Commentary: How a difficult year redefined my resolutions By Chuck Jaffe,
Acquired from MarketWatch Last Update: 12:01 AM ET Dec 29, 2010


BOSTON (MarketWatch) — For more than 20 years, I have drawn up a list of goals for the new year. It’s a wide-ranging list of personal targets, from the financial to the family stuff and beyond, all things that I hope to achieve, or at least make progress towards, in the year ahead.

The last week of the year, I’ve always reviewed my progress before writing a new list, which went in an envelope that I tacked, unopened, to my office bulletin board, a subtle-but-constant reminder that there were things to accomplish.

It’s a quirky system, but one that always helped me beat the problem of New Year’s resolutions — namely that the promise is forgotten once the resolve is broken — and I know it worked for a number of readers over the 15-plus years I have written about it.

This year, however, it didn’t work.

I looked at that envelope a week ago and realized I had no clue what was on the paper inside. For the life of me, I could not even guess at the goals I had set a year ago.

That’s not to say I didn’t achieve anything in 2010, but instead reflects that life was busy happening to my best-laid plans.

It’s not surprising that my long-time system failed me completely; personally, 2010 was a year I would love to forget, but will never escape. For lowlights, there was the death of my mother-in-law in March, the sudden and devastating illness that sent my brother Rob to the hospital late in the spring and took his life in July, and my own heart attack late in October.

So, as I sat down to open my list of forgotten goals and start anew for 2011, I decided to overhaul the way I am setting goals for the new year.

Gone is the sealed envelope and long list. While there are many small things to accomplish, I’m betting that if I focus on the big stuff, the rest will fall into place. Moreover, I want the big ideas front and center. I want to see them every day, to think about whether I have done anything to make them real; I want my loved ones to see them too, so that they can prod, push, cajole and help me to reach them.

And I’m not setting my goals until the first weekend of 2011, because life goals are not something “new” to pursue. My goals have nothing to do with the calendar; that’s just a way and a time-frame for measuring progress. The new year is an appropriate time to press the start and re-set buttons, but that also means starting only after there has been ample time to get through the holidays and decide which targets are most important.

Goals should not be vague, or too easy. Goals to “save more” or “cut debt” are easier to accomplish than “increase savings by 10%” or “eliminate $5,000 in credit-card debt,” but it’s better to strive for something big and make concrete steps towards it than to be falsely proud about jumping low hurdles.

Even targets that seem to have no financial tie are linked to work or finances more than most people know, if only because they impact work life in some way. Then there are the inevitable financial goals to accomplish and milestones to reach.

Here are a few of the broad ideas that are on my short list for 2011. You’ll see that I’m trying to put to use lessons learned in a difficult year, so that future years will be easier. I wholly encourage you to come up with your own targets — or to stick with resolutions or my old system if they work for you — but I’d be honored if you decided that my suggestions are worth your time and pursuit, too.

Take care of yourself first

This sounds so easy, and most of us think we’re doing it to some extent. In my own case, I almost took care of myself to death. I put off exercise and worked long hours. There was always something else to do or someone to help, something to absolve me of the problems I was making for myself.

No matter how successful you are in work or investing, you don’t have much without your health.

As I proceed through cardiac rehab, I have met many people with similar issues balancing their own well-being with family and work obligations. While we are all trying to do right by the various forces pulling us in different directions, we must first do what’s good for ourselves in order to be good for anybody.

You might think that your boss wants to see you kill yourself for the company, but it’s not actually true. And the same people who are pushing you to do the things they “need” could not get by any better without you; if you make time for yourself, you should find yourself with time for everybody.

Take care of your family

No one likes thinking about their own mortality, but I can tell you that — should you ever be conscious while actually facing it — you’ll feel a lot better about it if you know your family is taken care of.

For most people, this means doing their financial chores, making or updating estate plans, getting an insurance check-up and making sure that their loved ones will be able to focus on what’s important if there’s ever a catastrophe.

For me — because I was well aware during my heart attack that I had taken care of those things — it’s about handling the nagging little financial, tax and legal responsibilities that would be a major hassle if my wife got stuck with them because I let them slide.

Time is money… or maybe more precious

There’s plenty of time to waste and never enough to get things done. Most of us waste a lot of time on silly stuff.


I can be a world-class procrastinator, but if I can find a way to save five seconds of every minute during my work day, it would give me enough time in the day for a good workout, or that chance to visit with or talk to family or friends.

In my own case, I vividly remember saying I’d do anything for more time with my brother; the sad thing is that some changes in my habits would have allowed me to have that time, for years, while he was healthy.

And speaking of time: If you are one of those people who has gone years without using all of your vacation time, take the time in 2011. Whether it’s time for yourself or spent with your family, it’s worth more than you are getting paid to be in the office or on the production line.

Take concrete steps toward the future you want

This goes beyond saving for retirement or your future, and it’s not just feel-good mush. It involves what can best be described as “lifestyle planning,” where you take real steps toward making that ideal lifestyle happen.

