Why Shop Small?

 Why shop small?

It’s a serious question. One that, as a small business owner, matters very much to my success, even my survival. Why should people shop small? Why should people walk into your store? Why should they visit your restaurant? Why should they choose you, or me, over Amazon or Walmart or Chili’s or McDonalds? 

Give me one good reason why customers should choose you and I don’t want to hear the tired cliches about how buying small helps an entrepreneur pay their mortgage while buying big helps some fat cat CEO buy another ski chalet. I am a consumer. None of that matters to me. What matters to me is price. Well, not really price but value. All other things being equal, price is the deciding factor so I guess that means small businesses should probably shut down because we’ll never be able to compete against the big boys. Right?

Probably true, but the good thing is that we don’t have to compete against the big boys, we can easily be better instead of equal. But we do have to work. Being small and opening your doors isn’t enough. We need to each find our edge. We need to find what Warren Buffett (no little guy) calls a durable competitive advantage. I believe as small business owners, there are a few easy ways to do this.

Be nice to your customers. My wife and I walked into a small shop in Charleston, South Carolina yesterday. The shop sold crystals and the like and had a yoga studio attached. A very nice, and inviting space. There was a clerk behind the counter. We said hello, she said nothing. Others walked in, carrying yoga mats and dressed for yoga. She was all smiles and hellos for these folks. They were people she knew.

Our daughter is a collector of crystals and although she wasn’t with us, souvenirs are a regular part of travel and I would have liked to have bought her something from this store, but alas, we bought nothing. The clerk finally did acknowledge us but it was only to let us know from across the room that we had to leave because the class was going to start and she had to lock the door since there would be no one to keep an eye on the place.

The clerk did inform us that she had called the owner, but the owner wasn’t around and so she had to ask us to leave. We were welcome to come back and spend our money when the owner deigned to show up. This wouldn’t have irked me so much if she had acknowledged us in the first place. The clerk may not have thought about her actions or maybe didn’t care, but she was rude to us and that is why zero of my souvenir budget will be spent at that particular shop. If she had been nice to us from the moment we walked in and walked over and explained the situation instead of calling across the store that we had to leave, we may have returned and spent some money with her. But no, she doesn’t deserve my hard-earned.

The sad thing is that the clerk doesn’t care or even know why the way she treated us will echo in her career, too. I will never spend my money there. I would never recommend this establishment. I would discourage people from visiting this establishment. I may even go so far as to recommend other places where the same goods may be acquired along with service and a smile.

Acknowledge your customers. Maybe this point should have come first but I want you to be nice. Don’t acknowledge a visitor just to turn them off with a scowl.  Be nice and acknowledge your customer. Say hello when they walk in. let them know you’re nearby and happy (not just available or willing) to answer any questions your customers may have. After all, if I want to be ignored, I can go to Target.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a bookworm. I found a lovely bookstore and went inside. The clerk behind the counter, who maybe was the owner, raised her head from what she was doing, looked at us and only said hello after we did. We wandered through the store without a word from her. I love books and I love buying books from small places but I walked out empty handed.

Contrast this to my favorite bookstore in West Yellowstone, Montana. I walk in and someone says hi. Employees roaming through the store offer assistance. The cashier makes small talk. I never leave that place without a book or three.

We walked through the market in Charleston and got both kinds of treatment. There were some vendors who made eye contact and smiled and bragged about their goods like proud grandparents. Others sat behind their tables and mumbled prices or said nothing at all, treating potential customers like an inconvenience.

Know your stuff. One of the greatest things about shopping small is getting to speak to someone who really knows their stuff. I don’t just want to know what the product is. I want to know its provenance. I want the person behind the counter in the small store to come out from behind the counter and tell me why I should spend more at her store than I would have to at a big box retailer.

We walked into a jewelry store a while later and the clerk took the time to tell us that all the pieces were handmade by the artist who owned the store and that she only made a couple of each piece. This immediately made the products more desirable and made price less of an objection. She asked us where we  were from and it turned out she was about to jump on a plane that very evening and head toward our part of the world. She also took the time to tell us about some other unique places we can visit and told us about a great restaurant we could go to for lunch.

