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   Not every customer is a good cutomer. “What are you thinking!”, I can hear you say. But I say that a drowning man will drown you too!

   Want to burn out quickly? Keep your bad customers. (They wear you out and take more time and energy to service.)

   Want to go broke? Keep your bad customers. (They cost you more.)

   Ok, let’s face it… when you first start your business you want, need, and sometimes have to take almost all of the business that you can get. You can’t afford not to. The bills have to be paid, right? But even beginners have their limits. (No, you can’t pay me 90 days late!)

   Then, after you’ve been in business for awhile you may find yourself not looking so forward to those long days like you used to. Perhaps it’s time to start asking yourself some serious questions about your customers. There are several ways to approach this but let’s take a look at just one way of doing this.

Sorting customers by profitablity

   Let’s say that you have a really small business and you’ve gotten really busy! Hurrah for you! But uh oh, you can’t seem to get to everyone. You have some options here.

1. Increase your business size (hire more people or start outsourcing some of the work);
2. Keep doing business the same way and expect that some people are not going to get quality work/service or go elsewhere because you took too long
3. Raise your prices slightly and let the market (your customers) decide who will stay and who will go (you will lose a few)
4. Choose who you don’t want to service any more by how much money they bring into your company.

   If you are going to decide by profitability, you can choose by total sales volume or total net profit per customer. The choice that you make will depend on what kind of business model you have. Are their material/supply costs involved with certain types of jobs? Which of these kinds of jobs actually make the company more money after expenses? Are you a service business with no materials involved?

   In my own really small business, I did this when I returned after maternity leave. I couldn’t possibly work a full time schedule and didn’t want to. I would be working part-time. I knew that I couldn’t service all of the clients that I previously was doing business with so I sat down and made a customer chart.

   I sat down with my books from the past couple of years and listed every single recurring account. (New accounts were listed if they had shown / talked about the potential for future business.) Then I listed exactly how much each account had brought in by total sales dollars. For instance, here is a totally fictitious customer list including each customer’s total sales volume for a year:

Jones $19,000
Murray $13,000
Hill $13,000  (good referrals for new business)
Lief $13,000
Beach $11,000 (sometimes late)
Ray  $9,000
Gordon $4,500  (takes lots of time to service!!!    )
Burton $3,000  (has given the most referrals!)
Lombart $3,000
Gull $2,000  (real pain to service)
Stance $2,000 (always late)

   I made customer lists by year (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, etc.) and then also a cumulative master list for all years combined that I was checking on. This helped me with a couple of things. I could see which customers were spending more with me over the past several years and then also who’s business had been dropping. I tried to make a note of any conversations that I had with those customers to figure out if they were just having temporary financial trouble. The last step is to put all customers, in order, by what they bring in.

Which customers had to go?

   Reasons to get rid of a customer? Oh, let me list a few: they complain constantly about your service/product (yet still return), hard to satisfy, abusive to you or your staff, always coming to you at the last minute wanting a super rush job (when they could have reasonably given you more time), they expect extra time on their services (unpaid of course), they are driving you nuts, make more returns/changes than 90% of your other customers, they cause you to toss and turn at night, and when they don’t just need handholding – they have to have their own nanny!

   So, how do you get started? First of all, take a good look at your bottom line. Can you truly afford to get rid of anyone? Will only getting rid of the worst-of-the-worst make your work days 100% better? If so, thin your customers lightly and be done with it. If not, keep reading.

   The worst customer, by my standards, was”Gordon”. It had literally gotten to the point where I found myself sighing to hear their call in the voicemail. They were out and I’d be happier for it. These are what I call your “burnout customers”. Why in the world would I want to keep an account that would eventually drive me out of business just so I don’t have to service these clients?!! I wouldn’t. And you don’t need to either. If you can’t get rid of these kinds of folks, you (and your business) will be sunk! You have to do it. This call is made purely on the basis of “self-preservation”!

