Clichés and buzz word

All business schools must have classes on these. MBAs, CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and all the other alphabet soup honchos sound alike when they're interviewed on TV. They can explain why their company is dumping shares, buying back stock, suffering deep losses, enjoying new found profits or any other phenomenon and it all sounds like the same gobbledygook.

They use hundreds of standard clichés and a myriad of buzz words and phrases in their oily, rehearsed presentations. It seems as if everything we listen to today has been spun or is being spun again by spin doctors. The only word that the folks talking about the stock market never mention is "Ponzi."

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Business loans

Small business owners have been virtually shut out of borrowing from banks. The big ones (too big to fail) used those billions they got in bail-out funds to buy up other banks and pad their own balance sheets. Virtually none of those billions were allocated to small business loans.

Besides refinancing personal assets, many small business owners borrow with their personal credit cards rather than use the business credit cards issued by banks. Consumer cards have more protection on fees, rate increases and notification of changes than business cards.

If a credit card is lost or stolen, consumers are only liable for $50 and some not even that. Many banks have "make your customer whole" policies, meaning customers don't pay anything on a lost or stolen card. That's not always the case with business credit cards.

According to one report I read recently, more small business owners use personal credit cards in their operations than ever before. It said that 49% of small business owners are using personal cards for business, compared to 42% in 2009. Entrepreneurs find a way.

As with all credit, be sure to understand the terms and be careful not to get into the habit of making a minimum payment. Above all don't use several different cards. Credit cards can be a blessing or a curse. Use them wisely!

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Calls and e-mails about Ron Baker

Thanks to all of you who have written and called about the passing of Ron Baker. I doubt he ever dreamed that so many people cared so deeply about him. The following e-mail is an example that pretty well sums up most of the notes and calls we received:

Bill,

   I just heard of the passing of Ron, and I wanted to let you know how sorry I was to hear about this. It's so hard to believe as I had just spoken with him a few days earlier. Ron was always so nice and very helpful. He would even listen to you when you were having a bad day and always give you a word of encouragement. He will really be missed. I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet Ron back in the 80's and gotten to know him over the years in doing business with your company.

   Hearing of the news has made me realize the short time we are here and that we should let people know what they mean to us. So I'd like to let everyone at Bane-Clene know how much they mean to me and Debbie and how truly blessed we are for having met them and having become part of the Bane-Clene Family. So again thanks to everyone for being there and for all that you do. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and the Bane-Clene family.

   Ron - You will be sorely missed but not forgotten.
Dennis Webb
Warrantee Carpet Cleaning Co.

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Slanting the news

The headline on the business page said, "Unemployment applications drop 6,000 last week."

The article indicated things are getting better. For headline readers (which are many) the news sounded good. But, as the old saying goes, the devil is in the details.

The fact is applications for new unemployment compensation claims did drop that week, all the way down to 361,000 from 368,250 the previous week. The article also reported that the economy "created" 163,000 jobs in July. I was taught there was only one "Creator."

I've never been good at math, but I had trouble seeing good news in that article. If we're adding 163,000 jobs a month and more than 360,000 people are filing for unemployment pay every week....let's see, there are four weeks in a month....four times 360,000...you do the math.

Actually the unemployed, underemployed or those working for cash and not reporting the income are more than 25,000,000. This number is said to be very conservative. Yep! Things sure are getting better with this new math the media uses.

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USA has the largest armed force in the world

Here's another e-mail I received on gun control. Apparently this is a hot topic right now:

A blogger added up deer license sales in four states and arrived at this conclusion. There were more than 600,000 licensed hunters in Wisconsin. That number pales in comparison to 750,000 in Pennsylvania and Michigan's 700,000 hunters. A quarter of a million hunters in West Virginia plus millions in the other 46 states gives us the largest armed force in the world.

America will always be safe from foreign invasion with that kind of home grown firepower. That's why enemies, both foreign and domestic, want to see us disarm and they work diligently to curtail the use of weapons that let us defend our lives and our property.

Madge Billermann.

Ironically, another e-mail received on the same day had a quote by Adolph Hitler that seems appropriate. The e-mail was very long, but here's the excerpt on gun control:

"The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to permit the conquered Eastern peoples to have arms. History teaches that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by doing so."

