Problems With Payroll - Uh Oh…
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Ok, be honest, how many nights have you stayed up staring at the ceiling scared sh**less about payroll…
I’ve definitely had times in the past where “I” did…I remember the questions:
- Where is the money going to come from?
- Should I lay someone off? But, that’s horrible…
- Should I try to raise money? But that’ll take so long…
- Should I go borrow money? But, I already have so much debt…
- Maybe that big account will close this week?
I always used to tell myself, “this must just be a problem that ‘I’ have because I’m a small business, once I get bigger it’ll go away…” Little did I know, it gets worse!
I was recently talking to the CFO and VP of Business Development of a company that does over $20 Million in revenue a year and has 120 employees. I was cracking jokes about the days that I’ve scrambled to launch a product just to get enough money to make payroll…honestly, I was looking for a glazed look on their face.
What did I get?
I got a loud, “Oh man, we know how THAT feels…hahahahahahaha” as they smiled and winked at each other.
I thought to myself, “what the heck? are you serious, how in the WORLD can you guys have payroll problems doing $20 Million a year?”
The more thinking I’ve done, I realized that actually the faster you grow, the more you hire, the more your expenses go up. It seems that BIG corporations really do run quite tight most of the time.
It’s not even bad financial management, it’s just the results of aggressive growth.
So, tell me, have you ever stayed up at night thinking about payroll?
Popularity: 85% [?]
A question I asked many times a few years back but not so much lately. I always felt that it was their “ego” that was hiding their smile and playful nature. Personally, I promised myself that I would remain who I am and be everyone’s “friend” as I grew into this role.
I had to talk about this today because a statement that a friend/adviser/mentor had made to me once came screaming back in force and punched me in the face as I listened to a friend talk about a business partnership he’s currently in.
Do yourself a favor and read “
This is a very interesting question that came to my mind recently.
I’ve said it before on this blog that the bigger your company gets and the more hiring you do, you can expect YOUR role as the CEO to move towards more “management.” Management may sound fun, but it can make any “true” entrepreneur want to ram their head into a wall.
I used to be an avid “Business 2.0″ magazine reader, I’d wait at the door like an excited dog, waiving my tail the day it came to my mailbox. The day I found out that it was being discontinued, I think I may have actually shed a tear. Well, long story short, I just now convinced myself to start reading Entrepreneur magazine.
So as I mentioned yesterday, right before I snuck out of the office I was visiting a couple of days ago, the manage of the office asked me to make an “inspirational and motivational speech” to the group. Speaking to the group is one thing. Motivating a group is another thing…
Here is a very interesting note that came out of the last board meeting I had on Friday. The way I’ve thought about business is always to think: