Russ: Good morning. This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at the BusinessMakers.com. This is that show about the risk takers; the people that make it happen. We're talkin' about the private sector.
John: That's right. They're the stars of the economy right now because without them there'd be no economy.
Russ: That's right.
John: And I'm not just saying this because of the current crew we have runnin' the country right now. It would be true no matter who was running the country.
Russ: That's right.
John: 'Cause the private sector, they're the ones that drive jobs that mean something; products, services and ultimately customers who benefit from all that.
Russ: Exactly. Alright. And here's our line up of this morning. Okay. And our topic this morning is exposing and applying entrepreneurship and a strong work ethic experience to those that are less fortunate and often unemployable. For the BusinessMakers Flashback we're gonna revisit parts of our multiple interviews featuring the cool prison entrepreneurship program. Then for our featured guest we're going to be visiting with Larry Keast, founder and CEO of Venture Tech and founder of America in Recovery. We're gonna visit him at the headquarters of Venture Tech, but first. That's right. It's time for the BusinessMakers School of Business brought to you by Champion Energy Services. We still got that high energy -
John: I know. What a champion they are.
Russ: Absolutely.
John: They're the real champ for takin' the risk and sponsoring our segment here and hopefully they're doing very well as a result.
Russ: And like we like to say about them, what they do differently is that they have sort of an open book just - you get to go in there and see exactly what you're paying per kilowatt hour no matter what. Some of the others do a little trickery out there. They don't want you to know.
John: Twickery and scullduggewy.
Russ: You bet. We kick off the School of Business each Saturday morning with a quote of the day.
John: The quote of the day.
Russ: This morning's quote comes from Margaret Thatcher, former British Prime Minister -
John: Ah, Margaret Thatcher; yeah. They're makin' a bio-pic about her with Meryl Streep.
Russ: Wow.
John: Creating a huge controversy.
Russ: Meryl Streep's gonna play Margaret Thatcher.
John: No; Margaret Thatcher's playing Meryl Streep in this bio-pic. No; it's Meryl Streep playing Margaret Thatcher.
Russ: Now is there really a controversy brewing?
John: Oh yeah; 'cause she's portraying her as a senile -
Russ: Oww.
John: -- old lady who has deep regrets over what she did in the past.
Russ: Which is not true, right?
John: Probably isn't. That's Hollywood though so what are you gonna do -
Russ: There ya' go. Alright. And here's Margaret Thatcher's quote, 'The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.'
John: That's exactly. You couldn't get a better definition. I think definition of socialism 'cause in order for that system to even get off the ground you have to use other people's money.
Russ: Right; the private sector, right?
John: Yeah; the private sector and what happens, you eventually run out of that money -
Russ: That's right.
John: And then the governments start accumulating huge wads of debt, which is what we're doing right now.
Russ: Exactly.
John: 'Cause there's not enough money to go around.
Russ: That's right. Right; there ya' go.
John: So, anyway.
Russ: There ya' go. Alright. That brings us to this week in business history. So what happened during this August week in business history?
John: This week in business history, in 1841 former wig ally, President John Tyler, vetoed a bill that would have established a second bank of the United States, caused a riot outside the White House, drunk members of the wig party bombarded the White House. We think things are tough now -
Russ: Drunk members of the wig party.
John: Yeah; try bein' John Tyler exercising a veto.
Russ: Whoa! Okay.
John: This week in business history, also in 1841 the first bankruptcy laws were established. Now before bankruptcy laws, if you ran out of money and had more debts than assets they threw you in debtor's prison.
Russ: And your business was over.
John: That was it. It was done. 'Cause you were in jail. Now with the bankruptcy laws, that's a certain legal process so you liquidate your assets and try to pay off as much of your creditors as possible without having to spend time in prison.
Russ: Plus I think they decided well, some of these businesses, their history put 'em into bankruptcy, but now if you just got rid of their history they would be a profitable entity. So we need some way to figure that out that they can continue on and that's it.
John: This week in business history, in 1868 a French astronomer, Pierre Jules Sayzar Yonson discovers helium and the best part about helium, it makes things go up, it's lighter than air, but it makes people talk funny.
Russ: It makes your voice go up, too.
John: Yeah; it makes your voice go up and try as we may, it's kinda' childish thing to do, but it's a hilarious thing to do ---
Russ: It's a fun childish thing to do; yeah.
John: This week in business history, in fact to be specific, August 19th 1871 is Orville Wright's birthday, one of the inventors of the motorized flight.
Russ: So he would be what - 139 years old today.
John: He would be pretty darn old right now. Then Wilbur was born in 1867 in April and they're generally credited for again, inventing a motorized power human flight.
Russ: Which has worked out pretty well.
John: I think so.
Russ: Yeah; right.
John: Okay. This week in business history, in 1888 the first adding machine in the United States is patented by William Seward Burroughs. Now there's a company called Burroughs. They even got in the computer business.
