Fired an employee caught in a lie. Looking for feedback. small business |
- Fired an employee caught in a lie. Looking for feedback.
- When / how to Sue for Non-Payment of Services? May ruin my 12+ year old business. Need any advice you have.
- Real estate is a reliable business to leverage debt. What are some alternatives to this business?
- Is it ok to use a client's photos for promotion?
- Firing salespeople, the right way.
- Need financial advice to start teaching business
- Why in the world does Quickbooks online not support serial numbers?
- Need to fire an employee
- Is it ok to use client photographs for free?
- Most beneficial spreadsheet for small businesses?
- creating a brand that is known for something?
- Why I Hate NPS With a Passion
- Lease relief?
- Business Credit issue.
- Viable Computing and Networking Business?
- 401K & Profit Share implementation experience?
- Have had to reschedule a painter every day for the past week... how to compensate?
- Who do you recommend for a loan?
- Any organizations to subcontract work to people with handicap?
- Trying to get rid of my registered agent on my forfeited non-profit has become a nightmare
- Starting a Podcast talking to Small to Medium Business Owners / Entrepreneurs About Their Journey Into Entrepreneurship.... Help me find a name!!!!
- Personal income taxes, write offs
- LLC forming question about home adres
- Teacher looking to start a business
- Looking at going to my first convention, as a vendor or otherwise. What are absolute must haves?
Fired an employee caught in a lie. Looking for feedback. Posted: 26 Nov 2019 01:34 PM PST This morning I fired an employee, and I'm finding it very difficult to process whether or not it was the right decision. In the past, when I've let someone go, it's always been a long, drawn out decision after much consideration and I typically felt a sense of relief when they were gone. In this situation, this was not the case. Here's what happened: This employee is a good guy and was well liked by everyone else in the company. His primary responsibility was making deliveries using our truck and managing shipping and receiving. There were a few issues during his first few months where he damaged the truck ($5k), and missed a shift or two, but we talked it through and he took responsibility for his actions. I'm all for second chances and learning opportunities. He improved but still had room for improvement regarding his job performance. We were working on providing additional training to help him get up to speed. Yesterday he returned from a delivery and the truck had been smashed. It's easily $5-$10k in damage, maybe more. He explained that he had parked the truck in a client's parking lot, went inside to use the restroom, and returned to find the truck smashed and a note from a witness. He then explained that he texted with the witness and she did not have any identifying info regarding the vehicle that did the damage, but that she had witnessed it. He showed me the text exchange and gave me the note, which had her name and phone number. I'll admit that although some of the details seemed "off", I bought it. I told him not to worry, and that the client's parking lot probably has security cameras and we would file a police report. I also called with witness and left a voicemail. This is where it's gets weird. The witness returned my call later that night (last night). She was in tears. She said she had actually cut him off, and he had swerved to avoid her and grazed a tree. She was uninsured and could not afford the repairs. She stopped and was very upset on the side of the road, and my employee agreed to make up a story so that she would not be held responsible. They had spoken again after he realized he was caught in a lie, and she agreed to call to tell me is was actually her fault. He fabricated the entire story, wrote a fake note, sent fake texts, all to protect a stranger that probably wasn't legally at fault anyway. I wrestled with how to handle it all night and was on the fence. This morning I spoke with his direct supervisor about his overall performance (unrelated to the incident). He said it still needed improvement. I explained what had happened with the truck, and he agreed that the loss of faith would make it hard to trust him going forward. That solidified my decision. We've had trucks get damaged before, by him and by other drivers. I've never had a harsh reaction, just happy no one got hurt and life goes on. I'm almost 100% certain I would not have let him go if he had been honest. I was deeply disappointed that he would fabricate an entire story. I also felt backed into a corner by the precedence it would set to tolerate that type of attempt at deception. I felt I had to fire him in order to set an example, but that's a very bad feeling. He has a family and was deeply upset to be let go. He felt he was just trying to be a good guy and help a person out. I really felt for him. I tried to soften the landing by letting him know I would not oppose his filing for unemployment and I would give him a good recommendation, but regardless, the situation just feels awful. I'm curious to know what other people would have done in this situation. [link] [comments] |
