outsourcing for success

My wife read that 4-Hour Work Week book some time ago, and said that the basic principle revolves around the concept of outsourcing, and the fact that you can nearly always find someone else to do your work for cheaper than you could do it for yourself. I understand the concept, but I'm not sure if I can relinquish enough control to apply it to my own business. But I'm determined to try, as I know that it is a legitimate concept that has worked for many others before me - perhaps for thousands of years...

Case in point: There's a company called Cydcor that specializes in outsourcing sales teams. And we're not just talking about telemarketing sales people who have no clue of the product that they are trying to sell. (I once had a telemarketer try to sell me a newspaper and they couldn't even tell me the city that the paper was based out of. I had never heard of it. For all I knew, she could be trying to sell me the morning news of Tibet!) Rather, this company deals in face-to-face sales outsourcing. Considering how much I hate playing the part of salesman, I guess I should take note. Here's the full press release for those who are interested:

"Cydcor Rewards Top Performers at Rising Star Event
Leading global provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams
hosts selected office owners at weekend retreat in Los Angeles
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (October 20, 2008) – This fall, Cydcor, the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams, hosted 19 owners of the most promising independent sales offices at the company’s 6th annual Rising Star weekend. The threeday event, a mix of business and pleasure, recognized up and coming office owners who have demonstrated superb sales performance. The weekend provided attendees, handpicked by Cydcor’s field executives, the chance to learn new business tactics and network with other owners and top level executives in an intimate setting.

“We’re thrilled to meet with and recognize these hard working office owners with a little down time, while also providing a venue for them to participate in training sessions to support their continued success,” said Gary Polson, chief executive officer of Cydcor. This year’s event, themed Healthy, Wealthy and Wise, was held near Cydcor’s headquarters at the Four Seasons Westlake Village. Attendees, from throughout the U.S. and Canada, arrived on a Thursday and met one-on-one with Cydcor President Jim Majeski, Chief Executive Officer Gary Polson and Senior National Consultant Brad Park. These exclusive meetings provided a unique opportunity for the group to engage in private conversations with Cydcor’s top leadership. On Friday, the group spent breakfast with team members at Cydcor’s headquarters and
then got to hear from Cydcor department heads. These presentations provided Rising Star owners with information about how Cydcor supports their efforts as entrepreneurial business owners. On the last full-day, the group enjoyed a renowned Ken Blanchard Situational Leadership II course. On Saturday evening, attendees boarded a “fun bus” into Hollywood for sightseeing and dinner in a private room at the House of Blues.

About Cydcor, Inc.
Cydcor, Inc., is the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams to a diverse client base of companies in a range of industries, including telecommunications, office products, retail energy and financial services. Cydcor works with a network of independently owned corporate licensee (ICL) sales offices providing clients with access to more than 2,700 sales professionals and 200+ offices in North America. The privately held company is based in Westlake Village, California. For more information about Cydcor, log on to www.cydcor.com."

blame it on the economy

The recent Wall Street bailout has prompted hundreds (if not thousands) of businesses across the country to hitch a ride on the lame excuse bandwagon. Not a day has gone by since the bailout was passed that I haven't seen some company use the "impending recession" as an excuse to serve their customers poorly, charge their customers more, or quit doing business at all. Granted, I understand that the market is in sad shape right now, but I find it quite pathetic that business leaders are suddenly feeling the need to use the economy as their scape goat. If they are only now realizing what trouble they are in, then they must not be great leaders. If they're only admitting to the poor performance and/or management of the companies they are in charge of, simply because it is a "popular" thing to do at this time (or in hopes of picking up some "rescue funding" from the great bush bailout debacle), that's even worse.

Several small businesses in my area have been resorting to similarly pathetic tactics to try and drum up business and make excuses for shoddy service. One changes the name of their business about every two years. Another announced to the world that it would be shutting down, and proceeded to have a "clearance sale", only to remain in business. And now a third shut down with tears in their eyes and lumps in their throats, only to have a "grand reopening" nearly a month later. Lame, lame, lame.

mo' money blues

The internet has been awash in news of the possible minimum wage increase. There appears to be a bitter rift between corporate opponents (many of which would be effected the most), and everybody else. Considering the annual rise in cost of living over the last decade, I was actually surprised to discover that the last minimum wage increase happened over 10 years ago. It's actually quite disgusting, in my opinion, and the idea that anyone could survive making less than $6 an hour is ridiculous.

If you happen to check out any of the articles online about the minimum wage increase, you will find some interesting statistics. Those vehemently opposed to the increase were often trying to push the idea that this would seriously harm small business owners, but as numerous articles have stated, including the one I linked to above, 70% say that it will have no effect on them. I've seen other articles indicating that as many as 86% will experience no ill effects from it.

The article above, by the way, is a news article I found at a site called IncParadise.com. They specialize in free advice for small business owners, and have other noteworthy advice on incorporation (hence the name!), business trends, tax law, benefits and payroll.

Speaking of payroll, IncParadise also reported that small business hiring was up in December of 2006, so the impending minimum wage increase doesn't seem to be stifling small business in any way.

Personally, I believe that every person in this country should be able to survive if they are working full time. Granted, certain communities are much more expensive to live in than others, and for those that are poisoned to be in that type of an arrangement, I recommend a road trip or two to some nearby areas that might be more affordable. We did it, and haven't regretted it yet.

I have been reading up on some of the local bulletin boards to see how this minimum wage increase might affect our own community, but unfortunately, the discussions seem to be more personal in nature. One woman had the nerve to make the statement that "some jobs don't deserve more than minimum wage". Very sad, indeed.

None-the-less, all signs are pointing to a wage increase, and it has been long overdue. If it means that I have to spend an extra 25 cents each time I go to the grocery store, so be it. It's worth it for the community and for those who now have to bust their butts for 40 hours a week for only $210...and that's *before* taxes.