Summer is a busy time of year and sometimes our schedules become filled with all sorts of things.  As thoughts of warm sun and iced tea by the pool begin to fill our minds, it’s easy to let the productive things fade from our mind as we drift to the task of finding a swimsuit that will be gracious to the extra 5 pounds we put on this year.  Hear this:  it’s absolutely important to enjoy your family time, vacation and time off.  Those things should be top priority for the health of you and your family relationships.  However, be sure not to neglect the relationships that made that vacation financially possible.

Leaving town early to hit the lake?  Try leaving after lunch on Friday instead of first thing in the morning.  Working through lunch on Thursday to head out early for the little league game?  Don’t be late for that game.  For goodness sakes, be there early, but, plan ahead to arrive at the office early that day or push through a couple of extra hourse the night before so you can still make your networking meeting or coffee with that contact and business relationship you need to nurture.

A little planning and foresight can go a long long way.  It may mean some extra effort, but there’s no need to see your profits and productivity dwindle as an expense for summer time fun.  Why not have both.

If you have kids and are like me, every year you dread the first day of school. Not for the same reasons that kids do though :~) Though most parents are worn out from a summer of rearranging their schedule and playing referee when your kids could use a break from each other, the first day of school is an event of reflection. I can’t believe that my Halee is entering the fifth grade. Her last year in elementary school before she dives into the pressures of “big kid” environments. Not to mention my baby girl Ruthie starting Kindergarten. It’s crazy and causes me to think back on the joyous moments when I held them in my arms for the first time.

Use the next few days or weeks that you have left of summer break to build memories with your kids. Take off work early and play in the sprinkler with your kids, go to the dog park, take an evening walk at sundown, stay up late watching a movie or playing games, camp out in the backyard. Also, spend some time praying for them and the new adventure and people they’ll meet over the next school year. I know work is important, but you first responsibility is at home and when you seek God in leading your family, He will make sure other things fall into place.

Share your ideas below on how to make memories while there’s still some summertime left.

Now, if you’ll excuse me…. I’m headed home to have lunch with my wife and daughters.

I meet with a group of other men each week.  While enjoying our morning coffee, we discuss scripture, family, work, and anything else life has brought to our attention that week.  Last time we met, the topic of fellowship was brought up.  I don’t mean fellowship as in, eating a casserole with some people you see for an hour each Sunday.  We were talking about real fellowship.  The kind where two people share an empathetic bond.  David and Jonathan kind of fellowship.

Everyone needs this.  Someone who celebrates your successes with the same enthusiasm as you do.  Someone who feels the pain of your struggles and can help pull you through.  My mind began to wander durning this conversation as I thought of a quote by a friend of mine who once said “The older I get, I realize I have many more acquaintances and less true friends”.  I began to take inventory of my own relationships.  I’ve met many people and my wife can attest to the instances of rarely going someplace in public when we don’t meet someone who I know from someplace else.  I have a vast network of contacts, a small pool of true friends.  By true friends, I mean someone who I could call when in need, that would set aside their plans to aide me even at their own inconvenience.  But, what about true fellowship?

I was quick to realize the blessing I have of two people with whom I share true fellowship.  I’ve been blessed with many siblings, two of which I share that special bond.  Frank and Rusty are the two guys in this world that I feel the freedom to share anything with and receive only wisdom and encouragement in return.  Free from judgement or ridicule.  Oh, they’ll set me strait, but out of love, not distain.  I truly feel they celebrate with me and are joyous when I’m experiencing some sort of success in my life.  I can count on them for a partner through battle or for a hug in sorrow.  I also feel them hurt when I’m battling some struggle.  I too gain great joy from their accomplishments & morn their hardship.  With them to turn to, I have true fellowship and am truly blessed.

Thanks guys.  Love ya.

Since the subject of delivery problems is on my mind. I thought I’d mention that most delivery problems are actually a operating strategy problem.

For instance, at AFH, we often run into people who are completely frustrated with their website developers. Most of the time, it’s because the website developer set some expectation of when the site would be completed, and wasn’t able to deliver. For Instance, they may say they will have the site finished in 6 weeks but the client is required to provide the content for pages of the site. Problem is, that rarely does the client take only 6 weeks to provide all content, proof it, and get it to the developer on time. Next thing they know, their site is 4-6 months into development and still under construction. Web designers, often blame this problem on the client being slow, but really, the developer should head this issue off at the pass. You see, chances are, the client isn’t in a website development situation every day. If so, they’d have no reason to hire a developer. This means that the developer should know the potential problem and find a different way of operating through the process so that nobody is frustrated or waiting on the other.

At AFH, we have pretty good luck heading off this problem in the following way. We promise a site to be finished with design and build in 3-4 weeks. We do this by conducting building the framework, design and functionality of the site and then training the client to be able to type in their own content and load their own pictures or videos. This way, they receive their site on time (early in most cases) and then can take as long or short of a time as needed re-wording and changing their content. Another benefit for the client, is that they will then be trained how to edit the content of their site and not be forced to pay every time they desire to make a change.

Can a change in operating strategy prevent your delivery problems?

Whether you are providing a product or a service, this is one of the most important things you must remember.  Your clients don’t care who didn’t show up for work, who’s sick, what shipment didn’t come in, or any of the other things that could keep you from delivering on your customer’s expectations.

