The ADD Business Owner

Why I Don't Barter My Services

I've seen a number of articles this week about how bartering products and services can help businesses save money. I strongly disagree.

Every now and then I get a request to "barter" for my coaching services. Usually, the person on the other end is offering marketing or administrative services, two things that I have paid for in the past and will no doubt pay for again in the future.

However, I turn down barter offers every single time. In fact, a few years ago I made it an ADD Management Group "company policy" to not barter services.

Here are the 2 very simple reasons why I don't barter my services, and why you should think twice about bartering in your business:

1. I don't value free or "bartered" services as much as I value the ones I'm paying for.
2. YOU (i.e. the person on the other end of the deal) doesn't value free or bartered services as much as you value the ones you're paying for.

Think about it... If I allowed you to attend for free, you might show up, and you might not. You might use the strategies, and you might not. What's the difference? You didn't pay for it. No skin off your back.

If you pay $197 to attend my Time Management Masters Seminar, you'll likely attend the sessions and do the work because, well, you paid for it, dammit! It's human nature to want to get your money's worth.

If your products and services are really worth something, then don't give them away. Charge for them, and then prove their value. If I need what you have to offer, I'll be more than happy to pay for it.

A Tale of Two Accountants

I've been doing my own taxes since my very first after-school job at 15. I remember the days when filing that 1040EZ form took 10 minutes and resulted in a nice refund.

Then came full time jobs, itemized deductions, and Schedule C forms, so I moved over to TurboTax for my more complicated tax filings.

Last year, ever-increasing complications with my taxes along with a desire to delegate the stresses in my life had me searching for a good accountant. I found a firm that had a lot of experience in filing business taxes, and counted many local businesses as their clients. Let's call them The Firm. They were quite thorough. But they were stuffy. A little dry. Dare I say boring?

So when it came time to make Erin a partner in the business last summer, I shopped around for a new accountant. I found someone I liked--let's caller her The Other Accountant, and then proceeded to write a post entitled HELP! My Accountant Has ADD!

The Other Accountant was very friendly, a little kooky, and insanely upbeat. She even told me that she thought she might have ADD! She wasn't as knowledgeable as The Firm, and had to look up a couple of thing. But we got along fabulously, and I thought she would be a better match for me and the business.

Man, was I wrong.

In January, The Firm sent a large envelope in the mail. It contained a 20-page questionnaire, along with  a list of all the documents we would need to file our personal and business taxes for 2007. And, there was a postage-paid envelope included in the packet. They made it as easy as possible--answer these simple questions, gather these documents, mail everything to us in this envelope, and we'll get to work! Talk about ADD-friendly!!

I heard nothing from The Other Accountant.

While I technically didn't need to meet with The Firm this year, I scheduled an appointment because this was the first year that we were filing as an S-Corp, as opposed to a single member LLC, and I had questions.

First, I was a little embarrassed when I had to explain to The Firm that The Other Accountant filed some papers for us. "We cheated on you," I told the Managing Partner. "And we learned our lesson." Thankfully, he laughed. Little did I know that there was even more lesson to learn.

When The Firm looked at the papers The Other Accountant filed, they immediately saw that she had filed the papers incorrectly. She filed us as a multi-member LLC, not as an S-corp. Needless to say, I was pissed.

The Firm then proceeded to explain that they didn't think we should file as an S-corp for various reasons. Of course, we had this discussion with The Other Accountant last summer, who was obviously in over her head in this matter. I felt a little stupid but, hey, how the hell was I to know? I'm not a CPA!

Everything is being straightened out now, by The Firm, of course. And I have learned a very important lesson: Accounting is not like coaching.  When choosing a coach, personality plays a large role. When choosing an accountant, knowledge and experience trump personality. Boring accountants in suits  will save you time and money in the long run...at least in my case, anyway!

Only 13 days left til April 15! Have YOU filed your taxes yet? :)

Money Management

I've now officially had 2 clients who are ADD and accountants...and I can safely say that I still don't understand the appeal!

Now that Erin is working in the ADD Management Group full time, she's taken over the finances. She's always been better with that stuff and she loves nothing more than creating elaborate spreadsheets for financial management.