It might be the dream job, or the plan you have for the twilight of your career, or the job change you have always dreamed of, but if you never actually move towards your “best outcome” it is likely to remain nothing more than a dream. If you want it to be more than that, you need to work towards making it happen now, while you can.
Submitted by

Tony Borelli, ChFC
MML Investors Services
MassMutual Financial Group
aborelli@finsvcs.com
516-364-3333, x820

You can find them archived at the link below:

http://roundtableregistry.com/ROUNDTABLEREGISTRY2010/Tidbits.asp

Respectfully submitted
Debbie Ongania
Prudential Commercial Real Estate

Anyone wanting more information can visit the event website at http://www.longislandwomensexpo.com/index.html

Submitted by Nancy Kurfurst
Co-Owner of WigAllure/Unique Hair Systems

This is a cost free event and as always, new members are welcome.

The Business Solutions Roundtable is a unique and innovative business tool formulated in 2006 and hosted monthly by the Small Business Development Center at Stony Brook. This exciting group meets the first Thursday of each month from 8:30 am – 10:30 am to discuss creative solutions to the problems faced by small business owners today.


This is not just another networking event. It is designed to be interactive and problem solving, and gives small business owners an open forum to discuss specific business issues with and from peers in the local business community. It is a place for sharing ideas, mentoring and being mentored.


It is moderated by two senior advisors from the Small Business Development Center who generously share their own wisdom and experience with us as well.


For further information about our Roundtable, call Ronni Rosen at the Stony Brook Small Business Development Center at 632-1407. Registration is required.

Here are five areas of social networking in which business owners can stumble.

Ignoring The Competition

With social media, it’s easy to track your competitors.  There are media tools to help you stay apprised of their activities: for example, you can track competitors by using sites like Tweetbeep.com and Google alerts to receive auto alerts each time your competitors are mentioned online.

Ignoring What Your Customers Say About You

“The customer is always right” has no better application than on social media channels.  A negative comment about your company can identify an important gap in your capabilities.  Some businesses are wary of responding to customer complaints in public forums, but demonstrating that you care enough to reach out and fix a problem can showcase your business in a very positive light.

Arguing On Social Media

Your brand can be judged not only by the fact that you responded to a customer, but also by how you responded.  Arguing with a customer, especially in public, is a loosing battle.  Remain professional and unemotional.  If you are wrong, calmly admit it and indicate that you want to make it right.

Failing To Live Up To Promises and Commitments

If you promise a customer on Twitter or a blog that you will handle a matter, make sure you do so.  Dropping the ball in a public way only exacerbates negative consequences.  Social media can make customer issues more complex because you now must monitor more places where customers may be discussing your brand or airing an issue, but it’s worth the effort.

Wasting Time

Experiment on social media channels that your consumers utilize.  If your not sure a site like foursquare is good for your business, sign up as a consumer first and play around.  If it’s useful for your business, claim your brand’s identity  on that tool.  Don’t just tweet for twitter’s sake.  Focus your posts on items that matter to you and your business.

Submitted by Nancy Kurfurst, Co-Owner of WigAllure
based on an article in the Costco Connection

This is a common question among small business owners for a variety of reasons. Some of these relate to gift and estate tax which have to meet very specific requirements set forth by the IRS and state tax authorities. Valuation for divorce or other litigation must also meet similar requirements in addition to case and court specific requirement. In this article I’ll limit the discussion to the buying, selling and valuation for merging or adding partners.


First a definition: “….the value of an interest in a closely held business is typically considered to be equal to the future benefits that will be received from the business, discounted to present value, at an appropriate discount rate” . This just means “What should I expect to get back in dollars in the future for the dollar I invest today?” The standard of value we will be concentrating on is the Investment Value focusing on the value of an enterprise as a ‘Going Concern’ that is expected to continue doing business into the future. A going concern has a trained work force, operational equipment in place, all of the required permits & licenses, business name and established procedures and systems. This is the value of all the work you did to start the business and get it to have this “in-place value”.


Commonly used methods of valuation are Asset Based, Income Based, Market Based and Transaction Based.


Asset Based methods simply look at the fair market value of the assets (inventory, equipment, vehicles, office equipment, etc) less the liabilities.


Income Based methods include some form of discount or capitalizing earnings to get the expected present value of that income. All of the income methods require a rate of return required by the buyer considering all of the risks of the business. An example is the ‘build-up’ method starting with the “risk free rate” like the 10 yr US Treasury Bond, say 4.5%. On this we add the general equity premium which is the extra return an investor would expect for a stock investment, use 7.2%. Next is a size premium which is low for large companies and high for very small companies, for $100,000 capital we’ll use 6.34%. Finally there is the company and industry specific premium which reflects the industry risk, volatility of returns, competition, key person or supplier dependence and concentration of customer base. In this case we’ll hypothetically use 6.5%. Adding these rates, the total rate is 24.54% which is the return an investor would require for an investment in this business.