If it’s a supply problem, find a different supplier.  Your customer doesn’t care if your price is 10% lower than the guy down the road if you don’t have any in stock but the guy down the road does.  Though your customer may feel empathetic for your employee with the flu, they would rather call the other company with a whole team of people that could help them immediately, than sitting around hoping your one employee will get well soon.

Take a good, hard look at your ability to deliver to your customers.  If you have a delivery problem, get rid of it.  Now.

I’ve heard it said that the worst number of all for a business owner or leader is the number “one“.  This is true for so many reasons.  It can be hard to multiply because it takes risk, work, determination, sometimes disappointment, but multiples is nearly always better.

• If you have only one sales person and she leaves the organization:  Who’ll sell new clients to keep the production team busy?
• If you have only one person producing all sold services or goods and they are unable to work for a period of time:  Who’ll produce all of the things your sales team promises to your clients?
• If you rely on that one really large customer for the majority of your income:  What happens when they go out of business or find a cheaper option?

Just three of the many things that can go wrong with only ONE.  Grow to two… at least.

I had a chance to talk to a group of high school students a couple of months ago and one of the things we discussed was how important it is to take responsibility for yourself and not to make excuses.  Most of us have some trial or another in our lives but those who become successful and make an impact on their lives, their communities and others around them, are the ones who don’t make excuses.

Thanks to my friend Vince Parker for turning me to this ESPN video that I just had to share with you too.  Here’s two high school seniors who’ve refused to make excuses and who have and will continue to inspire and impact everyone God places in their path.

My Step Father was a pretty good guy.  He was a much older gentleman (old enough to be my grandfather) who fought in the second World War.  After the war, he was stationed in the last US Horse Calvary unit, which patrolled the US / Mexico border.  My mother met him when I was in junior high school and he was a breath of fresh air who shared tons of advice with me during my teenage years before passing away when I was 22.

He was a really sweet guy with a big heart but would love to stir things up by saying stuff that would shock people or catch them off guard, coming across as the crotchety old man or a little bit loony.  Like the time my brother was visiting during the holiday season with his 3 sons who were wrestling around on the floor and the youngest, named Keith was struggling to participate while holding onto a handful of candy.  When Dad convinced him that he could trust Poppy to hold his candy while he played.  While Keith was busy being pinned on the ground by his brothers, Poppy ate all of the candy.  Just to see the 3 year old’s reaction.  We would sometimes go to the mall with my mother and sit on a bench cracking jokes as we did some people watching.

Some of the advice he gave me sank in right away, some took years before I would look back and understand with clarity.  Some of the advice were words to live by but unfortunately there were times that as I look back, I see that he was way off base.  Today, I’ll share with you one of those misses but will share some of his wisdom in later posts.

When I was a junior in high school, I joined the US Army Reserves and left to spend the summer between my junior and senior high school years in basic training.  Before I left, Poppy gave me some advice.

He reminded me that when I was in basic training, the best thing to do was blend in with the crowd.  “Don’t lag behind. Don’t blaze ahead and draw attention to yourself.  If so, that will make the next 8 weeks the most miserable you can imagine, he said.  Just blend in and get through it.”

Wow was he way off.  Unfortunately, this was advice I took at the time and for the next several years.  Blending in and settling for mediocrity.  I never was the bottom feeder but many times, I held back the reigns and was afraid to stand out.  Though most of us haven’t been actually given this advice by their father, many people unconsciously settle for mediocrity every day because their scarred of standing out and being exceptional.

Being exceptional may be painful, hard, tiring, sometimes frustrating.  But then again, so is parenting.  Or most anything worth while.  Don’t settle for blending in.  What do you have that’s different?  Whether it’s your looks, knowledge, quirky talent, or something others would consider a struggle.  Don’t smother it in order to blend in.  Exploit it and stand out from the crowd.  Use it as your advantage.

1. Start-Up costs are low and negotiable.
2. Low overhead  (technology has made the in-home office acceptable and efficient).
3. Potential clients are seeking opportunites.
4. Your audience is looking for something new and fresh.
5. Chances are that your current situation is volatile anyway.
6. You can be the hero when you’re the first moving forward.
7. The best customers will be the first ones captured.
8. The leftover customers are the biggest pain.
9. Your competition is waiting.
10. Next year, month, week, or tomorrow may be too late.

So a new year has begun and most people have made their resolutions (and many of them have already been broken). So, is yours still going strong. I have another challenge for you.

I happen to have couple of friends who’re currently wrestling over the decision of leaping from the assurance of a bi-weekly paycheck that a corporate job brings and venturing on to try their hand on their own. Though they know they have much needed products and services to offer and can offer them with a far higher level of service than their competitors. They’re just scared. The thing is, it’s not just these individuals that are battling this. On what seems like a daily basis, I meet business owners and decision makers that know what steps they need to take in order to bring their company to the next level but want to “feel out” the market (aka until it’s too late and be the last to join in) before making a move.

Don’t wait. It’s easy to use things like a recovering economy as an excuse to sit back and wait. Waiting and scoping things out may seem safe, but, the safest thing is to take action. The most risky thing to do now is to wait on the competition to get a head start on you.  This economy is a ticket on the bus ride of opportunity.  If your competition is already in the game… you’ve missed the bus.