For your consideration: We’re All Looking For Diamonds.

If you’re trying to own, operation and manage a small business, you might as well buy some diamond or gold company stocks. These companies are in the same industry as you!

Whether you’re:

• Looking for equipment.
• Looking for supplies.
• Looking for temporary help.
• Looking for advertising.
• Looking for permanent help.

You’re looking for diamonds.

• Equipment is costly, and every dollar matters when trying to purchase a big ticket item to last 5 or 10 years.
• Supplies don’t cost a lot individually, but over time these little tick marks really start to add up.
• Temporary help can be costly and dangerous to your own equipment and customer relationships.
• Advertising is always a gamble that no one wants to spend money on, but everyone has to . . . Finding which method works for your business line is key.
• Permanent employees require time, attention and guidance. Time is the premium to the small business owner, of course. Do you have time to mentor?

You don’t want to waste your time. Like diamond mining, you’re spending so much time and effort to find that one piece to your business that will be a real asset, i.e.,

Here’s The Money King’s advice on what to do:

1. Use craigslist.com, ebay.com and the newspaper to find equipment that will suit your business. You’ll be surprised at what you find. When you’re just starting out, in many cases, buying new isn’t the way to go since you have to conserve capital.
2. Depending on your industry make sure you’re buying supplies wholesale. We cringe every time we see a small business owner buying retail because “that’s all they know.” As one of your competitors in a neighboring town where they get their supplies for crying out loud.
3. YOU MUST USE A TEMP AGENCY, if you’re looking for temporary help. Don’t even bother trying to manage this burden yourself. Temp employees can be as bad as tenants, if you’re in the wrong industry. In computers, temp help is great, because these folks are so hopeful that you’ll hire them full time—for example. In landscaping, temp help can really suck, because of a lot of your employee pool isn’t really serious about the work and the nature of the business—we find.
4. When in doubt with advertising, use the KISS method. If you don’t know what the KISS method is . . . Google it. Here’s a hint. It has to do with simplicity. So think newspaper before billboard!
5. Stick to your temp agency and really take your time with finding permanent help. If you have to, take a seminar on hiring or interview a person that’s been hiring for years. Tips from more experienced managers can save you a world of hurt, because that full-time employee really is an investment all of his/her own.

Take the time to find the diamonds.

Keywords: business, small, diamonds, headache, problems, time, patience