Some of us have had incidents where we get on a Skype call and the video portion turns on.  There you are with your jammies or less.  You look like you’ve just rolled out of bed.  I heard of one woman who was on a call with a support person to suddenly find herself looking at a guy dressed only in his gaunch!!  And apparently, it was not a pretty site.

Even if you don’t do video calls, dressing is one of the most important preparations you can do every day.  It gets you in the mood to complete your tasks.  My recommendation is to dress based on the work you do.  If you are a programming guru you would probably get to wear jeans and a “software logo” T-shirt to work so it would not be presumptuous to wear that at home.  On the other hand, if you are a management consultant working with middle and upper management you may want to dress accordingly.  You probably don’t need to wear a full suit, but dressing professionally will make you feel professional.    Also, if you get called out to a client you won’t have to change your outfit.

When I was just starting out as an entrepreneur 25 years ago, I learned a lesson that has stayed with me for all of these years.  My great uncle, Ken Reitan, was a manufacturers’ rep for most of his working life.  He travelled a lot restocking stores and showing new products, but it was when he was at home that I got my lesson.  Uncle Ken had a little office in the basement of his house with a phone, a fax, his catalogues and whatever else he needed at the time.  I had a client in his city and I stayed with my aunt and uncle for a week or so while I was working there.  Here is what I saw.  My uncle would get up in the morning, eat breakfast, dress in a suit and head downstairs.  There was nary a peep from him until lunch at which time he would come up the stairs, take off his suit jacket and sit down and have a nice lunch with his lovely wife.  Once his lunch hour was finished, he would put on his jacket and head back down the stairs.  Again, there he stayed until “quitting time” when he would come back upstairs, change and relax.

You’re probably thinking what I thought at the time.  This is some disciplined guy.  How can you possibly work that way.  I can’t be that rigid.  Yes, you may be right.  I don’t know if he did that every day that he happened to be home rather than on the road.  What I have found is that on days that I do set out my “working” hours and follow his example, these are the days I get a ton of work done.  They are the days I feel like I have really accomplished something.   They are also the days that if I talk to clients or prospective clients on the phone, I feel and sound more professional.  I am a business person!

So the Tips for the Week is to dress for work.  Treat your home office as a “real” office and dress accordingly.  You will feel more like working and will act and talk like a professional.

Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!

1.  Click on Settings

2.  Click on Labs

3.  Enable any of the Gmail Labs you think you may want.

Once you enable any of the Labs, THEN you will have a “Beaker” beside your Settings. Easy, isn’t it?  Anyway, I did enable the Tasks (aka To Do List), Signature Tweaks which puts my signature before the quoted text in a reply email, and Forgotten Attachment Detector. How many times have you sent an email only to discover just as you click Send that you forgot the attachment.  It will be interesting to see how this one works.

It was mentioned in another blog that the Google Gmail Labs will eventually replace iGoogle.  I can see how that will happen.  You can have a lot of your Google Apps appear right on your Gmail page - Reader, Documents, Tasks, Calendar, etc.  Why go anywhere else?

For someone who uses Gmail constantly, I was really surprised to find this little gem called Google Labs.  Thank you to all the bloggers who shared this in your blogs and your tweets.

In these hard economic times, there are many of us that are extremely stressed and worried about our present and our future well being.  We are living in a time where we have been persuaded that we deserve anything and everything we want.  That’s true in some ways.  We deserve a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, food in our stomachs, good education and good health care.  We not only deserve it, we have a right to it.  We have a right to have the basics to live a good life.

In 2005 the US Congress passed a law to divert higher-income filers into Chapter 13 repayment plans, rather than allowing them to file for a Chapter 7 debt liquidation. There was a lull in bankruptcies in 2006, but from 2007 on, the number of bankruptcies filed have promised to exceed the number there were before the law passed. The same holds true for Canada where there were 8900 bankruptcies filed in September, 2008 alone. Personal bankruptcy is soaring.

Critics of the new bill claim that it unfairly punishes consumers while putting few restrictions on irresponsible lenders – the same lenders that are programming consumers to spend, spend, spend! In our Western culture, we have been programmed to think that the good life involves an unlimited number of shoes, handbags, jewelry, cars, video games, lattes, communication devices, and so on, and we should be able to BUY anything we want when we want it even though we don’t have the actual cash to do so.

Many consumers are financially illiterate. They have not been taught, whether by their parents, the school system, or creditors, how to handle their finances. In today’s economy it’s virtually impossible for most of us to save up enough cash to buy a house or a car without credit. Every new building project advertises luxury. Every new car has luxury features. We all want to feel and look rich! The builders, retailers and manufacturers know what we want. They know that if they make something look expensive, even if the workmanship is shoddy, we will pay through the nose for it.

