Recently while in Central Europe, I pondered why all of the teenagers seem to smoke cigarettes? In fact, if they are to fit in, then they are expected to smoke.

It continues to fascinate me – even after living there and doing business throughout the region since 1995. Yes, even with all that, I am still fascinated by this cultural phenomenon.

Then upon returning to the states, I read about yet another “fee” the airlines were beginning to charge so that they could claim they offered low fares, only to offset the claim with adding on upwards of 50% additional in hidden fees and charges when the passenger arrives.

I opened my Sprint bill to see that the $89.95 “coverage plan” was really 105.00 after all the cr_ p they add on. No transparency there!

Finally, my call to the bank left me on hold for 38 minutes. I had a simple question but was advised that:

1. I could go to www. bla bla bla (I just needed to clarify something with a real person)

1. On the other hand, I could accept my fate and yes! “Continue to hold because my business is very important to them!!!!!” Oh yea, they did apologize for the delay – so that made me feel much better!

As I sat on hold, I reflected on my curious fascination over Czech teenagers smoking cigarettes and then realized the connection with lousy service here in The United States!

And here it is

Just as people in other countries are expected to smoke cigarettes as a rite of passage, we American consumers are expected to receive and tolerate terrible, abusive lousy service. Just as cigarettes will eventually kill scores of people in other countrys, the stress in dealing with large corporate conglomerates may eventually do the same to the American consumer.

Yes, it has become very clear that many businesses seem to almost compete on:

1. Who can offer the worst customer service?
2. Who can be the most deliberately misleading
3. Who can come up with the most ways” to hit you in the pocketbook?”

As you may realize, new laws recently passed to make credit card statements more transparent. The law clearly stipulates that all new credit card statements must be easy to understand and yes, transparent. I laughed when recent ads began rolling out from Bank America, boasting, “They were dedicated to transparency”. Really? Why did it take them so long? (Please refer to comment #2.)

The bottom line is that on the most part, American consumers and small businesses put up with this. They accept it as the norm and we are expected to conform to it.

But here is the golden nugget:

Businesses that are well organized with a clear mission to customer service are in an ideal position to wrestle away a large conglomerates clientele. With a promise of good customer service, quality products and transparency that is real, they can, and will win over the masses!

Even better, once the word is out, the happy and delighted customers will do a lot of the advertising for you. Yes, it is true; offering exceptional customer service that demonstrates true appreciation to the customer should become the “expected norm.” In addition, we consumers and business owners alike have a responsibility to embrace it and expect it!

When it comes to hiring practices, there are still companies out there that just do not seem to get it.

What do I mean by this? I am referring to the meat grinder approach to hiring and firing. Unfortunately, a sad percentage of companies in America continue with this shortsighted practice. Some of them right here in the back yard of Austin Texas.

Once a week, I have one of our research interns go through various want ads and job placement boards searching for companies that appear to have a high level of job listings. Why? Because it generally means one of two things:

1. Business is booming and they are expanding! (Good for us, because they tend to be highly receptive to ad and marketing services, and growth strategy planning that we can advise on!)

1. 2. The second is a company is going through a phase, which is causing a frustrating level of job turnover. Also good because we provide services that will get inside an operation to determine what is wrong.

Then there are those who just “turn over” employees for the sake of well, “turning over employees!” Why? Not because it is fun, but because these businesses actually believe it is less costly to spend an obscene amount of money placing ads, interviewing prospects, training, terminating and then eventually fighting challenges with the State Departments of Labor.

I became fascinated with one company particular; you know the one that maintains ongoing weekly ads in the job listings section of the paper and 30 or so on Craigslist, and on and on. Interestingly enough, I came across someone who had actually interviewed with them, and was told she was hired!

The job candidate first discovered that unlike the ad had promised, the pay was not what it alluded to be. Then when she asked about someone being sick, she was advised that calling in sick required a doctor’s note. But what about health insurance so that one could afford a doctor’s visit? No such thing, “but wait the HR guy exclaimed, you will be so excited working for us that you won’t have time to get sick!”

Of course, as the story grew worse it became apparent that her “alarming opportunity” had really become an “Alarming” situation!

After hearing the story, we actually contacted them and suggested that they stood to save a substantial amount of money if they revised their HR policies and sought ways to maintain happy employees.

