Three Things to Watch for That Could Get Your Business Issued a Warning Ticket

By Chia-Li Chien

It was a sunny, early spring day and we were on our way to the North Carolina Zoo. While traveling on Highway 49 and enjoying the scenery, we noticed a state trooper. Sure enough, as soon as we made eye contact, we got pulled over. The officer asked my husband T.C. why he was not wearing a seat belt. Well, due to his torn left shoulder, he wore it differently. The state trooper collected his information while we waited silently in the car with T.C.’s favorite NPR show “Car Talk” now turned off. The trooper came back with a warning ticket and informed T.C. that unless he had a doctor’s order, he must wear the seat belt the correct way, meaning visible and not under the arm. It was a relief that T.C. just got a warning ticket, nevertheless, it’s on his driving record now.

In small business, no one polices your business, not even the IRS. Your CPA and the IRS don’t really care whether or not you make a profit, although if you do make a profit, you may end up owing them more money. But they don’t serve as your “cash police.”

How often have you wondered, “how come there is no cash in the business checking account?”

Here are three warnings to be aware of if you want your business to continue to create value. Remember, no one is policing your business but you.

1.       Negative Net Profit – Perhaps you don’t know your net profit until your CPA completes your tax return. I would say that all of my clients do check their profit and loss (P&L) statement on a monthly basis. If you don’t, you should get in the habit of checking that P&L on a regular basis to know whether or not you are running your business with a positive net profit. If you are, congratulations, but if you are not, you just got yourself a “warning ticket.” Analyses are needed before you slash expenses. You might want to start by looking at which product or service can bring in more net profit. Or look at which customers are more profitable than others and why. Often time, increasing company revenue is the best way to get in the black. However, positive net profit does not necessarily mean you’ll have cash in your business checking account, especially if the business is carrying a huge debt that may or may not show on your P&L statement.

2.       Negative Cash Flow – While you are checking your monthly financial statements, you might want also to check your cash flow statement. This tells you how much cash you have on hand. If you have negative cash flow for a while, you may begin to feel like you are running on a treadmill. Borrowing working capital from the bank or an infusion of investment capital may not solve the problem.  Cash Flow Formula:

Net Profit from Business

+     Accounts Receivable at Start

-      Accounts Receivable at End

+     Inventory at Start

-      Inventory at End

+     Accounts Payable at End

-      Accounts Payable at Start

+     Cash from Assets SOLD

-      Cash Paid to Purchase New Assets

+     Depreciation/Amortization

-      Debt at Start

+     Debt at End

=     Cash Flow

By looking at this formula, you can see there are many variables to determine cash flow. For example, you might have positive net profit, yet a huge amount of accounts payable on large outstanding debts. It will be hard to breathe if your business shows a positive net profit, but has very little cash or even a negative cash flow. If you have negative cash flow, your business just got another “warning ticket.”

3.       Not enough Return On Investment – Take the business net profit divided by total assets and you get your return on investment (ROI). Have you done this calculation for your business yet? There are many industry benchmarks you can compare to determine if you have adequate ROI. There are two other types of ROI:

Product ROI = Gross Margin / (Average Inventory + Average Accounts Receivable)

(of that particular product)

Customer ROI = Average Accounts Receivable / Gross Profits

(of that particular customer)

Obviously, you must have GOOD financial data in order to analyze your business. Sometimes it may take up to an entire year to get data clean enough to accurately complete the above analyses and avoid those “warning tickets.” Your CPA may provide such a service on a regular basis for you. If this is very foreign to you, hire a fractional or virtual CFO (Chief Financial Officer) for your business to monitor these vital signs on a monthly basis. That CFO is your safety belt, there to make sure that you not only avoid any “ warning tickets” that go on your record, but also to make sure you don’t endanger yourself and others while on the road.

As a business leader, you’re not only responsible for you and your family, but also people whose families rely on you. So be aware of the warning signals and make sure you are enjoying the ride and not attracting the negative attention that might get you a “warning ticket.” This is fundamental in building value for your business.

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs in creating business value that transforms their world.  She is the Award-Winning author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online.   She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops.  She can be reached at http://www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

Chia-Li Chien | Dec. 8, 2010

Like most immigrants who come to the U.S., I continue to foster my own culture in my family, especially by way of Chinese food. When I first came to the U.S. at age 21, I did not have much cooking experience. Over the 22 years of living here, I kind of made up my own cuisine of mixed Chinese and American food in my day-to-day cooking. However, these days, my teenage daughter loves to “order” her favorite American food while I am preparing meals.

Initially, there were many American recipes that I tried and failed at. I had the most success with recipes from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. Their traditional spaghetti and meatballs is at the top of the order list from my daughter. She has a sweet tooth, too and always wants a traditional apple pie. So, once again, I followed a recipe from Everyday Food.

In Chinese cooking, we don’t use many lemons. But I love lemons, especially because they have significantly lowered my cholesterol. So instead of following the recipe and using the juice of half a lemon in the freshly sliced apples, I used the juice from a whole lemon.  Well, you can image the look on my daughter’s face. She did not want to eat that pie at all. I have to admit, it was a bit tart and citric, but I LOVED it. To make sure my husband did not make the same face my daughter had, I left him a big note that night to tell him to make sure he added sugar to his piece of pie if he found it too tart.

The next morning, he told me, “Honey, that is the best traditional apple pie I ever had! There is no tart lemon taste at all.” So I tried it and he was right. You see, T.C. and I love to eat and cook a lot. He immigrated to the U.S. when he was 12 years old, so he knows much more about American cooking than I do. T.C. told me that in fact, the extra lemon might have helped to ripen the apples overnight, actually making the pie filling much sweeter than expected. Guess what, that next day my first homemade traditional apple pie was gone in a very short time. My daughter decided she loved it and the orders are coming in again.

I’ve seen many of my clients without solutions for branding, with difficult to sell goods and services, or painful P & L’s continue to thrive. Why? They persist, waiting it out with patience while demonstrating consistency in their imarketing, sales, and operational processes. Like adding too much lemon in my traditional apple pie, it just goes to show if you are not patient enough, you’ll never get to taste the sweet results.

Of every six new businesses starts, five close in five years according to the Small Business Administration. Many of them survive the first five years, yet still struggle to make ends meet. Depending on whom you speak to, those business failures could be due to:
•    The brand having no stickiness
•    The wrong products/services
•    Not enough profits
•    And other similar reasons

Entrepreneurs are pros at getting their clever, innovative ideas off the ground. However, many fail to have a plan to sustain their big ideas and/or follow through with the plan. Instead, they jump to next hottest idea on businesses promotion without the flexibility needed to make the change. They sometimes drop the ball just when it gets rolling. Patience is not one of the entrepreneur’s typical personality traits.

As an entrepreneur, you might want to consider the following as you expand new ideas, products, and services into the new or same market space. And remember – it takes patience.

Have a 12-Month Marketing Calendar.  See sample here from our PROFITS MATTER® 1-Year Growth Action Plan (1GAP).

Read more here..

I don’t believe in any one business solution overly much. Perhaps I did put too much lemon in my homemade traditional apple pie. Just waiting overnight helped to validate a method I can now use the next time. The result was sweet. Remember, patience is a virtue when it comes to marketing your business. The first results may not come out as you expected, but in a while, you may just enjoy results that will have your customers ordering again and again.

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs to creating business value that transforms their world.  She is the Award-Winning author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online.   She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops.  She can be reached at http://www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

I recently had the opportunity to be a mentor, deal screener and speaker for the 4th annual Angle Capital Summit.  Although there were specific things to look for as a deal screener on behalf of the investors, I couldn’t help but to reflect on an article I recently wrote about G.U.P, as well as some of the material in my book Show Me The Money.

Many of the applicants at the Summit looking for funding had very little training in how to prepare a presentation for investors. Most had some type of business plan to start with, but some did not even have an executive summary. If you’re serious about your business, you must be prepared.

So what does an investor look for? Although I acted as a deal screener, I don’t necessarily have any interest in investing in a company I work with, but I do certainly have an interest in seeing that company succeed. As I’ve worked with clients over the years, there are many things we purposely put in place. Owners have to create a win-win situation for themselves and investors. You, as the owner, as well as the investors, are taking a risk on your ideas.
Here are twelve common mistakes to avoid as you prepare your investor presentation:

1.    Having no clear business model. Only one out of ten deals I reviewed had a solid business model. There are three components of a business model:  1) Owner’s passion and business purpose; ideally equaling what the customer is willing to pay you. 2) Core competency of key processes and key resources. 3) Economic engine or profit formula, which includes a plan for diversifying revenue sources.

2.    Not the right time to introduce your idea to the market. Some ideas I saw at the Summit were frankly out of date. If you want to introduce an old idea, make sure to innovate or create a mash-up compelling enough to repackage the idea for presentation.

3.    Not the right place to introduce your idea to the market. Did you do enough market research to present your case? How credible is your source of market research?

4.    Not having the right team of people to implement your idea. Most companies I reviewed are weak on implementation, meaning they were short on resources to implement their ideas. Resources include vendors, and most likely a team of other professionals. Identify them properly.

5.    Not planning to work in and run the business. I’ve seen, over the years, that some people just want the title without the work of the start-up. Well, that’s a good strategy for an exit plan, but at least at the beginning, you must be an integral part of your business, which will help you in the future to know how to react quickly to market changes.

6.    Entering without 10,000 hours of industry experience. Most of the deals I explored at the Summit were from people who did not have actual industry experience. According to research reported in Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers,” you need about 10,000 hours of experience in the industry of your business idea. If you personally don’t have it, have someone on your team who does.

Read mistakes 7 to 12 here.

Not everything has to be perfect in order to find funding, but nevertheless, put your best effort forward to show you are serious about making your business idea work. No one will know you are serious about succeeding until you have a complete plan. The amount of work, research, and thought you put into an entire business plan will speak louder than just a one page executive summary.

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs to convert their business into meaningful personal wealth.  She is the author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online.   She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops.  She can be reached at http://www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

Chia-Li Chien | Nov. 10, 2010

Are you exhausted from working IN your business? Many business owners struggle to grow their businesses, but not because they did not have the right tools. Most in fact, have all the tools they need, but are not using them strategically or consistently.

Lily’s business was going gangbusters, and in the spring of 2010 she was busier than ever, thanks to a new email marketing campaign she started. She was able to secure many new clients through that one effort. However, by October 2010, Lily felt her business had decreased considerably, mainly because she had no clients to work with at that point. You see, she had dropped the ball and was no longer running her email campaign on the monthly basis she had begun in the spring. As a result, she found herself with no follow-up calls and her prospects pipeline had dried up.

Joanne conducts annual free seminars every fall, consisting of two seminars every other week for three months. She emails seminar invitations only to her existing clients, asking her clients to bring someone who might be interested. In each of the seminars, she will get an average of thirty-five attendees, ten of whom will book appointments with her team right on the spot. She has been doing this consistently for the past five years. Are her seminar topics really that attractive? Is her email letter really that compelling? According to Joanne, even if you had the worst email letter ever, and the worst seminar topics in the world, if you are consistent, your pipelines will remain filled. It’s the discipline that really matters.

Let’s take a look at two words I have used here and their definitions:

Discipline (according to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discipline):
A rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity

Consistent (according to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consistent):
Showing steady conformity to character, profession, belief, or custom

So why do business owners struggle to have the discipline to do what they are supposed to do consistently? Well, we live in a multi-media and multi-tasking world, for one thing. One of my business colleagues told me once, “The worst person to work for is YOURSELF.” You put in more hours than ever, are more distracted with many different clients with many different projects, and on top of that, you have a team to manage and new prospects to attract. There are so many things to do and still you may find yourself asking, “Where does the time go?”

Do you remember your college days? You most likely had a set schedule of what day and time to attend the classes you selected. You may or may not have liked the class subject, but at the end of each semester, you probably had completed what you were supposed to do and received a passing grade.

I did the same with my workweek schedule for my business. See below for a sample of what my working week looks like. I’ve also asked my team to know when I am doing what and I do stay on that schedule accordingly.

There are couple things that you might consider:

• Green Time is your money making time – make it a priority.
• Client Retention Time is your money making time too – make servicing your clients top priority in your business.
• Marketing and Sales are Income Generating activities – block them out accordingly if that is your role in your business.
• Continuing Learning Time. Knowledge helps build your common sense. Remember, you can’t teach others about common sense, but each of us can continue honing our common sense skills through varied training, reading, etc.
• Personal and Family Time. Take care of yourself in body, mind and spirit. Take time with family as well. I take a 30-minute nap during my 3 to 5 pm block because my brain needs a break before I can continue on. Listen to what your body is telling you – if you’re tired, take a break.

A weekly schedule can help each of your team members too. You see, being organized saves everyone a lot of time in getting the right thing done right!

See my personal sample here.

There are a few rules I follow and train my clients and team to follow that you might also want to consider:

•    Don’t return phone calls or emails during the day. Because I am busy servicing scheduled clients and working on scheduled tasks, I only return calls when they are pre-scheduled via email. I return email in the late afternoon or early in the morning. This may not be realistic for your business, nevertheless, set your own rules and train your clients and team accordingly. Remember to stick to your own rules.
•    Use your weekends wisely. Depending on the stage of your business and life, you may be very busy over the weekends. To be quite honest, weekends are my sacred time, and I protect them well. I would rather sacrifice a party, or a hiking trip for a good 2-hour nap to recharge my batteries. Or, I use the weekend to catch up on projects. I enjoy cooking and love to make delicious meals not only for just the weekend, but also preparing them for the week ahead.

I love what I do and am rewarded by watching my clients grow consistently in the right direction. But each successful business owner has their own internal time clock of the best time for doing certain things. Once you get into a routine you can follow, stick with that. Make changes as you see fit. After all, it’s your time – make it worthwhile.

So, where does your TIME go?

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs to convert their business into meaningful personal wealth.  She is the author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online.   She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops.  She can be reached at http://www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

Watch small businesses grow as corporate spending increases.

I recently attended Financial Planning Associates (FPA) 2010 Annual Symposium & Sponsor Expo in Charlotte, NC. I attend the FPA Symposium each year simply to keep up with my continuing education credits. Dr. Robert (Bob) Froehlich was one of the presenters in the Symposium. I am writing this to specifically document what Dr. Bob had to say in his presentation because 1) what he suggested holds true for the future, and 2) it makes sense for small businesses.

When general consumers think about the stock market, they use it as an indicator of how well the economy is doing. Yet many investors use the stock market as an indication of whether to buy or sell from their portfolio. According to Dr. Bob, what matters in investing are the EARNINGS of publicly-traded stocks. Earnings are the only indicators to drive the overall stock market volume. If earnings go up, expect to see the market volume go up.

“There is no correlation of the housing market with the stock market,” said Dr. Bob. “In 1999, the housing market reached a 25-year high, unemployment was at 4% – the best in 40 years in the U.S. – but the market crashed at 2000,” Dr. Bob continued. He concluded that housing and employment really do not drive how the stock market fluctuates.

I guess this is logical – if publicly-traded companies show earnings, that indicates they are profitable and performing as their shareholders expect. This potentially will lead to issuing dividends and greater return on investment for the investors. When publicly-traded companies issues dividends, traditionally it drives up the buying volume as well.

Dr. Bob believes that the combination of the earnings and cash inside these public trading companies will fuel the overall economy:

1.       Increase of on-going inventories rebuilding for the next 18 months. In January 2010 the recession recovered 10 months earlier than expected. Most corporations had cut back in inventory orders during the recession, but today the demand is high and they’re very busy refilling their inventories.

2.       Increase of capital spending. As of June 20, 2010, there were approximately $600B undistributed corporate profits or cash, the highest since 1950. Examples of this include: the buy back of company stock, increase in dividends, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in cash, investing in themselves to increase productivity and market share, and the hiring of employees.

3.       Growth of global economy. Traditionally, the global economy has trended to about 3% growth in the past 25 years. Today, the growth rate is about 5%, primarily due to huge growth in China (11.9%), India (double digit growth) and Singapore (19%). (No, the failure of the economy in Greece does not make whole lot of difference in the global economy.)

Dr. Bob suggests overweighting dividend-paying stocks in equity holding of a portfolio within the following three segments:

• Energy
• Financial
• Health Care

One reason for this recommendation is due to the amount of fixed income and the growth of boomers’ portfolios. Boomers not only need income, but also the growth of their portfolio to ensure that they don’t “outlive their money” (potentially for 30+ years).

What does all these mean for the small business? Consider the following:

• Gain Market Share FAST. If your marketing or sales teams are not already doing so, get on the program fast, because if you can’t fill the order for a hungry corporation, someone else will.
• Make sure your operating systems are solid. Ensure your processes and resources are in line to handle this upcoming boom.
• Get the right people on your team. You need a team of the right people to ride the economic tide. After all, they are the largest asset you have that can help grow your business.

You can have full access to the Federal Reserve monthly Economy snapshot – for example, I am part of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. What they do best is provide historical information. However, their snapshot will also will provide insight into how to forecast the economic future.

I don’t know if Dr. Bob is right or not, but his points certainly sound very logical, given all the facts from the economy snapshot. The bottom line is to pay close attention to what your clients are doing. Don’t miss your opportunity.

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs to convert their business into meaningful personal wealth.  She is the author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online.   She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops.  She can be reached at http://www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

This installment is influenced by some of the most fabulous young adults I know and their stress with being educated in bad job market.   Yes, I know it’s affecting everyone, but I’m not here to talk about everyone.  Our heads are filled with the American opportunity. Does this sound familiar? A 4-year degree will offer more jobs, better pay, and perhaps realize maximum potential (some of us any way). 

Right now the unemployed recent and soon-to-be graduates are feeling the heat.  In speaking to a college dorm director extra attention has been paid to cushion these circumstances.  That’s a given, college serves as a buffer for a student’s time there.  What happens after?

We become our own buffer.  I’ll explain this after I finish my sermon and “amens” are welcome.

As commencement season commences, I cringe at the thought of the thousands of graduates who have similar if not the same credentials as me competing for entry-level positions. 

It’s bad and I don’t have to give the numbers because chances are either you or someone you know has been looking for a job for almost a year or more.

Back to Generation Y, not only do we have to deal with the typical stresses of finding ourselves (it takes a lifetime) and the adjustment into the real world, someone decided to pile on a scavenger hunt for a job. 

One thing that I’m grateful for is that I know what I want to do because some of my fellow Gen Y’ers struggle with what they want to do.

According to Marcos Salaazar’s “The Turbulent Twenties,”  post college depression can occur at two distinct times, one right after graduation (drastic changes in life) and in mid-late twenties (achievement or lack of).

Also, Salaazar brings up a term “quarter life crisis and *soon they’ll have a pill to boost endorphins to help us “cope.”  Then we’ll all be hooked and renamed the “depressed generation” and I’m pretty sure that’s floating out there. 

We’re also known as a lazy generation, but come to find out we are quite resilient and intelligent.  It’s because of this I’m going to offer my cure to this rut that some incompetent Baby Boomers put us in.

Alright tangent’s over, now here’s the cure.  I’m not a doctor, but this plan for myself has helped tremendously.  Share this with a Gen Y’er.

1. If you’re trying to figure out what you’re going to do for the rest of your life…stop.  You’ve got all the time in the world.  If you’re employed work**see  A**  and if you’re not **see B.**
   •  While you’re in a somewhat safe zone you can discover things you like and put money towards it.   Start off with small things and build on it.
   • Revamp your resume, post a profile (update, update) on networking and job sites, and for goodness sake take a break from the job hunt for a few minutes.  Breathe and keep going.  Also, get out there and network my aunt said it best, “This is not the time to be shy.”
2. Find an outlet.  No, don’t whine to your friends, family, or whoever else will listen (I’m guilty).  I have recently taken up yoga for the umpteenth time and I don’t think I can function without it.
3. Make yourself happy.  Remember at the end of the day you make your own happiness.  If you’re wondering how to make yourself happy.  Spend some serious time alone, it’ll come to you.  Even if it’s small and almost ridiculous sounding to other people, it makes YOU happy.  If you feel like jumping in that rain puddle, do it.
4. Make a plan for every day.   This can be a “To Do List.”   We are a very plan-oriented generation.  Take it one day at a time and you won’t be disappointed.
5. Remember you’re not alone.

Readers, I’ve tried to figure out another career path before I graduated and I second guess this even now.  I could be in a bank crunching numbers, but then again that would mean no Wilder in Real Life.

*My own banter.

Lauren Wilder is an up-and-coming journalist who recently moved to Chicago from north Carolina. She shares her adventures with P3 readers every month.

Determining when You’re in Financial Trouble with Your Credit Card Debt

Quite a few books and Web sites provide formulas for calculating whether your current level of consumer debt is too much for your income, but there’s a better indication of too much debt.

Debt is much more than numbers on a monthly statement – debt is a state of mind. If you can write a check to the credit card company without giving it a thought for the rest of the month, then you probably don’t have too much debt. However, when you reach a point where you dread opening the mail, don’t answer the phone because it might be a creditor, or constantly obsess over your balance (even if it’s small), then you have too much debt regardless of what a formula says.

And if you carry a credit card balance from month to month, no matter how small it is, you need to begin a debt reduction plan. Scan your credit card statements and look at the amount of finance charges you’re paying every month. You’re giving that money away!

A Simple Formula for Credit Card Debt

Because credit card payments must fit into your monthly budget, the best way to figure mathematically if you have too much debt is to compare your monthly income against your monthly minimum payments. A general rule of thumb states that if more than three percent of monthly income is used to service credit cards, it’s time to get serious about a debt reduction plan.

Here are a couple of examples:

Monthly income: $5000
5000 x .03 = 150
3% of income: $150

Monthly income: $1500
1500 x .03 = 45
3% of income: $45

Calculate your monthly income and how much three percent of that figure is. This amount is ideally the highest your monthly minimum payments should be. Add up the minimum payment amounts from all of your credit cards and compare the total to that number.

Credit Card Debt Guidelines

If your minimum payments are 3% or less of your income, you are in an ideal financial position to eliminate your credit card balance. Unfortunately, most debtors don’t fall into this range.

If your minimum payments are between 4 – 10% of your income, this mid-range can make or break your finances. Begin a debt reduction plan as soon as possible. It’s not too late!

When you see that your minimum payments are between 10 – 20% of your income, your financial situation is on the edge of critical mass. Start analyzing your finances today or seek professional help if the task seems too overwhelming.

By the time you’ve reached a point where your credit card minimum payments are 20% or greater in relation to your income, you’ve reached a point where recovering on your own can be nearly impossible. Unless you live off the land in the wilderness (no water, electricity, or grocery bills), it’s probably too late to start a standard balance reduction plan yourself. Find a financial planner or credit counselor immediately. He or she can help you reduce your debt and make smarter financial choices in the future.

Rev. Beck has been a professional writer, editor, and editor since 1994. She has a portfolio of work on Suite101, and writes mostly for private clients.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and also the most stressful. The holidays may be full of cheer, but they can take a toll on your stress level and your health. From the pressures of shopping to visiting relatives there doesn’t seem to be a free moment. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a stress free holiday season for once? Here are some tips to reduce stress during the holidays this year.

Have a stress free holiday: Avoid shopping stress
It’s important not to forget the reason for the season. Instead of concentrating on the retail aspects of the season, remember why holidays are celebrated in the first place. Make it easier on yourself. Instead of buying expensive presents for everyone you know, donate money to a deserving charity instead. No one will mind if you tell them you’re donating to a good cause this year instead of giving gifts. If you feel compelled to offer presents to certain people, give a gift certificate instead. This will lighten your holiday shopping load and eliminate the time you previously spent choosing, buying, and wrapping gifts. Of course, if you have small children, you’ll want to shop for them but, otherwise, scale back to reduce shopping stress during the holidays.

Have a stress free holiday: Spend less time in the kitchen
This is another way people stress themselves out during the holidays. They feel the need to prepare elaborate holiday meals for friends and family. This is not only stressful but expensive. Why not do it differently this year and eat out on Christmas Eve or Christmas day? Many hotels offer Christmas buffets where you can have a variety of food choices without having to deal with preparation and clean up. Although some of these buffets can be expensive, consider how much you’d be spending to cook at home and it won’t sound like such a bad deal. Imagine how relaxing it will be to enjoy a buffet and sip a cup of hot coffee while listening to Christmas music.

Have a stress free holiday: Don’t over commit yourself
The holidays are a time for Christmas parties and celebrations, but too many parties can cause unnecessary stress. A lot of preparation can go into attending a party even if you’re not the one giving it. This is particularly true for women who have to select an appropriate outfit, accessorize it, and go through the motions of doing make-up and hair. To reduce stress, choose one of two parties to attend during the holidays and gracefully bow out of the rest. No one will think less of you for it.

Have a stress free holiday: Take time out for yourself
To reduce stress during the holiday season, make time for pampering yourself in small ways. Enjoy a warm, fragrant bubble bath or a long walk in the outdoors. Breathe deeply and enjoy the sweet smells of nature. It’s important to have an outlet to help you unwind during the holiday season.

Holiday celebrations don’t have to be hectic and chaotic unless you allow them to be. Learn to reduce stress and enjoy the holidays for what they were meant to be, a time to express love and appreciation for friends and family.

The way that it’s standing right now, it looks like the recession is not going away any time soon. Back when it was first announced, many experts said that it would be around the middle of 2009 before we started to see a recovery, but now that the news has been examined and analyzed, it turns out that it’s going to probably be well into 2010 before we see any signs of a definite recovery.

That means that we’re going to have to learn how to cope with what’s ahead.

 First and foremost, understand that the worst thing that you can do is give in to despair. When all that you hear is bad news, when every time that you turn on the television gives you nothing but horrific news, understand that the media’s job is to get people to turn them on – and nothing gets people worked up like bad news.

That means that when you find yourself sinking into a pit of despair, you need to take a deep breath and look at things with a realistic eye. If you’re like most people, you’ll find that you’ve probably got a good reason to have realistic hope in your life.

Next, assess your situation. Forget about how everyone else’s life looks. Concentrate on your own circumstances. Just because you know three people who got laid off doesn’t mean that you’re going to be laid off next. So, take a good, hard look at where you are and see if you can’t work on ways to better strengthen your situation.

After you’ve assessed your situation, sit down and come up with a roadmap for future directions. This is the planning stage of coping with the recession. What it means is that you’ll want to really concentrate on how to best handle your circumstances. Make sure that you don’t do anything drastic in reaction to the economic downturn. Too often, people don’t put enough thought into the planning stage and fail to take into account all of the various factors that need to be examined.

After planning for your future, take a good look around and see if there aren’t any support networks that you can use. Too often, people find themselves overwhelmed by situations and rather than looking to others for help and advice, they try to handle it on their own – and many times, they are crushed under the weight of dealing with things alone.

When it comes to a recession, none of us are truly alone in the mess.

Lastly, take the time to recover from where you’re at. The recession is going to end, and when it does, it’s okay to take some time off and decompress. You’ll probably have been under a tremendous strain, and the last thing you need to do is jump right back into action when the time comes. Instead, take a little breather and then slowly work your way back to where you need to be.

Yes, this recession is going to be tough and it’s going to be hard on you, but remember that it will pass – and that you’ll come out stronger than when you went in.

As a new contributor to The P3 Power Boost , I would like to introduce myself; my name is Lauren Wilder and I like go by my last name. I am a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a degree in English. Currently I am located in Kinston, a small town on the eastern part of the state, with hopes of escaping the nest. My installment will be about me venturing out into real world, first job, the dating scene, friendships etc. I hope you find it insightful, entertaining, or maybe even heartfelt. Welcome to my life.

It’s been a little over five months since I’ve graduated from school and I’ve already been through two jobs, you’re probably already thinking ‘is this girl out of her mind to go through jobs in this economy?’ Well let me give you a rundown to my road of unemployment. Some recent graduates keep their current jobs or go back to old jobs at home until something better comes along. That’s pretty much what I did; I came back to waiting tables.

I found my first job at a charter school to be a kindergarten teacher. I didn’t have a teacher’s license, so I became a permanent substitute to learn the ropes and to see if I could rule out a teaching career. Guess what? It was reaffirmed that I did not want to be a teacher. At the time it was a step up from gravy stained uniform and late night Epsom Salt soaks. It was what I felt I deserved since I busted my hump 4 ½ years, great pay and promise of benefits. What I didn’t deserve was the way I was treated at the school. I was the youngest teacher and I had big shoes to fill with the passing of the teacher. I had a drive for a challenge, but this wasn’t what I bargained for.

I didn’t receive proper training, had an inattentive mentor, and poor communication from administration. My training consisted of preparing report cards and doing assessments, that’s it. No matter how hard of a time I received, none were the fault of my students, but I wouldn’t leave. So, they fired me. What did I do to get fired? Simply put, I stood up for whom/what I believed in, myself.

 My mentor lacked tact, professionalism and organization, and was flat out disrespectful; she addressed me like I was 5 years old. For example, in the middle of a math lesson she yelled out suggestions from her chair or got up and took over. I understand I was learning and I had to have a mentor, but are you really going to stop my lesson because you don’t like it? She never held a comment until the end of the day; it was always in the moment.

Now I can take criticism, but my problem was she did it in front of the students and what were they thinking? ‘Miss Wilder is just like us.’ Sometimes you have to just agree or just don’t say anything, no matter what. I’m 22 years old and my generation was brought up to stand up for ourselves. I had an advisor in administration who I saw twice the whole time I was there. Maybe I should’ve made the effort or maybe they should’ve kept their promise of what the presented to me in the interview.

I was told I’d be entering in a nurturing environment (good for new teachers) and that I would be receiving training before entering the class. All of this seemed like it would be scheduled, printed out with a time line. Let’s say we played everything by ear…everyday.

When I was fired, I was sent home in the middle of the school day after I stepped aside and let her take the reins. While giving myself a minute outside after I had been disrespected for the umpteenth time, this time in front of a parent, my mentor came outside to tell me to come back in. I asked politely for a moment and she persisted with bashing me for leaving the scene, but again I asked for a moment. She didn’t like it and said, “I am giving you a moment.” I told her she wasn’t and then she hissed, “Why don’t you just go home for the day, just go home.”

Later I got called back and that’s when they broke the news. They felt my mentor and I couldn’t work together. I defended myself saying it was possible we just had to have strong communication and I was more than willing to make it work. I have scheduled meetings with my mentor, but they didn’t work. A mentor is supposed to guide and I didn’t receive that. I kept trying to recount to see what I did wrong, but now I’m leaving it alone. I was the person who I presented in the interview and I made sure I tried my very best not only for the sake of my job, but for children who lost their teacher.

 Everything is a learning experience so I’d like to share. First, I need to do research on the company that I want to work for, talk to employees and people in the community. Secondly, never go for a job that sees you as a new car that they can’t afford (bad budgeting), but they buy (hire) anyway. Third, I deserve respect period, but I need to pick and choose my battles. Fourth, something I already knew, you can’t change someone’s mind of what they think of you. Lastly, it’s not the end of the world.

The administration decided to use an alternative termination, budget cuts, with a letter to prove it; I guess the administration felt that there would be some backlash if I was unable to find a job. Smart choice, however I’m not easily hushed. So here I am sitting at my computer with multiple windows for job searches and I’m thinking this has to be a blessing in disguise.