...What Happens When You Get Sick?

Since it’s cold and flu season I have not missed the opportunity to not only get a bad cold but to pass it along to my husband.  I was down and out for a couple of days as he is now.  So what happens to your business when you get sick? Do you have a contingency plan?  Who handles everything for you?

I have to convince my husband to stay home when he is sick.  First of all he needs time to rest to feel better and fight off the cold.  Second, when he goes in to work and is contagious he gives it to others. So let me just say to those of you who will get sick- STAY HOME! But how do you do that if you are the boss?

If you have staff, you should have them trained to fill in for you when you need them.  We always tell business owners that to truly be a business owner in charge of your own time you need to be able to get away at a minimum of a week without your business falling apart.  That means having someone there to handle everything for you- someone you trust. So if you haven’t done that – make it a priority.  No one wants to think they can be replaced but at the very least they should be replaceable for a week at a time.  It will help your sanity and your health in the long run. 

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Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter

Taking Stock

As we enter a new year, I find myself taking stock of the previous one.  It’s time to look at what I’ve accomplished, what I didn’t get done and look ahead to what I want to do in the New Year.  I think it’s important to list the accomplishments you’ve had, looking at what you’ve done. We get so busy during the year that it’s hard for us to really celebrate what we’ve done in the moment. 

Taking time to look at all the hard work you’ve put into your job or you home life helps you to understand where the year has gone and what you have to show for it.  It’s also a time to look at what I didn’t accomplish last year and what I either want to let go or put back on my list for this year. Sometimes we have a lot we want to accomplish either written down or in our heads. 

So what did you do last year? Do you have things you are really proud of- things you wish you’d gotten around to doing and things that really didn’t matter as much as you thought they did?

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Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter

,,,The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn’t make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps. – Mary Kay Ash

So just curious, how do you treat your employees?   Are they a valued part of your company?  Do you treat them like you don’t want to lose them?  Or do your really not think about them at all?    I watch many business owners and boards interact with their employees, many on a daily basis.  I’ve seen great examples of how to treat an employee and some great examples of how not to treat an employee.  So here is the good, the bad and the ugly. 

The good:  I’ve seen employees treated with respect and valued for their contributions.  I’ve seen employees be given a lot of leeway in their jobs to perform those jobs.  I’ve seen employees be taken on an individual basis and then given tasks to reflect their skill set.  I’ve seen some great reward systems put into place for employees.  I’ve seen great leave packages put together so that employees feel valued. 

The bad:  I’ve seen bosses who blame every failure of the company on their employees instead of taking the responsibility themselves.  I’ve seen bosses who want to do the employees jobs instead of giving up control and allowing the employee to do what they were hired to do.  I’ve seen bosses continually be poor communicators, but always blame their employees for the miscommunication. I’ve seen bosses take credit for the hard work an employee did instead of allowing that employee to shine.  

The ugly:  I’ve seen bosses sexually harass employees.  I’ve seen bosses who very rarely show up for work, but still get paid.  I’ve seen a boss show up to work in cut off shorts and flip flops in the summer (when he actually did show up for work).  I’ve seen boards cover for bad bosses time and time again.  I’ve seen board members try to take employees jobs.  I’ve heard of bosses who are robbing companies blind and their board refuses to discuss it with any of the employees and the employees are so afraid of losing their jobs that they keep their mouths shut. 

This is just a short list of the things I’ve seen. So, what have you seen? What kind of boss are you?  

Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter

...Just Show Up

They say eighty percent of success is just showing up.  I head a committee of about 25 people. The agreement is that once a month we show up for a committee meeting to do our work. What I found when I took over as the chair of that committee was that very few people were actually showing up to the committee but were being allowed to hold a title associated with the committee. 

It didn’t take me long to institute an attendance policy.  I was unsure how people would react to suddenly being held to a standard on this committee. What I have found is that it has been very positive. For those people who have been showing up on a fairly regular basis they are relieved that someone actually addressed the issue. 

What I found is that it wasn’t fair to allow people to have the perks without doing the work.  If the rest of us were there putting in the time and doing the work, then you should be too, if you wanted to be on this committee.  Now it seems like such a simple concept.  If you make the commitment, then fulfill the commitment. Don’t give me fifty excuses as to why you can’t be there. Either show up and do the work or leave the committee. 

It’s pretty much the same way with anything we do in life.  We make commitments, appointments, etc. with people for a reason. If you don’t honor those commitments how long do you think it takes for people to stop making those appointments with you?   When you are running your business, are you making sure that you are fulfilling your commitments to everyone like your staff, your customers?  Because if you aren’t it won’t take any of them long to find someone else to work for or to do business with.  

Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter

...Customer Complaints

Customer Complaints

I have to make a lot of keys for our building here at BizWorks.  I have been using a local hardware company not a big box company.  I was hoping that by using a small shop I would get better service and the keys might actually work most of the time.  

What I’ve found is the service was good, not great but good and the keys for the most part had to be taken back (one set three times). So I took the last set back today and the manager had to ring in the refund to help the cashier.  She neither acknowledged me as a customer nor apologized to me for having to come back in to make the return for a faulty set of keys. 

This was disturbing on many levels.  First, I go in there regularly to have keys made.  Second, as a manager she should have been concerned about the fact that I brought in keys that would not work.  And third, she should have at least acknowledged me. 

So when you have a complaint or a return, are you and your staff handling customers correctly?  Are they leaving you knowing that whatever the issue, things were handled with care and you and your staff were concerned about their experience?   Do customers come back to you time and time again? If not, have you tried to figure out why?  

We all know it’s a lot easier and cheaper to keep a customer than to try to gain a new one. So, why don’t business owners try harder to make sure their current customers are happy? 

The next time you have a customer with a complaint or a return, listen to how your employee treats them and be aware of how you respond. It could be the difference between coming back to you or moving on to another business.    

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Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter