Inside Small Business | Small Business & Home Business Marketing

My Decision to Start My Own Business

Marcelo Cazado, New Entrepreneur

It was January, 2007. I worked for one of the most successful Coca-Cola bottlers in Brazil as an Innovation and Six Sigma senior manager. And I really enjoyed working there, partnering with my team – formed by enthusiastic and committed guys.

It is worth mentioning that contrary to the most entrepreneurs, I never had the itch to start my own business.

But unexpectedly changes started in the company, people were moved from one place to another, new departments were created, other were extinguished and later on, recreated.

As a consequence, a thing turned out to be clear for me, something much more important than the changes that the company was going through: I was not setting the rules, I was not the one behind the wheel and my career was being driven by a group of c-level executives. This was a bit scaring for me, and when I realized that, I knew some big movement would come up as a reaction.

I thought that it is better to risk and to be fully responsible for my decisions in life than try to blame someone else if things do not happen as expected.

Well, if I wanted that level of independence the sooner I started; the sooner things would work properly. So I decided to quit and to start my own business. That is where I am right now, in the very beginning of a new journey.

You dear reader may be asking to you: and what is special about that? The special thing is not about the business itself, or even the product or service this new company will supply to the market. In fact, for me it is the business purpose and the values we are adopting. I understand that values - above all – need to be inspiring and therefore simple. They reflect who we are, how we face life and where we increasingly intend to be. Our core values are five: integrity, discipline, humility, curiosity and humor. We think that a strong determination to pursue these virtues will ultimately take us to excellence. Remember Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

My name is Marcelo Cazado and I am a brand new entrepreneur. My business is a management consultancy company called Andoha. I worked for 3 years at a Coca-Cola bottler in Brazil where I was awarded twice at The Coca-Cola Company Six Sigma Global Expo. Previously, I worked as a business consultant at Accenture for 5 years and at Promon for 5 years as well.

Born in Rio de Janeiro on March 4, 1972, I received a B.A. degree in Economics studies from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1994 and a received a MBA in Finance in 1999. In 2002 I received a Master of Arts degree in Development Economics at Sussex University (UK).

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Some of Your Customers Are Thieves

Mike Michalowicz, Serial Entrepreneur

Picture this. Your doorbell rings. Two guys wearing ski masks are standing there, holding big black bags. They ask if you have any money. You say that indeed you do, then invite them in and ask if they’d like beer while they ransack your house. You chat with them as they stuff your prized collection of DVDs into the bags. You hold the door for them as they carry your new wide-screen plasma out to their stolen truck. You follow them out and hand over a stash of rainy day cash they’d missed, then wave as they drive away.

Insane, isn’t it. More likely your house has chain locks and web cameras and a pit bull named Spike, not to mention an alarm system straight out of a Bruce Willis flick, and you’ve never departed your house without leaving the TV on, full blast.

So let’s get real. Chances are you’re doing something just like this in your business. Okay, maybe not with a cold beer, but you’re inviting total strangers in that are robbing you blind. They’re called Non-Paying Customers. They’re not thieves, per se, but the effect is the same: they come, you invite them in, they take from you, then they leave without paying you a plug nickle, or at least the full value of what they’ve taken. The more this happens, the more money you’re losing.

The equivalent of our metaphoric pit bull named Spike is a new attitude on your part. It begins with the understanding that there are three types of customers out there: those that pay, those that don’t pay, and those that don’t show up at all. Obvious? Perhaps, but don’t take this lightly. Because too many businesses, especially new businesses, are so hungry for customers that they happily take in anyone who comes along; paying or not. Serving them may help some of your numbers, like revenue or hours billed, but it if isn’t stuffing your bank account full of bottom-line cash, its bad business.

But wait, you say. Any customer is better than no customers, right? An easy assumption, but it’s wrong, and it’ll cost you. Because every minute you spend with a non-paying customer is a minute you could be spending with the real deal, which means you’re taking a double hit: not only are you expending time with no return, you’re sacrificing valuable time that should be bringing dollars in the door. For every minute you waste on a free-loader, the equivalent minute spent on a paying customer costs you twice the time for half the money that you should be earning. Any way you cut it, that’s bad math and bad business.

So let’s look at those three types of customers again and put them in order. Paying customers are great. No customers, that’s actually fine. Non-paying customers, not good. How can no customers be “fine?” Because you’re not expending time and incurring costs, which is the case with non-paying customers. Which means, you could instead be investing this non-revenue time in building your business, looking for real customers and contributing other value-adds.

It’s gut-check time. Are all your customers paying their way? Get real about this and separate the wheat from the chafe, and then send the chafe packing. Or better yet, convert them to paying customers, whatever that means in your business. If they walk, say thank you before the door hits them on the butt as they leave, because you’ve just freed up time to make your business better in other ways. Better to not render a service or incur a cost with no ROI than to not get paid.

You’re probably thinking this is easier said than done, and you’re right. But it’s worth the pain. Look closely at your client list and ask a few tough questions about what you see there. Do they pay you willingly? Do they shout out when they have a problem, allow you to fix it, and then pay you for your time and effort? Or do they act like they’re entitled to your time? Can you get them to pay using a method that is acceptable to your business? If the answers are no, then you need to learn to say the same thing to these customers: no. It’ll be awkward, it’ll hurt like hell, but it’s like getting a shot – it’s all for the best, and it’ll heal what ails you in the long run. The good news is that they all won’t run for the door when they sense your new get-tough attitude, and for those that stick around you’ll have turned a bad apple into apple pie.

Remember, you’re in a game in which winning or losing is a bottom-line

proposition, not a numbers-through-the-door statistic. At the end of the day, all that really matters from a business perspective – not to undervalue the personal relationships involved – is how much money you have in the bank, not how much is owed to you. Look for and cultivate solid paying customers, and nothing else. The non-payers, those thieves at your door with the ski masks and a bag, need to be converted to non-customers instead of being invited in for that glass of wine and access to your jewels.

So now you know. Start kicking the dead beats to the curb and bolt the door behind them. When you do, you’ll have the time and energy to be a more gracious host to your honored guests, the ones who pay their bills, ones to whom you’d happily give a cold beer. Who knows, you might even want to change your name to Spike.

Related Topics: Customer Service, Entrepreneurship, Marketing    1 Comment