More Government

 

"The Bring Jobs Home Act, introduced Thursday by Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., provides a 20 percent tax credit for businesses that “insource” jobs back to the United States and is paid for by closing tax loopholes for companies that “outsource” jobs overseas and treat distributions of debt securities in a tax-free spin-off transaction in the same manner as distributions of cash

or other property."

Washington, D.C. (July 19, 2012)

Excerpted from article by Michael Cohn  from  "Accounting Today for the Web CPA"

A recent initiative in Washington has proposed to give incentives to businesses that move jobs back into the U.S. These businesses are currently, and have historically, gained tax incentives on top of the savings of paying a non-U. S. workforce, for moving jobs offshore. On the surface, it looks like a good idea to reverse the policy, right? After all, we should encourage businesses to keep those jobs here!

Let's take a look at the ramifications of these policies. American tax dollars were taken from us, and given to companies to help move jobs offshore. In the process, Americans lost jobs, therefore, the tax dollars given to the businesses were coming from a shrinking source. Now the brilliant minds that gave us that failed policy want to take more money from the few of us left with jobs, and give it to those same companies , to help them move those jobs back here.

Don't let talk of “closing loopholes” to pay for the program fool you. Closing a loophole does not generate income. Taxes generate income. In order to pay for something, one must have income. They are trying to pick our pockets to pay off the thieves who picked our pockets last time. In an election year. How much of the money they send to these companies comes back to their campaigns?

The point is, we have let the government take too much control over our money, our business, and our lives. If there had been no incentive for the jobs to leave, they would still be here in the first place. Why let the agent of the destruction of our economy dictate the terms of its recovery?

Look at it in terms of your own life. Picture yourself working at a job with dozens of co-workers. They all move across the street to a competing firm, and a portion of your wages is now taken to cover a portion of their wages, while you are left to compete with them. The current proposal would take more of your money and give it to your firm to move the jobs back. If more government regulation is the answer, you are asking the wrong question.

Something for Nothing...

 

Once you see the pattern of destruction that has affected American business, you will notice recurring themes. As sectors of an industry gain enough power to exercise control, the immediate effect is erosion of quality and service. It is simply human nature to take the path of least resistance. Once one is controlling a sector of the market, it is easier to keep prices down by lowering the quality of goods offered. This is bad strategy, and always destroys the market.

If one is in control of a market, the quickest way to a fast buck is to keep the prices where they have historically been, while greatly reducing the quality of product and service offered. Once the customer base is aware that there is little value in the product, at any price, they insist on ever lower prices. If you doubt, look at Wal-Mart or Home Depot. It is their business model, and while it is wildly successful for the ones holding the keys to the business, the entire market, and the entire economy, suffer.

In order to succeed in this environment, one must build on integrity, charging honest prices for honest quality and service. It is not a fast or easy way to build a business. It is the only way to build a business while improving the market in which one deals. By improving quality and service, and by treating customers as valuable assets to the company, the market is built up. How did Mercedes Benz and BMW get to the point where they consistently sell their vehicles at much higher prices than their competition? Even in tough economic times, people who insist on value recognize that there are two sides to the value proposition. Top quality results must be met with fair prices.

Why isn't anyone listening to you?

With all of the new forms of communication out there it seems like the more ways we have to "reach out and touch someone", the farther apart we get.  I just read an article about the death of voice mail as a personal communication tool. Apparently, the advent of texting has made voice mail obsolete in our personal lives. Rather than force our friends to open voice mail, listen to prompts, and then listen to our message, and play it back if they miss something, we text. Some people don't even do that, they rely on your caller I.D. To let you know they called, and expect you to call back.

It is important to be intentional in our communications. We need to know who we are talking to and that they are listening. Nothing beats a face to face. When that's not practical, consider teleconferencing. As long as phones and internet access are available, meetings can happen. There are literally dozens of alternatives offering innumerable options in online meetings. You can choose web-cams, VOIP (voice over internet protocol), whiteboards, recorded video, live audio, recording, and even charge people to enter the meeting. There are too many options to list, chances are one of them will work for you.

The appropriateness and effectiveness of voice mail are, in my experience, directly proportional to the quality of the relationship I share with the individual I'm trying to reach. Why would anyone listen to a sales call from a stranger, when all they have to do is press a button to make the whole thing go away? Conversely, if my customer has a question regarding terms for an order, we are both highly interested in connecting, and are both extremely likely to listen to one another on a recording.

The same goes for email. I ignore thousands of emails a year (but never at work). I know businessmen who have their secretary “dump” their entire email box once a month to get rid of everything they haven't opened so that it doesn't get full. I even know people who periodically set up new email accounts to avoid the trouble of cleaning out old ones. Have fun keeping in touch with these guys if they aren't already looking to hear from you!

If you want your voice mails to be listened to, you have to be sharing something of value with the person you are calling. If you want your emails read, be sure the recipient knows it is coming, and knows that there is something important in that email. Whether you do that by calling your client first, or by consistently delivering such blisteringly good content that they cant wait to open their inbox to see if you have graced them with another message, there is no substitute for quality. If you want to be sought out, be worth seeking.