There is a problem, however. For two months now we've sat down together and I've walked Erin through my process for reconciling the monthly finances. This involves exporting receipts from no less than 3 software programs and importing them into Quickbooks. And it has become clear that I actually have no idea what I'm doing.

The systems I've created work for me, but make little sense to Erin. It' seems that I never followed the easy route when reconciling the numbers each month.

Fortunately, I now have Erin to take care of it all. And in this case, she's going through everything and creating new systems. She's actually learning how to use Quickbooks, instead of just guessing, which is what I did. And she's plugging the numbers into spreadsheets that offer valuable information about product sales, as well as our business spending trends.

And all the while, Erin is detailing the process in our Standard Operating Procedures manual. So if she eventually delegates this task to a bookkeeper, they'll know exactly how to fill out her spreadsheets.

On my other blog, Experiencing ADDvantages, I posted about needing to maintain my own systems separate from Erin in our personal lives. In business, however, she's a classic E-Myth Manager and I am more than happy to let her overhaul our business processes.

My new book, Odd One Out: The Maverick's Guide to Adult ADD is now available at a presale discount. Reserve your copy today!

HELP! My Accountant Has ADD!

Today I met with a new accountant. The firm I had been working with was a little stuffy for me, so I wanted to shop around. I liked this new accountant - she was not quite as knowledgeable as the last guy, but she was very down to earth and personable. What worries me is that she had some serious ADD tendencies...

She was singing "la la la la laaaaa!" loudly to herself before I was escorted into her office. (Now don't get me wrong, I do that, too, just not in front of clients!)  She talked nonstop and went off on tangents - a lot.  And she spent a lot of time looking for a paper that was right under her nose. These ADD tendencies worried me a bit.

BUT...I liked her style. The office was not your typical stuffy CPA office. She was happy, gay-friendly, and seemed to genuinely have my best interest at heart. I suppose the ultimate test will be the work that is done, as we decided to change the structure of the business from an LLC to an S Corp and make Erin a 50% partner. (More on this another time.)

I don't know whether or not the accountant actually has ADD, but it got me thinking. Maybe there are more ADDers out there in "detail-oriented" careers than I thought.

In almost 5 years of coaching, I have had only one client who was an accountant. He struggled, but he was ultimately saved by a promotion that allowed him to supervise a team of accountants and spend most of his time in a strategic role. And the accountant I met with today seemed to be more interested in working with entrepreneurs and helping them succeed than in the actual tax law stuff.

Perhaps there are more of these ADDers out there than I realized: people who effectively balance the details with the big picture and are ultimately very successful.

Do you own a business that most people would consider ADD-unfriendly? Tell us about it! Please share your thoughts in the comments field.

Raising Your Rates

Permit me a little bit of a business-minded rant today, even though it has nothing to do with ADD...

Javier came today to mow our lawn. He's a nice guy, and he's been mowing our lawn since we moved into the house a year ago, as well as plowing our driveway in the winter.

Erin went outside to pay him for the last month, and he told her that she actually owed an additional $15 because his rates had gone up $5 per service this summer.

Javier has lost a client, and a valuable referral source.

Javier makes mistakes. He can be slightly unreliable, especially in winter. He's been missing a chunk of weeds in the backyard. And today he came on Thursday, when he's supposed to come on Friday. But I could live with all those things.

What I can't live with is a contractor who tells me his rates have increased after the fact. It's just bad business.

Had Javier spoken to us two months ago and explained that he was raising his rates due to increasing fuel costs or whatever reason, I would have understood and paid the difference. No problem.

I've raised my coaching rates a couple of times in the past. Each time, I personally gave the clients plenty of notice and asked them if they would like to continue under the new fee schedule. I've never had anyone decline.

Erin and I will be looking for a new lawn service. Javier has not only lost a client, he's lost a ton of referrals. We live in a brand new neighborhood in which about half the houses have not even been built yet. I have already given Javier's card to three neighbors, and I would have given it to more people as they moved in, along with my recommendation. Looks like I'll be the one asking for recommendations now.