Posted: 26 Nov 2019 10:02 AM PST Hello all and thanks for reading this. I am using a throwaway but I am a loyal subscriber and contributor on this sub. I am sick with anxiety here and could really use the community's advice. I own a web design and development agency <10 employees. We have a client that we have been working with for nearly a year. Everything has been going smoothly and they have paid on time or nearly on time each month for services. Relatively big company, spends a significant amount on marketing due to the industry. This has all been in service of launch a new and highly complex website for them. We were just about to launch the final website, and they broke contact. We were told that they were waiting for a strategically optimal time to launch and we should just wait. We waited for two months, all the while, working up documentation for future use of the website, creating landing pages (a separate project), etc. One of their invoices went past due, but we kept working as it wasn't uncommon for them to be a week or two late to pay. Then one of our invoices went 30 days past due and we were told the entire project was being scrapped. We halted work and issued our final invoices for additional services. No justification was given other than new management was brought in and wants to go in a different direction. Since then, they refuse to answer my attempts to contact, in which I clearly state that they are very late on payment. In our final conversation, they stated they intended to pay all outstanding invoices but that hasn't happened. One of our invoices is now 30+ days past due, one was issued 20 days ago, and a final invoice was issued last week. I am starting to become certain that they do not intend to pay these invoices. This was a huge project for us and the non-paid invoices would account for a significant amount of our total revenue for the year. We are really in trouble. 1) When should I start issuing final demand for payment? Do I have to wait until all the invoices are past due? Any advice on the best protocols to start the collection process? 2) I have never had to sue anyone for non-payment before? I know right!? Just speaks to the quality and care we put into each project. What kind of attorney would you recommend? Any advice on selecting an attorney? 3) Any other options beside a law suit? I don't want to draw this out and I need capital ASAP. tl;dr A client owes me tons of money. Some invoices are past due, some aren't. Should I sue? What are the next steps? When can I act? I am open to any advice you all have, Thank you for your time. [link] [comments] |
Real estate is a reliable business to leverage debt. What are some alternatives to this business? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 06:53 AM PST I think of most things as businesses. Government, real estate, sex, marriage, religion, family, etc. I've been paying attention to RE for two weeks. I noticed that the reason RE is so good is that it allows you to make accurate long term debt/revenue predictions compared to other businesses, e.g a tech startup, the average company. Basically RE is so good because it is a reliable business to leverage debt. This further allows RE to be a good way to store wealth. I'm looking for alternatives to real estate. What other businesses would allow us to leverage debt reliably? Edit. To explain what I meant I wrote this:
[link] [comments] |
Is it ok to use a client's photos for promotion? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 09:43 PM PST I would ask first of course! But I'm wondering if it's inappropriate to even ask. I own a small sewing manufacturing factory. We make products for fashion and handbag designers. I'm currently developing our website and Instagram. I'm in need of quality photographs of the work we do. The thing is, these photos already exist. They just belong to our clientele. I feel like there's a moral ambiguity here because our designers paid photographers and models for this content and here I am just asking for them for free. Maybe there's some good cross-promotion there? What do you think? [link] [comments] |
Firing salespeople, the right way. Posted: 27 Nov 2019 12:40 AM PST Most of us business owners struggle with firing lazy employees when they don't hit their goals. The employer or the sales manager must set a target for the salespeople each month, say $20,000 in sales. Numbers never lie.[link] [comments] |
Need financial advice to start teaching business Posted: 27 Nov 2019 12:30 AM PST Welcome guys, Im gonna make this post before I turn in for the night. Basically my life has really gone down the drain, ive been struggling financially used to work full time lyft driver and grubhub, now been a math tutors and now since this semesters over, im gonna go a broken. I was hoping I would get accepted very soon to the Electrician apprenticeship but due my low interview score, the pick will take like never and I am not sitting here waiting to be more poor. Point being ive been working extremely hard, studying very hard to understand all my math and physics. Recently ive just finished learning pretty much all the the Calculus based physics, understand E&M and beyond. I dont want my years of self learning and studying going to waste, I wanna be able to either teach the material, or go to an engineering job tech job without a degree. Ive decided to start a small teaching business where I teach all the topics ive learned, I can organize it very well. The only issue is the loan to get started. Im not asking for donations (though it would help). What I am asking is advice of how to network, how to setup fundraising, who to contact. I wanna make this a career. [link] [comments] |
