The Art of Tolerance

What is tolerance? 

We've heard a lot about it in the news lately. Especially after the patriarch of the Robertson clan expressed his religious belief.

It appears to me that tolerance is the weapon of  the extreme left minority  to force their beliefs and practices on others, the majority. That is not tolerance. That is intolerance.

Tolerance means I accept your beliefs and practices. However, I do not have to practice or take part in them.

According to the Webster's College Dictionary, tolerance is a fair and permissive attitude toward those whose race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own.

That raises the question, what is fair?

 

Is it 'fair' to force your opinion or view on others? I do not think so.

Is it 'fair' to force others to change their beliefs because it offends you? I do not think so.

Is it 'fair' to force a third party to inflict hurt to the person or person's you disagree with? Definitely not!

When you force another to change their beliefs, religious or otherwise, directly or indirectly, you yourself are not being tolerant, you are being coercive.  

Coercive means using force or threats to make someone do something you want. Something that is different than the beliefs about the person you want to change. That is precisely what is being done here by GLADD. As a matter of fact, that is accurately what the left is doing and their tool is called "political correctness." They are coercing someone to change their godly views because they do not like them by forcing financial pain on them. By demanding A & E to take action against Phil Robertson because of his devout views, something A & E has known for years ... Phil's deep religious belief, they are being coercive. Shame on them!

As for the rest of us, how should we be handling this event? For me, I will support the Robertson's for standing tall on their religious beliefs. It is not important if I hold these beliefs myself or not. They have a right to them and to express them. I respect them for that.

I do condemn those who coerce those to change because they do not like their beliefs, religious or otherwise. That is wrong, and it is shameful, if not just plain disgusting.

A man who walks in his beliefs, stands tall on them. Men who have no beliefs, cover their footsteps with lies and deceit.

I'm tired of the intolerance of those who wish to change the majority of us because they don't like the term 'Christian' or otherwise. If you expect me to show tolerance to you and your beliefs, I expect you to show tolerance to mine.

Working Harder, Earning Less?

Are you working harder for less money?

A common complaint from many contractors is being forced to drop their margins in order to get work from owners who suffer with the low bid mentality. 

The result in for the contractor is working harder but being personally grossly underpaid for their efforts and risk.

This raises the valid question; is being the low bidder worth it?

In my forty years as a contractor, one thing, I did learn is this. The only way to be successful as the low bidder is to have complete control and understanding of your financials. And here lies the problem for many owners of small construction businesses.

Too many contractors either judge their financial progress by their checkbook balances, or by their gut feeling. Both  methods are the formula for a perfect storm.

As a business coach for contractors, I find in my contractors coaching, many small contractors (those doing under $10 million or more), are operating with bad numbers, poor pricing models and insufficient markup.

I also find in the contractors coaching process that they fail to understand what selling their value really means, and the hidden gold mine of targeting their best type of customers.

Without these two, elements understood perfectly. Marketing and selling suffer dramatically. Costs rise, and profits decline.

The good news is this.

All the above syndromes can be rectified with coaching and guidance. I've worked with some positive contractors who are willing to take the time and put forth the effort to gain control over their businesses, and increase their worth.

In the meantime, if you're  working harder, and earning less, maybe it is time you consider getting help and discovering how you can take control over your business. Why? Because no one needs to work for nothing, especially when you own the business!

The Problem with Promises

We've all experienced that client or customer who tells you they're going to give you a job ... or maybe the next one.

The problem is that too many business owners start seeing the money as theirs, like they already have it in their hands.

 Even worse, some in spite of not having it but believing it is theirs, start spending it.

 They call it "gearing up" for the promised work.

 The truth is, until you have actually got the money in your hands, you don't have it!

I run into this quite often with owners of construction companies. Someone promised them the work, got them all involved, suck all their good ideas out of their minds, and move on to someone else.

These so-called prospective customers are bottom-feeders. You need to figure out their approach and avoid them like the plague, or develop a system to stop their flagrant use of your precious time.

I suggest entering into a limited contract to hire you as their consultant. You can also start making them pay for your estimate. To sweeten the pot, offer to credit it off of your contract for the work.

Whatever you do, stop spending money you haven't earned yet.

What is the value of this for you?

Have you ever felt your business should be doing better, but it is not?

 

Have you ever felt you should have a better handle on your business, but you don't know how?

 

Have you ever felt that your business is consuming your life, taking you away from your family and things you enjoy, but you don't know how to take back control over it?

 

I think we can all agree that owning a business is not easy, and sometimes it is overwhelming. Especially when you don't have someone to turn to.

 

And that brings us to the next question. Why can't you do this on your own?

 

Each of us deal in some manner with the same business problems, but each of us interacts with them in a world of our own making, a world that is a function of our beliefs. Some owners feel that they are in a world which they are the center of it. Some believe that life is difficult, and in which 'obstacles' keep you from getting what you want. In some people's reality, this is the way the world really is, so all your choices and possibilities are affected by "your" world.

 

However, this is not true. Let me explain.

 

The world around us is what matters, not the world the person has created in their minds and belief system. It is the world around us that holds unlimited possibilities. And ... it is not holding anything back, it is the person's knowledge, mindset, and belief system of their world that is doing that. I call it self-sabotage.

 

Therefore ....

 

Because your world view is a function of your mind and your beliefs, changing that world view, how you 'commonly' approach or lack of, opens the countless possibilities to you, that didn't exist for you before.

 

But understand this.

 

I’m not just talking about self-esteem type beliefs, I’m talking about beliefs that consist of assumptions about what can and can’t be done in the world, and how to go about doing it.