The lenders love the “new economy”. Remember, the less we can afford something, the higher the lending rate will be. Don’t be fooled! Even if you get to the point of declaring bankruptcy, you can still get credit but at a VERY high cost. Don’t believe me? With the current so-called credit crisis, the banks of most of the western world have lowered their prime lending rates. If you can qualify in this market, you can get a pretty good mortgage right now. Now check your credit card interest rate. Has that changed at all? NO. If fact, credit card companies are ignoring these rate cuts claiming they charge based on risk, not on the cost of money.[1]

Throughout this series, I will be going over bankruptcy processes, how you may be able to avoid it and if not, how to survive it.

So this week the engine light comes on again.  So, I’m thinking this REALLY is not a good sign.  I take it in and they say if it happens to be the same problem, the parts have a one year warranty and would be replaced. You know it’s NOT going to be the same and how would you ever know if it was.  I rent my replacement vehicle, a new Volvo V70 stationwagon, and leave the car for the day.  It should be noted that over the years, I have probably “test-driven” most of the Volvos available other than the SUV and a newer S80.  I guess they’re too expensive to use as loaners.

Anyway, later in the day the service manager phones me to tell me the news is not too bad. Apparently, the emission system sensor is saying that I have a leak but he doesn’t think that’s the case.  He thinks the software needs an upgrade.

Okay, now I’m in the software business.  I’ve been in the software business for thirty years and I know a little bit about it.  So when a car service repair manager tells me that my car needs a software upgrade, I have to wonder:  How does my car know it’s time for a software upgrade?  I know my car is not hooked up to the Internet like my computer is.  My computer software knows it’s time to upgrade only because there are little “hooks” that will go out to the Internet and take a peek at the software or hardware website which will tell my computer that it’s time to upgrade.  How does my Volvo S80 “sense” that it is time for a software upgrade - especially when it’s not free?  Have they got it hooked up to a monitoring system via satellite or do they have it programmed in the existing software based on mileage, number of months, etc?

It cost me $110 plus tax for the service guy to download the software and install it on my car’s computer system.  Add to that the cost of the replacement vehicle and my bill for the day came to $165 with taxes.  This, of course, does not include my time in having to deal with this problem.

When I went back to get my car and pay my bill, I asked the service manager how the car knew it was time for an upgrade?  He really didn’t have an answer for me.  I guess they don’t want to general public to know -  The New Machines know everything!!!

This month I went out and bought an Acer Aspire One from Staples.  For some    reason they were blowing them out at $375 and less.  I got the last one at my neighborhood store and it appeared that there were few left in the city.  I’d been hemming and hahing over what to buy when I saw this one just sitting there–take me!  I checked the specs and decided that for this price I had to get it now.

It turns out this was a great decision.  Not only because I love my new mini laptop - I can put it in my

handbag and take it with me everywhere - but because the price has zoomed.  There was a half page in our local paper on the weekend advertising a lesser model (half the RAM with more HD) for $499.  I also checked out Amazon at $499.99 US.  So I got a great deal!!

You can check out my guest blog “I Love My $375 Laptop” at http://www.techcoachtips.com/

If I was going to pick a color though, I’d probably go with the white to hide the fingerprints.  The glossy finish tends to get a lot of smudges on it and for someone with OCD, it’s a lot of stress to keep it looking shiny and new….

This computer is also great for Skyping as it comes with a built-in webcam and microphone.  I’ve had conference calls on it and even done support calls as far away as Romania.  The sound through my headphones is great - better than my home phone.  Also once I decide on my Internet stick, I can make phone calls from anywhere on my Skype and eliminate my long distance charges.

Life is Good!!

WEPPA

Now there is a new Act that will make it even harder for small business to compete.  This Act, The Wage Earner Protection Program Act (WEPPA) is both a blessing and a hardship for small business.  WEPPA places the employees of Canadian companies who declare bankruptcy right at the top of the creditor pile.

Blessing

Most businesses, small, medium or large, have a majority of employees who are living paycheque to paycheque.  For the ethical business owner, their employees’ wages are usually at the forefront.  Owners lose sleep over who or what to pay when money is tight.  Sometimes they may hang onto government remittances a little longer or not save for vacation pay payouts to employees. The stress of not having funds to pay these as well as regular wages can cause heart attacks, insomnia, and untold mental anquish.  Do you feed your own family or do you feed your employee’s family?  Tough decision!

The Blessing of WEPPA is that, in bankruptcy, the employees now come first - even before government remittances and taxes.  Now, if you’ve come to the unpleasant decision of bankruptcy, you can know that your employees will be paid first.  If there isn’t enough cash in your business to pay, the taxpayers of Canada, through Human Resources & Social Development Canada (HRDSC) will pay up to $3000 per claim for unpaid wages, travelling expenses and vacation pay incurred during the previous six months from the bankruptcy or insolvency.  $3000 may not come close to what the company owes its workers, but it’s better than nothing at all.   The fact that employees have some protection may make the ordeal a tiny bit easier.

