The Hardball Profits Way

We're going on a hiatus, but you can still find more great content over on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkHtTWY1h7NUzYRRWwFLgrQYou have goals for your business, but month after month, year after year, you never seem to realize them fully. You feel unsatisfied and frustrated with your results, and as an owner, you push on, hoping it'll get better.There's good news: You can accomplish your goals, and it's easier than you think.On December 14, the United States Conference of Mayors and Mayor Andy Schor hosted a free small business webinar, presented by Louis Mosca of American Management Services.In it, Mosca shared proven strategies that will help owners boost revenue, maximize profit, and grow their business.This hard-hitting webinar is the perfect way to jump-start 2021 with a plan that'll help you accomplish your goals in the new year.Watch the webinar here: https://youtu.be/3BGZH6NhNfM

It has been reported that unemployment is just over six-percent, but I believe it’s way higher than that.  The year is ending, and you may have a few, or more, positions to fill in your business.   Does recruiting look any different in the age of a pandemic?  The answer, quite simply, is no!  Your goal is to find and hire someone who’s willing to challenge and build themselves and not someone just looking for a job and a few extra dollars.  Here are a few warning signs of a wrong candidate:  During the interview process, they know very little about your business  There are typos scattered all over their resume  They’re only interested in making more money  These three things alone are enough to find a better hire for your business.   For more advice, listen to the latest episode of the Hardball Profits Way where I, and Mike Lockey, discuss the warning signs, as mentioned above. Plus, questions you should ask a candidate and the answers you should be listening for, how American Management Services hire, and a lot more. 

If you think the worst of the pandemic is behind you, then you’re making a mistake. You’re not out of this, and you won’t be any time soon, unless you own Apple or Amazon. Back when the pandemic started, there wasn’t a one-size-fits-all plan that could help you mitigate this disaster, and with less than a month left in the year, there still isn’t one.  As Moderna and Pfizer near the completion of a vaccine, you should start developing a plan to ease out of the pandemic.  Should you take chances right now? Absolutely not! The worst thing you could do right now is behave like Babe Ruth and swing for the fences every single time.  You could still win a game by hitting singles and doubles. Be conservative with your business and become cash-flow positive in the process.  If you want to learn more, listen to the latest episode of the Hardball Profits Way Podcast here. 

I sound like a broken record when I talk about how hard 2020 has been on all of us. The reality is, though, it has the potential to get far worse. Moratoriums are set to expire at the end of the year, which would leave millions, if not tens of millions, evicted with no place to go. If you thought it was tough bringing back your employees this past summer, just wait until the clock strikes midnight on January 1. Now is the time to start working with your employees, and start connecting with your city, county and/or state representative for help. Listen to the latest episode of the Hardball Profits Ways Podcast now where we discuss the harsh realities to come in 2021, and what you need to be doing now to prepare! 

Over the past few weeks on my podcast, The Hardball Profits Way, I discussed the steps necessary to implement a pay-for-performance plan.  One of the strategies I touched on was that ownership needs to bear responsibility for their staff.  Implementing a pay-for-performance plan isn’t enough.  Owners must adhere to the following three steps to ensure success and exceed your goals.  You need to:  Change how you hire  Change your method(s) of training  Maintain consistent training and coaching your team  As the owner, you need to hold yourself to a higher standard of accountability.  Failing to do so may result in widespread problems in your company!  Listen to the new episode now! 

 Get a free copy of the New York Times Best Selling 'Profits Aren't Everything, They're The Only Thin' by signing up here: https://www.amserv.com/profits-arent-everything-theyre-the-only-thing/Right now, the Steelers lead the AFC North with eight consecutive wins.You can’t pick out one player on the Steelers and say they’re carrying the team; their wins are the result of a team effort, from the players on the gridiron to those sitting on the bench.If you desire to maximize the success of your business, you—Mr. and Mrs. Owner—need to lead your team by example.It starts with paying your employees based on their performance (Better referred to as pay-for-performance).Most owners see ‘pay-for-performance’ and think, “Well, I pay my employees commission and it never works.”I’m never one to mince words: You’re wrong!Pay-for-performance is part of a system that rewards your employees by exceeding the monetary goals you have in place.For this to work, you need to have a system of accountability that is taught consistently, concisely, and precisely.In this week’s episode of the Hardball Profits Way Podcast, Mike Lockey and I, discuss several more methods to implement a successful pay-for-performance plan effectively.Remember, folks; you need to show your staff that this system can work…Because it does!Listen to it now!Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanMgmt

Sit down with any owner, and most of them will say they want to grow sales. However, one of the biggest impediments we see are owners becoming ‘gatherers’ and turning their back on ‘hunting.’ Before working together, a client of ours had become so used to having his phone ring that he didn’t know what to do when it all stopped.We sat him down and told him to call some of his clients.They greeted him and remarked, “I hadn’t heard from you in a while. I thought you were dead!”He’d gotten so used to gathering sales that he forgot what it felt like to actually go out there and hunt for them.In this week’s episode of the Hardball Profits Way Podcast, I’m joined by Mike Lockey and my brother and Director of Survey, Chris Mosca, to discuss how to grow your team and revenue.

