I'm tired of the grade school girlie gossip war between Dan Snyder, owner of the team soon formerly to be known as the Redskins, and Mike Shanahan, soon to be former coach of said team. Their moron minions battle each other through leaks to the Washington Post and local sports radio stations. Here's a succinct summary of the battle.
Shanahan's minions, "RGIII is my boyfriend. If I can't have him, you can't either. I'll bench him."
Snyder's minions, "RGIII is my boyfriend. He likes me better than you. He told me so when we went on a date to the Tom Cruise movie premier in Hollywood."
I began to solve the work life balance equation when I realized that my choice of clients largely determined the hours I must work. I also realized that the clients, who wanted to meet after hours, aren't my best clients. My best clients are business owners, who consider accounting and tax matters to be part of their normal business day. They no more want to schlep across town at eight P.M. to meet with me any more than I wanted to meet with them at that hour. They value their down time as I do. Unless we're meeting for beer, then count me in.
The potential clients, who want to meet in the evenings, have a number of bad characteristics, not the least of which is cutting into my time off. They are typically lower income than my best business owner clients. So they care more about price and less about value. They are great clients for H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, and Liberty Tax. Their bosses are my great clients.
I began the transition to a saner life by preventing our admin staff from scheduling new client meetings after four P.M. after tax season. Yes, people go elsewhere. The ones I want to go elsewhere.
I once had a potential client call me at eleven P.M. on a Saturday night to see if he should lease or buy a car. No thank you, not this boy. I told him to buy the car and then park it up his ass. Alcohol might have been involved at that hour.
There are some businesses, like retail and restaurants, where business hours are basically all day. God have mercy on your soul if one of these is your business. You'll likely never have a decent work life balance. Better you than me. These businesses are also typically unprofitable. So if you own one, you'd probably feel less pain from a sharp stick in the eye.
If you own a business that should allow for a sane life, ask which customers cause you to work long hours. I'll bet they're the price sensitive ones, whom you can never satisfy. Fire one of these miscreant customers and see how it makes you feel. I'm betting the feeling isn't quite as good as sex, but it's probably a close second. Masters and Johnson should have studied this. Of course, they were too busy studying each other naked.
As I did with my clients, determine the characteristics of your best customers. Determine which twenty percent create eighty percent of your profits. Then market just to them and accept only the best. Satisfy these customers and they'll refer more great customers to you. Great customers associate with other great customers the way great musicians play with other great musicians. Soon you'll have a critical mass of profitable customers, who respect your time and great service.
Then your life will begin to make sense again. You wife and kids will recognize your face again. Of course, spending more time with them may make you want to spent less time with them. But that's your problem. I'm not a damn social worker.
Thanks for reading! As always, for real tax and accounting advice, please visit the main S&K web site at www.skcpas.com. Also, please like my Facebook page, "How to Screw Up Your Small Business." I post snarky advice there three or four times daily.
Until next time, let's do it to them before they do it to us.
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