Days of Our Work Lives: An unvarnished look at work today: Part II: Susan's Saga. Episode 13: The Town Hall Meeting Cafe

Days of Our Work Lives

Part II: Susan's Saga  

Episode 13

The Town Hall Meeting Cafe

In the previous episode, despite being a star, Susan got laid off--Part of her work was automated, the rest offshored.

Susan was happy to keep her promise to make the four-hour trek to Ben's condo. 

For a guy's place, it was surprisingly well-kept. She liked that. 

Susan was afraid she'd never land another job. "Ben, I was at each of my last three jobs for a really short time and before that, I was a stay-at-home mom."

"And a music teacher."

"Part-time. Very part-time. Oh, I'm the perfect job applicant: 15-year-old degree in sociology from San Francisco State, stay-at-home mom who gave piano and voice lessons a few hours a week for 14 years. In my next job I got accused of creating a hostile environment against gays. As a sales clerk at Rory's Ag Supply, I lasted a grand total of two hours. And now I just got laid off after a big three months as an academic adviser. Now that's the sort of focused career with "a pattern of continual advancement" employers are looking for. Who's going to hire me, Jack in the Box?"

Ben offered, "Maybe you need to start your own business, hire yourself. That way you instantly go from hard-to-employ to CEO."

"Yeah, part-time music teacher. Big CEO."

"Well maybe you need to do something with a better chance of making a real living?"

"Like what, start a biotech company?"

"Of course not."

"Ben, I was joking."

"I know that but there's a point here. Any time you go into some cutting-edge field, you're competing with the world's smartest, big-moneyed-interests. And even if you came up with, say, some amazing drug, you'd need a fortune and ten  years to bring it to market. I used to work for a biotech company in regulatory affairs. To get FDA approval, it takes ten years and three truckloads of data, I swear."

"No wonder drugs cost so much."

"Susan, I'm talking about something simple, something under-the-radar, something all those geniuses from Stanford and Harvard wouldn't touch. You want a business where the competitors aren't that smart or hard-working. Like a business installing real estate sign posts or cleaning windows."

"You expect me climb up to the 44th floor of buildings with a squeegee?"

"You'd hire kids to do that. You'd do the sales and marketing. And the books--now that you know Excel and Quickbooks."

"What, I'm going to tell my family and friends I clean windows?"

"Susan, status is the enemy of contentment. You can quote me on that. Millions of executives, doctors, and lawyers, especially lawyers, work 12 hours a day, finally get home totally stressed out and collapse in their 3,000-square foot house getting loaded every night. Many people who run simpler businesses don't have that."

"But can you make money?"

"Well, take for example, a shoeshine stand in Seattle's financial district, at a hotel, or at the airport. It costs almost nothing to start. Profit margin's amazing. The only product with a higher margin is cocaine."

"You can't make a middle class living with a shoeshine stand."

"Maybe, maybe not. But you sure can net at least $20,000 a year. Then you simply clone it. You work in the first stand until you've learned the business. Then you hire a trustworthy friend to work there--pay them fairly, with profit sharing--and you open another one. Five locations and you're making six figures."

"I still can't see myself running a shoeshine stand."

"What could you see yourself running?"

"I dunno, maybe a cafe or something."

"Susan, there's a cafe under every rock in Seattle, even here in Sage River."

"What if it had something special to bring people in, keep people there."

"Like entertainment?"

"Maybe. At nights, maybe poetry readings, folk guitar, light jazz, comedy. And during the day, let me think..."

"You're doing great, Susan."

"Hey wait a minute. When David and I went on our honeymoon to Switzerland, there was a cafe called The Community Cafe. And in the window was a blackboard: Anyone could sign up to lead a one-hour discussion on whatever topic. We went back three times: Once they were talking about immigration, the next time Swiss banking secrecy, the next time whether they should rescind  legalization of drugs. Every time we were there, it was packed."

Ben added, "In America, we could call it the Town Hall Meeting Cafe."

"Town Hall Meeting Cafe."  Hmm.

"Susan, let's do it together."

"What?!"

"Really, Susan. I'll do all the tech stuff, you bake and do the people stuff: serve, make people feel welcome. Hey, now that you know Excel and Quicken, you can even be the bookkeeper!"

"With help...Ben, this is crazy! It costs a lot of money to start a cafe. I inherited some money from David but I can't afford to lose that."

Ben was on fire: "Like I said, there are a zillion cafes. Too many. Lots of them go out of business and we could buy a cafe, fully outfitted, for a song--You could contribute eight bars. And for the rest, we could get credit cards that are zero interest for the first year. After a year, we'll have good cash flow and can pay off the credit cards without paying a dime of interest."

"We couldn't get that much in credit cards."

"If we need more money, wouldn't your parents invest a little? And how about that rich friend you told me thought you were great?"

"Ben, this is crazy!"

"Let's sleep on it."

And they did...together, for the first time.

And when they awoke, in each others' arms, they were more committed than ever: to the Town Hall Meeting Cafe...and to each other.

The next episode is HERE.

This Week's Public Appearances

A reader asked me why I don't post most of my upcoming public appearances. I have no good answer.

I can't promise to keep posting them, but I have a particularly busy week coming up so I decided to post it all here:

Sunday 8:45 am: CBS/CW Ch. 44 News with Phil Matier in San Francisco

Sunday 11:00 an to noon  KALW 91.7 FM San Francisco. That's my weekly show, Work with Marty Nemko.

Tuesday:  CBS/Alice 97.1 FM in San Francisco. Airs Sunday July 28, time TBA.


Thursday, 11:00 AM to noon: KGO 810-AM in San Francisco. The Ronn Owens Program. It's among the most listened-to shows on the West Coast. I'm in my 25th year as a regular guest.


Sunday (July 29) 9:15 am, KRON 4 News, interviewed by Ysabel Duran and Marty Gonzales

On most such shows, I am most often asked:

• Why there's so little hiring in the U.S.
• Where I see the job growth in the coming decade
• Emerging careers
• What's working best for my clients in landing a job in this tough job market
• Lower-risk but potentially lucrative yet ethical businesses
• Advice for older job seekers

Also, while I'm updating you, I might mention that this week I was invited to I've been invited to resume writing for U.S. News. I'm considering it but haven't said yet yes . 

As of now, I have two live speaking engagements the following week, both at the Commonwealth Club, America's oldest and largest public affairs forum. Here are the links for information and registration:

Aug 1., 5:15  pm.  What Every Career-Minded Person Should Know for 2013 and beyond. 

Aug. 2: 6:00 pm. Ahead of the Pack Job Search Strategies 

Shoestring Businesses: Low-Risk, High-Payoff Ideas

I thought you might enjoy an advance look at my next column in the Mensa publication, The Intelligencer.  

It is an adapted excerpt from my book, How to Do Life: What they didn't teach you in school.

Shoestring Businesses

No-Brainer Businesses that Can Make a Smart Person Rich

When I look back on all my clients, two things most often keep smart people from succeeding in business: the urge to innovate and the desire for status.

Don't innovate; replicate

Smart people love coming up with ideas. Alas, even Mensans' new ideas are more likely to fail than are proven ones because, for example:

• The market doesn't like it
• The market stops liking it before you've recouped your investment, let alone made enough money
• The new product or service works less well than you'd hoped
• The R&D costs of an innovation eat too much profit.

That's why guinea pigs so often die, why the leading edge so often turns out to be the bleeding edge. Deep-pocketed corporations can afford to risk innovations--they make profit even if only a fraction succeed. But last I checked, your pockets aren't that deep, so you need to maximize your chance of success on Try One. 

You're more likely to do that by replicating a proven business that costs little to start, what I call a shoestring business. That way, even if you fail, you may have money left for a second shot. It is an MBA-program-promulgated canard that you need money to make money. Below, I'll offer a half-dozen examples of proven shoestring businesses that require only a small investment.

But you protest, "When you replicate, you have lots of competitors!" That's okay. Take, for example, gourmet food trucks. There are a zillion already but here's how you could well succeed with number zillion and one: Play detective at a half-dozen that have long lines: Incorporate their best features into your truck, buy your equipment used, for less than half price, from one of the many failed food truck businesses, open up shop it in a great location, and your chances of success are far greater than if you try to come up with a winner out of thin air.

Note: In choosing a retail business, you accrue the advantage of being able to see which ones are successful and incorporate their best ideas into yours.

Status is the enemy of success

If you choose to start a high-status business, for example in high-tech, biotech, etc., you're competing with very capable people. In contrast, if you start what The Millionaire Next Door author Thomas Stanley calls a dull-normal business, your competition is more likely to have a two-digit IQ. That, of course, makes you more likely to succeed. 

Here are examples of low-cost, weak-competition businesses that also bear little risk of going out of style. Of course, you needn't do the low-level work yourself. These days, you can hire good people for $10-15 an hour.

• Diesel repair shop 
• Help singles write relationship ads. Photograph them for their profile.
• Mobile home park cleaning service
• Clean out basements and garages, then install shelves and cabinets. 
• Install and remove home-for-sale lawn signs
• Place and maintain laundry machines in apartment buildings
• Own well-located carts selling food, flowers, scarves, knockoff- designer purses, French soap, sandwiches, or coffee.

Let's flesh out the latter. Let's say I wanted to start a business selling soup from a cart emblazoned with a catchy name like Souper! I'd take the time to find a great location: next to a train station, stadium, big-box store, movie theater, office high-rise, or other high foot-traffic area. Or even better, I'd make it mobile, for example, park it in front of a high school or college at lunchtime, move it next to a movie theatre for the evening, and near a stadium on Game Days. A cart business requires minimal rent, offers high profit margin, is a simple business, and isn’t a fad--soup, nor soap, nor flowers, nor coffee, are going out of style. Worried about its lack of status? You can tell your status-impressed friends that you're the president and CEO of the California Cappuccino Corporation, with branches throughout the state.

The secret to wealth: cloning

You may be thinking, "But I can't make enough money from such a simple business." You certainly could. Key is to clone it. For example, the simplest business I can think of is a shoeshine stand. Of course, I'd locate the stand on a high-foot-traffic street where people wear lots of leather shoes, for example, San Francisco's financial district. The stand would have prominent signage with a catchy name like Dianne FineShine. Once I learned the art and business of shoeshining, I'd set up a trusted friend with a clone of that shoeshine stand, asking for a small percentage of sales. I'd keep cloning Dianne until I was making enough money. 

So You're Thinking of Starting a Business

Here's my latest column in the German magazine, Business Spotlight.  It's quite applicable to Americans. 

So You're Thinking of Starting a Business

My father was a Holocaust survivor. He was psychologically healed not by psychotherapy but by work, by owning his own small business.

Perhaps owning a business can heal you, if only financially. And in today's slow economy, many people need financial healing.

Of course, most new businesses fail, but this article can help you beat the odds.

First some reassuring news: You don't need a new idea. Indeed, new ideas are more likely to fail--guinea pigs often die, the leading edge often is the bleeding edge, choose your metaphor. Large companies have deep pockets and can afford failures but you may not have such deep pockets. If you don't, a wiser rule may be: Don't innovate, replicate

So, for example, you might pick a proven business concept. For example, in the U.S., food trucks are big--selling sandwiches, burritos, felafel, etc from a truck parked in a high-foot traffic area---A great location with no rent, a great combination. Just visit a few successful food trucks and incorporate their best features in yours. Then hire one or more of the business owners as a consultant to help you launch your business. They well may agree, even if you ask for them for free advice. Many people are flattered to be asked and enjoy sharing what they know. If they're worried about your opening up shop near their place, agree not to.

But if such an unstructured approach is not for you, it might be worth paying the usually stiff fee for the more structured handholding provided in a franchise.

Alas, the workplace battlefield is littered with dead-broke franchisees so you must be extremely careful before plunking down the tens or often hundreds of thousands of euros it costs to buy a franchise.

These sites profile some of the many franchises available in Germany: http://www.franchisedirect.com/internationalfranchises/germany/76/ and

http://www.franchiseek.com/Germany/#.T8KhedVfHRY

But which, if any franchise should you choose?

According to Franchise.org, in Germany "there are no specific laws or government agencies that regulation the offer and sale of franchises." So it is wise to ask these questions.

Questions for the seller of a franchise (usually called the franchisor)

1. Describe what you'll be providing me.

2. Describe what your most successful buyers of your franchise do that average and below-average ones don't.

3. What are all the costs I'll be required to pay, both upfront and after the franchise is up and running?

If you're satisfied with the answers to those three questions, go on to these more probing ones:

4. May I see a spreadsheet showing last year's profit for each of your franchisees? Far less helpful would be a verbal representation, for example, being told the average or projected profit. Even if the seller gives you the spreadsheet, it is important to ask:

4a. May I have a copy of the current complete list of the buyers of your franchise and those who have sold or closed the business in the last two years? Of course, it's better if you can pick from the complete current list than to have to rely on a few hand-picked by the seller. The seller may reasonably withhold that list until you've demonstrated you're serious, for example, by completing a long application form.

If the seller gives you only a few names, you may find others by Googling the franchise's name.

5. What lawsuits are in process, especially, disgruntled franchisees or claims against patent.

Supplement their answer by Googling the name of the franchise plus the words "lawsuit," "complaints," "scam," and "reviews." A small amount of litigation is common even in good franchises but an excessive amount is a red flag.

Questions for people that have bought the franchise

It is critical that you speak with five to ten franchisees by phone and one or two in-person.

Tell each franchisee your strengths, weaknesses, work preferences and time availability and ask:

1. Now, knowing the franchise and a bit about me, do you think I'd be wise to buy one?

After getting an answer to that key overall question, ask about some or all of these:

a. the quality and pricing of products the seller requires you to buy b. the seller's ethics and the ethics inherent in this business. c. the accuracy of the provided estimate of costs d. satisfaction with the training provided e. satisfaction with the ongoing support f. satisfaction with the marketing support g. the typical work week, and how it's spent (including marketing) h. the skills that are critical to succeeding in this business i. Would you add another store/territory if you could?

Questions to Ask Yourself

1. Am I a self-starter, not a procrastinator? Often, long hours are required--and no one will be supervising you to make you work all those hours.

2. Am I willing and able to sell and market? For example, have you, in the past, consistently been able to close deals while remaining ethical?

3. Will I follow the franchisor's system? Everyone says they will, but many franchise buyers fail because they don't.

4. Does this franchise capitalize on my strengths and preferences? For example, cold-calling, night/weekend work?

5. Am I resourceful? Will I usually be able to solve the frequent problems that arise in running any business?

6. Am I resilient when setbacks occur, or am I too likely start procrastinating?