   The customers that constantly were having trouble with being late (the worst offenders) also had to go, this applied to those late physically and those late with payments. My new schedule would not allow for lots of extra time. There would be no “time cushion” available to these folks and so they would probably not be happy with the new arrangement as that is their nature. I also would not have time to chase down money. People know what they owe. It’s not “our” job to chase them. I put up a professional and kindly worded notice in several places so that all customers would see it, that way no one was caught off guard (or with an excuse saying they didn’t know!)

Which customers get to stay?

   The best customers were referers. They had told others about my business and were happy to help me out by doing so. They increased the size of my business at no additional cost to me. They all got to stay but one.

   I kept customers that were truly a pleasure to work with. (Which covers most customers.) In our example, “Lombart” brings in only $3,000 but is easy to work with, always knows what they want, pays quickly, and is always very pleasant. Definitely a keeper.

   I took a good look at any new or recent business and really considered their potential to my future bottom line. Many new accounts got to stay with only one or two newbies not making the cut.

   I also took a good look at my own business to see what areas I had been weak in. Ask yourself if and what customers ever complain about (if even by body language or tone of voice only!) Make sure that you take this time as an opportunity to get your own ducks in a row, so to speak, so that you are ready for the next round of business that you are about to welcome in.

Don’t miss the next installment!

   The next installment of this mini-series will cover the how-to part of getting rid of those select bad customers so stay tuned! What kind of customers have YOU had to fire in your own business? You can email me (adonna at momville dot com) with your own personal experiences to be considered for inclusion in the next article. Until then, happy profits to you and yours!

P.S.   Don’t forget to sign up for the Momville.comRSS feed to have my articles automatically delivered to you, either in your feedreader or by email.

Aditional Links Of Interest:
Sprint Nextel’s letter firing some customers in 2007

Google “CRM software” (customer relationship management) for helpful software to track your best and worst customers.

   So, perhaps you’ve been wondering if you should bother to create or invest in a website for your business. If you hire someone to design and create it for you, the expense can be enough for a really good week long vacation. If you do it yourself, it may take awhile and there’s a lot to learn. But how do you know for sure that you should take the leap and just do it? Will it pay for itself? Well, if you’ve been on the fence, let me help you decide.

   I’ve had a small brick and mortar business of my own for over nine years in the same industry. In that time I’ve done quite a few types of advertising and marketing - print, flyers, business cards, bulletin boards at other local businesses, mailers, coupons, public events, ads in the local paper, ads in the yellow pages of the phonebook, and ads in the local about town magazines, etc.. I’ve done give-aways, donated coupons to local charities, etc.. I can’t think of any type of marketing that I haven’t done except for perhaps a TV ad or local billboard. So here’s the comparison. Are you sitting down?

   My small online website business website brings me in as many customers (or more, way more) than 90% of all of the other advertising… COMBINED. Oh yeah, you read that right. The only exceptions are the yellow pages (which the internet has been starting to pull ahead of for awhile now) and a small local magazine (who’s reach has shrunk due to people surging onto the internet to hunt down local businesses during the past 5 years).

   The takeaways from this post are this:

You can’t afford NOT to have a website for your business. Even if you’re just a plumber.

It needs to be more of an encyclopedic brochure for your business than a business card, or it won’t pull customers as well as it could. (Imagine having your target customer locked in a room and you could tell them anything about your business for the next hour! Take some time to think of what to put on your site and stop just regurgitating your business card at them!) People want info! Yes, even about your little business! Give it to them for goodness sakes.

Everyone goes to the web – even if you don’t.If your print / local advertising hasn’t been getting customers for you as well as it did 5 or more years ago, now you kow why.

Spend some time listing your website on every search engine that anyone you know uses. Do it by hand. Find the right category for your town and state. Make sure that you put your city / state in your site description. You want people from your town (not China!) to find you if you are a local business. Write local but put it out there global!

