Kaz Poll: Am I good or evil? Read first post before answering.

[kaz]

One and a half years ago I bought a design and print business that wasn't making money. In addition to generally scrutinizing expenses and cutting where I can, I invested $100K in expanding our digital capabilities. Then I shut down our production department laying off one third our staff and split the work that had been on our offset presses I'd shut down between the digital and outsourcing. I also slashed contributions benefits (mostly medical) by half. I did hire a new designer and focused the business more on the front end work. The result was for the staff left that we increased revenue by 20% and became profitable.

- The staff who remain now work for a stable company with secure jobs.
- The staff I laid off are having trouble finding new jobs and still mostly on unemployment because of the economy.

Now the fun starts. I'm now buying a print business that isn't making money, I've been working on that acquisition for a couple months. We are closing on the deal Friday or Monday. The business I'm buying has customer service and presses, but no design capability. It gives us a whole new customer base with revenue to target the design work. It's a good business, but the owner's not a business guy like me. So, what's my plan?

First, you guessed it, I'm shutting down production and this time laying off half the staff. I'm keeping the customer service side, the other half are going to have their benefits cut in half. I'm going to pay the upfront money by selling the production equipment and pay the ongoing payments to the seller from the staff reductions. So I get the business for free. At the same time, I am moving my business to their facility (theirs is bigger) and negotiated a rent cut. So I cut my rent in less then half and eliminate double payments for utilities, phones, insurance, etc. And I save money in production because digital and outsourcing is cheaper. I get the business for free and even make money before I even start to sell design work to their customers.

So, am I:

Good - The 60% of the staff remaining instead of worrying about their business shutting down all the time are a lot happier and working for a profitable company on the upswing. There will be raises at the end of the year instead of job cuts.

Evil - 40% of the staff are gone, the rest have had benefit cuts and I made an evil profit doing it.

What am I?

I'm voting evil. Profit, disgusting.

 

[Dr.Drock]

I'll give the boring answer, neither, I'm doubting you're even bringing your morals into your decision making process, only your business intellect.

 

[kaz]

I'm doubting you're even bringing your morals into your decision making process

Why do you doubt that?

 

[Dr.Drock]

I'm doubting you're even bringing your morals into your decision making process

Why do you doubt that?

I'm not making any personal judgements, I'm saying you decided to make this capital decision on whether or not you'd gain more capital.

 

[Mad Scientist]

I'm doubting you're even bringing your morals into your decision making process

Why do you doubt that?

Dr Drock just thinks like yer typical Liberal in that he thinks business is all cold hearted and unfeeling. He probably thinks that your evil and doesn't want to acknowledge that you saved a floudering company and a lot of peoples jobs on top of that. Because that would mean he'd have to admit that sound business practices entail cost cutting. He thinks business exist only to provide pay and benefits to it's workers. Make a good product that the people want? Hell no, that's not what businesses are for.

My vote: You're good. My wife has the better business sense in our marriage. Even though I make more than her I have the "clock in, clock out" mentality while she is always thinking of new business adventures.

Are you married Kaz? If so what sort of role does your wife play in your business dealings if any?

 

[xsited1]

As long as the staff you fired were libruls, I'm okay with it.

 

[blastoff]

Have zero knowledge/experience in the types of businesses you've described but it sounds like your strategic planning and implementation has been pretty darn good. Good luck in the future.

 

[boedicca]

I chose good.

You've turned around one business, and are going to do the same for another. It's likely that without your intervention, both would have failed, harming the customers and all of the employees. Instead, the customers are able to purchase products and services they value and the remaining employees, as you noted, have jobs in a stable company.

 

[G.T.]

This has no moral implication.

 

[G.T.]

I chose good.

You've turned around one business, and are going to do the same for another. It's likely that without your intervention, both would have failed, harming the customers and all of the employees. Instead, the customers are able to purchase products and services they value and the remaining employees, as you noted, have jobs in a stable company.

That makes him a good business man. What's that got to do with his morals?

 

[kaz]

I'm doubting you're even bringing your morals into your decision making process

Why do you doubt that?

I'm not making any personal judgements, I'm saying you decided to make this capital decision on whether or not you'd gain more capital.

So if it's not people like me who build business to make a profit, who's going to do it? Where are jobs going to come from?

 

[kaz]

Have zero knowledge/experience in the types of businesses you've described but it sounds like your strategic planning and implementation has been pretty darn good. Good luck in the future.

Thanks!

 

[G.T.]

Why do you doubt that?

I'm not making any personal judgements, I'm saying you decided to make this capital decision on whether or not you'd gain more capital.

So if it's not people like me who build business to make a profit, who's going to do it? Where are jobs going to come from?

What's your point, exactly?

 

[kaz]

Are you married Kaz? If so what sort of role does your wife play in your business dealings if any?

I am married, two kids. We also own a restaurant. She manages the restaurant, but I do all her back office work, accounting, legal, marketing, sales, for her in addition to running my business. She doesn't help me with my business. When I say hers and mine, we both own both 50%. I mean the ones we run.

 

[Vanquish]

Making the companies profitable is a good thing, but I'm sensing the sarcasm in your words "Profit, disgusting."

What was the point of this thread exactly? To defend making a profit?

Okay...uhm... that it?

 

[NYcarbineer]

So much for American tax rates discouraging investment.

 

[8537]

Best wishes for your new venture, Kaz. Sounds like a well-executed and exciting opportunity. May it be so freakin successful that you have to hire bunches of people for your expansion.

 

[kaz]

As long as the staff you fired were libruls, I'm okay with it.

Actually the staff I laid off in my first business was heavily liberal, though that wasn't a factor in my decision. As for the staff who are about to get laid off in the new business, I don't know because they don't know about the deal yet and I haven't met them. The seller never lets the staff know until the deal goes through. At my business my operations manager and chief designer helped me do the due diligence so they know.

My staff operate the business. I try to stay out of it since I own multiple businesses. If I were involved in operations I'd be a bottleneck. My job is working on deals like this. Of course I pay attention to operational processes, but I don't produce the product. They like it because they're empowered and I like it because I can work on what I like and argue politics on message boards. Actually right now it's just this one. I like the right left split here, it seems like most are dominated by one or the other.

 

[kaz]

Best wishes for your new venture, Kaz. Sounds like a well-executed and exciting opportunity. May it be so freakin successful that you have to hire bunches of people for your expansion.

That is the plan. And thank you. You have to cut and get efficient before you grow

 

[kaz]

So much for American tax rates discouraging investment.

Because the rising tide hasn't stopped it doesn't mean it hasn't affected it, checked the unemployment rate lately? And it also doesn't mean that the ongoing increasing tide won't continue to exact a higher toll going forward either.