One would think that in today’s job environment, people being hired would really try to stay employed. Even in a lousy work environment. Not the case for these people. High turnover proudly continues. When asked why? We were told that many people who come to work just don’t work out. Really?!

So, for the next decade I suppose they will continue to run the meat grinder. Eventually however, as word gets around about how bad of an employer this company really is, then things will eventually catch up with them. You see, consumers don’t like to give their business to someone who hurt a spouse, family member or friend. Bad hiring practices are eventually seen for what they are, “bad for business!”

The New Normal is telling us that investing in US growth stocks, generally speaking, is not such a great idea. The consumer spending data (PCE), which drives growth, is telling us that growth is unlikely. The three spending factors which drive PCE;

1. Aging boomers
2. Reduced wages
3. Increased savings which are not likely to change in the near future.

Shiller’s market P/E is telling us that we may be near the peak of a bull market. These two factors, PCE and P/E, would seem to indicate that we can anticipate either a plateau or a reduction in share prices for the foreseeable future.

As previously discussed, the average investor is most familiar with growth stocks, especially large U.S. stocks. There are other alternatives. Dividend-paying stocks, bonds, non-US stocks, and commodities are an alternative to large US stocks. They are also less affected by US consumer spending. All of these investments can be accessed via Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), or mutual funds. These vehicles make investing easier for the average investor.

Investors have always heard that they should diversify. In the New Normal, diversification is more important than ever. Diversification allows the investor to buy shares of entities that are not controlled by US consumer spending.

Unfortunately, many are unclear as to what diversification means. However,Owning shares of HP, IBM and Dell is not diversification. These are all large cap US growth stocks and their share prices tend to move up or down together.

To diversify, one should own shares of large US, small US, and non-US companies. One should also own bonds and commodities. A full discussion of diversification and asset classes is beyond the scope of this article but numerous books are available on the subject.

Another important factor in the New Normal will be investment costs. Since returns are less than they have been in the past, it is more important than ever to reduce or eliminate anything that reduces your total return. Investment costs include commissions of any form, account management fees, mutual fund loads as well as annual charges or 12b1 fees.

This is by no means a complete list, the point is to identify and reduce fees whenever possible. Don’t be afraid to question your broker or your investment person, if you have one. If you buy online, make sure you identify and evaluate the fees before you purchase. You are entitled to a full disclosure of fees. If you don’t get full disclosure, walk away.

Some alternatives that will help you reduce costs include:

1. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), they provide a low-cost alternative to mutual funds.
2. Discount brokers: they allow you to purchase securities at a minimal commission. If you use an advisor, determine what fees he/she charges and compare them with the fees of other advisors. Consider dividend-paying as well as growth stocks.

It is still possible to be a successful investor in the New Normal. However, depending solely on U.S. stock offerings is not the best strategy. The two keys to success are diversifying your investment mix and reducing your fees whenever possible.

Paul Greenleaf is the Principal Financial Adviser with Greenleaf Financial Planning, and has advised on client’s investment, retirement planning and other personal finance decisions since 2006.
His firm continues to maintain a 99% satisfied customer retention rate. This, even at a time when many firms have experience a major shake-up in customer trust and loyalty resulting in the economic downturn. For more information, you may contact them @ 512-913-8555 or visit their website @ www.paulgreenleaf.com.

Most experts agree that economic conditions have changed. They have started referring to the current environment as the “New Normal”. However, the only things they seem to be able to agree on are the name and the fact that the New Normal will have an effect on the stock market.

Here is my opinion
The average investor is most familiar with what are called growth stocks.
These are stocks that, hopefully, increase in value once you purchase them. A stock grows in value when the company’s earnings (or potential for earnings), increases. Thus, your investment return comes from selling the stock for more than you paid for it.
Additionally, the average investor is most familiar with the stock of large U.S. companies. These are referred to as U.S. Large Cap stocks. Many of these are included in the S&P 500 stock index.
Most economists agree that consumer spending drives the U.S. economy. Historically, it accounts for at least 70% of the GDP. Usually, consumer spending data is shown in a month-over-month format. Joseph Ellis has charted consumer-spending data in a year-over-year manner. When consumer spending is graphed in that way, growth in the S&P 500 stocks follows almost the same pattern as consumer spending. However, the S&P 500 lags consumer spending by six to twelve months. These charts can be found at www.aheadofthecurve.com.
The conclusion that Mr. Ellis reached is that one can predict the behavior of the S&P 500 if one studies consumer-spending data. His data, which goes back to 1960, indicates that consumer spending does indeed affect the growth of the S&P 500.

