Response to "Business question for do-gooders."

Okay, I've teased you long enough.  If you remember I asked in a previous post what the welder who built my father-in-law's trailer should do when I bring it to him for "refurbishing."  I told you it was twenty-plus years old and that it has been a great tool. I asked if he should do the repairs and charge me full-cost, half-price, or repair it for free.

Well, most of you seemed to lean toward the half-price option. Why?  Because it somehow seems fair or just? Perhaps I led you astray (purposely) by mentioning the welds and you assumed that there was some poor workmanship involved?  Far from it in my opinion. It is a quality job that has simply succumbed to the aging process (I can relate!).  

The key, therefore, in my estimation is in the question I asked. What should he do from a business perspective?  From a business perspective I think it is only fair that he charge the full cost of his services. After all if we assume that the job was done well in the building phase and the deterioration is simply due to time and use, then he holds no responsibility to discount his prices.

In fact, he should not discount the work because the cost of his labor and overhead (see my name plate . . . an overhead expense) have not diminished.

Uncomfortable yet Mr. Do-gooder?

I say he should not reduce the price from a business perspective and I believe this to be true.  However, that is not to say that he cannot reduce his price for some other reason. Many times those of us in business do this and for good reasons. We deliver services below our costs or even pro bono.

So, if you feel like the welder could "cut me a break" on the price what would be some valid reasons for deciding to offer a less than full-price option?

I guess on reflection I'm not yet quite done holding you in suspense.  Next, I'll tell you what I think some good reasons to give away services.

Bryan

Available eBooks:

Private Practice through Contracting: Decreasing dependence on insurance.

Engaging Your Team: A framework for managing difficult people.

Family Legacy: Protecting family in family business.

Business question for do-gooders . . .

I have a trailer . . . or rather my father-in-law has a trailer that he has "left" at our house for the past 15 years. It's not a bad thing. It's a generous thing. Or maybe a pity thing. I dunno. but either way it has been a very helpful tool to our little acreage. 

The trailer is showing its age however.  This summer I rewired it.  It needs a good paint job and to really restore it to its former state it needs to be taken back to the welder that built it for a "touch up" on the welds holding the box together. I've been contemplating how I would handle it if I were the welder so . . .

Here's a thought experiment for fellow do-gooders . . . 

If you were the welder and someone brought back a trailer you built twenty years ago to have the box rewelded, would you:

A. Do it for free.  Hey, the welds should have held.

B. Charge only half.  The welds should have held but its been twenty years.

C. Charge the full price to repair the trailer.

I'd love to hear what you think.  Later, in a separate post (don't want to give away anything!), I'll tell you what I would have done twenty years ago and why I would do something different today. Then we'll explore the ethical decision as a business owner versus being a reasonable, rationale, caring human being.

Bryan

Available eBooks:

Private Practice through Contracting: Decreasing dependence on insurance.

Engaging Your Team: A framework for managing difficult people.

Family Legacy: Protecting family in family business.

Taking your business on line.

First, I should tell you that I am not an IT expert.  However, I am fairly competent with IT (for my age). Although I the language I learned was "Basic" on a Wang magnetic-tape drive computer . . . I still have a basic handle on how computers and, simple, coding works.  Thus, in my own assessment, I'm not entirely without "an idea" but neither am I a professional.  I tell you this to help you put the following in context.

I am currently working to take much of my consulting services on line.  With the dramatic changes that continue to occur in IT it is at times overwhelming to try and sort through the "chaff" to get to the "grain" (Forgive the agricultural reference, but I am from the midwest . . .).  So here I want to tell you about the very best tools I have found. If you do any contracting (or want to) then I would encourage you to check these out.

If you are not very IT savvy, you can still go operate on line but you may need more "professional support." Once you get comfortable running, what I call a "team of teams" it becomes much easier to take on complex tasks outside your direct line of experience. This is critical in being a model leader, entrepreneur, or consultant.

All the best!

Bryan

The best tools I have found for taking business on line:

Squarespace:

For you website, I don't think you can do better than use this.  My IT son would probably disagree (but then again, he has had to spend a lot of time helping me transfer over information from the origin website we programmed together several years ago).  Why Squarespace?  Because it is a locked down version that allows a lot of flexibility.  

If you want to spend your time coding and creating your own very unique and specially designed website then Squarespace may not be for you.  Although you can introduce your own coding, it is purposely limited.  The upside? If you just want something easy to use, flexible, powerful, and professional looking then this is a great choice. After all do you want to spend your time building a website or building your business?

Trello

Trello is an awesome project management and organizational system. I use Trello to organize my operational tasks, as a marketing contact manager, to do project management, track my invoices and payment, create job-specific calendars for clients, share information and resources, and to promote and connect others to my products.

The primary reasons I use Trello are to build a strong brand for myself, develop products and processes that can be replicated (for myself and others), and connect clients with my business.  It truly is one of the most flexible and useful tools out there.

Gumroad

Have some products to sell?  Gumroad is a great place to set up shop and sell your physical and digital products.  Easy to use and connect to your website there is nothing out there that surpasses it as a vendor at this time.

Google Forms

Want to do a survey for a client?  Hope to set up a survey on your website to engage them and get people interested in your products and services?  Google Forms is a great way to create surveys, collect data, and display the results.

Join Me

For video conferencing (and sharing your desktop) I have found Join Me to be a friendly and useful tool.  They software is easy to learn and the basic services work very well.  The very first time I attempted to use Join Me . . . it worked with little or no struggles to "learn the software."  

I have other services and software that I use regularly but none of them live up to the satisfaction I have had with these five.  As I find other alternatives that are especially good, I'll share them here.  I hope you will share your "finds" here as well. A good recommendation is a great way to cut through the clutter and find the few jewels that will set you apart and make succeeding more likely.

Google Forms

I have used Google Forms for multiple purposes. Created my own on line surveys, signed up attendees for conferences and had the fill out a post-conference evaluation, created employee satisfaction surveys, and other sundry items.  It is user-friendly, intuitive, and can be shared with others easily.  Check it out!

If you have some on line tools you find very useful, please share them and we will check them out, and write about it as well!

Thanks, in advance, for sharing!

Available eBooks:

Private Practice through Contracting: Decreasing dependence on insurance.

Engaging Your Team: A framework for managing difficult people.

Family Legacy: Protecting family in family business.