Get free advertising for your website by becoming an online authority / expert on another website. Spend a little time online in forums, message boards, etc.. conversing with people. The key here is to make sure that your profile has a signature line with a link to your business website in it. Don’t know where to start? Go to Yahoo Answers and look for questions relevant to your business.

Become an authority on your own website. Use blog software (or an online free blog service, linking to your page from your site) and create posts, like this one. Answers questions that people always have about the business that you’re in. For instance:

• Do you run a daycare? Tell parents how they should decide to bring their kids to you or stay home that day. Tell them about your upcoming field trip and include a link to that place’s website.
• Have a bookstore? Tell people about your upcoming events or discuss your staff’s favorite books.
•  Do you have a restaurant? Showcase photos of your place online so people will know how to dress when they come. Tell them about your latest menu additions, or special touches (vegetarian meals, gluten free dishes, etc..) and why you’ve decided to include them.
• Auto repair shop? Tell them about when they should get their car serviced (50,000 – 80,000 – 100,000 mile service) and what kinds of things you do for that service. Don’t forget to include a little coupon (only available from the internet) as a little incentive
• Flower shop? Showcase what kinds of events you’ve been doing lately. Make sure to have lots of photos of your work!
• Esthetician? Tell people in small articles how to care for their skin at home. (Acne, dry skin, oily skin, shaving bumps, etc.) At the bottom of each post remind them of when to make an appointment and link to your contact page. This works even if you take your appointments at a spa or salon! This technique works great for hairstylists as well.
• Scrapbook parties? Blog about how people can do simple layouts and get their scrapbooks done without stress or complication. Show plenty of photos of your examples online. Link to a page that has the dates for your next party.

   So, save some of that advertising dough you’ve been spending and put it into online methods of promotion – such as getting a great website. You’ll be glad you did and so will your pocketbook. It will literally save you thousands in the long run. I’m living proof of that!

What kind of business do you have? Do you currently have a website? Do you needs some ideas for what to put on it? Are you facing some real challenges? Post a comment and tell me about it. I’d love to hear from you.

   Many working mothers feel guilty about the time that their work takes away from their kids. As a result, it is not uncommon for them to change their behavior in an effort to try and “make up” for working. Do you change the way that you play with your kids? Have you become so engrossed in your business endeavors that you have almost stopped playing with them entirely?

Do you:

• buy your kids more things than you feel like they need almost as if to say, “yes, mommy’s been away but look what that gets you (all of these nice things)?”
• try and pack in too many activities into your kids schedules (even though your family time and energy level suffers because of it)?
• try to do it all for them when you are home OR totally checkout (retreating to a bedroom or becoming unavailable / unresponsive) because you’re tired from having way too much on your plate?
• buy them things that will keep them busy so you can work more at home?

   There are several really key things that I have noticed in the moms around me and as a result I am very conscious of my own behaviors in these areas. It’s really made a world of difference in how balanced I feel.

1. Don’t rush them -“Hurry up, we have to go!” “Hurry now, we have to get home so I can make dinner.” Hurry, come on, get a move on, yadda, yadda, yadda. The world is moving at a fast enough pace for kids these days. ADD and ADHD are on the rise. Kids are “plugged in” to something more than they are connecting with their own families. Parents are stressed and short tempered.

Rushing –> Adrenaline –> Easily Irritated

   My own young children (3 and 6 years old) are very sensitive to this. If I start telling them to hurry, hurry, hurry, within an hour someone is having a melt-down or “acting up”. I try to be very conscious of slowing myself down before I pick up my kids from preschool/school. I listen to s-l-o-w music in the car if it’s rush hour, traffic is jammed, and I have to hurry to get the kids picked up. Letting my adrenaline get the best of me will not make me get there any faster. Besides, if I’m all hyped up when I pick up the kids, then they pick up on that and end up feeding it right back to me in the form of some sort of tantrum!