Enter the New Normal. In my opinion, four major factors have created the New Normal:
1. The aging of the Baby Boomer generation
2. Across-the-board reduction in wages
3. An increase in household saving patterns
4. And low inflation.

The first three factors have combined to cause a reduction in consumer spending, also referred to as Personal Consumer Expenditures or PCE.
Baby boomers are the largest population segment in the U.S. Research data shows that age 45 is an individual’s peak spending year. The last baby boomer turned 45 in 2004. Ellis’s charts show that consumer spending (PCE), year-over-year, began to trend downward in 2004.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the average wage has been declining since 2002. This is attributable, in my opinion, to the offshoring of U.S. jobs. Well-paid manufacturing jobs were lost and replaced by lower-paying retail or service industry jobs. The BLS wage data indicates that this is indeed the case. Reduced wages mean a family has less money available to spend, contributing to the decline in PCE.
The savings rate for the average family over the past decade has been close to zero percent of income. However, since the most recent recession, things have changed. Bureau of Labor Statistics charts show that the average savings rate has increased to approximately 6% of income. This has also resulted in less consumer spending.
These three factors have combined to cause a reduction in consumer spending, PCE. The decline in PCE has caused a downward trend in the S&P 500.

The stock market dropped approximately 40% during the most recent downturn. This of course cannot be attributed solely to a reduction in PCE. There were other factors at work affecting the market. The bursting of the real estate bubble and subsequent bank failures created a huge panic and a steep decline in stock prices.
Over the past few months, the market has recovered from the panic and stock prices are returning to their pre-panic values. In my opinion, the current stock price increases are more indicative of a recovery from irrational panic than an indication of an increase in value. Zero inflation, a drop in the value of the dollar, and good old-fashioned irrational investor behavior are also factors in the recovery.
This brings us to the current market conditions and the New Normal. The current S&P price to earnings ratio, or P/E, is 19.77. This figure comes from 10 year average data compiled by Yale economics professor Robert Shiller. A P/E of 20 or more indicates to some that the S&P 500 is near the peak of a bull market.
What can we conclude? The S&P 500 is at a bull market peak. The previously discussed consumer spending data indicates that continued growth is unlikely. If conditions remain the same, investing in U.S. growth stocks does not appear to be a winning strategy. While there will certainly be individual companies that have great successes and a resultant price increase, in general this will probably not be the case. So what should an investor do? Check back next week, and I will share my conclusion.

__________________________________________________________________
Paul Greenleaf is the Principal Financial Adviser with Greenleaf Financial Planning and has advised on client’s investment, retirement planning and other personal finance decisions since 2006.
His firm continues to maintain a 99% satisfied customer retention rate. This, even at a time when many firms have experience a major shake-up in customer trust and loyalty resulting in the economic downturn. For more information, you may contact them @ 512-913-8555 or visit their website @ www.paulgreenleaf.com.

Recently, after reviewing financials of three of our small business clients we noticed that all of them had bank fees which had gone up substantially.After discussing details, it became clear that the banks were out to make a quick fix in short term gains by gouging them.

The first client noticed that Chase bank had not been sending them regular bank statements for their credit card. Their accounting department promptly notified the bank and were thanked and informed that the bank had mistakenly been mailing their statements to an incorrect address and a current statement would be sent out.

Several days later, the new statement arrived. When it was reviewed, it was discovered that the bank had added over $100.00 in late fees and worse, increased their interest rate from 8.5% to 28%!When the company president personally called to ask why, he was informed that fees and additional charges applied because it was their (the customer’s) sole responsibility to see to it that all bills are paid in a timely fashion (even if they did not receive a statement).

The client protested and attempted to take the matter through the bank’s layers of bureaucracy where, upon receipt of another statement, realized that now the interest rate had climbed even higher. I advised the client that he pay off either the entire amount and close the account, or transfer the amount to a lower bearing card offer. They chose to pay off the balance and close the account.

Another client, a developer (and who was frequently out of the country) set up an auto-pay program with his bank. The idea of course, was to ensure that payments due by a set date were automatically paid. Upon review of their statement, we were called to discuss what their friendly bank had done to them. They (the bank) changed the due date of the payment and then assessed a late fee plus interest increase to their APR.When questioned why this happened, the developer was told that “buried in their fine print” was a clause that provided the bank the right to change payment dates without notice. Once again, the burden was on the customer to be on top of things. And, once again, the client paid off the balance in its entirety and closed the account, vowing never to be dependent on credit again.

Finally, there is a small business customer who, after becoming entangled in a morass of problems with Barclays, sent a certified (signature required of receipt) letter of protest to the Senior VP of customer relations. This was done after repeated efforts failed in working out a solution with the bank’s “customer care” division. Several weeks passed, and the business owner received a reply, which simply stated, “we are receipts of your letter, please contact our customer care division to resolve this matter.”

THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THESE BANKS SIMPLY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR PROBLEM, AND UNTIL THE CUSTOMER BECOMES KING AGAIN, THEY WON’T!

Why should they? They have been bailed out by whom? You, the consumer, so why should they care what you do or think? Default? No problem, the defaulted business or consumer becomes a tax write off.

But, there is a more disturbing TREND AND ISSUE here. While Congress has reluctantly made it less possible for banks to conduct business this way through the new rules and regulations, the bottom line remains, that REALLY, they don’t care.

Arrogance is what helped bring down some of our greatest institutions.

Sears use to be king. I recall that when as a boy, everyone shopped at Sears!  Sears even erected the Sears tower, a tribute to their conglomerate strength. Then one day, I walked into the kitchen and saw my father cutting up his Sears charge card. “Why?” I asked. “Because we are tired of their attitude”, he replied.”

It was not long before Sears became de-throned by K-Mart, who was de-thronned by Wal-Mart (who was almost de-throned by someone else that we never heard of until they got smart and realized that they were beginning to look a bit arrogant and vulnerable as well.

The same thing happened to GM, remember those lousy cars they put out? It took, bringing them to their knees before they got religion. Now, “God bless- em”, and they have rolled out some good products recently! Moreover, I hear that they really seem to appreciate their customers more! However, for years and I can personally attest, that their quality was inferior, and their attitude was in the toilet, until they saw the light.

The list goes on and on, (and I didn’t even mention the airlines) – but my primary focus in this writing is about our banks and lending institutions.

So how is your company bank or Credit Union treating you these days?

Can you trust them? Do you have a good relationship with your banker? If not you should, and here is a red flag, if your banker is consistently being replaced, then it is time to replace your bank.

At the end of the day, we as both business owners and consumers have a responsibility not only to ourselves, but to our country’s future to see to it that the people who loan, and take our money are people that not only we can trust, but are people that want to see us, and our country successful.This is what helped to make us great in the first place and needs to begin happening again. Courtesy and fairness is the key.

Many business people today agree on one thing, that 2009 will be remembered as perhaps one of the biggest challenges in their history. Here is your chance to review what’s been working versus what has not. In addition, smart opportunities that you can seize to make 2010 a phenomenal year!

Part 1: Knowing what went wrong and making it right

The economy is something we cannot control, but there are still important things that we can do to adapt to make things more favorable.

Shaking out the bad and growing the good

1. Poor and outdated systems and processes that no longer work
2. Poorly performing employees or those who are not prepared to acclimate to new systems, processes and times
3. Outdated marketing and advertising campaigns

Revisiting your customer

1. Who they are
2. What they want
3. How to keep them

• The value of customer surveys and how they give you the tools to compete and win

Customer surveys offer a valuable opportunity to get an idea of who your customer is and what they think about you. Feedback from customer surveys are best complemented with a mystery shopping program that, when combined, will offer the following roadmap of information and solutions. Here is how the phases of this process work:

Phase 1

Customer feedback on how you are doing = (“Wow, we weren’t aware about those problems!”)

= location review (is it convenient?) and personnel reception (were they friendly?)

= performance, morale and aptitude gauge = employee interviews (are they behind you?)

= input from employees (so you can increase morale and motivational solutions)

Phase 2

= identifying areas of incompetence or management shortcomings that may be preventing growth and adaption (are things broken?) = company MRI to better identify company malignancies (where is it, and can it be fixed?) = re-inventing company systems and operations (to better serve customers and increase sales)

Phase 3

= utilizing customer survey positives for marketing purposes (“wow, look at why they like us!”)

= rebranding and re-messaging or validating current branding with announcements of improvements made (“so this is what we are famous for!”)

Phase 4

= a new adapted or reinvented company positioned for increased market share and profitability (yes, increase sales and customer loyalty and retention with a better team to serve them!)

Using history to understand how social, economic and political events shape business successes and failures

How social events change consumer habits

How political events change consumer habits

How economic events change consumer habits

So, do your customers still need you? If so, will they still require your products and services in the next ten years? ____ Yes ____ No

If not, what are three key things you need to change to make your business model relevant?

Part 2: Your new opportunity foundation

• Growth strategies for 2010, are you ready to get serious about rapid growth and expansion? If so, here are some  possible ways to take advantage of the economic downturn:
• Maximizing your opportunities – now

1. Better locations available
2. Possible Government incentives may be available
3. A great pool of employees are waiting to be considered

• Profit margins; is this the time to re-assess?

1. Thin and dangerous profit margins (with a large pool of customers) versus big ones (with a smaller  pool of customers) The Eden Story (contact us to learn the details of this tragic story!)
2. Earning the right to charge more – The Starbucks and Nordstrom’s  stories

• How to intelligently grow from 1 – 3 location(s) – to 15 – 50, where and why?

1. Revisit the definition of location? Does it fit with the overall products and services that will be offered?
2. Is it convenient?
3. Will the kind of staffing required, fit the needs of new locations?
4. If you are expanding outside of your comfort zone, how well do you know the new area?
5. The value of having a location scout work with your commercial broker to identify a real winner
6. Culture, culture culture!

• Seize the possibility of outflanking your competitors  - The Southwest story

• Common mistakes companies make when advertising

1. Market research or assumptions?
2. 2. Advertising what your customers say you are – “not!”
3. With going with the large and missing the mark
4. By going with the cheap and doing the cheese
5. Dot.com marketing failures – that predictable bass sound
6. Textbook application and consumer turn offs, “introducing, introducing and yes, introducing!”

• A few gems – From the The Super Bowl to Geico ads

Blending your retirement objectives to really complement your business strategies

Note: Your business success and its value at the point of succession should be viewed as your other retirement portfolio

1. Succession planning – Will you replace yourself and continue to retire with a percentage?
2. Should you convert your business into a franchise model?
3. How would the sale of your business benefit your retirement plans today?
4. How should it benefit your retirement plans in ten years from now?

• Three things you can do to increase its value

1. Locate  the business value obstacles now, and  remove or correct them
2. Get a business valuation to see where you really stand in terms of your eventual sale of business for retirement objectives. Then create a pro-active plan with strategies designed to meet your final objective.

• Ask yourself, will/should this be sold as a business or an M&A proposition?

About the auther

John Russell has been a Business Advisor since 1992. He began his practice while running three successful ventures in Hawaii, and was sought out by several businesses requesting his counsel and perspective.

As the founder and Principal Advisor of his firm The Russell Consulting Group, he has been instrumental in successfully navigating companies and business owners through financial straits and economic downturns with a combination of candid assessment and innovative solutions.

His clients have included small businesses seeking rapid expansion as well as Multi National Corporations requiring management consulting and intervention both in the United States as well as in Europe.

Mr. Russell continues to believe and advocate the importance of blending historical knowledge to current social, political and economic events. Today’s political and economic climate demands that we be vigilant toward understanding the lessons of yesterday with the opportunities we can create for tomorrow.______________________________________________________________________________

For additional information, please visit:

www.therussellconsultinggroup.com

0r, contact John directly at john@therussellconsultingroup.com

Social Media: Think You Don’t Need It? Think Again

By: Abigail Mahnke

As a business owner offering social media services to other businesses, I hear all kinds of responses when social media comes up, from “What’s that?” to “I don’t know how to use it” to “That may be good for some types of businesses but not for mine!” What is your opinion of social media? Do you even know what it is?

What Is Social Media?

When we refer to social media today, we’re talking about such websites as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, along with blogs and e-newsletters. The heart of social media is really simple: You interact socially through the Internet. If you are on Facebook, you know that it allows you to connect easily with friends new, old, near, and far. You can also become fans of products or causes or companies (or pretty much anything you want). Facebook is a whole world unto itself, where you can chat, exchange information, play games, advertise and so much more. Facebook has over 300 million active users, 50% of whom log on in a given day. (Wow.)