She earned my business. Big Time!

So be an entrepreneur. Set up your business. Stock it, market the hell out of it and sell! But do the little things that are going to give you an advantage. Most people are price sensitive, but many of them will make price a secondary consideration for the right product, and maybe more importantly, the right experience and the right person. Be the right person and provide that experience to all your customers all the time. It costs you nothing, but will pay off handsomely.

Adolfo Jimenez is a small business owner and writer living in South Florida with his family. He is the author of The Successful Vendor, a guide to succeeding in the competitive world of small-scale retail.

How To Everything 3

 Have you ever lost your keys? Everyone has. Does it happen to you often? Did it happen to you today? Do you know where your keys are right now? This has happened to me since as far back as I can remember; since as far back as I've had keys.

I still misplace my keys from time to time. It's something I need to work on constantly. I'm not a naturally organized person. In fact, I'm a downright disaster. The only reason it doesn't happen to me every day is simple: I put a place aside for my keys, wallet, etc. 

In other words, I created a system.

I have created systems for all of the routine things in my life. There's no way to add excitement to the routine things, but there is no need to add frustration. In the businesses we run, we implement systems for ourselves and our teams. We find that problems we encounter can often be directly attributed to a lack of systems or failure to follow the system.

In the cases when a problem occurs because there is no system, we create a system to avoid a repeat of the situation. We're a young company and we are growing every day. Rather than let the growing pains derail us, we learn from the experiences and get better while moving forward.

These systems make us more efficient, which makes us more profitable, which makes it possible for us to invest in other businesses or hire more people. When you look at it this way, being organized and systematizing many aspects of your life and business feels like a moral obligation as well as common sense.

Adolfo Jimenez is an entrepreneur, author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published ten books, which you can find here. Adolfo is the co-owner of The Cafeteria Company, a commissary outsourcing firm. He also co-owns Soup -n- Sam, Le Velo Macaron, and Starlight Catering.

Getting to Know You

 My wife and I have been married a long time. We've known each other just a little longer than we've been a couple. We have a great relationship. Go back and read the second sentence again. We "rushed in." Elvis may think us foolish but it worked out pretty well. I love her as much as I ever did and I'm pretty sure she means it when she says she loves me. We have a nice time together. We enjoy one another's company. Even the romance is still strong, nudge nudge wink wink say no more! 

I believe the lesson here is that you don't really need to get to know a person before getting married. Well, maybe that's an oversimplification. I think there has to be attraction, you have to know each other as well as you can without the benefit of years, and you have to get along.

When people have asked me the secret to the success of my marriage, I always give the same answer: our values are aligned. We want the same things. We are committed to the same things. We agree on how or kids should be raised. We worship in the same way. We like a lot of the same things, and more importantly, we believe the same things.

Our values are aligned. What does this mean?

We are committed to one another and we believe in the institution of marriage. We believe we made a commitment that must be honored for life. We didn't take the decision to get married lightly so it stands to reason that a decision to part ways would also be taken seriously.

Our values are aligned when it comes to money, to family, to work, to everything. This is why our marriage works.

This is not to say that we have a perfect marriage. No one does. We have our ups and downs. We fight. We disagree. We get on each other's nerves. I always love my wife. I don't always like her. I'm sure she would say the same thing about me. Maybe she won't be as nice about it as I am not as lovable as I'd like to believe I am.

That being said, Happy Birthday, Abdaliz. I love you now and always.

How To Everything 2

Yesterday I ranted about productivity. I'll admit, I'm not as productive as I'd like to be. I would say I am among the most productive people I know personally. After many years in the corporate world and now as a business owner serving the world of academia, I can say most people waste time. I am among those people. The difference is I am aware of it.

