Marketing Communications Blog

Payroll or sacrifice?

So when should you stop receiving payroll from a company?

My answer, which I know will bring an argument, is that you should never stop receiving money from your company....unless, the company is in its infancy and every dollar has to be spent to keep the going.

As I previously mentioned in a past posting, you should ALWAYS be on your payroll.  It is when you can no longer afford to pay yourself, you need to seriously consider shutting down your company, or, worst case, going into bankruptcy.

A friend of mine and I were discussing a client of mine that I had recently walked out.  She asked me why I did that, since money is money and why not take it?

My answer was easy - when I am consulting with a company and the CEO is not taking a payroll because someone else outside the company (a creditor) tells him so.  That same creditor expected immediate payments on all invoices and received them. And that same CEO refused to listen to his consultants, it was time for me to move on.  What would I gain, by staying at a company, getting paid for whatever work I could do, adn the company continues to go under because of mismanagement? Yes, money, but, very bad for the credibility and references.

So, what am I saying - if you own a company and you aren't paying yourself, then, you are in serious trouble and really need to evaluate your future not only of continuing the company, but, of you heading it.

Posted by blaine at 03:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Coaching and its merits

Was in my car, driving to a client, (about six hours away), with a friend's friend sitting in the passenger seat.  She was a struggling artist - no, not one that paints, but, one that writes; and she writes plays - musicals.

So, we were talking about what she was working on lately, and of course, I started thinking about how she should market it, get it into the mainstream, become noticed, so that she can get her plays on Broadway (or even off-Broadway).

After she told me how the "business" is done in her field and what it takes to get noticed, I jumped in a completely different direction on how she can get noticed.  For those of you who know me, you know how I think - differently then most people out there. Well, I guess I kind of blew her away with how I would get my plays noticed, because that is all we could talk about the rest of the trip.

After awhile, she said that I should do this for a living - lol - and that I should go and meet with people and help them solve their problems.  Which I informed her that there are people who do that, called Life Coaches; from personal lives to business to financial, there is a "coach" for anyone out there and that it is a growing market for this type of person.

So, I am now going through the delimma of should I start a Life Coaching business.  My sister told me a year ago to start doing this after she observed me at one of her dinner parties helping some friends of hers - which, to me, is not helping, but, just common sense on what to do to be more successful, personally and financially.

Should I or shouldn't I?  To me, this is just basic thinking - to continue to go out with that boyfriend or to grow the business in a new way or to invest in gold or whatever. But, whenever I have a chance to talk to people, we always zero in on what is troublesome in their lives and then I suggest new or better or different ways on how to approach it - without damaging the "self" or doing something morally or ethically wrong.

So, if one day you happen to be surfing the net and see a website with my name on it as a Life Coach, then you will know that I started this business and am pursuing the opportunity to help people become better (at whatever they need to become better at).

Posted by blaine at 07:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)