Why does this matter to businesses? Social media networks are a phenomenal way to connect to the public, due to the incredibly easy and vast flow of information. If I discover a product I love, I can tell everybody in my network on Facebook or Twitter about it with one simple post. If they like it, they tell their friends about it and so on and so on. Businesses now have access to millions and millions of people in a very short period of time with very little if any advertising dollars spent in the process.

You should know that 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations, while only 14% trust advertisements. (Source: www.socialnomics.com) If you want peer recommendations, you’ll find them on places like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the more than 200 million blogs out there. (You will also find them on websites such as www.TripAdvisor.com, which provides hotel reviews written by the people who have actually stayed at the hotels!)

How Does Social Media Work?

Like any tool, social media can be used well or poorly. Because social media is about social interaction, users want to have a fun and informative experience. We, as consumers ourselves, love to learn about new products and services, especially if a friend is raving about them. We do not, however, want businesses shoving their offerings down our (digital) throats unasked. (That’s similar to the door-to-door salespeople or telemarketers who call on us uninvited during dinner.)

In this new digital world, businesses do well to create relationships with their potential (and actual) customers. They achieve this by doing things like giving out tips and recommendations, and posting articles that educate us. This blog article is an example. I’m a business owner offering specific services but I am not hawking my wares right now. Rather, I am simply trying to inform you. John Russell, at The Russell Consulting Group has asked me to be a guest blogger because he wants to offer value to his current and potential clients. The idea is that the more we provide useful information to you, the more you’ll trust us. And if you trust us, you’re more likely to want to use our services. Moreover, if you don’t use our services, perhaps you’ll recommend us to someone else. It comes back to those trusty peer recommendations.

Another fantastic use of social media is for free market research! Are you considering offering a new product/service but not sure if people would be interested? Or maybe you have three products you’re considering but not sure which one consumers will want the most? Ask your online network! This is a brilliant way to connect with your customer base—it shows you care about what they think and are trying to provide the best product/service possible. Plus, people love to give their opinions! Your network is happy and you increase your chances of success.

Who Needs Social Media?

While some businesses seem to be able to take advantage of social media easily, others feel like social media does not apply to them. A retail store or restaurant offering sales, promotions and coupons can post these on Facebook and Twitter and get great, immediate results. But what about an insurance agent? The bottom line is this: If you’re in business, you need to be using social media. Why? Because, plain and simple, it’s where many consumers are hanging out and it’s how business is being conducted today. Even if you don’t have use social media in your personal life, you should use it professionally.

So how does, say, an insurance agent take advantage of social media? Insurance is not sexy and we don’t think of our insurance agents as pals, right? However, consider this. Though homeowners hate to think about their insurance, they really can’t stand it when the coverage they have doesn’t fully cover the fire that burns the house down. A quick online post about how to calculate the level of dwelling coverage a homeowner needs would be substantially valuable! Some people will actually take a moment to do the calculation, and if their current agent hasn’t done right by them, you may have just found yourself a new client.

Social media helps you stay in front of people’s minds, so they think of you when the need arises for your services. In addition, you become a trusted source and people like to do business with people they trust. You can use traditional forms of advertising, but they are costly, many people don’t trust them and you will be missing out on the millions of people socially interacting through the Web!

But I Don’t Know What to Do

Some people take to social media like a fish in water. If this is not you, fear not. As a CEO or a small business owner, you’re not expected to know how to do everything. Your own time is best spent on the things that you do well or only you can do. Social media is a brave new world and chances are good that you don’t yet feel comfortable in it. The good news is that there are many “fish” out there who understand how it works, have figured out how to leverage it and are more than happy to help you make the most of it. Welcome to the world of social media—come on in!

Abigail Mahnke is President of The Outsource Resource. For more information or to contact her directly, please go to www.outres.net

Feng Shui to Boost Your Profits

By Belinda Mendoza

Certified Feng Shui Consultant, Austin, Texas

I embarked upon Feng Shui while I was in my medical sales profession.  I found someone to do my home/office as I felt my 13 yr. career was stagnant.  I was doing all the right things but still not making as much money as those of equal contributions or receiving recognition.  I had heard about Feng Shui from a friend and thought, “why not”?  It made sense to me that good energy flow could lead to good things.  I had already been practicing reiki, a Japanese healing art that works with energy so I was very open.