2. Realize that your kids have missed you.- No matter how badly they act when you see them after even a brief separation your kids have missed you.

   Have you ever heard that a married couple that spends too much time apart will spend their first few hours (or days) together fighting? You’ve missed each other so much that now you are together again and you feel like you have to fit it all in! Stop telling yourself, even in some small way, that they haven’t even noticed that you’ve been gone. Of course they have!!! Just ask them. (Don’t start feeling guilty about this. We’ll address that in a minute.)

   Here’s exactly what you can say,“you really missed me today didn’t you?” (Child answers.) “I really missed you alot today too. I thought about you (at whatever time) and was wondering how your day was going.” This is particularly effective if done just as a fight is about to begin or a child becomes weepy.

   To put it another way, I heard a preschool teacher say that kids save all of their important emotions for their parents. I’m sure that you have talked to your child’s teacher only to have figured out that they don’t always act the way that they do at home.

3. Evaluate how much time you are spending away from your kids. Make sure you are comfortable with that. If you absolutely are, then great! That means perhaps that you have a business or job that you love. In this case, you are just going to have to accept (as are your children) that you are going to miss some time in their lives. Trying to find ways to connect with your kids more often can help. Leave them notes in their lunch boxes. If they are too small for that, tape a family picture inside their bag or leave some with their teacher. If they are older and have a cellphone, text messaging can be a great way to connect. My kids love to send daddy a picture on his cellphone during the work day! It really does seem to keep him more “in the loop” as to what is going on in their day. 

   If you are not happy with how much you’re away from them, then it may be time to evaluate your work options or set better boundaries with your work / life balance.

3. Slow down with them. The end of the school day or work day is crunch time for a lot of families. Make the most of this time.

Here are some ideas:

Fix dinner together. (My kids help me almost every night in some way.) Use this time to teach them, ask about their day, tell them about yours, share old family memories, etc..

Plan several lighter, faster meals for during the week, try out one of those fix-ahead dinner businesses that are popping up all over the country (or at least hijack their menu ideas for what will freeze well!), do a marathon cooking session (a.k.a. once a month cooking), or just adopt a consistent menu schedule (Monday is pasta night, Tuesday’s are soup and salad, Wednesday is ethnic night, Thursday nights we eat out (something healthy), Friday is living room picnic night, etc., etc..)

Play a game after dinner. Quick card games with few rules can be great here. Go fish, old maid, blackjack (21), war, UNO, and similar games are wonderful, easy games that take very little brain power at the end of a long day. Operation, Perfection, and Trouble are easy classics as well. My 3 year old likes it when I get out a deck of cards, lay out one card at a time and ask her, “what number is that?” She could easily go through the deck several times before tiring of it. Then I have to promptly hand over the box so she can put all of the cards back in it one – by – one. Trust me, THAT is the epitome of having to slow down.

Sit on the couch, turn on the TV, put somebody’s head in your lap, and stroke their hair. There’s nothing quite like a little loving from mom. Maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll return the favor!

4. Get rid of the timer in your head. Maybe you do have a thousand things to do. We all do. Small business owners always have something that needs their attention. Just turn it off and really focus on your kids in the present moment. Find that boring / difficult? Then perhaps, its time to get a little “unplugged” yourself.

Happy Kids + Balance in my business = Happy Me

   Don’t feel guilty. Don’t feel overwhelmed. You can do this. Don’t let problems linger or they can lead you straight down the road to burnout and right out of business. There are thousands of us out here that are doing it. You just have to find the right methods.

   So, how’s it going out there in your small business world? What’s working for you and where do you still face challenges on this issue? How have you combatted working mother guilt? I’d love to hear from you. Share your experiences by leaving a comment on this blog post. And as always, I’ll see you around Momville!

I’ve been searching quite a lot lately for articles, websites, ideas, etc. doing research for Momville.com and so I’m bouncing along and ran across this great article on mom entrepreneurs and their stress over at MSNBC. Everything was going along great until I started reading the comments to this post. Needless to say this guy really got me quite hot!