Get a free copy of the New York Times Best Selling 'Profits Aren't Everything, They're The Only Thin' by signing up here: https://www.amserv.com/profits-arent-everything-theyre-the-only-thing/Last week, I spoke about my version of PPP: Planning, Profit, and Pay-for-Performance.  I've seen owners fail to understand the power of implementing a pay-for-performance plan for their employees, and I've seen others falsely believe that paying commission is sufficient. It's not. As the owner, you have to allow your employees to thrive while driving extraordinary results for your business. Say, for example, you're a $5 million machine shop, and the industry-standard profit percentage is six-percent. If your staff can outperform and earn seven-eight-nine-ten-percent profit, that amount above the six-percent should be split and shared amongst the business, your key people, and yourself. That's what we call second-tier profit or profit that exceeds your industry's standard. The beauty of pay-for-performance is it could be implemented on a global scale or a departmental one. It's the main topic of the latest episode of the podcast, Why You Should Care About Pay-For-Performance Part 1.  Listen to the episode now! Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanMgmt

Get a free copy of the New York Times Best Selling 'Profits Aren't Everything, They're The Only Thin' by signing up here: https://www.amserv.com/profits-arent-everything-theyre-the-only-thing/We've opened a business crisis hotline made possible with our partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Give us a call at 800-743-0410 today to get in touch with a business management professional that will guide you through the rest of 2020!This week, Lou Mosca and Mike Lockey discuss the only PPP you should worry about: Planning , Profit, and Pay-for-performance plans. Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanMgmt

We've opened a business crisis hotline made possible with our partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Give us a call at 800-743-0410 today to get in touch with a business management professional that will guide you through the rest of 2020!Todd Garner had a vision of opening a fried chicken restaurant in the heart of Daytona. Daytona was missing out on a local place for people to stop by and enjoy great food. So, with the money he inherited after the passing of his mother, Todd bought and renovated the building.He and his brother-in-law spent nearly a year and a half, making sure everything was perfect. He sold out of chicken on his first two days opened. Everything was looking up. Then the pandemic struck, and he was forced to close his doors. Unlike so many restaurants that have shut down because of the virus, Todd's managed to stay afloat.In this episode of the Hardball Profits Way Podcast, we share Todd’s story and discuss the practical and applicable advice that could help any restauranteurs survive another (potential) shutdown.  Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanMgmt

We've opened a business crisis hotline made possible with our partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Give us a call at 800-743-0410 today to get in touch with a business management professional that will guide you through the rest of 2020!It hurts my soul knowing that 70,000 restaurants will be going the way of the dinosaur soon! Currently, there is a Restaurant Act that entered the House, and frankly, it’s too little and too late!  Where was this six months ago when restaurants were first starting to feel the effects of this pandemic?  Folks, you’ll spend your time better watching the grass grow, than waiting to see the government step up and help you. Here’s a three-step strategy you can implement NOW to help offset the effects of the pandemic.  Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanMgmt

We've opened a business crisis hotline made possible with our partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Give us a call at 800-743-0410 today to get in touch with a business management professional that will guide you through the rest of 2020!Hiring the right people for your business can be challenging, and sometimes it can lead to your business losing money.  Recruiting starts with your job description. Your descriptions should inform the candidate of the main tasks required for the open position, a timeline to complete said tasks, and include the experience asked from the candidate.   Moving forward from there requires some strategy.   Never hire the first candidate that applies to the position  Interviews must be done in tiers  Ensure their references are valuable  Test them  In this week’s episode of The Hardball Profits Way, Lou Mosca and Mike Lockey go through the pitfalls of a bad hire, the strategy you should follow when writing your description, and the steps you need to take to ensure you hire the right person.  Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanMgmt

We've opened a business crisis hotline made possible with our partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Give us a call at 800-743-0410 today to get in touch with a business management professional that will guide you through the rest of 2020!I’ll admit it, I was wrong.  At the beginning of the year, I thought the pandemic would affect business owners for three months and move on.  Well, there are three months left in the year, and COVID-19 has yet to subside or cease to plague American business owners.  Everyone needs all the help they can get, and whether you’re negotiating with your landlord, your vendors, or your bank, I want you to remember a very simple and powerful word: ‘no.’  ‘No’ is the best line in negotiation, and you need to get comfortable saying it.  Understand the power of the word in this week’s episode of the Hardball Profits Way Podcast. 