Hardship

The hardship of this Act is that it will force Banks to scrutinize small business even more than it has in the past.  Bankers are going to take a closer look at the Balance Sheets of small business and follow the payment history of payroll, government payroll and federal and provincial sales tax remittances.  The reason Banks are going to take an active interest in making sure you have been paying your employees and taxes is that they have been put farther down the list of creditors to be paid.

The order of creditors will now be employees, government remittances, secured creditors, and then unsecured creditors.   We, as small business owners, will very likely see a rise in interest rates to cover the risk of increased liability to the banks.

Also under WEPPA, company owners and directors become personally liable for any wages owed to employees at bankruptcy or insolvency.  So, if you think that incorporating will relieve you from any liability, think again.  If the company goes bankrupt or insolvent, you may have to sell assets or declare personal bankruptcy to make these payments as well as pay back the HRDSC.

So having been on both sides of the track, an employee and a business owner, I have mixed feelings about this Act.  The humanitarian in me applauds it as I feel people should be paid what is owed to them.  But as a business owner it is just another barrier that, if I let it, could keep me from expanding and growing my business.  At a time when the government wants low unemployment, it’s not encouraging me to hire.

What is your take on this new program?

My daughter, the doctor geek, calls me a Dork!! Not sure what the difference is and I thought I raised her better than to make fun of Mom’s quirkiness.  Guess not.

You can watch the slideshow at:

http://www.cio.com/special/slideshows/22_signs_you_are_a_geek/index#slideshow

Enjoy!!!

My friend and I are older, voluptuous females who have been in the IT world longer than most of our cohorts have been alive.  The constant learning of new technology keeps us young and vital.  Unfortunately, we live in a society that discriminates against women in technology (and women in general), overweight people and “seniors”.  Talk about a triple threat!!!

Exhibitors need to review how they address people who visit their booths.  Are they projecting conscious or unconscious prejudices based on first impressions?  Most likely.

I am currently reading an interesting book called “Blink: The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking“.  Blink looks into how we make our first impression judgments based on previous encounters or by what has been drilled into us by society, media, culture, etc.  The author, Malcolm Gladwell, first goes into how our initial impressions are usually right but then goes on to explain that initial impressions can also be tainted by our history and knowledge or lack thereof.  The better you know your subject, the better you become at “Thinking without Thinking”.

As far as exhibitors or salepeople in general are concerned, they really should be more observant of the people they are talking to if they really want to sell their products.

With paper and plastic bags falling out of favour around the world, we are left to wonder if heavy canvas bags or bulky reusable bags are the only method left to us for carrying our groceries. One eco-friendly alternative is the ancient Japanese art of Furoshiki, which uses a simple square of silk or nylon cloth as a means of wrapping and carrying just about anything. Because Furoshiki uses silk or nylon, the knots are very durable but also very easy to untie.

From there the article went on the show you several methods of making Furoshiki. It looks pretty easy and what a great idea. I could just keep a silk scarf in my purse and have something to carry my purchases in at all times. Men could have a nice silk hankie on hand (hopefully clean) for small purchases.

Then reality set in. Right now when I go shopping with my reusable bags, the checkout people give you a “not another tree-hugger!!” look and then quite reluctantly fill my eco-friendly bags. Now I’m thinking… I’ll just lay this piece of cloth down on your counter and you can put my shopping items in the middle of the cloth and I will take the next few minutes tying it up so I can leave. Somehow I don’t think so. The people behind me might have something to say about that. OR can you imagine yourself at one of those new self-checkouts where even with my existing bags I get a megaphoned voice saying “there is a foreign object in the bagging area. Please wait for assistance.” How annoying is that!!

I think FuroShiki is best left for wrapping gifts and wine bottles….maybe a picnic….but definitely not for my regular trips to the grocery. It will be interesting to see what happens when the plastic bags are outlawed. Will the checkouts be a little more lenient and understanding of packaging our groceries in the reusable bags? I really hope so as I already have a huge plastic bag of plastic bags I have to figure out to do with!!!

Depending on where you are in the evolution of your entrepreneurship will determine how you are spending the long weekend.  If you are at the beginning, you are probably working.  If you’ve been at it for awhile you are catching up on “homework” or actually relaxing.

When I was starting out, I had a tendency to agree to unreasonable deadlines and additional work in order to show the world what I could do.  I didn’t feel that I had the right to negotiate with clients and prospective clients since I had never done this solo act before.  My life was definitely out of balance.  It created stress for myself and my family as family outings and time together took a back seat to work.  Sound familiar?

It took a few years to realize that a vast majority of deadlines could be negotiated, based on both the clients’ needs and my personal timelines.  I had to learn to say NO….or to say yes I can do this but not at this time or not within the specified timeframe.

Now I don’t bother to leave town on the “busy” weekends and fight the traffic and crowds.  I DO make sure to schedule in several non-stat “long weekends” a year in order to travel, visit friends and family, or just relax.  This makes for a much more productive, but still chronic, entrepreneur.