Happy Holidays

As we rapidly approach the end of another incredible year and the holiday festivities get cranked up I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year!

Reflecting on my fortunate past comes so easy to me this time of year. Regardless of personal or professional struggles I may have had the super majority of my life has been blessed with loving family and friends and a very successful professional career.  I challenge everyone to put their own lives in perspective this holiday season.  Take a few moments to remember the tragedies that have occurred in our own back yard and around the world.  The victims of 911, the floods in New Orleans and surrounding areas, the fires in California, the thousands of children inflicted with life-ending disease and the millions inflicted with mental/psychological challenges.

Be grateful and appreciative, loving and caring, sensitive and honest.  Give with heart not only with money.  Give with respect not for respect.  Love those that are with you, inspire those that are influenced by you and offer a prayer for those you haven't met.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Victor Puchi, CPA

R&A CPAs

www.RandAcpas.com

   

Succession Planning

One of the biggest, if not the biggest, challenges small to mid-sized business owners face is that of succession planning.  Finding the right person or people to hand the reigns over to should be a process that lasts years not months.  It is difficult to accept that whoever that next person is, they won't be you and they won't run the place like you either.

So what can be done to increase the success of handing things over to the "next generation"? First of all, don't limit your options and plan plan plan.  One of the most important things I have learned over the 20 plus years of being a business owner and advisor is to make sure you have an exit strategy as early in the game as possible.  I now teach young entrepreneurs to make sure part of the business plan is an exit strategy.  What options are there?

For the most part there are 3 options to exit.  First is to hand it over to an insider.  That would be someone that has been working for you that understands how the business works and is willing to pay for the opportunity to drive the bus going forward.  Second, is a sale to a competitor or larger enterprise that has an interest in your market and your brand.  The third is a variation of the second and that would be to merge with a competitor or a complimentary business that gives both entities a benefit.  There is the option to liquidate or close the business but I don't think of that as succession planning even though it is an exit strategy.

Finding the right player is always the difficult part.  A successful business almost always has clearly defined core values and you want them to stay in tack so you need someone that understand and believes in yours.  You also want to make sure there is strong leadership and passion for the business along with aptitude, compassion and strong business acumen.  Now you start seeing why this is such a challenge!  The good news is that this happens all the time so you aren't the first person to have to do this.  The bad news is that at least half of these fail within the first 3 years.

The point here is to take your time and think about how you can best transfer what you know about the business, people, customers, process, market, industry, and all the tricks of the trade to that lucky chosen one.  Invest time and money to educate and edify or to investigate a potential buyer/merger candidate to find the best fit possible.  Understand that there is great value in mentoring, shadowing, selecting a protege, or whatever you want to call it.  The training for the next leader should be much different than any other position in the business because the business owner is a unique position.

Be aware that businesses, like people, have a period when they are in their prime so don't wait too long if you want to maximize the chance of success and value.

Victor D Puchi, CPA

vpuchi@randacpas.com

The New American Dream

The way I always heard the story was that people came to America from around the world to have freedom and financial stability....The American Dream!

Doesn't the word "dream" tell us that it might not always be reality or that the dream may be bigger than life?  Do you think the fat cats of our largest financial institutions or auto companies have lost site of this?  What about our political leaders?  They certainly must always have this in mind, as is it not their responsibility to keep this nation as great and greater than always?

Somebody needs to get all of these "leaders" and send them back to the basics.  Maybe they should all have to run their own businesses using their own money and credit for ten years.  Until they are able to prove they can grow a business and manage money and people they shouldn't be able to take a seat where they are responsible for TRILLIONS of dollars the rest of us spend a lifetime trying to generate. That way sex, color or political party preference would all be the same....Red, White and Blue.

What are we teaching our young "professionals-to-be"?  Go get the best degree you can from the most prestigious school around and latch on to a big company.  Don't disrupt anything, play nice and always make sure nobody knows what you're doing.  Pretty soon you can be the CEO of one our nations pride and joy companies and flush it down the toilet while you become a millionaire.  Don't worry, Congress will make the rest of America pay for it and you can travel the world on your private jet!

By Victor D Puchi, CPA

R&A CPAs

People Care

So I've been pretty quiet on the blog front for quite some time. I was just recently inspired to continue by one of my staff members that said "I miss reading what your thoughts are". If one person is interested, I suspect there are more, so here I am.

