NFIB

Sit Tight
04/ 01/ 2004

Rex Hammock

There's a myth about me that goes something like this: Back when I first started Hammock Publishing, the company that works with NFIB to publish MyBusiness magazine, I was so cheap that during the winter, our employees could see the fog of their breaths due to my reluctance to turn up the thermostat. Sure, I can remember it being chilly. But in my memory that was due to the drafts blowing through our offices housed in a renovated carwash -- not my Scroogish tendencies.

Fact or fiction, like all small-business owners, when given the choice of spending money or saving it, I know my preference. But being a frugal business operation is not an option anymore. Knowing how to get more from less is the key to surviving lean times and the means to increasing margins during healthy economic periods.

To help, we rounded up some tips from small-business tightwads we discovered in preparing this issue's cover story found on page 28. We've already instituted a few of the ideas in the MyBusiness offices. But I've been banned from the thermostat.

It's no myth that I believe in the direct return on investment a small-business owner receives from taking time off. I'm on the road constantly for work, so traveling for pleasure would not be my choice if it weren't for the three other votes in my household. However, I am always the first to feel the creative benefits and mental well-being that result from escaping regular surroundings and duties. But in my visits with small-business owners, I have discovered that taking a vacation is often viewed as a sign of weakness, lagging commitment or frivolity. In our reporting, however, we've discovered that nothing could be more misguided. Recharging one's small-business management batteries is not just a good idea (as you'll discover in this issue's MyBusiness Manual), but it could be the beginning of your journey back to the passion that led you to own a small business in the first place.

---

This article originally appeared in the April/May 2004 issue of MyBusiness magazine.

Small Business Sound Off
Does this story hit home?  Share your story with us