Adolf Hitler, April 11, 1942, in Tischegesprache Im Fuhrerhauptquartier.

Marty Smith.

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Loan deadline

Two weeks ago I wrote that the SBA was going to loosen up loan money for small businesses. The next week a BBB bulletin warned, "If you're thinking about an SBA loan, do it now." Reportedly SBA lending banks are making loans, but may cut back sharply in the months ahead. Most banks are already miserly with loans to small business.

The Federal Reserve's latest survey of loan officers at large banks found that some are loosening standards on loans to large and medium sized business, but there's no change in credit standards for small business. New business entrepreneurs are out of luck right now unless the principals can pledge personal assets to cover the loan or come up with their own financing.

This is interesting, too! According to the BBB report, "Small businesses are running out of time to take advantage of an SBA program that allows owners of owner occupied real estate to use 504 loans to refinance their mortgages. That program, which allows business owners to get much lower interest rates on their mortgages, is scheduled to end on September 30."

Since more than half of all carpet cleaning operations are home based, refinancing a mortgage at a lower rate could be a big benefit to many in this business. It's a shame the program wasn't widely publicized until it was ready to end. Maybe the announcement was just designed to be used as political campaign rhetoric. How sad!

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Is bigger really better?

Every time the price jumps at the gas pump I'm amazed at reactions. Those interviewed by the media moan about the high cost of gasoline. There are threats of government intervention, but no talk about building refineries, nuclear power plants, drilling for oil on our own land or using more CNG. These would all help reduce the dollars going to foreign interests that hate us.

Many of the whiners drive big SUVs and pickup trucks. They run 80 on the Interstate and race from stoplight to stoplight burning excessive fuel. Some of the big gas hogs have environmental bumper stickers that proclaim things like "Save the planet," "We live GREEN," "Less pollution is the best solution," and"Let's go green to get our globe clean."

Many folks in the carpet cleaning business invest in direct drive units that suck up fuel when they're driving and while they're cleaning. Others buy gasoline powered truck mounted units. Even with diesel fuel costing what it does today, some are buying big, expensive diesel powered carpet cleaning equipment. That's like using a 155 Howitzer to kill a mouse.

Where will it all end? I don't know and I don't think anyone knows! Oil companies that show less than a 10% profit are criticized by politicians who think 40% taxation is OK. Meanwhile, the oil companies have to make a living and bigger is certainly better for them. They've got to be loving that mentality.

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More on the topic of gun control

An interesting e-mail from a west coast customer about the e-mail by my old Marine buddy:

Bill:

I know what Frank Spencer is referring to; I know that he knows that the historical facts are equally known by those engaged in disarming the American citizen. Past objectives are the aim of these elitists, cloaked in rhetoric about their "concerns" for safety and protection. An unarmed citizen is unable to resist tyranny. That's what is afoot here and there should be no doubt about it. Half the young cops in LA think it’s a good idea!

The day that someone arrives at your home to confiscate your weapons is the day that we will see who is set to defend. I would venture, very few. Until then, it’s just talk. Should that day come it will provide the spark. The arrogance of these folks is such that I'm afraid they may attempt it. "The history of war can be summed up in two words...... Too Late!

     Too Late..... in comprehending the deadly purpose of a potential enemy, foreign or domestic;
     Too Late..... in realizing the mortal danger;
     Too Late..... in preparedness;
     Too Late..... in uniting all possible forces for resistance;
     Too Late..... in standing with one’s friends."

(General Douglas MacArthur)

Hope things are well with you and yours. Stay well my friend.
Regards,
Jack Hoar

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Ronald Gene Baker - April 28, 1951 - August 2, 2012

It is with great sadness that I report Ron Baker passing away suddenly as the result of a fall in his home. Ron is survived by his son Ryan and his brothers, Robert and John.

Born in San Diego, California, he and his family moved to Indianapolis in 1967. He worked in the family painting business, John E. Baker and Sons, until 1974, when he joined Farrell Argast Lighting Company as a Purchasing Agent. He began his career at Bane-Clene in 1978 as our Inventory and Purchasing Control Agent. In 1981 he was promoted to Customer Sales and Service Representative.