A good deal of my workday is spent with customers. From making sales and taking orders, to collection calls and the occasional dispute. I am in the food service business, so I also spend some time everyday in the kitchen, actually cooking. I often run inventory. I have to place orders and receive them. I review invoices and I balance my checkbook. I even run payroll. These are useful and necessary activities that I could delegate, but I feel they are good ways for me to keep an eye on the business; a finger on the pulse, if you will.

I actually spend some of my down time (when there are no customers and no calls to make) stocking coolers and racks and even shopping. This also keeps me in touch with the business. I will often listen to audio books while I'm doing this kind of work as I'd rather engage my mind in learning while performing tasks that don't require too much thought on my part.

Audio books are a great time saver. You can get through books during time that would otherwise be wasted like when you're stocking coolers or walking your dogs or sitting in traffic. I probably get through just over one book per week. You can always buy audio books or you can download the Libby app to your phone, which works with your public library so it's free! I do some of both, but I will admit I love Libby.  And, it's not really free. My taxes help pay for the local libraries so I might as well get some of my money back in the form of self-improvement.

I tend to use audio books when it's a subject I want to learn about, not one I need to learn about. The reason is there will always be distractions. People will call or approach you with a question or some other thing. I have a short attention span (now known as ADD) so it's easy to lose my place even when listening. I'll often "rewind" and re-listen to the portions I missed.

I know this may seem obsessive or, at the very least, uber-nerdy, but I believe in learning and bettering myself. I also believe that time should be treated like the valuable, limited resource it is, so I find ways to not waste it. This is one of them.

Adolfo Jimenez is an entrepreneur, author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published ten books, which you can find here. Adolfo is the co-owner of The Cafeteria Company, a commissary outsourcing firm. He also co-owns Soup -n- Sam, Le Velo Macaron, and Starlight Catering.

A Contactless Future

 The COVID-19 plandemic and its fallout should have become a distant memory by now, but the government would never let such a useful “crisis” go to waste. They made the mistake of giving us an inch, we took a mile, and now the Delta Variant has been unleashed upon the populace.

As I sit here in the early morning gloom of a rainy South Florida summer day, I am browsing articles, investment opportunities, and the like. I keep finding how Contactless features have been incorporated into everything from groceries to real estate transactions. Even as the pandemic fails, the main symptom, which is the fear of coming into close proximity to other people, keeps getting its lease on life extended.

Add this to cancel culture, critical race theory, political correctness, and the general vitriol we are living with here in Don and Joe’s Great American Experiment, and it’s getting harder to feel optimistic about America’s future.

I am a touchy-feely guy, though I save that mostly for my loved ones. I don’t want to never shake a stranger’s hand. I don’t want to be afraid to hand something, anything, to another human being. I am not an island and I don’t want to be. 

Give me contact or give me death!

Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published ten books, which you can find here.

The Nomadic Imperative

Often you will hear someone tell you they want to live a nice quiet life. We have been convinced that all we really want is some variation of what we see on TV. A spouse, a kid or two, maybe a dog or a cat, perhaps a witty guinea pig or a bird. We want a car and we want two weeks vacation every year plus weekends off. Except the guinea pig and the bird. They're relatively new. And I'm allergic to cats so I have two dogs.

This has been my life for nearly thirty years and I can tell you I was sold a lie.

This is not to say I haven't been happy. I have been. I am happy. But, I am also restless. I feel like I am cheating myself. I feel like I am giving up on my dreams. I remind myself that I am young enough to still go out and do the things I want to do. Then my back hurts, and I remember I am not as young as I imagine myself to be. Young at heart, old just about everywhere else.

Is this what Thoreau meant when he talked about men living lives of quiet desperation? Is this why I work to fill the void? I don't really know. I don't think anyone could know. I do know it sucks and while the intensity of these feelings increases and decreases, they never quite go away.

I've lived in the same area most of my life. I am, as I write this, 30 minutes from where I grew up, went to school, learned to drive, and lost my virginity. I long to move, but I have responsibilities. I want to walk, to seize the road, but I can't. It would be irresponsible, and I can't do that.

Ernest Hemingway said that to live in one land is captivity. Well, shit. He was right. Not that everyone who lives a stable, successful middle-class existence is unhappy. I can see people choosing this life. I can see its appeal. Maybe it's because I have no choice that I feel the urge to move on.

I feel the urge, but I will fight the urge. I ain't going nowhere. For now. But if I do decide to go, you'll read it here first.

The views expressed by the author are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of anyone anywhere.

Adolfo Jimenez is the chair of the elections committee of the Libertarian Party of Broward County. He is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida. He has published eight books, which you can find here.

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Easy Like Sunday Morning?

I like Lionel Richie. I also like teasing Mr. Richie about the whole Sunday mornings being easy thing. I woke early and sat down to write.  I still have Christmas lights to take down and Christmas stuff to put up in the attic. I've been busy and haven't had a day off in two weeks.

But I feel good on this not-so-easy Sunday morning because I got my writing done.

Whatever you are pursuing. You must prioritize whatever you are doing to improve yourself or to improve the lives of others. If you're not getting better, you're getting worse. It's a cliche but it's true. Work on you. Every Day. No exceptions.

Keep on truckin'!




Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He lives in Hollywood, Florida with his family.  He has published eight books, which you can find here. 

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Little Notes

I've been married to Abby for nineteen years. Long time. Love her more each day. Though, there are times when I remember that if I'd killed her the day I met her, I'd probably be out by now.

We have good times and bad times though more good than bad. We put effort into getting along and being happy and I don't mind saying we have a damn good sex life after all these years. We are lucky, we are fortunate; in a word we are blessed.

It's not easy, but it's not hard. We do the little things. We sometimes write each other little notes. Sometimes on paper, sometimes by text. We listen to one another. We make time for each other. We support each other.

Why do you care about this? I don't know. I don't care if you care about this. I do. It's good to have some stability. She is my rock. She gives me space to be myself and listens to me bitch and moan when being myself becomes too much to bear. I'd like to think I do the same for her.

I'll admit I have the easier end of the bargain. She's an intelligent, normal, stable person. I'm a writer. I'm manic-depressive. I'm temperamental. I'm an idiot.

So this post is a little note to my wife. The woman who took everything from me except my name, and gave me so much more than I could have reasonably expected and more than I could ever deserve.






Adolfo Jimenez is a writer living against his will in Hollywood, Florida.  His latest release is Scenes from a 1979 Ford Fairmont, a short book of poems. Get it on Amazon!

Check him out here!

Company Loves Misery

Or something like that...

I have attended a couple of meetings of a local writers' group. They meet at a library once a month. It's a casual gathering. A few people show up and we talk about books and someone might read. We talk movies, sports, hometowns, it's like a million first dates.

Part of me, a part I hardly recognize, wants structure. The part of me that is hones knows I'll probably complain about the meetings if they were structured. I have always hated structure. That ain't about to change.

I think the biggest benefit for me is that there are others who are going through the same thing I am going through. Someone understands. I told you that to tell you this:

It's okay to talk to someone. Not about writing, necessarily. I should say not only about writing. A friend of mine recently had a meltdown. She attacked me. I didn't take it personally. I recognized the symptoms. She was going through a lot and trying to take on the world by herself. Not a good idea. She had a couple of drinks and now has six stitches and what promises to be a fairly prominent scar on an otherwise beautiful face. I expect she'll rock the hell out of that scar.

Talk to someone who understands and cares. Talk to someone who's been there. Just talk to someone.




Adolfo Jimenez is not a mental health expert, though he has known several over the years. He is a writer, blogger, poet, husband, and dad living in Hollywood, Florida.

Do Something

Just do something. It won't always be great. That's okay. The important thing is that you do something. You can always go back and edit your work.

It was my birthday last night. Always a painful day for me. Some might say by choice. I went out with my wife and daughters. We ate a lot and drank a little. I have to reverse that. Food kills me in a way that booze doesn't. Don't know why. It just does.

I've been up since three this morning. I read for a while, then I tried to go back to sleep. Nope. I read a little more. Tried to sleep again. Nothing doing.

I finally dragged my fat ass out of bed around 7:30. I feel like I ate a car battery. But here I am, writing this blog. I also wrote a poem about the experience. Why let a gastrointestinal crisis go to waste?

There is something to be gained from every experience. As a writer, I want to write about these experiences. I want to share them. That's what I mean about not letting them go to waste. The story itself may not be great, but there may be some splinter of usefulness in there somewhere. And besides, it keeps the muscles loose.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go vomit.






Adolfo Jimenez is an old fart living in Hollywood, FL. He is an author, poet, blogger, and drinker. He is not a competitive eater. His website is http://www.adolfojimenez.com 

Am I My Competitor's Keeper?

I have a hard time walking into a business and just being a customer and enjoying myself. It's something in my nature. After 15 years in the hotel business, I still walk into a room I'm supposed to be sleeping in as if I'm a housekeeping manager performing a room inspection. Some things become part of your DNA, I guess.

As a business owner, I often check out my competition. I want to visit their websites or walk into their place and wee what's going on. I act on the impulse to snoop. I check them out and unless they're idiots, they're checking me out, too.

I don't do this to copy them, though I am not above learning from a competitor. I do it because I need to know where my industry is headed. I need real time intelligence to determine if I am keeping up, left behind, ahead of the pack, or just plain clueless. Not knowing is not an option.

Now, this is not to say you should emulate your competition. Chances are, they're screwing something up. Think of any company you deal with on a regular basis or any company you've worked for. I bet you can think of lots of things you'd change. You're not wrong about those tweaks. Them not noticing doesn't mean there's something wrong with them or that they don't care. They're just too close to see their own warts.

You may be missing opportunities in your business for the same reason.

Don't be shy about getting an outside opinion. Whether it's for your business or your life, there is always room for improvement. Find a coach, a mentor, or a consultant who will be brutally honest with you. Your mom and your best friend will be too nice. Or they'll tear you down. Either way, their advice may come from a good place, but it will likely lead you to a bad one.

When my son was in college in New York and working in theater, he asked me if I would represent him, like an agent. I was flattered, and I said no. I would have too much invested in his feelings to be confident in the decisions I was making regarding his success. I told him I would help him find someone who would represent him as well as, and probably better than, I ever could.

It turns out he enjoyed the behind-the-scenes part of the business better so it worked itself out. Maybe I should still hit him up for the 10% commission.

If you're stuck and need an honest opinion and guidance, don't go to family or friends. This is one case where you're better off in the company of strangers.


Adolfo Jimenez is an executive coach, entrepreneur, consultant, book club nerd, and family man living in Hollywood, FL. He is the owner of Le Velo Macaron and other businesses.

You can find him on Instagram and LinkedIn

Know The Game You're Playing

What's your business? How's it going? Do you have customers? Lots of them? Want more customers? Of course you do. Who doesn't? The only enterprise that complains about more customers is the government and if that's who you work for, I have nothing for you. Unless you're looking for a way out of that life, in which case, we should talk.

I speak to business owners every day and I have never had one complain that they have too many customers. If one did, they look for ways to service and profit from those customers, not get rid of them.

Do you know what game you're playing? You're in the customer acquisition game. No matter the business you're in. You're playing to get more customers.

Do you know your customer acquisition cost?  Do you know how much each customer is worth?Do you know how to make your customers happy? Do you know how to make sure they don't leave? Do your employees know how to keep your customers happy? Do they care?

To make sure you have enough customers to grow your business and stay in business, you need to know who your customers are. where they are looking, what they are looking for, and how to get them in and keep them loyal to you.

If you can't answer those (and other) questions, you have no chance of making it long-term. You're just biding your time.


Adolfo Jimenez is an executive coach, entrepreneur, consultant, book club nerd, and family man living in Hollywood, FL. He is the owner of Le Velo Macaron and other businesses.

