NFIB

Make More, Work Less and Win the Game
07/ 29/ 2003

by Shannon Scully

I strive to be inefficient. I like working 80-hour weeks. I do not care about making money. WHAT? No one thinks that way, but lots of small business owners act like they do. Are you one of them? Do you always mean to get organized, but never quite get around to cleaning off your desk? Do you devour travel magazines, but never leave the office for more than a few hours? Do you dream about paying off debt, but never seem to get ahead?

It doesn't have to be that way. You're the boss. You're in charge. You can change. There are ways to make more and work less. Though it sounds like the kind of promise offered by a flier taped to a telephone pole, we've found real solutions -- things you can start doing today to work smarter and faster. No one decides to start a business so they can work non-stop for little pay. You take the risk with hopes of the ultimate reward -- to have total control of your life.

Use the Right Tools

Ron Melendi never knows when Arnold Schwarzenegger or Rudy Giuliani might stop by for a smoke. But as the owner of midtown Manhattan-based De La Concha Tobacconist Inc., Melendi doesn't worry about running low on their favorite Churchill-sized cigars.

In 2001, Melendi purchased a software package from iCode that automated his entire inventory system. "Now we're able to track exactly what we've ordered," says Melendi, whose tobacco roots originate with his Cuban-born great-grandfather.

Sounds simple, but it's several clicks away from the disarray Melendi found when he joined his father, Randy, in the business nine years ago. "I'm not working with pen and paper," Melendi said on his first day with the 39-year-old family business. So he bought a computer, and for several years, the 15-employee shop operated on a desktop accounting software program.

But as the business grew, Ron spent more time on paperwork and less time on the floor discussing the differences in humidors with customers. "Before we purchased the software, I was just going through the motions," says Melendi. "I didn't have time to concentrate on the aspects of the business that will really help in the long run."

Now that technology handles his busywork, Melendi devotes his days to coordinating cigar dinners, negotiating with vendors and, most recently, setting up an in-store smoke room. New York City's tough new public-smoking laws drive cigar smokers into his shop for a few puffs.

Perfect as it sounds, Melendi admits increased efficiency didn't happen overnight. The software wasn't cheap, and a few longtime staffers were wary of the new system. "But once I showed them what it could do for us, they were like, 'Wow! How did we go so long without it?' " says Melendi.

You may not have to buy new software to take advantage of technology. Take a look around your office. Do you fax documents you could e-mail? Do you walk down the hall to ask someone a question, when you could shoot them an instant message (IM)?

Ed MacConnell spends a lot of time on the phone at his Huntingdon Valley, Pa.-based employee-benefits firm, EMA Group Inc. If he's on the phone when a call comes in, his assistant sends him an IM -- which is a message that instantly pops up on his computer screen, bypassing the delay of e-mail.

Spread the Load

Five years ago, Paul Szydlowski's wife worried he would drop dead at any minute. As the owner of six dry-cleaning stores in the Cincinnati area, Szydlowski worked 90 hours a week and paid himself $23,000 a year.

"I was running from crisis to crisis, just hanging on by the skin of my teeth," says Szydlowski, owner of 14-year-old Prime Valet Cleaners .

Today his cash flow is 10 times greater, and he works about 20 hours a week. What changed? He did. He stopped trying to do everything himself, and concentrated on making his 55 employees feel like part-owners of the business.

Sitting down with his wife, Szydlowski penned a Jerry Maguire-like mantra for his company, listing goals, rules and challenges that are ingrained into each employee from day one on the job.

"It's not easy to make people feel like working at a dry cleaner is something special," says Szydlowksi. One way he does it is by writing an internal newsletter included with paychecks that recognizes employees who have excelled at customer service.

Was it an overnight success? No, says Szydlowski. But in the five years since he decided to do things differently, turnover has fallen from 200 to 85 percent, excellent for the dry-cleaning industry. Now instead of working in the business, he oversees the operation.

Szydlowski admits stopping long enough to develop a delegation system is hard. "But if there is a leak in a boat and you keep bailing and bailing -- and don't stop to plug the hole -- you'll bail forever," he says.

John Sobeck wanted to spend more time on his boat, which is why the Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-based business owner makes managers completely responsible for the company's profitability.

"Small business owners think they're the only ones who can do anything," says Sobeck, who started the fire- and water-restoration company, now called First General Services of Northeastern Pennsylvania , in the early 1970s. "With that mentality, the business will kill you."

Though Sobeck spends three months on his boat in the Bahamas during the winter, he never completely checks out. Managers must provide weekly reports, and they're paid quarterly bonuses based on their performance.

Seek Help

Travis Surratt has no employees -- and he loves it. The Jacksonville, Fla.-based real estate broker went virtual three years ago when he moved his business into his home and outsourced most of his administrative needs.

"It was scary to make the leap, but now I don't know why I didn't work this way earlier," says Surratt, who uses his local UPS Store for copying, mailing and document preparation. "It's made my business more efficient and cut down on all the costs associated with an assistant and equipment like copiers, fax machines and supplies."

You know your business better than anyone, but no one excels at everything. The key is realizing where you need help, and finding it fast.

Chris Cleveland had no trouble turning over the cumbersome duty of payroll. After being hit several times with federal and state fees for mistakes in his payroll, Cleveland decided he couldn't do it himself anymore. "Payroll is so complicated, it's too easy to make mistakes," says Cleveland, owner of software firm Dieselpoint in Chicago. "As a business owner, the last thing you want to do is get bound up in administrative work."

Banks might not seem like an obvious outsourcing solution. But to small businesses that don't have accounting departments, your bank could offer the best ways to save time and money.

"Technology has allowed banks to offer sophisticated products and services that were typically only offered to large companies," says Elizabeth Snyder, senior vice president at Leaders Bank in Oak Brook, Ill.

Setting up your business for online banking can save hours of precious time. But fewer than 30 percent of small businesses have embraced Internet banking, according to research by Warrillow & Co.

Laura Briars is one of the early online-banking converts. She had to be. The nearest branch is 30 minutes away. "It saves us so much time," says Briars, a partner in Ask it In a Basket , a Chicago-based gift-basket company. Briars and her partner, Jackie Koglin, work limited hours in order to be home with school-age children. Having access to their financials online allows them to work on their own clock.

Find Time

Michael Muyot doesn't work on Fridays. Forced to come into the office one recent Friday, he wondered how he'd make it through the day. For Muyot and his wife, Sandra, three-day weekends keep their family happy and their New York City-based business successful.

How do they manage to get everything done in four days? "Focus, focus, focus," says Michael, who started Tracer Technologies which specializes in IT consulting for pharmaceutical and biotech companies, seven years ago.

The Muyots don't waste a minute Mondays through Thursdays. They devote their time at work to only that -- work -- which they say makes them happier and more productive than trying to juggle responsibilities.

"When I go home, I'm done," says Michael. "And I return to work refreshed. The separation increases my motivation and productivity when I'm in the office."

Dr. B.J. Hawkins of Inglewood, Calif.-based OFS Supply Chain Specialists also strives to balance her personal and professional lives, but with a different twist than most. She concentrates on the quality of her life at home and at the office. "Lots of people miss the real point of a work-life balance," says Hawkins, who founded the B2B company 13 years ago that provides supply-chain software. "Your 'life' part may be good, but you're miserable in the 'work' part. That's insanity."

Hawkins encourages employees to find ways to work smarter at the office.

"In a small business, you don't have layers of help," says Hawkins, who offers financial rewards to employees who develop more efficient methods. "You've got to find ways to do more with less, or you and your employees are going to get burned out."

Both Hawkins and the Muyots enjoy life outside their businesses because they use time wisely. Time management is a phrase that sparks as much excitement as flossing your teeth. You've got to do it, but you're not excited about it. Most think it requires prioritized lists and leather-bound calendars. While those tools are helpful, time management really just means getting -- and staying -- organized.

"The number one reason people give for not getting organized is that they don't have time," says Peggy Duncan, a productivity trainer and author of Put Time Management to Work. "You might as well be saying, "I'm digging myself in a hole, and I don't have time to stop.' "

Disorganization is the biggest time-waster. "Disorganized people lose six to eight weeks a year looking for things," she says.

Michael Muyot's desk is clean before he leaves the office at night. Technology also helps the couple maximize their budgeted time for work. "Our laptops give us focus time on the train every morning," says Michael, who uses his hour-and-a-half commute to sort through e-mail.

Work the Crowd

Pam Medlin has lots of friends. She knows just whom to call when she needs advice on her staffing company, Greensboro, N.C.-based Key Resources . "I'm a huge believer in networking," says Medlin, who worked 15-hour days when she started the business in 1997.

Making herself known in the community saves Medlin time and helps grow her business. She solves problems faster because she has a database of business owners to call on for advice.

"Everybody is typically willing to help when you're able to admit, 'I need help,' " says Medlin, who loves to spend time outdoors with her daughters.

Admitting you don't know it all is hard for some. But turning to local networks for help could save you money. Most informal groups give advice for free, unlike hiring a consultant for help.

Medlin doesn't find her connections by just attending a few monthly meetings. She creates opportunities where she is likely to meet other business owners and promote Key Resources at the same time. For instance, once a year her company sponsors the annual awards ceremony for the local business journal's "Best Place to Work" awards.

She also invites clients twice a year to a seminar on employment law. "You can never stop marketing," says Medlin.

Lee Gimpel also contributed to this story.

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This article originally appeared in the August/September 2003 issue of MyBusiness magazine.

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