In todays market place, the accounting profession is still experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals. This environment causes businesses to be extra efficient and excellent at retention if they are to compete. We've been struggling with this for years now and every day we get better at transforming our young and not so you team from takers to givers.

Last Friday we launched the annual R&A Employee Retreat. For the first time ever, we closed the office and took all employees to a resort for a day of education. The key was that the education had nothing to do with accounting but everything to do with personal development and what R&A CPAs was all about and how or why each individual makes a difference. We had a great guest speaker, Robert Van Arlen, that started the day off and really got things moving in the right direction. For eight straight hours we educated and learned like never before. Sometimes all you have to do is ask and you'll find out where the interests are and even more important you find out where you can help. People really want to do the right thing for the most part and in order to help/teach them you must listen. In this case it helped by asking away from our typical environment in a setting that was built to show we care. We learned that we have a lot of very special people that care too! Everybody there on Friday won a very special prize and we all will benefit.

If anyone out there is in need of a keynote or motivational speaker Robert Van Arlen is your guy! Check him out at www.robertvanarlen.com. I need to make sure I let you all know that I met Robert through Main Corridor, www.maincorridor.com, another great organization you should check out.

Favorites

Why does it seem like everytime you get a group of new students you end up with a favorite?Does this damage your ability to teach everyone else fairly? For one thing, we are humans with feelings and so I believe its a bit natural to be "pulled" or to "pull" that special one a little closer to us. I also think we want to have a success story, so we look for that one student that is just soaking it up and try to make sure they succeed.
That may be all fine and dandy but our purpose should be to teach all of them. I was reading Tony Dungy's book and in one of the chapters he quotes his father, his greatest teacher, as saying "all students deserve an A". To me this means that every student deserves your attention and you should try to find a way to help them succeed.
It's too easy to get frustrated with those that don't "get it" right away. I have a new crew in my office as I write this and some are faster than others but I'm determined to give them all a fair shake and challenge myself to be the teacher that actually taught them something and made a difference in their lives.
As a teacher and mentor, every student should be your favorite! I guarantee you each and everyone one of them is special and they deserve the attention.

The Tough One

Who is the toughest student? Think real hard.... parents know the answer....that's right, your prodigy or child is the toughest student. Why? Because the teachers are too close to the student and too emotional about how the lesson is responded to.

I have two children of my own os I speak from experience here. Now at the ages of 17 and 15, I think I've finally learned how to control my own emotional response to the most challenging yet rewarding students.

In our roles as teachers the "favorite" student should not exist. No such thing as most likely to succeed or the favorite child...it's all life and if we care about our students we will teach them what we know, regardless how difficult it may seem. Everybody matters and as teachers we are here to make sure life continues with as much wisdom as possible. When the teaching gets tough, back away and think about the role we play. Play the role and enjoy it or do yourself a favor and change roles.

Life is way too short!

The Basics

Well how many times have you been frustrated after having spent so much time teaching someone something only to find out that they "just don't get it"?



I know we've all heard that not everyone learns the same way and that maybe we need to change the delivery and various similar hints. There are two components to this I would like to discuss that I believe are key to anyone's success as a teacher.



First and most important, in my book, is we must learn to listen! Don't just listen for the question but listen to learn about the person and how their brain works. We give hints about ourselves by the way we speak, the words we use and the way we try to explain things. We can even learn by watching the way someone doesn't ask questions or get involved in discussions. Learning, and hence teaching, is just as much about trust as it is about knowledge. You need to make your audience trust you in order for them to really want to listen and learn from you. Get to know them and let them get to know you....priceless.



The other component to this is making sure you don't get frustrated when the message doesn't seem to be reaching the audience. There could be numerous reasons why, some of which I just mentioned. I was reading a book on how to trade options in the stock market by Wade Cook (yes I've made some dumb decisions too) some 10 years ago and he quoted someone but I can't remember who or what the name of this book is. Anyway, the quote has remained very fresh in my mind and I find it holding true time after time after time. So here it goes, "when the student is ready, the teacher shall appear".



Look, we are in our leadership positions because we have talent and don't forget that you have done something good in order to get to where you are...don't take that away from yourself. If the person(s) you are trying to teach don't want to learn they won't, so don't beat yourself up.



Be proud, be productive, you are the reason this country is so successful!