Russ: That's right.
John: Against and competed with IBM for awhile, but I think they finally went under.
Russ: That's right; 100 -
John: Or got bought out or something.
Russ: Right; 122 years ago -
John: An adding machine.
Russ: -- we suddenly had adding machines anymore; wow.
John: Well I know. Actually but the first adding machine I would think as the Chinese. They had the abacus or whatever it was and that was kind of a machine.
Russ: Kinda'.
John: Kinda', but not exactly. Alright. This week in business history, 1896 the dial telephone was patented.
Russ: Oh, but this is interesting. It was invented in 1896. The first telephone that you remember using, did it have a dial on it?
John: Yeah; I'm sure it did -
Russ: Mine didn't.
John: It didn't.
Russ: You picked up the phone and talked to an operator -
John: Oh, those. Was it a crank? Did you have to crank it?
Russ: No; it wasn't a crank. You just picked up the phone -
John: I've talked to a lot of cranks on the phone.
Russ: And an operator would answer and you'd say, 'I wanna call 352W.' And she would plug it in and -
John: Oh right. That happened; yeah.
Russ: It was like the dial came out in my community not till probably 1957 or so -
John: Oh wow.
Russ: And then we thought boy, this is high tech.
John: Okay. This week in business history, 1905 a trademark is filed for the Cadillac crest. Talk about a trademark that's had a lot of life to it and it's still pretty much the same crest it was back then.
Russ: Wow; the crest; 1905; cool.
John: That's right. This week in business history, in 1937 the Toyota Motor Company is established. It began as a division of the Toyota Automatic Loom Works, was established on this day. The company underwent huge expansions and it's had a few stumbled lately, but it looks like their quality and their public perception of excellence is coming back a little -
Russ: Well yeah, and even the stumble lately seems to be a little bit controversial now as they delve into what really happened in -
John: Isn't that often the case? That's why -
Russ: God, always is.
John: And I think what kind of exacerbated this at the time was the Secretary of Transportation of the Obama administration came out and told everyone not to drive Toyotas 'cause they were unsafe. It was immediately after -
Russ: And they were a competing brand with the -
John: Well yeah, you're right because the Secretary of Transportation is the de facto head of Chrysler and General Motors, which are competitors. So I just decided I'm gonna cool it and see what really happened.
Russ: So maybe we're gettin' ready for another Toyotathon.
John: I love that word. Toyotathon.
Russ: I know you do. That's why I said it.
John: This week in business history, in 1962 the Beatles sack their original drummer, Pete Best, and bring on the new upstart Ringo Starr, who is also a former customer of the BusinessMakers guest Herb Brockstein, the founder of Pro Mart.
Russ: The drumstick company.
John: Drumstick company.
Russ: Imagine though being Pete Best or even a descendant of Pete Best and realizing wow -
John: Or an ancestor of Pete Best knowing all this was going to happen.
Russ: Yeah; gees.
John: Nothin' we can do about it.
Russ: No; that's right.
John: Except comment.
Russ: That's right.
John: This week in business history, in 1969 the very famous music and pharmaceutical event known as Woodstock -
[Music: "Woodstock"]
Russ: Right. Man, it was an incredible cultural event. When you see pictures of it now you realize how different things were at the time. Goodness.
John: It was on a dairy farm at Bethel, New York. I still maintain to this day if you can remember what happened at Woodstock you weren't at Woodstock.
Russ: You're right. That's true.
John: This week in business history, in 1977 Elvis Presley dies in Memphis at the age of 42 heartbreak hotel.. found curled up and dead in his bathroom. He had choked on a banana sandwich or somethin'. But they -
Russ: It's true.
John: I don't know what it was, but it was not a good way to go.
Russ: No; it wasn't.
John: But he had a good run -
Russ: Yeah; I'd say so.
John: Started in 1956 on the Ed Sullivan Show. He had a few ups and downs in his career, but -
Russ: And listen to this, he also bought drums from the BusinessMakers' guest, Herb Brockstein, the founder of Pro Mark Drums. So we're really bringin' that guy up a lot today; yeah.
John: We are.
Russ: He bought the drums that were used on the Ed Sullivan Show -
John: On one of the Ed Sullivan Show appearances; right.
Russ: You should go back and listen to this interview. Herb Brockstein at the BusinessMakers.com.
John: Okay. This week in business history, 1982 Wang Laboratories files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on the very same week in business history that the original bankruptcy laws were formed. How -
Russ: Look at the odd convergence goin' on this week -
John: What are the odds for this? I know. There's I think the planets are in some sort of alignment here.
Russ: Must be; wow.
John: I don't know. What's your sign, baby? Okay. And finally this week in business history in 2008, you've seen Bolt, who recently lost a race by the way, sets a new 100 meter dash record; 9.69 seconds at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Russ: Just unbelievable. But he lost a race recently; wow.
John: Yes; he did.
Russ: He must be drinking and womanizing now with all this fame or something.
John: Just hope he doesn't go in that Tiger Woods like downward spiral.
Russ: Yeah. Alright. That wraps up this morning's history lesson?
John: That wraps it up baby.
Russ: Alright; good job.
John: Thank you.
Russ: That harmonic convergence thing that was goin' on -
John: Harmonica convergence; yes.
Russ: That's right. That brings us to this morning's jargon challenge round.
John: Alright. I've been doing pretty good on this.
Russ: Well ya' have; ya' have -
John: I gotta tell ya'. I think I've got kind of a winning record this year.
Russ: Well ya' have and in fact it's caused me to upgrade the kind of words that I'm gonna propose to you. These are from the secret vault of words rejected by the Oxford English Dictionary.
John: Well they're not real words then.
Russ: Well none of these words are real words. They're always acronyms, techno speak.
John: So this has been rejected as a word.
Russ: That's right.
John: This is like playing scrabble and you get to use words that you make up and I'm not allowed to use it -
Russ: That's right. Are you ready?
John: Okay; lay it on me.
Russ: Freegan.
John: Freegan. Okay. A vegan is someone who eats really weird vegetables or something. So freegan is one that eats free, weird vegetables.
Russ: Wow. I think I'm gonna give you a winner on that.
John: Are you kidding me?
Russ: No. Here's the official, but you were so close to it. It's someone who rejects consumerism usually by eating discarded food. So it's free food. That's what they'll eat. The freegan.
John: Wow.
Russ: Yeah; good job. And that brings us to dumb moments in business. Do you have one for us this morning?
John: We all know about the federal workers. They earn a lot more money than people in the private sector -
Russ: Yes; it's good -
John: And it hasn't always been that way, but -
Russ: That's true.
John: I'd say over the past five or ten years, but the real startling amount, the average federal civilian worker makes about 81,000 and the average person in the private sector makes about 50,000. So that's pretty hefty. But what's really scary is when you look at the benefits. The benefits, the average federal worker makes almost $42,000 a year in benefits and the private sector guy or woman makes about 10,500.
Russ: Whew. And the message there must be that the private sector needs to work harder and harder to help pay for those government jobs --
John: That's right. A very famous politician says when you got too many people in the wagon and not enough pullin' the wagon or cart or whatever you wanna say, then you're gonna have some trouble.
Russ: Yeah; wow.
John: This is a scary thing -
Russ: Yes, it is.
John: -- because the government by and large doesn't make anything.
Russ: Yeah; that's true.
John: There are some exceptions, but those are very rare. Very rare indeed. So for that money they're not really adding any value per se. I'm not saying - ya' have to have some kind of a government out there. You have to have an Army to fight our wars for us and you gotta have the people inspect the jet engines and the food and the elevators and all that kinda' stuff -
Russ: But this sounds out of whack, man.
John: This is very out of whack.
Russ: Feels like a collision course.
John: It's a collision course and this is a scary thing and this is gonna hurt the country.
Russ: I agree. So that brings us to the very popular -
John: It does.
Russ: PKF Texas entrepreneur's playbook and let's welcome Mr. Greg Price.
Greg: This is Greg Price with PKF Texas' Entrepreneur's Playbook.
This may sound obvious, but clients are critical to the success of your business. If you don't have someone willing to pay for your product or service, you don't have a business.
Larry Bildstein, writing for the February 2010 issue of the Journal of Accountancy, broke down the costs to attract a $50,000 client versus retaining a $50,000 client. The positive net profit to attract the client is $0. The positive net profit on the existing client is $11,500. I've posted a link to the article in my blog, www.fromgregshead.com so you can see his full break out.
Given those numbers, these days we can't afford to lose clients. What are you doing to retain your clients?
- Have you sent a client satisfaction survey recently?
- Are you asking at the beginning of each engagement, what does success look like to the client?
- Are you delivering on your contracts in a timely manner?
- How often are you communicating with your clients about their business?
- How often do you take the time to visit with your clients in person rather than dashing off an email or leaving a voicemail?
Be prepared to act on the information you receive. If you don't back up what you say you will do, you lose credibility in the eyes of your clients, thus opening the door for your competitors to step in. Show your clients how important they are to your business.
To read and comment on the PKF Texas' Entrepreneur's Playbook, visit my blog, fromgregshead.com. And be sure to check out the new mobile ready website at PKF Texas.com - PKF Texas, The Fit That's Right!
Russ: Alright. That wraps up this morning's School of Business. Stay tuned in for the BusinessMakers Flashback. We're featuring the prison entrepreneurship program and that's gonna be followed by our featured guest where I interview Larry Keast, founder and CEO of Venture Tech and founder of America in Recovery. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at the busimessmakers.com.