Why in the world does Quickbooks online not support serial numbers? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 08:34 PM PST I can't see how they haven't implemented this basic feature to their online product. Quickbooks desktop enterprises hosted etc is a pain for us to use remotely. /minirantover [link] [comments] |
Posted: 26 Nov 2019 06:23 AM PST I run a small services business where the workers leave the shop in the morning in service trucks with a log full of jobs to do for the day. I have an employee who often shows up 5 minutes late. In the past 2 weeks he's had 2 days (one being this morning) that he did not show up then called an hour later saying that he overslept. I really want to fire him but I haven't given him written warnings, just verbal and few day suspension. If I fire him I'm worried he will file for unemployment or leave false bad reviews online. Should I put this in writing as a warning and get him to sign it to acknowledge today and his last no-show? Then I can fire him next time with no issue. Or should I just fire him today and deal with his unemployment claim if he files it? Edit: I have decided to have a talk with him and have him sign a warning statement that this is his second completely missed day of work with no notice to me and that this is the final warning. I have his previous tardys and absence documented on the payroll records. He has been verbally warned each time. His excuse today was the same as last time. He stayed up too late and overslept. I could understand that happening occasionally, but he's supposed to be at work by 8 and will not answer his phone at all until 845 - 9am. I'm reluctantly giving him a few day suspension without pay and one more chance. [link] [comments] |
Is it ok to use client photographs for free? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 08:27 PM PST I would ask first of course! But I'm wondering if it's inappropriate to even ask. I own a small sewing manufacturing factory. We make products for fashion and handbag designers. I'm currently developing our website and Instagram. I'm in need of quality photographs of the work we do. The thing is, these photos already exist. They just belong to our clientele. I feel like there's a moral ambiguity here because our designers paid photographers and models for this content and here I am just asking for them for free. Maybe there's some good cross-promotion there? What do you think? [link] [comments] |
Most beneficial spreadsheet for small businesses? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 10:14 AM PST Hello r/smallbusiness! I am an Excel workbook creator -- meaning I make tools for professionals and small businesses in Microsoft Excel! I am currently in a lull of creating something new and would love to hear some of the tools this community could use! From forecasting to calendars, I'd love to hear what you all need! [link] [comments] |
creating a brand that is known for something? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 08:57 PM PST Is the idea of branding to find a branding benefits that is distinct. Beats headphones are luxurious, in trend and high tech. Another example is holistic/natural brand promises a natural alternative to deodorant > create traditional no preservative deodorant > sell to vegans, health conscious, white collar. The brand has a promise to be known to be the best at something, and that determines what products to make, and who to sell to? hat also can determine how many people will buy. The product for example are premium men' shoes that are modern yet vintage, promises of 'sturdy and extra easy to wear shoes'. That in itself should determine if its has a big enough marketplace that wants to buy it. Is this how I should go about determining, marketplace needs, products, target customers, and brand? [link] [comments] |
Posted: 26 Nov 2019 07:36 PM PST See full post with images: https://loopinput.com/why-i-hate-nps-with-a-passion/The Tale of Two ProductsAfter purchasing a product on an online e-commerce store, customers are asked the typical NPS survey question "On a scale of 0-10, how likely is it that you would recommend [product name] to your friends, family or business associates?" for two different products. Product A Customer Ratings: [6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,10,10] (Average Customer Rating 6.8) Product B Customer Ratings: [0,0,0,0,9] (Average Customer Rating 1.8) Their ratings are listed above. Look at the two data sets. Consider carefully. Which product do you think has a higher NPS (Net Promoter Score). The answer is their NPS is exactly the same. Wait that's unbelievable… the first product has an average customer rating of 6.8/10 while the second has an average customer rating of 1.8/10. How is that possible? What is NPS?Welcome to the wonderful world of NPS, one of the most misguided scoring calculations ever invented. Before we start, what is NPS (Net Promoter Score) and how is it calculated? Take your data set of ratings between 0-10. Divide these ratings into three groups. Anyone with a rating of 7 or 8 is a "Passive." Throw these scores out. Anyone with a score of 9 or 10 