Here are his comments:

The above article doesn’t mention the number of women with advanced degrees who [correctly] opt out of the work force to do what they should be doing:  take care of their families.  

Yes there are a few great female CEOs.  There are a lot of posers. The politically correct “superFem” role model in the US has denigrated the role of the male work force, turned women into self-seeking failures, and gone no where.  Amazingly, superFems are the rising stars of a dying economy.

A non-linear brain, though more complex than a male linear model, is more suited to support than leadership.

There is a tremendous social and societal cost to all of this. As women gain in political stature, their complexity results in unrealistic laws and management.  Nancy Pelosi is a monstrous representative of obstructionism.  She promised immediate results upon election but has delivered nothing.

Gloria Steinem and her ilk need to read the Bible instead of removing it from society.

Are you upset yet? Well, I surely was. And so here is my rebuttal, which thankfully they decided to allow.

I don’t think that the superFem role is politically correct so much as it is “about time”. For the first time in human history, women actually have a choice as to whether they would like to stay home, have kids, and raise a family or work overtime, get more advanced degrees, and have a career.
  As far as having a non-linear brain goes, I would say that in some form, you are correct. I believe that this makes women more capable at completing many complex tasks / projects at one time that require attention to detail and teamwork instead of just pure leadership (standing around and pointing the finger). It sounds like to me that in the future corporate working models are going to have to change to accommodate this new way of working that women are adeptly proficient at.
  And at last that brings us to, Nancy Pelosi’s lack of deliverance. While I may not agree with her, she most definitely has been preceeded by several thousand years of men that promised the moon but only delivered rocks once they were in power.

   If they allowed a 5 page comment, I certainly would’ve given him one! Ladies out there, don’t ever let anyone make you feel bad or degraded because of the work / life choices that you are making about taking care of yourself and your children. Many of our grandmothers had to stay home because they couldn’t really work. Many of our mothers felt as if they had to work because it was really the first time that women had truly been let out of the cage (and not had their wings clipped).

   So, regardless of the choices that you are making or struggling with, whether that is working full-time, working part-time, staying home altogether (SAHM), working from home (WAHM), or opening your own small business so that you can have your career completely on your own terms – just know that there are thousands of us out here with you. You are not alone!

   People are not always going to understand, no matter what your choices are. Someone will complain that you should be working (”how can you stay home all the time with your kids?!”). Somebody else will come up with all of the reasons that you should quit your job (”maybe you should just stay home and watch the kids!”). Any of these methods are going to be totally new and foreign to someone that you run into because it is different than their ideas of what parenting should be.

   I think that what is happening is that we, as a gender and as a society, are balancing out the equation. Perhaps your mom worked too much when you were growing up, so now you want to stay home. Maybe she always felt unfulfilled in life because she never got a chance to pursue her career – putting the seed in your head that you should work. We are finally going for the gusto and refusing to settle for second best. We want to put ourselves AND our children AND our careers first, all at the same time. You really are going to have to be a trailblazer and do what is right for you and your family. Hurrah!

   My own mother always told me that I could do absolutely anything that I put my mind too. I believed her! And look at me now! I love it. I even surprise her these days. (”What in the world made you think that you could do all that you’ve done? You’ve done a wonderful job of balancing it all out. I wish I could have done that!) Which just goes to show you – be careful what you instill in your children they might actually believe you!

Comments? Thoughts? Ideas? I’d love to hear them. Post them as a comment, you trailblazer you.

Want to read the original article? Check it out here –> Mom Entrepreneurs Are Stressed Out

See also the YourBiz area over at MSNBC for some great small business articles.

Also check out theWAHM Magazine, as the editor-in-chief commented on me and I really like a lady with a bit of spunk. They are doing some great articles and work over there. It’s a resource for work at home parents (WAHM or WAHD). Enjoy!