He befriended thousands of people in our business in his position as Customer Service Representative. Ron was known for his friendly nature and the good advice he gave to callers. He was very thorough in his job, especially when it came to customer follow-up.

In 1969 I had the pleasure of coaching Ron on a State Championship baseball team. He was a catcher, had one of the best arms in the league and made the All Star team that year. He dearly loved baseball and was scouted by the Phillies, White Sox, Indians and Reds. He was an avid baseball fan and we just had a long discussion about the current baseball season during our last school.

Don Bane played on the 1969 team with Ron and Bill Bane Jr., served with him in the same Army unit during the Viet Nam war. I know I speak for everyone at Bane-Clene when I say Ronnie will be missed. I'll especially miss hearing him call me "Coach."

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Don't hold your breath

Just in time for the fall elections the Small Business Administration has announced it's going to ease credit restrictions on loans to small business owners. SBA says it's going to raise the maximum loan amount to $350,000. The announcement sounds great.

Most of us in the real world know that the guy who writes the ads is not the same one who approves the loans. Banks are busy using stimulus money to buy other banks and get out of their own messes, such as Morgan Stanley's 4 billion loss. And now the LIBOR scandals.

God bless America!

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Hybrid trucks

Hybrid work vans are coming off an assembly line in Fort Wayne, Indiana. They reportedly have a six cylinder gasoline engine, Borg Warner transmission and battery-powered 402 HP Remy electric motor in the drive train.

The cost is about $80,000.00 with a projection of $70,000.00 in a year or so. A $7,500.00 tax credit helps and as production increases the price will come down. The electric motors are made in Anderson, Indiana and were on display at the Indiana Convention Center recently.

There is even talk of an electric vehicle race at the famed Indy 500 track in Speedway. That's how the old gas buggies got their start a hundred years ago. While the cost may not be right just yet, this bears watching.

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"Gun control" history lesson

Here's an interesting and sobering e-mail from an old friend and reader of my blog:

Bill,

After the tragedy in Colorado, gun control advocates will again gain the national spotlight. The truth is that one gun carried by a responsible person might have saved lives in that theater. The next time someone mentions gun control, remind them of this history lesson:

	In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.
	In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.
	Germany established gun control in 1932. *From 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and dissidents who were unable to defend themselves were exterminated.
	China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, about 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.
	Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.
	Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.
	Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.

More than 56 million defenseless people were rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century as a result of gun control. Criminals and despots don't obey laws. Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and gun laws adversely affect only law abiding citizens. With guns, we're citizens. Without guns, we're subjects.

"Semper Fi"
Frank R. Spencer, USMC (Ret.)

*The irony is that the Weimar Republic passed gun control laws because of Hitler's Brownshirts. It didn't work and his thugs took over the country anyway. Ten years later He had this to say, "The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to permit the conquered Eastern peoples to have arms. History teaches that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by doing so."
Adolf Hitler, April 11, 1942, in Tischegesprache Im Fuhrerhauptquartier.

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We're only caretakers

Real estate taxes are among the worst of all the socialistic fees that have befallen us because we don't ever really own the house we live in. The government owns it. If you don't think this is true, don't pay your property tax and you'll wind up on the street. Probably the worst part of property taxes is that if you take good care of your home you'll pay more in taxes than the guy down the street who lets his property run down.

This quote is from a speech Abraham Lincoln gave on March 21, 1864. "Property is the fruit of labor. Property is desirable it is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another."

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Hiring

How to find and keep good people has always been a stumbling block in business. If you hire the right person in the beginning, your retention rate will be better. Before you begin looking for a new employee, develop a profile of the person you're seeking. Review the characteristics of good people in your company and use them as role models for your applicants.

In the cleaning business, "technical skills" can be taught quickly, but "people skills" are far more difficult to learn. Applicants with good people skills are easy to spot in an interview. They show enthusiasm, they have a ready smile, make eye contact and have a firm handshake. Rudimentary training will provide the skills that will allow that person to meet the company's expectations.

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