Why Didn't he Think Ahead?

Imagine!

Two neighbor entering their driveways one cold and stormy winter night. One puts the car in park with the children in the back seat, gets out of the car and runs through the pouring rain to the gate. After about a minute she is able to get the gates unlocked and pushes them open, first one and then the other. Slopping through the water and ice, she fumbles with the door and hurriedly gets in dripping wet and freezing. She reaches into her purse to get a tissue saying a few words under her breath,"Why didn't he pick up the kids. It was his turn." She pulls into the garage and putting the car and park sits there in a watery mess.

“Wait until he comes home.” Are the only words spoken that night.

She walks into the house, spending the next thirty minutes drying and changing clothes. As she finishes her hair and pulls the old sweat shirt over her head the door opens. Honey, “What’s for Dinner?”

***

The neighbor also drives into her driveway on a cold stormy winter night. She smiles at her children in the back seat as she pushes the transmitter to open her new Apollo 3600ETL swing gate operator. The gates swing open as one would open their arms to receive a friend.

She pulls into the garage and smiles thinking how lucky she is to have the security and safety of a front entrance gate.

As she slowly works in the kitchen putting the final touches on the roast and potatoes she hears the front door open. She smiles as she hears the familiar words, Honey, “What’s for Dinner?”

“Thank you, Darling.” She utters as she wraps her arms around her husband's neck.

You’re welcome…

***

“Every gate needs an opener and we have an opener for every gate.”

Call us today. 888-856-0551.

The Battle of the Blubber Begins

Lucky Shoes is not my favorite store tonight. Maybe in six or seven months it will be however today, what I saw in the reflection of the store window was a call for the Japanese whaling ships to set sail. I saw this HUGE blob in a wheelchair in the reflection of the door as I went in to buy a container of black shoe polish.

That’s it! Now I am making it known to the world. I am Blubber Man! I have the ability to make a piece of toast disappear in the fat rolls to be store for winter hibernation. I now buy my clothes in the tent shop instead of a department store. I say to the tent maker, “I need a tent for ten and can you put a hole in it for my head and holes for my arms to come out the sides. I my not be able to leap tall building but if I roll on someone they are absorbed and never seen again.

My coach said, “Oh so you decided to die early.” You have the choice eat carrots or eat potato chips. To which my reply was, “Let’s bring that up in about three weeks.”

So friends in Blog land. The battle has begun… Not a diet… (I love those words) A change in life style… Blah, blah, blah!

Here is my plan… Go from 386 to 385 and after that it’s a crap shoot.

Never again will a shoe store window reveal the true “Blubber man.”

My bag of baby carrots lies open on my desk as my chubby fingers type.

Yum?

Where is Your Million?

After church on Sunday a friend was telling me his idea for a stimulus package that I could buy into in a heartbeat. His idea was to give all 3,000,000 Americans a million dollars. It would be cheaper than the stimulus package the government is using to bail out greed and there would be a lot of purchases made which in hand would stimulate the economy.

However if we all had a million dollars (I love the sound of that) who would work in the stores? Who would make the products I want to buy? Who would work behind the counter of Starbucks? Who would sell me a house in Florida? We would all be off spending our million dollars.

I wonder what impact that would have on the supply and demand of products. What would the cost of bread be? Humm! This is getting interesting? I would want to buy and new wheelchair sports car… I can do that because I have a million dollars, how much would that cost?

I guess I would have to leave the country and spend my million dollars in another country. Oooops? That defeats the US stimulus plan. Now I am spending my money in another country. But isn’t that what our government has been encouraging since NAFTA!

This is getting more difficult. If we all have a million we won’t find anyone to serve us, the cost of simple products will go up? If we spend our money in other country it hurts the restructuring of the American Economy. This is way over my head.

Maybe if we have to spend the billions of dollars we should give the money to Wall Street, and the Banks, and the US Auto Companies. The CEO’s of these companies certainly know how to use money effectively. RIGHT?

Next week after the sermon I should talk to my friend Donald about the message and leave the Stimulus Package to wiser men.

Our Politicians :)

There is Always a Spring!

Yesterday was the Northern Ohio American Fence Association Trade show where contractors and manufacturers talk there stuff. It was great spending time with people you talk to on the phone all year and seeing what new products are available for the fencing industry.

I got great advice from a guy that called himself and ol’ peddler, “There is always a spring.”

It does come! Trees will bud, snow will melt and people will move out of the three story caves into the fresh air of hope for the future, the ability to make profits, to put a little money in the bank and most of all the ability to see your hard winter work start to pay off.

I also noticed something else; the creative spirit of the true entrepreneurs. There was a sense of creativity in the air as people talked to me about how carrying this product would produce profits beyond my wildest dreams. I even had a guy tell me that if I would sell his product on the Internet he wouldn’t venture into that aspect of the business. I got great idea that Monday I will start to move on. Never sit on an idea. Move forward!

At the end of the show was the grand price. A Flat Screen TV! I knew I was there to win it so that I could watch “Frasier” re-runs before going to sleep.

My ticket was 127396…

Call mine please!

Don't let the Mountains Slow Your Success

I love collecting money from people who won’t answer their phone. It is one of the warm and fuzzy feelings that come with owning ones own company.

Last night, while drifting off to la-la-land, I felt an urge saying go… go… go to their place of business and they’ll be so happy to see me they’ll willing pay me the amount they owe without hesitation.

When the opportunity clock went off at 6:00 AM I was off. I did my morning work and made my prospect calls. By noon I set off on my journey to wealth and prosperity.

I drove the 35 minutes to the outskirts of Cleveland in no time at all. I parked the car and headed for the front door. My wheelchair was flying until I turned onto the sidewalk. There in front of me was a mountain of snow blocking the sidewalk, the leftovers of shoveled driveways that blocked the concrete pathway to my riches.