K.I.S.S. or Don't Tell

Yeah, I know that this is ancient but one of the reasons it's out there is because it is SO true. I'm always amazed by how much more lessons "stick" when its delivered in a simple manner versus a complex manner. If we could always reduce our message to the simplest form all of us would be much better teachers. On of the goals of teachers should be to Keep It Simple Stupid or we shouldn't deliver the message until we can.

I was in a meeting the other day observing one of my managers explain a needed task to a 1 month employee. The task was to replicate a spreadsheet from an example he had. He wanted to make sure all formulas were correct so he had found a printed example for them to follow...simple enough right? Wrong, I listened to a technical explanation for 20 minutes that included the history of the enterprise's structure, ownership relationships and the reference of multiple income tax codes and state laws and interpretations that had my head spinning and I've been doing this work for 22 years. Remember I'm a CPA, the tax law can get pretty hairy!

After my manager realized that he had just about made himself dizzy, I jumped in and asked "So what part of this project do you want her to do, create the spreadsheet?". Low and behold his answer was a simple "yes" and off she went happy as a lark and did a great job. Why do we think we need to show the world how smart we are? Was that truly the intent of my manager? Was any of that information of value or interest to the new employee? Was it to impress the employee? In this particular case the manager was in need of some help and all he needed was someone that could create a spreadsheet for him. Why not explain that he needed help and that even though she wasn't even in his department he would sure appreciate her being a team player and giving him a hand with a spreadsheet? Now there's a lesson worth teaching...help people when they ask if you can.

Enjoy your day and KISS, we'll all be better off!

Clear Message

Well that sure was a long break....I recommend not catching the flu if you want to be productive....ouch!

So right after I  posted my first blog "Teach to Win" I started getting comments about the real ability to teach someone how to win.  It didn't take long for me to realize that I hadn't been clear enough in my original message.

I'm not sure if you can teach someone how to win and that isn't what I intended to communicate. My message is that if you teach people what you know then they get ahead (win) and you fulfill what I believe is each and everyone of our obligations to society (educating).  So when you teach someone you fulfill that obligation and that is winning in life, hence the title "Teach to Win".

You see, I believe that everyone has something of value to teach someone else but we never know when or what that might be.  Those of us that can look at our lives and feel like we've done "OK" and have a sense of accomplishment probably have actually achieved quite a bit.  Whether you have graduated top of your class, reached middle management, raised a family, become a politician or started and run your own business you have experienced many things and struggled through things that thousands of others that follow that path will undoubtedly struggle with and experience too.  Why not share your struggles and experiences with them so that they need not struggle as hard?  Isn't that what you wished would have happened to you?  Maybe it did happen to you, so return the favor!  If so, then you too believe in Teach to Win and I thank you and so does your fellow man.

I hope my message is clear now.  I want to share my experiences as a business owner, a husband, a father and a student.

Please give me your thoughts and share your wealth of knowledge with us all.

 

Value the Human Element

Good morning and Happy New Year to everyone!

I'm grateful I've reached the stage of my life where I'm not my worst enemy on New Year's Eve! Some might think I'm old and boring now but I think I finally got tired of missing the first day of every year and realized I had a lot more to do with my life....boring shmoring I say.

Yes, back to the reason I started this. People. Yes people. I want to make sure that business owners, managers, leaders and anyone else that is in a position to work with people understands that the most valuable part of their business is the PEOPLE that work for them or work with them. It amazes me how many times the focus turns to the product or service being produced and the people actually producing get treated as second class citizens.

Those that become extremely successful have learned how to teach, motivate, care, and mentor their people. It is just way too easy to tell the difference between a product that was created with care AND knowledge and one that was created only with knowledge. In the professional services arena, just ask the person that received the service. If they really had a really good experience the response will be something like "...is a great person and they seem to care....". What's the single largest reason businesses loose customers...PERCEIVED INDIFFERENCE. Well who do you think makes the difference...the PEOPLE they deal with.

Please please please, everyone that manages, mentors, teaches, educates or trains people, remember to treat those you work with farily, with dignity and respect. Take your time with them, let them know you care about them. Put your arm around them every once and awhile, give them a pat on the back and explain to them why they are to do what you ask of them. They are your biggest fans and supporters, just give them the chance to prove it to you and thank them when they do....your and their successes will explode.

Lou Holtz gave a great motivational speach yesterday to the football players of a bowl game that he wasn't even coaching. It's no wonder the man was a huge success....he definitely gets it, I only hope that through my daily actions and this blog more of us get it and that all of us live more enriched lives because of it...Happy New Year!