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Should they stay or should they go? Darren, the older of our twin sons, and I were talking about people changing jobs. I mentioned that when I look at the person wanting to connect on LinkedIn, I check how many jobs they have held. While I rarely see someone with only two, I observe people whose "experiences" are in the double digits. "Dad, today it is easier to get a different job than it is to get a raise", was Darren's response. I began a search for some information about turnover and the cost to a business related to that turnover. The lowest turnover rate I found was 10% per year. It often takes more than six weeks to fill a position. Bringing a new person on board costs in excess of $5,000. And what I don't understand is that often the new person is offered more than what the person leaving was earning. The missing word in this information and what Darren was saying is "retention". I am not suggesting you simply open the wallet and pour out the money. Instead, consider the costs of bringing in a new person as compared to what you need to do to keep the current person. Take a look at our staff incentive piece below to read the story of an employer we know who knows how to solve this challenge. Article of the Month - The title of the article is a tip to the start of the major league baseball season. More importantly, it is a reference to growing a small business. Almost everyone wants to see their business grow as they want to make more profit. However, growth should be carefully planned because it takes money to afford growth. And, this money must be on hand before the growth occurs. Our article of the month explains further. The reference to the "green monster"? It is the nickname for the fence in left field at the home of the Boston Red Sox. Unplanned and uncontrolled growth is also a green monster. Book of the month - The subtitle of Influence by Robert Cialdini is "The Psychology of Persuasion". I think most of us in small businesses interchange the idea of persuasion with selling. To a degree, we are working to persuade the customer to buy what we are selling. I also believe most of us are using our knowledge of our products and services to help the customer make a choice that is the best for them. Persuasion in our small businesses could also be seen as we work with our staff. We want to persuade our staff to understand and uphold our standards. Influence by Robert Cialdini is an appropriate read for all small businesses. Internet Tool for Your Business - This month's highlighted free tool on the Profits Plus website is for businesses with a brick-and-mortar location. Knowing the answer for your business can help you determine where you want to place the various categories of business. The answer helps you to consider every square foot within your business. This looks at the profit in your business for the year and compares it to every square foot. This becomes valuable information as you look at the parts of your business that are excelling and those that are underperforming. With the underperforming, you will likely want to consider moving that merchandise to a more prominent location or perhaps eliminating that inventory in favor of other items you expect to produce a higher operating margin per square foot. And while the name of this tool is, "Operating margin per square foot", the reality is that it is looking at the gross profit per square foot. I am not sure how it got this incorrect name. Each month we highlight one of the 47 free tools on the Profits Plus website; we call them "calculators". While some provide analysis by numbers and ratios, some are assessments and others are self-examination questions. Many are downloadable while others, because of the complexity of the calculations going on behind the scene, are a part of the website and allow you to print your answers. None of them require you to give any personal information nor are there any "cookies" tracking you or your information. Internet Tool for Your Business Staff Incentive for Your Business - While we give recognition each month to the authors of A Carrot A Day, we give credit this month to Chris Francis, who has an extraordinary arborist business in southern Alabama. Over the years, as we have spoken with Chris, we have been impressed with the methods Chris has created to keep his team intact, especially during the pandemic, as well as various rewards. We can all understand that being an arborist can be a dangerous job. I can't imagine how much he pays for workman's compensation. When we were together in January, Chris mentioned that he has a reward for his staff regarding injury-free work. When his staff has 90 injury-free days at work, everyone gets a day off with pay. Is that expensive? Compare the cost of a day's pay for everyone to the cost of someone wrecking a vehicle, falling from a tree, or being injured with the various pieces of equipment an arborist uses. What about your business? What would you like to see your staff do? What would you want to see not happen in your business? It is your staff that can make a difference. Are you rewarding them for making a difference?
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MARCH 2026
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With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading Small Business Management Expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.
Small Business
Every time I see the logo for Target stores, I think about small businesses and the need to know which people to target as their customers. Of course, of most importance is the person who has spent any money with your business.
I ask businesses if they know how much the average person spends with their business. Most offer a quick response with a dollar amount. That answer is incorrect as they are telling me what the average existing customer is spending. The average person in any community spends no money with that small business.
Looking for new customers without any plan of how to do so is just spending money. That is why every small business needs to know how to find and use information. Find ideas in the March Small Business Advisory.
Small Business
Employee retention; is it important? Or is it easier to lose an employee and wait for the next applicant to walk in the door? The Small Business News for March shares some statistics of the expense you incur when you make the change instead of working to retain a current employee.
It is baseball season and we use the sport as an explanation of the cost of growing your business. In Boston's Fenway Park, left field has a wall that is know as the green monster.
And that is what growing your business is - a monster! You can't successfully grow your business without a plan and knowing you will have the cash on hand to pay for the growth.
Are you selling something or persuading the customer? With your employees are you repeatedly telling that employee or are you persuading them to excel?
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Ciaidini is our suggested book for March 2026. Most definitely an appropriate read.
All this plus the Internet Tool for Your Business and a staff incentive idea for your business.
