A client who owns a franchise contacted me regarding a situation in which their franchisor questioned them on their tax situation, as well as their overall financial challenges. They said after they finished with the visit, they just didn’t feel secure in not knowing the ins and outs of what’s going on in their business.
After speaking with them about how the company was set up, how their tax liability works, and what they need to be aware of, then they understood in a very simplified breakdown after about 15 minutes on the phone. We’re still going to meet up in person to go over everything more detailed, but unfortunately the franchisor was giving them bad tax information based on their limited knowledge, instead of just suggesting talking to their tax professional so they could feel more secure in their knowledge.
- Personally, I cannot change the oil in my car, transmission fluid, etc. so therefore I go to my mechanic who is ASE certified (I checked), has their own garage business, and yes I pay a higher premium for service but he guarantees it because I don’t have the ability to go to mechanic school, learn how to do it the right way, spend several hours a week getting the experience, and making it a priority in my life.
- I’m a caretaker by nature and have been during my entire life. In fact, since my mother passed away 6 years ago, I’ve been responsible for my brother who is disabled both physically and emotionally. He’s in a safe acute care facility with professionals because that’s where he’s able to get the best care possible, and I also visit him 4-5 days a week, but I still make myself a priority because if I’m not okay, then there’s no one going to be able to care for him as much as I do.
- Everyone has a sense of entitlement on a variety of levels, and it’s because we’re in 2019. What we’ve been accustomed to through Amazon Prime, next day delivery, grocery pick-up, grocery delivery, driverless cars, binging shows on Netflix and Hulu, etc. We all want it immediately, and if that path gets disrupted beyond our control, how often do we feel short-changed? Does that not sound like a few of our clients at times?
- Some people live for conflict, and we know that as business owners we don’t like to be aggressive in getting what we want. Because we’re always trying to make that next sale or we’re willing to sacrifice our ethics in order to get the bills paid because people want to see how far they can push to get what they want, putting themselves ahead of our own needs. Every relationship needs to work for both sides, and if you have a customer/client that isn’t helping you achieve what you need, then how does that benefit your needs?
- “If you want God to laugh, tell him what your plan is.” My mother always told me it’ll happen when it’s supposed to and not before. I was reading a Reddit post about a young entrepreneur not having the ability to devote more than 10 hours a week to their side business because they worked 40+ hours a week at a regular job. Their plan was to do an initial family and friends funding round of $250k, determined to live off of that to start a business that they had a marginal amount of experience in, planned to hit their goal of $10 million in 5 years, and then sell it for a significant amount more to begin their next chapter. Not surprisingly no one responded to it because there was nothing to reply about – they had it all laid out with a nice, neat little bow. Really?
The client who contacted me, I admire immensely because they’ve not given up. They’ve not necessarily listened to everything I’ve suggested, and that’s okay because I have enough to know what can and cannot let go. It’s still a work in progress, like life in general.
Dwayne J. Briscoe