Feng Shui is 4,000 yrs. Old and has applications for today’s times.  It is the art of harmonious placement.  The two words mean Wind and Water. It is good design, ergonomics, energy, architecture, landscaping, geomancy, organization, and space planning rolled into one.  In feng shui we endeavor to mimic nature.

My consultant at the time was out of New York.  He is an Architect/Feng Shui expert and gave me some recommendations that within a few days of implementation, I was seeing some positive and dramatic changes in my job.  I had more movement, pay raises, and promotions over a two-year period than I had had in over ten years.

I was intrigued and fascinated so kept learning and was so serious about it, I went to China to study.  I became certified while still working in my corporate job.  I furthered my studies in the states and after a couple of years, resigned from my corporate job to do Feng Shui full-time.  I wanted to help others experience what I had.  13Yrs. later, I still enjoy helping businesses and people prosper.  My intention is to create more harmony in the world one business at a time.

Several years later, I was introduced to a gentleman who owned a trucking company. I was very excited as to what an example of East meets West this was!

The energy around these businesses can be low or dismal and transient. The owner felt his employees were needing some energy.  The trucking business can be very hard on the body.  He also wanted more prosperity for his business.

One thing he had going was that his 150, 18- wheeler trucks were  painted red.  Red is a high-energy color and represents the fire element, which in feng shui enhances fame, reputation and prosperity.

I also noticed when I visited his business that the employee check-in room was dismal and there was no energy there for the business.  To enhance prosperity, I asked him to place his company name/logo on the wall opposite the door so that when the truckers came in every morning they could see it.  It also needed a mission statement below it. This was the fame wall. This would help the employees feel good about the company they worked for. I also asked that they place recognition of employees in plain view. They were currently on a poster board covered with other papers.  I mentioned that this area needed to feel good, energizing, and inspiring.  Painting that wall red or having some red color would also help. In his front reception area, he placed an aquarium in the North for good luck and money flow to the business.

Finally, we made sure his desk faced the door and he had a solid wall behind him, which is the most commanding position in Feng Shui.  We added real plants to bring nature inside. Truckers are often surrounded my metal and cement.  Plants add life and soften the energy, which was needed for their own balance.

Within a few days of his implementing these things, he said his profits had increased and his employees were in much better moods. He felt all the recommendations made sense and reported continued increase in business and employee satisfaction.

Some Key Tips To Feng Shui Your Business For Success

Makes sure the entrance to your business is wide open, free of clutter, and has your company name in clear sight.  Entrances are considered the mouth of chi and if they are blocked in, anyway, your money will be blocked and so will your opportunities.

Sit in the corner farthest from the entrance to the room to have a “command”position.

Sit in the area farthest from the room with a wall behind you for support. If a post protrudes from the corner or wall, correct it by covering it with a tree plant.

DON’T arrange your workspace so that you look straight out into a corridor or see the stairs, storage rooms, closet, elevators, escalators, or toilets.  This represents money flowing away or stagnation.

DO have a good balance of yin and yang when decorating your workspace. Balance light and dark colors, soft and hard surfaces, and smooth and rough textures in your choice of window treatments, furniture, and flooring.

Keep the cords to your office equipment well hidden. This will eliminate clutter and allows for the free flow of chi.

Clean out e-mails and computer clutter.  Clutter blocks new opportunities.

Keep part of your desk open for new business. Be sure you can see the wood or metal part of your desk.

Have something inspiring on the wall opposite you.  This will enhance your creativity.

Write Intentions for what you Really, Really, Really want.  These are like your business   goals but more powerful. Write them in the present tense.  “I am or “I have”. Visualize your desired dream.  See it as a reality.  Put action towards it.

Be grateful for all you have and watch your prosperity grow even in challenging times. Remember, the key to wealth is in generosity and attitude.

Belinda Mendoza is a professional certified Feng Shui Consultant living in Austin, Texas.  She trained in China and the US in both Eastern and Western Schools. After witnessing the results of her work in several office environments’ of some of our clients, we asked her to contribute her thoughts to our blog. She can be reached at her website: www.designforenergy.com.  Email for your complimentary 30-minute phone assessment.

