A bit about business

Have you ever read the comments on the stories anytime something happens in Las Vegas? Inevitably someone says it ain’t like it use to be when the mob ran Vegas. Or something similar.

I get amused when I read these comments because how many people are still alive from then that write comments trolling news stories.  According to popular folklore it has been quite a while since a syndicate family owned interests in Las Vegas. Yet someone makes the comment.

And the comments all espouse the theme; the Mob knew how to treat customers, people were taken care of, and everything was better. It is somewhat legendary in history if you read these comments. So what gives?

And I do not want to say anything that someone might take as being supportive of organized crime and yet: are there some truths to these comments? And at what point does fact get separated from fiction?

And what does this have to do with the price of tea in China? EVERYTHING

People do want to be treated well. People including “frugal” people like myself will spend money if we feel we are getting real value.  There seems to be a customer value component the mob had in Las Vegas compared to the current corporate mentality. And this means something. It means something to me, it probably means something to you every time you go out to shop, eat, travel, heck even pay bills.

And in this mixed up scenario you can see another example of how large corporate America is failing us as customers and our Country.

Business is good when business is the key factor behind the company. If you make/manufacture/build something with the intent of selling a good product, good things can happen. It can happen for you, it can happen for the customer, and it can happen for the overall aspect of society. It may specifically benefit the business owner, yet a well-run business does bring benefit to the whole.

Some of the obvious benefits are more successful businesses means more wealth generation; good, productive and paying jobs, dollars circulating through a local economy offering opportunities for other businesses, taxes being paid so governments at all levels can provide the services they should; many times either through community efforts or just charity in general successful businesses will give back to the community such as supporting schools, arts, libraries, and a host of other civic endeavors.  If the owners of the business focus more on the business; they tend to be more involved in the community since they realize how much the community is giving back to them by supporting their business.

And of course we come back to the customer. Where this infamous mob legend seems to receive its’ mythical status. Whatever the product or service it doesn’t matter, as long as the business puts the customer first most of the time the business does well. And we actually want this to happen.

Instead we receive in the modern business world a litany of craziness that does nothing for the business, customer, employees, community and for the country. Large multi-national corporations spend more time trying to meet Wall Street expectations on a quarterly basis, consolidate and merge to create shareholder value, avoid taxes at all costs to the point of spending small fortunes to sway elections in their favor, yet adding no value to anything except a paper bottom line that eventually becomes a merger target and any hard assets (including people) get wacked off in the context of creating efficiencies to make the merger work. All under the guise of another myth:  this is good for business.

And most of you dear readers are pretty attune to the problem described in the last paragraph. There are many articles to literature to pundits that know we have this problem and yet…….

It can be so strange. To go 180° on the mob example. Have you ever eaten at a Chick Fil A? You walk in and the sweetness overwhelms you. It is like all the employees are given the infamous Arnold Palmer drink as a transfusion into their blood stream. You are greeted pleasantly and treated with respect. It is the place with the perpetual morning people. You know the type, the person at your work who never drinks coffee and never has a bad word for anyone and you want to strangle them. I jest and the people are great though. It is a well-run company. Many if not most are franchises and everyone I have seen is doing well. I like the food (the product is good). It is basically run (at least in my eyes) the way a business should be run.

Three very basic components of the Mob myth and the actual Chick Fil A are very similar. It is accepted it is a business that wants to make money by treating the customer as the priority for the purpose of the business. Profit by selling a good product or service that treats everyone well in the process including the owner, employee and customer. And in doing so people talk well of the business which creates the best advertising on the planet hence the mob myth and Chick Fil A reality.

So on a wonderful Saturday afternoon, what is the point you ask.

This is what we need to help turn around our country. It is not a total answer. We need businesses to step up and be businesses. The best business comes from small and medium size companies whether they be sole proprietaries, partnerships, corporations, or how ever styled it is the business that is close to the customer that we need back.  We can rant about large multi-national corporate greed being evil (and it is with some exceptions) and we need to do something.

I do not know specifically how we turn the tables on the current situation. We do need to find ways to bring back to our communities businesses that are viable. The more the merrier. I have a host of ideas in mind so not to overwhelm you, the main idea is how do we reinvest in business throughout our country. My brain turns to the cliché thinking we need to get away from Wall Street and back to main street yet this is so true.

Do you really enjoy spending your money right now? Even if it is something you want, do you feel comfortable buying clothes, electronics, furniture, household goods, and everything else in our modern world? Unless you are super rich and can afford well-crafted items, what is your impression of quality and value for the dollar? Heck I spend thirty minutes trying to decide on what iron to buy, not because I am comparing quality, but because I can’t trust any of them. I have spent good money on an iron before and it didn’t last longer than an inexpensive one. And going back to the store to return something unless it has been like 2 days is impossible to get help. AND THIS IS NOT THE FAULT OF THE EMPLOYEE. They are getting screwed as workers as bad as we are getting screwed as customers.

Corporations are so large they have no feeling for what you want and need. Quality is an afterthought. Customer service is a training video done so badly the employees sleep through it. Heck customer service is a lip service myth by the multinationals bigger than the mob myth. Again not the employees fault. They too, an afterthought, an expense that needs to be reduced.

Corporations spend fortunes to try and herd their customers to behave in ways that help them improve their fictitious bottom line. Corporate reward programs that are a maze and keep changing are not the mob myth of hey you’re my customer let me take care of you.

Am I dreaming of a time gone by, something that will never be. This better not be a dream; for realistically changing the complexion of our lives in many ways should be our priorities or we will lose a war that no one ever fought in.

And to remain cliché and valid for the time being: Support small businesses!; to help us get together and develop the real reinvestment we need in our country to truly thrive and continue our wonderful experiment called American Democracy and keep our humanity at a high level.