Business Basics 101: Myths can be undoing of small-business owners

Most small businesses stink because most small-business owners fall for these commonly held myths:

Myth No. 1 Do what you love and the money will follow. Ha! Not so! In fact, when you discover your true purpose, when you do what you love, it will come easily and naturally to you. And you will deceive yourself into thinking that the money doesn't matter. The money does matter and it will not just magically appear when you do a good job. Certainly, do what you love. But mind the money.

Myth No. 2 You must charge the "going rate" or you will price yourself out of the market. After all, you are bound by what "the market will bear." This is nonsense. The market bears all kinds of prices. You can buy a compact car for $10,000. Or a Lamborghini for $250,000. It isn't the market that sets prices. Marketers set prices.

Myth No. 3 You need to lower overhead to make more money. Not so! Small business owners need to increase their overhead. Why? Owner's salary is an overhead item. And most owners don't make nearly enough money. The better way to make more money: Raise your prices and increase your sales.

Myth No. 4 Profits and principles don't mix. Au contraire! Principles depend on profits. This myth is the most insidious of the lot. Look inside yourself. Are you sabotaging your success because, deep down, you don't believe that good people can be really, really rich?

Remember the Victor Hugo story, "Les Miserables"? Also immortalized in the Broadway smash "Les Miz," the hero of the tale, Jean Valjean is sent to prison for stealing a loaf of bread. Was Jean a thief, a corrupt criminal? Mais non! He stole the bread to feed his starving family. When your back is against the wall, when you are short on cash and your bills are due, you might consider options that you would never consider if your checking account were heavy.

It is much easier to maintain your principles when you have plenty of money. But so many small-business owners justify their lack of profitability by asserting, "I'm not in it for the money."

Well, what the heck are you in it for? Make no mistake about it. If you are in business, you are in it for the money. Otherwise, you will be out of business. Or, you'll stubbornly hang on to your losing business and compromise your family's financial future. Worse yet, you'll make an integrity-damaging decision because you have less money than obligation.

You are in it for the money.

That doesn't mean you are greedy, selfish or unethical. As you get more profitable, you have more responsibility to handle the money, to use it to do good and wonderful things. A profitable business is an incredible vehicle for making a positive impact on this chaotic world.

Take Tom Chappell of Tom's Of Maine. He started his natural grooming products company in 1970 with this mission: To form a company that would be kind to man and nature. Since then, he and his wife Kate have grown the company to nearly $30 million in sales.

Their top products: Natural toothpastes and phosphate-free soaps. In 1986, Tom had a mid-life crisis. Having made a fortune selling soap and toothpaste, he was looking for more meaning. He enrolled in Harvard University's divinity program where he studied scripture and philosophy. His spiritual awakening? Make his business his ministry.

Profits are essential to Tom's ministry. Tom's in it for the money, too. Ten percent of pre-tax profits go to good causes as selected by his employees. So, the more profit they make the more they can contribute.

Nice, isn't it?

"Money is the cause of good things to a good man, of evil things to a bad man." Philo

"Money never made a fool of anybody. It only shows em up." - Elbert Hubbard

Today's to-do: Confront your stinking thinking about money.

Get out your journal. Write down your very first thoughts about money. How did your parents feel about money? Was money abundant, or scarce, when you were growing up? Look for significant moments in your past that formed your opinions about money and the people who have LOTS of it.

These are the thoughts that wreak havoc on your ability to be successful. It's time to weed out these negative thoughts and replace them with positive affirmations about money.

Now, catch yourself every time your thinking is stinking.

"There never seems to be enough money."

"If I ever have any money"

"I'm not tough enough (pushy enough) to be a good salesperson."

"I've never been good with money."

Replace these thoughts with

"I'm in it for the money!"

"I love money and money loves me!"

"I just love showering money on people and projects that are important to me."

(Ellen Rohr of Rogersville helps folks make a living at doing what they love. She is a business book author and consultant. She can be reached via e-mail at sbj@sbj.net).