A Few Ideas on Getting Your Business Through the First Few Years

 Developing and growing a business is not easy! There is a big learning curve that can make or break your prospects. There are a few things you may want to consider during your first year. 

1.) Focus on Brand: Profit is wonderful but your brand and core service offering is what will keep your business open next year. 

2.) Find Balance but Work Hard: You will need to work hard and harder than you thought to keep your business floating. The first few years are about sweat equity. Find a balance but stay focused. 

3.) Secure Financing: You either have all the money you need or you don't. There are fluctuations and dry spells so have back up cash/finance.

4.) Collaborate: Work with other small businesses in the area. They also need help and you can hedge and share services. If nothing else you have a community of people. 

5.) Develop Your Operations: This is your time to develop your operations. Figure out where you are getting your resources, how you are preparing them, and what distribution channels you are using. 

6.) Marketing and Awareness: Connect with your customer base. Get involved and find those marketing channels that focus specifically on your core customer group. If you don't know what that is make sure you spend the time figuring it out. 

Diving a Private Quarry-Business and Picking Up Trash

 A group of us dove a private quarry a week or so ago. Didn't get a chance to put it up. We are supposed to be diving a shipwreck tomorrow early AM. The guy in the video does runs a business with lures, recovering lost items and general safety. As you can tell he is picking up trash that people through in the water. Kind of sad how some people treat our environment. 

59th UP Trappers Convention (Esky State Fair Grounds) July 9-10, 21

Browsing the activities I noticed the UP Trapper Convention. I might head over there and take a look. I have some traps in my garage and had a plan to trap. I put a few out (I think the year before last) and got nothing. I'm probably doing something wrong. It would make sense to go ask some questions about bait and location. Some like this stuff and some don't but either way its part of the local lifestyle. 

59th U.P. Trappers Convention and Outdoor Expo

July 9 – 10, 2021 | Escanaba Michigan

Upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds

More Information Here

June Jobs Report Department of Labor (DOL)

Jobs are updating and the market is shifting creating additional pressure on labor. You may want to keep up-to-date on the June jobs report. Here are the highlights....

• 
  "Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 850,000 in June, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 5.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, public and private education, professional and business services, retail trade, and other services."

There was an increase of 164,000 of people who left their job. That is interesting because it means they have confidence they will find another job quickly. Market transition, depending on the new types of jobs they get, can be helpful in creating flow from low skilled jobs to higher ones through natural market driven labor movement. 

For those in the U.P. we might want to keep in mind mining and manufacturing because it puts pressure on developing our own industries here.... 

• "Employment in mining rose by 10,000 in June, reflecting a gain in support activities for mining. Mining employment is down by 110,000 since a peak in January 2019. 
• Employment in manufacturing changed little in June (+15,000). Within the industry, job gains in furniture and related products (+9,000), fabricated metal products (+6,000), and primary metals (+3,000) were partially offset by a loss in motor vehicles and parts (-12,000). Employment in manufacturing is down by 481,000 from its level in February 2020.
• Employment in transportation and warehousing was little changed in June (+11,000). Employment gains in warehousing and storage (+14,000), air transportation (+8,000), and truck transportation (+6,000) were partially offset by a loss in couriers and messengers (-24,000). Since February 2020, employment in transportation and warehousing is down by 94,000. 
• Construction employment changed little in June (-7,000). Over-the-month job losses in nonresidential specialty trade contractors (-15,000) and heavy and civil engineering construction (-11,000) were partially offset by a gain in residential specialty trade contractors (+13,000). Employment in construction is 238,000 lower than in February 2020.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Sports Culture-When to Rethink the Approach

Sports is a great thing and it can teach our children everything from pro-social values to fitness and proper recreational outlets. While most sports programs teach us odd concepts likes sportsmanship and confidence there are others that teach improper values. How we develop our sports programs, the coaches we pick, and culture we create help determine its value to society. 

Let me say first. I'm a sports fan lover and think that sports are excellent, and in most cases a benefit to our youth and society. There are some times when it makes more sense to give kids a new pair of running shoes and set them down the track than millions (...but that debate between fitness, education, and gladiator arenas has been going on for a long time.)

A long time ago sports trained us for war. We played foot ball to learn teamwork and coordination, polo for mounted cavalry, and joisting for well....jousting. Running fast was helpful and so was the relay of important battle communications. Communities came out to support their warriors because they knew the games value.

Sports has become part of our daily lives and the culture of sports has changed. It is now an end in and of itself versus a method of societal preparation. Colleges use it to raise their PR and people play it for the social benefits. Nothing wrong with that! That's all dandy!