“Feng Shui is a Necessity not a Luxury”

So, you want to build an innovative and cutting edge business?  You want to have a great company culture and employees who are there not just for a paycheck, but for a purpose?

It’s all fun and games until somebody brings up assembly line procedures. You are told that it’s the best way to get a fast and consistent result – it’s the only way to fly as they say.  Before you create all of those assembly-line style processes and procedures, let’s take a look at the tradition of which you are about to become a part.

Quick, who invented the assembly line?  If you guess Henry Ford, then I have some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that you are in good company, most people would say the same thing.  The bad news is that you are wrong.

In truth the assembly line can be traced back to Assyrian times (starting in 2400 BC!) and was used in 215BC to create the 8000 life-sized clay soldiers and horsed which make up famous Terracotta Army buried with Qin Shi Huangdi,  the first Emperor of China.  Of course it has developed over time and was first widely used in this country in the meat-processing industry.  Henry Ford freely admitted to co-opting the idea from them.  It still reigns supreme in the meat-processing industry as well as factories and fast food and to some extent most of the corporate systems used today.

How’s that working out?  For starters, I suggest reading Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”, as long as you have a strong stomach.  It is an amazing expose about what assembly lines did to workers. Unfortunately everyone was so appalled about the health issues that nobody paid much attention to the assembly line problems.

Now let’s look at factories.  Much ado has been raised recently about the amount that unionized workers in the auto-industry are paid to work on assembly lines.  But what about workers who aren’t unionized – they are paid a paltry sum.  And those now out of work union folks are having a difficult time finding work that will pay the same rate for their limited skill. It turns out that being able to spot weld a specific part onto another specific part is not a broad skill-base from which to job search.

Do we even need to talk about Fast Food – an industry that seems to be about producing the lowest-grade, most nutritionally vacant food on Earth as quickly and consistently as possible?

Isn’t this just a grand tradition?  I’ll bet you can’t wait to be a part of this.In truth the assembly is not the worst idea in the world.  There has been many a time in my career when we needed to put together packets or mail out letters and we set up a temporary assembly line to get it done. That’s because the chief benefits of an assembly line are consistency and speed and sometimes that’s what you need. The key in my example is that the employees saw the need for an assembly line in a specific situation, and created the line themselves to solve a problem, and we were well-paid to do it.

The problem happens when the assembly line becomes permanent and taken to the extreme in terms of efficiency and “value”.  You make the process as simple as possible and pay the worker who will accept the least amount of money to do the same task over and over again.  Now we have low-quality, low-motivation workers who are bored, depressed and rapidly developing repetitive stress injuries. So you’re dealing with 75% turnover, paying Worker’s Comp claims, hiring an ergonomics expert to fix the assembly line, and paying a consultant to tell you how to squeeze every last drop of efficiency out of it.  But that’s not the worst of it.

The worst of it is that you’ve lost the input of the people doing the work day to day.  Step back and think about this – is it a fantastic idea to populate your company with people who take the lowest possible wage to do one task repeatedly day after day?  Are those the people who are going to help you create your business Utopia?

We are a business community in crisis and everywhere I look I see the assembly line at the heart of it.  It’s a corporate concupiscence and it has to stop.

Instead of teaching employees how to creating and maximize systems and processes that work for them, we’ve tried to shove them into a one-size-fits-most box that a consultant said was most efficient.  Instead of hiring the smartest people we can afford and building our businesses on their brilliance, we hired the cheapest people we could find and built our businesses on their exhausted, underpaid broken backs.

I believe in hiring the smartest people you can afford and then utilizing them to their fullest capacity.  I believe in creating systems and processes based around the personality and work-style of the actual employee doing the job, instead of making up an “ideal” process and trying to squeeze each employee who ever holds that position into the same mold.  I believe in empowering employees by teaching them how to create those systems for themselves.  I believe that if we are going to build innovative companies we need to actually innovate.  From the ground up.  Starting with the way that we do processes and procedures.

To paraphrase Og Mandino: This is the time.  This is the place. We are the people.

Ragen Chastain is a non-traditional operations consultant who owns the Renegade Organizer firm.  You can find her on the web at www.RenegadeOrganizer.com.  Feel free to contact her at info@RenegadeOrganizer.com or 512-632-6080.