for new episodes of the Business Beware Show?

New episodes coming to local speakers and video near you.

Find out more here.

Thanksgiving Is Not Just About the Side Dishes

It’s about that time! Thanksgiving is here again already and you can literally smell what’s cooking in the family home. This is one of our favorite times of the year but not just because of the fantastic side dishes you get to indulge in it’s the spirit and joy in the air.

It’s about sitting back and being thankful about what you have and who you have around you. We can all get busy in our everyday lives with work, our stresses, family, relationships, kids etc. but sometimes we forget to really appreciate what we do have and how blessed we are. There are so many people out there that don’t have what you do, can’t go play a game of basketball and maybe don’t have any family of their own to lean on.

The keyword is “giving.”

Give back, whether you take the time to tell your family how much you appreciate them or even help a stranger out. Most people don’t care what sort of car you drive, the house you live in or how many country clubs you are members of because the things they remember are the times you were there for them or helped them out. My grandfather use to say “a hearse doesn’t have a luggage rack.” It’s so true and there is a lot of wisdom in that.

Make sure to enjoy the things around you this Thanksgiving Holiday and every day after that. And absolutely enjoy and indulge in the side dishes.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Business Beware!

Helping Businesses? Or Is It Just All About the Money?

Has anyone noticed that everyone is obsessed with money and what you’re making for a living? The first question we get asked every time that we tell others about Business Beware is “How are you making money with it?” Seriously? In all of what I just told you about us and our site that’s all you got out of it?

Yes, you want to make money especially if you put a lot of time into something because in this world we live in you have to make something just to keep up. But what I am getting at is why are there so many organizations/associations out there that are supposedly “helping businesses” only about the money and how many memberships they can rake in? We were discussing this the other day with some good friends of ours about how we reach out to these organizations about what we do and how we can help business owners but the only thing that they say is “well are you a member and when can you become a member? Oh and by the way it’s $600 for the year membership.” So basically you want me to pay for a membership to be a part of your organization so I can tell your members about our free site when you are claiming to “help business owners and offer support?”

Many don’t offer support until you hand over the check or credit card and then where is the support really? We have worked with many organizations, some are great and some are not so great. Most don’t really offer to help and it takes forever to even get an answer back. We have emailed a handful of associations and chambers out there and about 80% of them have yet to respond back. Now this was through personal emails as well where they should get back with you about questions you have etc. What if you have a great event coming to that area that you want all the business owners to know about but they won’t even return your call? True story just recently.

Why is it most are it’s all in who you know or the “good ole boys club.” That’s just wrong. If you cancel people out just because they are not in your circle then you could really be missing out on something great because you’re too worried about how good you look or how many trophies you have to display. A friend opened a new shop a few months ago and was getting ready for the grand opening so you can imagine how crazy things were and how he was trying to get the word out. Different organizations, the paper and other individuals found out about it and showed up to the grand opening wanting to get their picture taken with the owner so they could be in the paper (just another “trophy” to add to their wall). The local organizations attacked him asking him for money as well as numerous other individuals in the area. The guys who came out for the photos at the opening? Rich “good ole boys” who think they run the town based on how much money they have and how old they are. It just doesn’t work like that and that’s ridiculous to try and take advantage of a new business owner that has invested money into his dream business.

Okay read this: We are not saying that all of these organizations are like this but you should know exactly who we are talking about. We just can’t believe that with all of these places claiming to help a business owner or entrepreneur it truly boils down to just collecting the $$$. Here’s a tip to those out there like this…people can see through this or most can anyways. Business owners before you decide to take the plunge into becoming members of chambers/associations talk with your fellow business owners and ask them how or if it’s helping them in any way. If the first thing out of the chamber’s mouth is “show me the money” then you have your answer. Don’t get caught up in the organizations that say you need their seal of approval for customers to “like” or “approve” of you, because that is just stupid. There are many bad businesses that know someone and basically paid to get their name on the “good list” for the seal of approval.

It’s sad that this is how things are but you just have to see if it’s worth it to you and your business to be a part of these organizations. If not then move on and save your time and money. Just like there are bad customers and bad businesses there are some bad organizations out there too.

Why You Should Fire a CustoMonster

Do we really have to answer this question? Here’s our definition of a CustoMonster: a bully. a lack of respect for employees, business owners etc.

If a customer is either of part of that definition then you don’t need to business with them. Period. So many people don’t understand this and say “well my business is new so I need all the customers I can get.” Yes, as a new business it’s imperative to get customers to come through the doors but not the ones that are totally wrong for your business or that are going to become the CUSTOMONSTER. Huge difference my friends.

We just had to throw this out there even though we preach it everyday because we had a discussion about this very subject with someone today and thought we would make it clear that you have to fire your bad customers – aka “the CustoMonsters.”

Got it? Now get out there and just do it.

Business Beware at the New York City Marathon

The NYC Marathon was yesterday and we want to congratulate all our friends and everyone who participated in the event. So many people were running in this marathon whether it was to support charities or just to cross it off their bucket list.

We came across an awesome group of people supporting a non-profit called Camp Interactive. This group of runners were raising money for the foundation to show their support.

We decided it was such an amazing thing they were doing that we wanted to be a part of it since we couldn’t be there for the run. Emily Gannet and her friend Rachel Sklar put Business Beware on their arms during the race since we donated and support their cause. We are so pumped that we could be a part of that day and support such an amazing organization along with Emily and Rachel running in the race.

For more information about the organization you can visit Camp Interactive and Team Interactive for more information on the team of runners who participated in the event.

Follow Emily @EmilyGannet

Follow Rachel @rachelsklar

Where’s Business Beware?

Can you guess what’s in this picture?

You remember the character “Where’s Waldo?” The little guy in stripes you always tried to find among all of the crowds and pictures? Well we at Business Beware have decided to create our own style of this we like to call…..wait for it….“Where’s Business Beware?” Fancy right?

We are going to take pictures with our handy dandy mini moo cards all over the place where you have the chance to guess what’s in the picture. It may be a product, place, business, store etc. and if you can guess what or where it’s at then we are giving you a free t-shirt. Yes, an authentic and official BB t-shirt with other cool swag too.

This will be an ongoing thing so don’t worry if you miss one there will be plenty to go around where you can take a guess too. Don’t put the guess here in the comments send them to info-at-businessbeware-dot-biz with the subject: WHERE’S BUSINESS BEWARE

We will post each photo here and on our posterous blog too.