- Do you find yourself combining trips so you don't have to drive any further than needed? At $3.89+ per gallon of gasoline, that's a wise move. (It's still not as expensive as bottled water per gallon but it's getting close)
- Are you re-learning how good a brown bag lunch can be instead of visiting the local Panera for lunch?
- Relax...Starbucks will not go out of business because you cut back on your daily double shot half caf low fat mocha frappachino.
- Sure, Coors Light ain't exactly Sam Adams but you don't need the extra calories anyway, right?
Are you finding yourself cutting back on some expenses, exercising better judgement when it comes to spending and making better business decisions? If you are, you'll see why Business Principle #9 is so important to the future success of our company.
We are responsible for protecting the assets and resources of our company.
As an independent contractor, your "company" is you. You are the CFO of your company so you are undoubtedly watching your expenses in relation to your income, right? Well, you're also a vital part of the larger company (your "partner") so hopefully you're just as conscience about the choices and decisions you're making when it comes to our financial future.
Now, I am not talking about turning off the lights when you leave the bathroom or anything silly like that but we all need to think twice about how we are "spending" the company's money. How many copies are you making for that overpriced listing where the Seller isn't being realistic about the price? Do you really need to print full version MLS print outs of the 83 homes available in the buyer's price range or would it be easy enough to email them the link to the MLS feed? Will it really make your weekly business meeting ineffective if the bagels aren't available anymore?
I think it is easy to take for granted many of the tools, technologies and training tools we have available but we should always remind ourselves that these things cost money. If we can find ways to succeed while saving a penny here and one hundred dollars there, that all starts adding up.
Every once in a while, ask yourself this question - "Would I make this same decision or take this same action if I was the one in charge? If I was the one paying the bills?" We all win when we try to make decisions that are in the best interests of the whole, not just the parts.
Thanks for thinking about it.
Until next time...Build Relationships...Solve Problems...Have Fun!