We've opened a business crisis hotline made possible with our partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Give us a call at 800-743-0410 today to get in touch with a business management professional that will guide you through the rest of 2020!In a Well Fargo/Gallup poll, business owner confidence is up from a low recorded in April of 2020. Sounds good, right? It does, but it's still miles below where confidence was in late 2019. While there is still a long way to go, there are some things you can do now to increase your confidence. 

We've opened a business crisis hotline made possible with our partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Give us a call at 800-743-0410 today to get in touch with a business management professional that will guide you through the rest of 2020!We see restaurants as a hybrid business, a cross between retail (front-of-house) and manufacturing (back-of-house): A product comes in, it’s transformed, and served to a client. On this week’s episode of the Hardball Profits Way Podcast, Mike and I discuss how to improve a restaurant's operations from reducing shrink, enhancing both the front-of-house and back-of-house and adjusting menu pricing. 

We've opened a business crisis hotline made possible with our partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Give us a call at 800-743-0410 today to get in touch with a business management professional that will guide you through the rest of 2020!If 2020 has taught us anything its that we need to prepare for the inevitable.On this week's episode of the Hardball Profits Way, Lou Mosca and Mike Lockey discuss the importance of crafting a business plan, why most owners find it intimidating, and the steps to take to craft a well-written plan for 2021. This is one episode you don't want to miss. 

We've opened a business crisis hotline made possible with our partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Give us a call at 800-743-0410 today to get in touch with a business management professional that will guide you through the rest of 2020!Every business owner is told explicitly about the importance of marketing your business, and everyone has an opinion on what’s best. Last year, we spent close to six figures on marketing and advertising our services on various social media services. Was it fruitful? Not entirely, and owners should take note. Not every avenue to market your business is the right one. 

We've opened a business crisis hotline made possible with our partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Give us a call at 800-743-0410 today to get in touch with a business management professional that will guide you through the rest of 2020!After creating your solid sales plan, a problem still remains: your sales team is undermining you! It’s frustrating to have a team not listen to you, or worse, become complacent. (Complacency is the mark of death in business!) You know they can reach higher goals. But it starts with you.  Mike Lockey and I discuss effective sales team management. This is one episode you don’t want to miss! Timecodes0:00–Intro1:15–Amazon4:04–Where Small Businesses Go Wrong9:16–Some Lost Touch With Reality15:42–What a Fair Commission for a Sales Rep17:41–Restaurants Closing Permanently18:50–Recap21:48–Outro

We've opened a business crisis hotline made possible with our partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Give us a call at 800-743-0410 today to get in touch with a business management professional that will guide you through the rest of 2020!Business is tough right now, but there is something you can implement not that will save you time and stress in the future, and that's creating a sales plan.In this week's episode of the Hardball Profits Way, Lou Mosca goes over the three most important steps when it comes to creating an effective sales plan, like establishing a goal to holding your people accountable.Timecodes:0:00-Intro1:58-Driving Top-Line Revenue3:40-Sales is a Discipline 5:00-Have a Formal Plan6:10-Complete a Concise Timeline7:15-Manage by the Numbers8:35-Hold People Accountable9:30-Recap

We've opened a business crisis hotline made possible with our partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Give us a call at 800-743-0410 today to get in touch with a business management professional that will guide you through the rest of 2020!We’ve finally reached that tipping point.  After three months of hell, it’s gotten worse.  The recession I predicted at the end of 2019 is coming true, one-third of all restaurants are closing for good, and independent business owners are staring down the barrel of the bankruptcy gun.  Owners, right now, are frozen and don’t know what to do.  Mike Lockey and I discuss how owners can tell if they’ve reached that tipping point, what they can do, and why. I hate to say it, but bankruptcy may not be the easy way out! Timecodes:0:00–Intro1:33–The Tipping Point5:15–How to Avoid Getting to the Tipping Point7:41–How to Visualize Where the Tipping Point Will Come13:56–Preserve Cash or Furlough Employees?18:43–Bankruptcy Isn't an Easy Way Out21:35–Signs You Hit that Tipping Point24:32–Recap