Make Money with AGLOCO

Have you heard of AGLOCO?  It's a company that has set out to become "The Internet's First Economic Network."

Members make money simply by using the AGLOCO view bar for Internet searches and for referring other members.  It's estimated that a member who joins and does nothing more than surf the Internet for 5 hours a month will make between $5-$15 a month in revenue share.

This is how the company explains it:

Do you realize how valuable you are? Advertisers, search providers and online retailers are paying billions to reach you while you surf.  How much of that money are you making? NONE!

AGLOCO thinks you deserve a piece of the action.

AGLOCO collects money from those companies on behalf of its members. For example, Google currently pays AOL 10 cents for every Google search by an AOL user. And Google still has enough profit to pay $1.6 billion dollars for YouTube, an 18-month old site full of content that YouTube’s users did not get paid for!

AGLOCO will work to get its Members their share of this and more.

AGLOCO is building a new form of online community that they call an Economic Network. They are not only paying Members their fair share, but they’re building a community that will generate the kind of fortune that YouTube made. But instead of that wealth making only a few people rich, the entire community will get its share.

What's the catch? No catch - no spyware, no pop-ups and no spam - membership and software are free and AGLOCO is 100% member owned. Privacy is a core value and AGLOCO never sells or rents member information.

I was referred to AGLOCO by a friend who is very tech-savvy, and really excited about the money making potential. So I'm giving it a try! What do I have to lose?

I downloaded my view bar today and have already accumulated hours that will go towards my revenue share for the month. I will be sure to post updates here on my blog and let you know how well (or how not well) this process works.

If you'd like to join me, please use my referral link to sign up:  http://www.agloco.com/r/BBDV8018 

Then you can refer all your friends, and maybe we'll all make some easy-breezy supplemental income!

Book Review: Lower Your Taxes - Big Time!

I recently stumbled upon an excellent book that I recommend all ADD business owners read!  It's called Lower Your Taxes - Big Time! 2006-2007 Edition by Sandy Botkin.

One of the best reasons to own a small business (or to form a company) is that when you do, all sorts of tax advantages become available to you.

For example, did you know that you can decuct the cost of your health insurance?  Okay, maybe you did know that. 

But did you know that you can deduct some of the costs of your car -- including gas and car washes??  Okay, once again maybe you did know that, or maybe you didn't...

But if you know this one, then I'm impressed: You may be able to deduct your out-of-pocket medical expenses, like copays and drug costs!  The requires setting up a self-insured medical reimbursement plan and hiring your spouse, which can usually be done easily and quickly.

Of course, I am not a tax professional (not even close).  When it comes to taxes, I'm learning as I go. And I absolutely positively recommend that you have a tax lawyer or accountant help you set up all these things properly. 

But isn't nice to know that you have these options available?  I certainly think so!

Learn From Ken's Mistakes

By now you've probably heard about the death of Enron founder Ken Lay.  I'm inclined to think the man was guilty as convicted.

We often hear about all-powerful business people, like Ken Lay and Martha Stewart (whom I think got burned more for her female success than her mistakes -- but that's another post), who risk all they have built for financial gain.

It gets me thinking about why we build our businesses in the first place.

Yesterday, Erin asked me if I would ever want to own a franchise.  I said no. 

The great thing about franchises is that you buy the systems of the company.  There is a clear and concise operations manual.  Buying a successful franchise practically guarantees you a comfortable income. 

The bad thing about franchises is that there is little left in your hands to improve upon.  In other words, you risk boredom.  Especially if you have ADD.

So why is it that we, ADDers, start our businesses?  I don't believe it's about the money.  Don't get me wrong; money is great!  I love money!  But money is often an afterthought.

The ADD business owners I know, including myself, start their businesses because they are tired of following someone else's rules.  Their great ideas, aspirations, and tenacity go to waste working for someone else.  ADDers - specifically entrepreneur-minded ADDers - need challenge in order to thrive.   

We need to be able to see our hard work pay off in personal achievement and satisfaction.  If and when lots of money follow, even better.

The point is that ADDers find many forms of compensation from their businesses.  Don't let financial troubles - or successes - make you forget about why you started your business in the first place.