is a "promoter" and anyone with a score of 0-6 is a "detractor." Take your % of detractors out of the total ratings and subtract it from your % of promoters out of the total ratings. Whatever % comes out of that, negative or positive, turns into your NPS score. That's it, you're done. So, if 50% of respondents were promoters and 10% were detractors, your NPS is 40. Well sounds straightforward enough… what's wrong with that? NPS ExampleIn the above example, product A has two 10s (promoters) and eight 6s (detractors). So you subtract the % of detractors (80%) from the % of promoters (20%) to get -60% as a total which turns into an NPS of -60. Product B has one 9 (promoter) and four 0s (detractors). So you subtract the % of detractors (80%) from the % of promoters (20%) to get -60.0% as a total which turns into an NPS of -60. So product A has a final NPS of -60 and product B has a final NPS of -60. The products have the exact same NPS. Why NPS SucksArbitrary First-In Data GroupingWhen working with ratings you will almost always have to lose some accuracy to achieve an average "rating." Often this involves rounding a final number. Rounding is a form of data grouping. When you are saying 49.469 will be rounded to 49.47 you are grouping data based on a set of parameters or rules. Usually this is done at the very last possible stage to avoid, as much as possible, abstracting out the detail in data too early to prevent inaccuracies. The sooner in the process you group the data, the more divergent comparable data sets will become in the final calculation because you stack small inconsistencies into bigger and bigger ones, creating a cascading chain of building inaccuracies. That is why most scoring systems round at the last possible step before producing a score. Additionally, the wider the range of this "grouping" the more inaccurate, and less reflective of the original data set, your final rating becomes. NPS has one of the widest groupings imaginable. Every rating between 0-6 is considered exactly the same. That's right, 60% of all possible ratings are grouped and considered "equivalent." A further, less egregious, grouping happens when 7 is considered equivalent to 8 and 9 is considered equivalent to 10. No Consideration for Predictive Accuracy or Volume of Data SetNPS does not employ any mechanism of considering the volume or number of data points when creating a calculation. So a data set with one 0 and one 10 is considered exactly equivalent to a data set with one million 0's and one million 10's. This is also a weakness shared with traditional averaging. The average of the above two data sets (one with two data points and the other with two million data points) will also come out to be exactly the same. What is the solution to this? The solution is to produce two scores, one an average that does not take into consideration the number of data points and the other a Wilson score which does weight the number of data points. If you want a more thorough explanation of Wilson scores here is a great blog on the topic: http://www.evanmiller.org/how-not-to-sort-by-average-rating.html but the jist of it is that a Wilson score takes into consideration the number of data points and predictive accuracy into consideration. But if using Wilson scores is too complicated for you, the solution is to just use averages. In Defense of NPSNPS is about net detractors and net promoters! It's about the intangibles!Argument: The entire point of NPS is that it is about net promoters and net detractors. Net promoters will spread the good word about your product and net detractors will spread the bad word about your product. The net neutrals will say nothing so they have no influence! Response: This is predicated on the assumption that someone that rates your business or product a 6 will be just as much of a vocal detractor as someone that rates your business or product a 0. So instead of assuming that the amount that someone promotes or detracts your business is correlated linearly with their rating, you are putting people into an arbitrary bracket and assuming that those brackets map to peoples' behavior non-linearly with no evidence to back that fact. NPS is easyArgument: Everyone uses NPS because it is easy to calculate! None of this complicated Wilson score mumbo jumbo! Response: So is an average rating. When in doubt go with an average rating. NPS provides a poor return on complexity by both simultaneously adding complexity and butchering data sets. Calculating an average is both easier than NPS (you just add every rating together and divide by the number of ratings) and does not butcher the data set. NPS is powerful because of the survey question. "On a scale of 0-10, how likely is it that you would recommend [product name] to your friends, family or business associates?"Argument: the true power of NPS is that you are calculating your viral coefficient! The survey question is the critical piece! Response: There is no reason that you can't ask this question and calculate your scores from the results in a different way. Just because you ask this specific survey question, you do not have to use NPS to calculate the results. Additionally, NPS survey question does not add anything that other loyalty-related questions cannot provide. According to a study by Hayes (https://businessoverbroadway.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/QP_June_2008_True_Test_Of_Loyalty.pdf), there is no evidence that the "likelihood to recommend" question is a better predictor of business growth than other customer-loyalty questions (e.g., overall satisfaction, likelihood to purchase again) and the "likelihood to recommend" question does not measure anything different from other conventional loyalty-related questions. [link] [comments] |
Posted: 26 Nov 2019 05:33 PM PST I have a franchise in a A rated Simon mall. We " negotiated" a new 10yr lease that started in February 19'. Fast forward to now and we have the business on the market to sell. It's a solid business and does well, I am just not cut out for the franchise game. Currently our lease is 26% of sales. Our sales have only decreased by 3% this year. Our broker is urging us to try and get lease relief as he thinks that will help the sale. It has only been on the market for a month. There was another franchisee in the same mall that have to close their store but before they did they tried to sale. They found a buyer and the new buyer was able to renegotiate a lease for far less than they were paying but that sale fell through. The original franchisee went back to the mall and asked for the same deal and they said no. Has anyone out there had any experience with renegotiating a lease? And if so what was the outcome. Thanks. [link] [comments] |
Posted: 26 Nov 2019 05:05 PM PST Hey everyone! I formed a company back in 2017, it was an LLC. For personal reasons the project had to stop a few months later after the LLC was formed. Now, with more experience and a different perspective, I want to start it all over again, and I find myself in the position where I have to buy some computers to work with and I was wondering if I can get business credit from Amazon, Office Depot or some place to make the purchase. I'm doing my research on the topic and I want to ask if you guys know how can I get business credit (not in cash, but to buy that equipment) for an LLC that basically has made no revenue. I do appreciate if any of you want to share some information that could help. Thanks. [link] [comments] |
Viable Computing and Networking Business? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 04:59 PM PST I am a 25 year old living in Australia. I am 95% of the way through my IT Bachelor, but have had hands-on experience with all levels computers, networking etc. my whole life. Have recently been trying to research into the viability of starting a computer services business as a second job (currently working full time and could not afford to quit unless this second job could provide a decent/reliable income). I know PC repairs as such is a not really a viable market anymore due to the low costs of machines these days, but I still feel there is a need for technical setup solutions for people who are not computer savvy. I would be able to provide services such as: home computer installations and setup, data backup and transfer, troubleshooting and optimization, operating system upgrades or reinstalls, virus removal, tablet or smartphone setup, hardware installation (printer, router), networking installations, security camera installs as well as could provide online remote support for most software/web/application issues. I can see the first hurdle being that I work full time now, so would only be able to provide these services after hours and weekends. This hurdle could actually also be a positive point for some customers, as other IT businesses usually charge double rates for after hours work. The main goal would be to make it into my main source of income as a full time job. I just want to know if anyone has done anything similar, especially starting it as a second job while working full time? There are a few different 'IT Solution' businesses around my city that do similar things but a lot seem to be catered towards businesses and larger projects rather than home solutions. Does anyone have any other issues they can see with starting something like this? Would it be a viable option? Is the market too flooded/not there? How would you start to plan a business like this? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! [link] [comments] |
401K & Profit Share implementation experience? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 04:52 PM PST We are planning I'm offering a 401K and profit sharing plan. We currently use ADP for payroll and was wondering if I should just use them for the 401K or use a company that would design a more customized plan to minimize my costs. I don't have any experience on this but my basic understanding is that using ADP makes it a lot easier since it's all in 1 platform, so it will save time and minimize the possibilities for errors. But having a company that specializes in pension plans will offer more options if I want to maximize what I take home (minimize employee cost). What's your experience? [link] [comments] |
Have had to reschedule a painter every day for the past week... how to compensate? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 04:45 PM PST Hi guys, I just signed a commercial lease and for whatever reason the landlord and the leasing agent were not in sync. I basically kept getting "Tomorrow" as the answer for when I was supposed to get the keys for the location. Because of that, I scheduled a painter for last Friday and since the agents keep pushing back a day, I've kept pushing the painter back day by day. He's been really patient but I feel terrible, especially since I feel like I'm SUPPOSED to be able to trust the word of the agent. We are in a rush to open which is why I took the calculated risk to keep rescheduling the painter rather than call it off and wait for the landlord to truly confirm the date. The painter has been extremely patient and super nice. He is very reasonable and undercuts most of his competition and he seems to have built a reputation for that. The job is for $800. He hasn't implied that I'm causing him grief or anything and I think flexibility is part of his marketing, but I want to make sure he is compensated fairly for both his work and the time of his I've wasted. The landlord finally confirmed tomorrow morning for when I get the keys. What is a reasonable extra to give the painter on top of the $800? The job was supposed to be for last Friday and I've cancelled 4 times. [link] [comments] |
Who do you recommend for a loan? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 04:29 PM PST Say you have a business with a profitable tax history for more than 2 years and the business owns real estate and other assets, who have you worked with and recommend? The catch is the business is involved in cryptocurrency, which a lot of big banks don't like. [link] [comments] |
Any organizations to subcontract work to people with handicap? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 03:14 PM PST Our company buys a lot of materials in bulk which need to be packaged into smaller containers (ex. taking bulk pencils and packaging them into ziploc bags, or packaging 12 erasers into a plastic bag. It is generally considered mindless work, doesn't require any thought, we just need attention to detail and consistency. We were thinking it might be a good job we could give to an organization that supports or employs people with mild mental or physical handicaps. We would deliver the raw materials to the organization with instructions, and a couple samples and pick up the finished product when finished so we could incorporate the repackaged component into our end product. We would pay the individuals or the organization a fair rate, but it would allow our staff to focus on final product assembly. Hopefully a win-win. Does anyone know of organizations that accept this type of work in the DC, Maryland or Virginia area or terms to search for? [link] [comments] |
Trying to get rid of my registered agent on my forfeited non-profit has become a nightmare Posted: 26 Nov 2019 03:04 PM PST I started a non-profit in 2016 and hired a company as my registered agent. Things didn't pan out, and shortly into 2017, the non-profit was no longer active. I never filed the taxes for 2017 and the state involuntarily forfeited the non-profit. Now my card is expired and this year they are trying to charge late fees, even though they didn't receive a single piece of mail last year. Is there an easier way to get the registered agent to quit billing me? Can I maybe just file a form to change the registered agent without having to reinstate the whole entity? [link] [comments] |
Posted: 26 Nov 2019 02:51 PM PST We are pretty set on a name, however, couldn't hurt to ask for some ideas, if you don't mind me using your suggestion then I'm happy to hear some suggestions! Thanks! [link] [comments] |
Personal income taxes, write offs Posted: 26 Nov 2019 02:10 PM PST I'm at that point where I need to get a business license. I've invested a substantial amount in the business, returns are coming in, but not enough to have made a profit. I understand that start-up costs can be depreciated. However, is it possible if I file as a DBA/SP to offset these expenses against my personal income taxes, which would provide immediate benefits? [link] [comments] |
LLC forming question about home adres Posted: 26 Nov 2019 01:45 PM PST I am almost licensed to become a realtor and want to set up an LLC, but i do not want to put it on my home adres and i don't think i can put it on my brokers adres. I am planning on using an registered agent but even then i would prefer not to use my home adres. Is this possible? Thanks! [link] [comments] |
Teacher looking to start a business Posted: 26 Nov 2019 01:34 PM PST Per title. I want to quit my job as a teacher and start a business, preferably not related to my profession, but one that might rely on a skill you're supposed to have as a teacher. It's kind of hard finding something as a lot of things require different skillsets and my interests vary from the teaching job (video games, product related, technology, etc.). [link] [comments] |
Looking at going to my first convention, as a vendor or otherwise. What are absolute must haves? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 08:43 AM PST My core business is jersey design and manufacturing. I'm looking at going to a very large hockey products convention in March. Thing is, I've never been to a convention, of any sort. At a minimum, I'm planing to take:
After that... I have no idea what else I should try to have on hand. I also need to come up with some sort of display or back drop. I know I'm not thinking of several things, due to inexperience. I'd really appreciate any suggestions! [link] [comments] |
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