There are some sports cultures that begin to look more clannish and take on flavors that are destructive. Sports should teach us how to act and interact with each other, build confidence in our physical abilities, encourage community support, and develop a sense of togetherness. At least that should be what they are doing!

When sports take on exclusivity and poor values what was sweet now turns sour. Instead of inclusivity we teach exclusivity (sometimes includes bigotry), instead of building confidence in our bodies we instead build overconfidence in our physical abilities (i.e. bullying), where community support is helpful the acceptance of blind support is not (lack of critical thinking within one's social networks), and where a sense of togetherness should be come about we opt for entitlement.

The difference is beneficial and unbeneficial sports programs is based in their ability to hire the right people to teach both proper values as well as proper mechanics in the sport. Just like we internalize through muscle memory how to throw a ball, hit a golf club, or catch a football we also learn certain values within our sport's groups. Having the right people in place to teach our kids prosocial sports values is half of the reason for its existence (....if not could we give each kid a 3+X a weekly exercise routine, a nutrition, and a copy of the Art of War. Might be cheaper? 🤷)

Most of the people who I met who play sports are excellent people. I've seen ex amateur sports players from high school 30 + years who grew up to be adults their kids would be proud of (FYI most of the professional sports players I met are humble people). There are others within that same crowd who did not grow up to be healthy adults and seem to relish in ignorance. They turned into followers who lacked critical insight (...by the way talking about how "great" they once were in sports and  how "everyone" wants to be like them". Yuck!😕 Small stale fish.)

If you asked me what the advantages of sports is to students I will give you a laundry list as a self-proclaimed sports lover and enthusiast. With that list I will write a few things you might keep in mind when pondering the future of local sports..... 

1. Make sure your coaches have pro-social values and teaching the kids proper societal behaviors. 

2. Make sure the costs of the program have an actual benefit and enhance kids life in some way or another. 

3. Teach kids how to think independently and also within a group (both skills are important.)

4. Remove parents who engage in racism, bigotry and bullying (and who teach their kids the same.)

5. Listen to what the public wants (not just your friends) and not just those within your community. 

Sports is a pathway to learning and what we teach our young sports players is highly dependent on the coaches and the parents. When our parents fail....it leaves our children unprepared to really compete when the **it hits the fan in their/our lives!  Remember...its about the kids and the needs of society and not the few "loud mouths" in the room who demand your ever divided admiration and attention (i.e. narcissism as a mental health issue). 

Here are a few options/suggestions (I might be missing a few) to those who blindly followed others into pseudo community ethnic cleansing behavior....

1.) Don't let a group of "super cools" who are barely qualified to manager their own lives tell you how to live yours. 

2.) Think beyond your social networks to find values that help define yourself. 

3.) When you see wrong stand up against it because people who are willing to do wrong use your silence as a prompt for approval. 

4.) Find meaning in your life beyond what you once were (whatever highschool sports greatness that was!). 

5.) If your still involved in sports clubs then make it about the kids and ensure the sports program is reflective of our pro-social American values. 

As with all groups of people there will be some informal internal debate (See Social Opinion Making 😲 ...and we thought we were original!) I hope my resilience should give you a hint that not all things are as they initial appear (There is always more to people so don't judge too quickly. Use evidence and not your pre-embedded false heuristic anchors). Here are some possible options for those who engaged in this pseudo-cleansing behaviors. 1.) Learn from the situation and be a better person; 2.) If you don't like minorities in your community you are free to move (Siberia might be a good place. I hear Russia welcomes people who have turned their backs on essential American values 🤷; or, 3. You can stare us down, huff and puff when were around, maybe put some swastikas' in my yard, an upside-down cross, or noose as symbols of your superiority (P.S. for the dim witted...that is not permission to do this.). 

Either way...the choice is yours and so are the outcomes. Good luck with whatever you choose!

Why I Write? Responsibility to Support a Free Society!

There may be people from time to time that wonder why I write and spend the time doing some of those things versus all the other fun things of life (I do fun things in life too). I think its important to write about issues that others find difficult to understand; i.e.. injustice, economy, education, science, geo-political issues and corruption. If we don't think about these we can't expect them to change. Not everything I say will have importance but likely there will be a few people who sort of "get it" and it offers something beneficial. 

Sometimes I write about politics and the economy. Politics is a necessary process in our democracy but there are people who exploit politics for their own gain and for their own "people's" gain. Universalizing our actions means we seek to create maximum gain and trust among as many people as possible. We may be elected by certain groups but owe responsibility to the "whole" society.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."
Lao Tzu

Other times I might write about things like fitness, health, art and local activities. While these don't seem very important they are still part of the process of living. There are people who find benefit in some of this writing and there are people who find it kind of useless. For example, maybe I learned something about fitness or a new way of doing something.

Still and other times I write about things like injustice. I understand injustice has become a type of dirty word in some circles (probably part of the reason why we have political polarity). Will my writing change anything? Probably not...there are a lot of people writing about a lot of things. When your name is "Murad" you learn that what you have to say is often less worthy than say "Tom" or "Joe". More about this in the future..... 

Mostly I write to understand. To understand the world around us and how we live in it. I guess I shouldn't really care much but higher awareness also comes with higher responsibility. That doesn't mean I'm right and it doesn't mean that anyone will actually listen to what I say. It only means there are some who are simply more aware of their environment and can see the long term implications of certain paths (many of our leaders and officials struggle with thinking beyond themselves and their rigid ideologies).

We know we have problems in society and we know we should deal with them. Its probably much easier and less frustrating to just be like others and worry about what is in my benefit only. I'm no martyr but likely inherited the "tragic gift" high moral and IQ based intelligence (Perhaps a couple more.) in an environment that doesn't have much use for it and probably doesn't seem to encourage it (Some of our cues are to reinforce conformity and that has always been the root of injustice; especially if some classes, races, religion and people can't conform to someone else's distorted image.)

Do I expect my writing to have any impact? Not really. I think there will be a few people who read it who believe yes he makes sense (dependent on cognitive engagement).  Most others are unlikely to find much interest beyond gossip sake. Those who should be listening are unlikely to listen because it would require them to break their mold (part of the reason why I write). Mostly its just fodder for those who hate and want to support that hate (our society seems to support them).

What I have learned is that there are definite differences in how we treat people each other in this society and without change we are going to have a very bumpy future. Our options will be limited by a the same people who propose the same worn out solutions and then punish those who have alternative explanations (forced political persuasion). Long-term preference in decisions not based on evidence leads to corruption, indecisiveness, lack of global competitive ability that risks eventual collapse (Its a line of choices.)

Do I think our politicians, judges, and people will change? We are creatures of habit and when disruption occurs such as pandemics, economic shifts, and social instability we will make some adjustments (often after events occur and not often in "real time"). Before this, trends are not a concern because they don't impact the lives of those who make the decisions (Yes...they can be selfish as well. We seem to like to deal with issues in crisis mode versus getting out in front of problems.)

If you every wonder what the truth is...just wait a minute and let all the people make the choices they want and see where the dust settles. The proof is in the outcome. What we say is important but how we decide and the outcome of those decisions is what is essential. The "truth" is what "we" decide it is. We either land on the side of virtue, wisdom and universal law (will likely bring us good things) or we land on distortion, dishonesty and subjectivity (will likely bring us more instability and further diminish our ability compete globally through the American brand). 

We all have choices to make and we as a collective society make those choices together. The truth is what we as a society make it out to be. Yet sometimes we become smarter and history changes to be more reflective of a universal truth (i.e. the moral failures of slavery, treatment of native Americans, viewing all Muslims as the "enemy", etc...) 

Should I continue to write? I'm not sure...I guess I will for now. There are risks to writing and saying the truth as you see it (subjective and objective). Not everyone will agree and often the system supports and enforces ignorance. We can look back through history at anyone who has something important to say (i.e. philosophers, religious figures, civil leaders and visionaries) and we find that the vast majority have had a tragic end but all have been right in history at a different time and space.

A word of caution. Free societies with free people should be able to handle reasonable differences of opinions. We cannot achieve our long term goals if we only listen to a sliver of friends and supporters leading to group think and intellectual/scientific blindness. Corruption and disparate treatment will divide our country while universal justice will bring us together. If we are unable to think beyond our bio-psychological interests of today we will continue to repeat the same mistakes over and over. We are like fish in a fish bowl who don't understand the fish bowl is in a massive ocean. Everything we do ripples somewhere else. 

Voltaire uttered two phrases that seem to make sense in this case, "It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong." and "Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."

Farm Land in the U.P.

 The other day I was out riding in a field next to Hiawatha National Forest in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This is what rural farmland looks like. Being born and raised in this country landscape gives you a glimpse of what it must have been like 100 years ago as life is fundamentally the same (plus electricity, water, Internet and other necessities of basic living😱. ). 

Stonington

Mo. He was a rescue horse and now is well trained.