Being the eternal optimist, “I didn’t come all this way for nothing!” rang in my head. I said the words of an old sage, “If you can’t climb the mountain dig through it, go under it, or make a way around it.” AHH! There was my answer. I would go around it. The road looked clear so I headed down it until I got to the ramp by the oncoming street. It was so narrow and broken up I knew it was a certain disaster. With a determined outlook I headed back to my mountain. There had to be another way around it. I spied a narrow strip of grass that lead around the natural barricade. Figuring that the ground was still frozen I headed off the sidewalk on to the unknown terrain. All was going well for about a foot then without warning, the wheels started spinning. Oh boy I thought! I am here in Cleveland and stuck like a pig on a skewer waiting for the barbecue fire. Back and forth I went as mud stuck to my wheels. No matter what effort I took I was not leaving that spot. What would Louis and Clark do? What would Davey Crockett do? How would NASA circumvent such and obstacle?

I was getting a little cold as I reached for my trusted Blackberry. There in the distance was a Fire Station. I pressed 411 and said, “Can I have the non-emergency fire department Number please… Over the next few moments I will grilled with: “You are what?” “You are where?” “Why did you leave the sidewalk?” Obviously the person on the other end of the phone had never had a mountain to climb, or forged ragging river. My request was reasonable, “Send a fireman over to pull me out of the goo.” “We will send a policeman.” was the response on the other end of the line… But ma’am, I rebutted, the Fire Department is right across the street! My plea was to no avail. “We will send someone to rescue you shortly.”

I sat there thinking of camp songs to sing as the moments turned into what seemed like days.

Finally, I heard a truck. I turned to see two men driving by drinking a beer after a hard day on the ladder they had strapped to the top of their van. No sooner had my heart leaped for the joy of freedom from my mud doom then they drove right on by.
But alas, as they drifted down the road another twenty feet the orange brake lights shone forth the message that help had arrived.

A tall angel got out of the van in work clothes. “You need help!” Never had those words seemed more appropriate. “Sure do!” I said, as I tried one more time to free myself from the bog. He yanked and yanked. Right then left then backward then forward. All the time the cakes of mud were building on the bottom of the chair I would soon be bringing into my wife’s house. After a few minutes my wheels caught and out of the mud I scampered. I had a new hero… A Good Samaritan had stop to help a mountain man back to the main trail. I was free!

As I packed up base camp and headed back to the arms that loved me I came to terms that today I would not collect the money for the bills and that maybe the sounds I heard the night before telling me to “GO!” were the sounds of the steak I ate an hour before I went to bed.

The mountain had won today but in the world of enterprise there would be tomorrow.

If only they had paid!

Jon Mullender

Summitfencesupply.com

Summitfencesupply.blogspot.com

Money, Money, Money, Money.... Money!

Running a business is a ton of work but very gratifying. One of my big tests comes however, when customers do not pay. I personally do not understand how a person can purchase something from a supplier and then not think there is an obligation to pay for the material. I suppose all business go through this but I feel taken. It hits me as theft.

So what do the experts say?

1. Have a credit policy in place: and get a signature before doing any terms.


2. Do not ignore overdue bills. When it is getting close to due have a warning light go off.


3. Re-bill promptly with late charge added. 1.5% is what I charge.


4. Pick up the phone. (It is your money and the money of your employees that is at stake)


5. Never apologize when you call or write. “Hi ____. Show me the money!”


6. Be friendly. Yeah, yeah, yeah!


7. Ask for the full amount. And when they give you part of it don’t congratulate them.


8. Never negotiate the amount, just the terms. You know like pay now, pay now, pay now.


9. Take them to small claims.


10. Sick the creditor dogs on them. Something is better than nothing. You already have lost that amount by this time find a company that only gets paid a percentage of what they collect.
    (some of this came from New York Life)

Always remember you have to pay the bill whether or not your customer pays. It is your promise to the manufactures that give you terms.

I am glad for the majority of people that their word is honorable. Doing continued business with people like that is totally worthwhile and enjoyable. Some of my best friends today are customers that I purchase from or that purchase from me.

Tell me what you have done to collect money from dead beats in the comment section. I would love to hear from you.

Jon Mullender
Summitfencesupply.com
blog: summitfencesupply.blogspot.com

"Primetime all the time!"

Let Me In!

Starbucks and I have a lot in common. They have mochas and I love to drink Grande Mochas… They have frappuccino and I drink frappuccino. I stop at my neighborhood Starbucks all the time. I have spent hundreds of dollars there this past year. I love the people I meet there and the atmosphere. Over the last year I have sat outside in the warmth of the sun drinking and talking to friends. I have sat inside working on business plans or meeting with contacts or interviewing part time employees. I have drawn up plans for marketing campaigns and laughed with my grandson.

But now while the winds blow and the snow is here I am stopped in my tracks. Not by mother nature, not by inability to get out in 8 degree weather but by the 6 feet of unshoveled snow.

Not until the snow melts can I look forward to sipping the fruit of the bean. No more will the chocolate flavor slip through my lips warming me in the middle of the morning commute. I have been set apart with a symbol that says, “No longer welcome!”

Yes it is the snow pile that covers the ramp onto the sidewalk. Yes, as the snow shovel sits by the door showing how they have shoveled the entry for the walkers but not the wheelers.

Is it intentional? I am sure the answer is no... However, am I inside drinking coffee? Again the answer is no.

So as I sit outside in my wheelchair I long for the spring or a person who will lift a shovel and clear a path to the doorway of paradise or at least to a no whip, extra hot, Grande mocha.

Jon Mullender
President
Summit Fence Supply, LLC
summitfencesupply.com
summitfencesupply.blogspot.com