You can find him on Instagram and LinkedIn

The Small Hours

Sleep is important. I will not deny that. I've never been a good sleeper. Even as a baby. My mother still complains that she barely slept at all the first five years of my life. She doesn't say the same thing about my sister. I'm a terrible person to vacation with because I don't sleep in. I'm the guy sounding the bugle at dawn (maybe earlier.) I want to get on with life.

If you need sleep, then sleep. I'm not advocating against it. But if you're like me, and you are blessed with the ability to function on less sleep than most people, you should not waste that gift. Yes, I believe getting by on less sleep is a blessing. I also believe it is a gift, because more time to live your life is a wonderful thing,

I spend that time as best I can, although sometimes I'm a little too foggy to be productive. It's a good time to meditate, walk your dog, get a little extra reading done, or just get a jump on work.

My point is that this extra time is a gift and it should be used. Don't waste it on news or other negativity that'll set a negative tone for the rest of your day. Get the ball rolling in the right direction by using those small hours wisely.




Adolfo Jimenez is an executive coach, entrepreneur, book club nerd, and family man living in Hollywood, FL. He is the owner of Le Velo Macaron

You can find him on Instagram and LinkedIn

Trusting Your Gut

You ever get that feeling? You know the one. Down in the pit of your stomach. Sometimes it's positive. Sometimes, it's a bad feeling. It's a real thing and you ought to listen to it. Let it guide you. Think of yourself as a Jedi and that feeling is The Force.

I don't know how to explain that feeling. Maybe it's God. Maybe it's the lizard brain. Maybe it's luck. Maybe it's something we all imagine. All I know is, it's usually right.

I believe it's the accumulation of experience. I think all the mistakes we've made, conversations we've had, books we've read, and advice we've received, go to some place in our being and create that feeling. I think that's why it becomes louder and more reliable as we get older, and I think that's why we ought to listen to it.



Adolfo Jimenez is an executive coach, entrepreneur, book club nerd, and family man living in Hollywood, FL. He is the owner of Le Velo Macaron

You can find him on Instagram and LinkedIn

The Need To Manage

There is management. There is micromanagement. There is the laissez faire approach to management (my personal favorite - more on that below.) And there is what I think of as The Need To Manage.

The need to manage happens when you have a competent, experienced team, and there isn't much for managers to do in the way of coaching them. Of course, no one wants to feel unneeded, so the managers manage or micromanage or worse, mismanage, what needn't be managed at all.

I have found myself on the managed side of this equation and I can tell you it's demotivating. Don't tell me what I already know just because you have no value to add. If you are a manager looking for an opportunity to manage, build your own value. Make yourself better so you can make those you manage better.

Laissez Faire basically means hands off. It's a wonderful thing. If you hire well, train well, and support your staff effectively, you may enjoy the fruits of your labor, only getting up from your lawn chair when trouble arises.

Pretty boring, huh?

How about... hire the right people. Train the people to be their best. Guide them as necessary. Train yourself and increase your own value so you can train them and increase their value.

The Need To Manage is real. Don't fight it, but understand that the most important function of a manager is to add value to his team. You're success as a manager is measured in the success of your people. Their results, good or bad, are a reflection on you.

Work on you... so you can work on them.

Let me know how it goes.


Adolfo Jimenez is an executive coach, entrepreneur, book club nerd, and family man living in Hollywood, FL. He is the owner of www.levelomacaron.com 

You can find him at https://www.instagram.com/adolfo.jimenez/

Composure and Credibility

I’ve spent over 20 years in the event business. I’ve been a waiter, a coordinator, planner, and provider. I’ve worked events ranging from baby showers to carnivals, corporate meetings, weddings… name it, I probably have done it.

And no matter how many events I work, no matter how diverse the attendees, no matter what the aim of the event is, there is one universal truth: someone is drowning in a glass of water, unable to handle the pressure, and is in a panic.

The first problem with panicking is that it destroys your credibility. I understand the pressure is real. I understand timetables. I know you have a lot of plates spinning. I just don’t care about your little problems because they are manageable.

When you panic, it makes it near impossible for you to focus. If you’re panicking, you’ve lost confidence, so you no longer have confidence in your staff. You’re trying to do their job for them. Now one person is doing the work of the many, and very likely doing it badly, while the many are standing around with nothing to do.