 

That is where business-building coaching can help you tremendously. It shows you a better way to run your business. It helps you develop the knowledge that improves your performance. It uncovers and corrects the things that are being done incorrectly. It provides you with the specialized knowledge you haven't acquired yet, and sometimes the main value of having a trusted advisor to point you in the right direction.

 

What you are getting is the mindset or world view you haven't mastered because you can't see it from your world view. Coaches see your business from the outside looking in. Having a coach brings a better insight into your business. Having a coach will automatically open up to you the correct way to elevate the success of your business. So ultimately the most important thing coaching can do is not merely point out opportunities you can’t see because of your different worldview, but help you change your own mindset, knowledge and approach so you can attain them.

 

Remember ...

 

I help business owners who are spending too much time at work to clarify & prioritize their focus so that they can make more money and work as little as they want.

 

Isn't that what you really want?

 

If you are interested, I have some open slots for four people in my monthly one-on-one coaching program. This gives you a complete analysis of your business, and one weekly call for up to one-hour each week for four weeks, plus unlimited email to work with you in correcting and implementing your business mindset. The cost is $497 for the four week session.

 

Eliminate one or more roadblocks in your business, and it will certainly make this investment trump change.

 

>>>Click here to get your business on the right track now!<<<

This mistake is going to destroy your construction business!

As builders and owners of a construction business, there is one area where you may not only be leaving money on the table, but you may be losing it at an alarming rate. It's at a step in the process you may think you are doing right, but there's a 9 out of 10 chance that you are doing it completely wrong. It could cripple, even destroy, your business in the long run.

The fact is, you aren't calculating your markup properly, and it is killing your margins. It doesn't matter how good of a contractor you are, or how good your builders are - if you aren't properly marking up your work and the supplies it takes to fulfill the jobs, you are going to go broke. If you are making the mistake of assuming you are using the proper markup rates, it's not a matter of IF, it's a matter of WHEN.

Don't fall into the trap of underbidding your work either. Just landing jobs is not going to keep you afloat- in fact, if you aren't selective and honest with your bids, all of that work is just going to bring down your business faster. Builders must properly calculate their markups in order to have margins that cover overhead, your salary, and bring in profit. If you are not accounting for any one of these the right way, you are losing money on every single job.

The problem has been that there was no real, solid, easy to understand information out there to help builders figure out how to properly calculate their markups. All the information is either outdated, vague, or generic - none of which are going to help you with the real costs of your business.

Don't worry anymore, because finally, there is great news for contractors and builders! There's now a resource that will help you leverage the power of a "Reverse Equilibrium Budget" to help you quickly, easily, and properly calculate the real markup rates you need not only to stay afloat, but to profit, and expand.

This resource for builders is called the  Contractor's Markup Guide, and it going to change everything you ever thought about calculating your markups. The guide will show you, in simple terms, several areas where you are leaking money in your business. It covers everything from understanding a little know "Risk Factor" to designing, setting, and tracking an effective budget. The guide will clue you in to something that you are missing in your sales - and you will kick yourself for not knowing this one! - to the single most important element you are missing in calculating your markup correctly; The Contractor's Markup Guide is an in depth instruction that teaches you the ingenious "Reverse Equilibrium" method of markup calculation that will blow your mind - and blow your profits wide open!

The training is complimented by easy to follow and execute spreadsheets to help you quickly calculate the Equilibrium your budget needs, as well as a "Reality Check-in" tabulation sheet that will help you take a hard, honest look at what you've been doing in your business up until now. Packed with simple, 1-2-3 information and a whole slew of bonus tools to help you execute your new markup methods, the Contractor's Markup Guide is exactly what builders need to plug up the hole in their budget, and sail into a sea of success!

The Danger of Doing Nothing

One of the most common obstacles I run into with potential clients that seek my coaching services to help them with their business, is their hesitation to take action.

It is not unusual to see an owner of a contracting business, frozen in their tracks with fear when business takes a turn for the worse. What most do not realize is that due to their lack of mastery of their business skills, their business was doomed before the economy turned on them.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not implying that all is lost. In fact, my recent review of my coaching clients that came to me six-months ago demonstrated the power of getting help.

Let me explain.

The clients who started with me back then, religiously follow up and implemented the changes I worked with them, have shown HUGE gains. For all practical purposes, I'll focus on the smaller volume clients. Those doing under $200K in Sales in that time period. We made big changes in their pricing model, marketing, business strategy and financial control. All have seen an increase in Sales, been able to take a weekly salary, and showing a Net Profit for the six-months ending in the 21 to 23 percent range. That means around $21,00 or more after paying themselves a reasonable weekly wage. All within six-months!

Yet, many others, due to their lack of taking action, have not been able to achieve similar results, or anything close.

You see, getting help does HELP! Doing nothing, gets you NOTHING!

Getting the right coaching help to improve your business, make money and sell your products or services, is the right thing to do.

Without it, you keep yourself on a path of nothing.

So, instead of doing nothing, or trying to figure out the right strategy when you have no clue what to do, the best strategy is to get expert advice. Advice from someone who has seen your predicament before, and knows the correct path to turn things around.

What you need is the best strategy, that powerful one that layers all the proven strategies one on top of each other in a synergistic model to produce the best result possible for you and your business.

Don't be that frozen deer standing in the road staring into the oncoming lights of the inevitable. Get help now, not later.

Because the outcome of doing nothing is predictable.

Ready to talk? Click on the link below and we'll set up an appointment.

>>>Henry! I'm ready to do something. Let's talk!<<<