An Article by Karen Whitman, SPIA Partner: There is definitely a risk to business owners with a “wait and see” attitude. Just to name a few:

Loss of market share
Lost customers
Loss of profitability
Loss of cash flow
Loss of liquidity
Inability to keep up with technology
Loss of productivity
Loss of key employees
Panicked employees
(Worst scenario)—Loss of your business

The greatest risk is the fear induced by the thought of the above happening in your business. This kind of fear can actually paralyze a person’s thinking, and it is the thoughts that control actions. Disabled thinking equals immobility in your business. Even though your business may not be at risk, this thinking makes you feel threatened. It goes back to the old adage, “If you think you can, you will, and if you think you can’t, you don’t!”

Whether you have a wonderful business idea – or – you are investigating business opportunities for yourself or a client, it is critical that you put each idea through a “reality check” – an analysis to determine if they are truly valid and worthy of further effort. All of your ideas must have a demonstrated need, ready market, and ability to provide a solid return on investment.

Is the idea feasible in the marketplace? Is there demand? Can it be done? Are you able to pull together the persons and resources to pull it off before the window of opportunity closes? These questions must be considered and answered.

I LOVE MY BUSINESS: If you’re an entrepreneur, you know the joy of having creating something – your business – and made it successful. You put in the long-hours – worried about your “baby” (your business) days/nights and even weekends during challenging times. And, you watched it overcome these challenges and prosper. It has been much like having another child — your business (child) — and you love it because it is part of you as much as your son or daughter.

Yes there were rewards – the sense of accomplishment – the pleasure of surrounding yourself with the managers and line staff you found, trained and together built the successful business. And there were financial rewards, too.

While that was nice, maybe it isn’t as important now after years in business as it was when you first decided to go into business for yourself. Today there are days when you are just plain “tired”. And other days you wish you could spend more time with the children and grandchildren and not have to come in every day.

For many employers, the choice to hire an employee or an independent contractor had become one of convenience. It’s cheaper and easier to hire independent contractors. They don’t get medical or other employee benefits; they don’t get overtime and aren’t subject to minimum wage restrictions; the employer doesn’t withhold taxes, provide worker’s compensation or contribute to unemployment compensation and they help moderate the impact of peaks in work-flow.

Poisoning an employee? What does that mean? I’ve never hurt anyone anytime in my life! Deliberately yes – likely what you think is the case may not be true! Why? Because poisoning an employee means you’ve removed one or more employee’s sense of empowerment and ability to positively impact the efficiencies/effectiveness of what they do for the company!

What is the typical result of “POISONING AN EMPLOYEE”? Two possible results – there may be many more: 1) they quit and you’re left in the cold having to replace them quickly as their loyalty to the company is no longer there or 2) worse yet – they stay with the company but they’re there only physically – they no longer care and do “just enough work” with less energy and drive than they had before you poisoned them.