I’ve seen this enough to know that there are usually a few reasons why this happens.

Disorganization. Yes, it’s an obvious one, but a common one. Countless times, I’ve heard everyone from the coordinator to the florist, asking where their whatever is. Of course, things will get misplaced. The important thing is to make sure you brought the thing in the first place. And then try not to misplace it.

Tardiness. Tardiness wrecks credibility. On time is late. Especially when you’re supposed to be in charge. Especially when you know things will go wrong. You owe it to your client, to your crew and to yourself to be early. Like, way early.

I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve waited for a planner to show up only to arrive a few minutes before showtime, in a panic, barking orders at people. As we like to say: A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

The need for attention. Too often, people want the attention that comes with being in charge. They love being the driving force, even if it means they’re driving everyone crazy. Perhaps they make mountains out of molehills because they think people will be impressed by their boundless energy. They want to give the impression that they are successfully navigating through the tempest they created in their own little teapot. More likely people will be put off by their frenetic display of incompetence. People who act this way in front of clients rarely get rehired.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe these people just don’t know what the hell they’re doing.

I’ve chosen event planners because they are a familiar example but the same rules apply to any position in any industry. Losing your composure will hurt your career and your standing with your peers. The easiest way to avoid losing it is by being organized and on time. It really is this simple.

Here’s how:

Plan the work and work the plan. There is no excuse to not have a schedule. You can use a paper one. There is a schedule on your phone. GMail provides a schedule. NO EXCUSES. Plan every minute of your day. I understand that there will be unexpected phone calls, client visits, problems, and the like. I understand these hiccups will get you sidetracked. No matter. Put out the fire and get back on schedule. Schedule the time you go to sleep and the time you wake up. Schedule the time you get on the road in the morning. Schedule your mealtimes. Schedule everything. Give it a try. I promise, it’ll be life changing.

Easy tips to not destroy your credibility by drowning in a glass of water:

1. Be on time. Late people suck. You should know that if you’re late, people are talking about you and it ain’t pretty. Being early gives you a chance to assess the situation in real-time and to brief your crew. I recently set up an event at a local country club. Simple affair for about 25 people. We were early. The problem was that the prior event that had used the room wasn’t done yet. Our event was an upscale birthday party for a 14 year-old girl. The event wrapping up was a golf tournament. We had to work around them. So we not only had to set up a party in a short window, we had to work around a bunch of sweaty drunk men who were lying about their golf scores and claiming their silent auction prizes. Had we been disorganized or late, we would have never gotten the room set on time.
2. Prepare in advance. You should be ready for whatever it is by no later than the night before.
3. Write out a plan. Put it on paper and make sure anyone who could conceivably need a copy has a copy. I say paper because it’s reliable. Paper doesn’t need to be charged. Paper doesn’t require wi-fi. Paper will serve you whether you are a Mac or a PC. By all means, rely on your tablet if you must, but please have a paper backup.
4. Be organized. Know what goes where and who should be doing what. You don’t want people standing around doing nothing anymore than you want them running around doing everything… or worse, not knowing what they’re doing.
5. Remain calm. This ain’t rocket surgery or brain science. No one will die if something goes wrong. All you have to do if the train goes off the rails is remain calm, get the train back on the rails, and get the job done.

So get out there and do the job without the drama. You can. Drop me a line if I can help or to share your insights. You can always find me at adolfo@adolfojimenez.com

Adolfo Jimenez lives in Hollywood, Florida, and is a Certified Speaker, Trainer, and Coach with the John Maxwell Company.  He consults with entrepreneurs and businesses, primarily in the areas of customer service and sales. 

He is the Director of Someone To Laugh At, a stand up comedy workshop; HostAnOpenMic.com, and CruisingWithComedians.com; Adolfo is the co-owner of Abdaliz Custom Bakery, which you can visit at www.abdaliz.com.

He can be reached at adolfo@adolfojimenez.com