Market Based methods include the price/earning ratio method. The P/E ratio involves calculating the future earning and taking the weighted average and the comparable P/E ratios of publicly traded companies. The problem is that it is extremely difficult to find a publicly traded company that is truly comparable to the company being valued. This method is rarely used in valuing smaller companies.


Also a very commonly used Market Based method is comparative sale of similar size companies in the same industry. There are various data base services that keep data on all of the reported sales in almost all types of business. These fee based services include PrattStats, BizComps for most businesses and the Goodwill Registry for healthcare practices as well as others.


There are other methods such as Justification of Purchase and Rules of Thumb which are based on averages from trade journals and brokers but don’t account for current economic conditions, size, region, cost structure or other specifics. They are sometimes used by professional analysts as a sanity check at the end of the process.

You should always be interested in the value of your company and what you can do to enhance that value. Using some of these methods you can get a range of value, but before selling or buying a business a true valuation should be performed by an expert. The same is true with buying or selling a partnership interest. These transactions involve large sums of your money and the cost of a proper valuation could save you much, much more.


Organizations that are certifying professionals and the designation offered are the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (CVA), the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), the Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants offering the Accreditation in Business Valuation (ABV)


Submitted by David Sangesland CPA, CVA

# Attendees – 28
Recorder: Willa Smith
Housekeeping:
Since the meetings have grown, and the website has become a valuable integrated part of this group, a discussion ensued about engaging members into maintaining and developing aspects of the website, and structure to the meetings.


Blog – Although the blog feature has been available for some time, it has not been actively used by Roundtable members. It was discussed that content posted should be informational, with a focus on educating members in areas that would be useful to their small business. Content that primarily is an advertisement for a specific business will not be posted. Julianna Garibay volunteered (thank you!) to be the “Blog Master” and will assist Jonathan Knight with this aspect of the website.


Minutes – For the benefit of members who are unable to attend meetings, and for historical purposes, it was decided that brief minutes would be taken to outline what was discussed at the meetings. Deborah Ongania volunteered (thank you!) to take minutes for future meetings. These will be posted on the website shortly after each meeting.


Attendance – Meetings are scheduled to begin at 8:30am, with introductions of each member at the start of the meeting. Introductions should be limited to 30-second elevator pitches (bring your taglines!). Late arrivals after 8:45am are welcome to join the meeting, but will miss the opportunity for their business introduction.


It was also decided that we will not limit the number of those who may attend the meeting. A concern was expressed that the meetings might be getting too large, and that it may limit the ability to address individual concerns, but the feeling was unanimous that, whatever the size, the meetings were of value and that the numbers attending should not be limited or discouraged in any way.


Next Meeting – Thursday, December 2 – HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONAs has been enjoyed in past years, we will once again feature food and beverage donations by members at the December meeting. To coordinate, there will be a list of items needed posted on the Roundtable Registry website. Members are encouraged to check out the list, and volunteer for something to bring. Thank you to all who bring, and yet, those who don’t bring should still feel very welcome to attend this wonderful annual gathering!


TOPICS COVERED TODAY:

1. Constant Contact/E-Mail Newsletters: The general consensus was that e-mail newsletters are a valuable way to keep in touch with customers. Constant Contact is used by a number of members, and with favorable results. Newsletters should be sent no more than once a month (with a minimum of 4 times/year), should focus on information and quality content (not just a sales ad for the business), and it helps if the subject line has an interesting point which draws the receiver in to the e-mail. It was also discussed how valuable the “backend” information is to track how many people open the newsletter, what links are used, the volume of activity, etc..

2. Customer Surveys: A discussion was held on the value of taking at least an annual survey of your customers to gauge what is going well, and not so well with your business. Incentives are good to get customers to participate, but even if the response is slim, it was still felt that “putting it out there” creates goodwill and shows that the business cares about how it’s doing. Free online surveys, such as what is available through SurveyMonkey.com, were discussed.

3. Two Websites were Reviewed by the members, with feedback to the business owners. It was also mentioned that WebsiteGrader.com offers free analysis of your website, and will send an e-mailed report to you with good feedback. (It is not required to purchase services for this report). The important point to remember with your website is to focus on content, content, content.

4. Legal Issues revolving around printed reports given to clients was discussed. The discussion centered on how much information is the right amount – should there be a streamlined way of communicating – and when does it become information overload, and when can it cause liability concerns for the business.



NOTE: This meeting was videotaped today by Laura Serpico, of Jupiter Moon Productions, with the intent to post edited video on the SBDC Roundtable Registry website. Our thanks to Laura for volunteering to do this today, and to the many members who also volunteered to be videotaped for the purpose of promoting these meetings.


http://www.roundtableregistry.com

This month’s Business Solution’s Roundtable is this Thursday, March 4, 2010.

See you there!