JAN 2019
WADE LAW GROUP
THE LEGAL ISSUE 408-842-1688
www.WadeLitigation.com
3 BUSINESS INITIATIVES TO PROPEL YOU TOWARD YOUR BEST YEAR EVER
It’s the time of year when business owners and their leadership teams sit down to draft up their plans and goals for the coming year. Some businesses use this exercise as a chance to nail down their trajectory, while others engage in the process simply because they feel they have to. If you fall in the latter camp, you could stand to devote a little more time and energy to determine how the coming year will look. After all, it’s hard to guide your teams forward when you don’t have a destination in mind. As a business owner, it’s up to you to set the tone for how the next 12 months will look for your organization. While every company’s goals will be unique, there are a few universal aims that will affect nearly every business in 2019. With that in mind, let’s take a look at three New Year’s resolutions that you should consider adopting. RESOLVE TO RETAIN EMPLOYEES According to benefits-consulting company Hodges-Mace, millennial employee turnover costs the American economy upward of $30 billion per year. The number is so big because recruiting, hiring, and training new team members is an expensive and time-intensive process. Holding onto your talent matters regardless of the economic climate, but it’s especially crucial when the job market is strong. When good people walk out your doors during a talent shortage, you’ll struggle to replace them with candidates of equal caliber. Don’t assume that your staff’s eyes will never wander. According to Fortune magazine, 86 percent of currently employed workers are actively looking for better opportunities. To help keep valued staff in place, you need to provide them with competitive pay, appealing benefits, and a sense of career and personal development. Focus on creating programs that reward tenure and make employees feel acknowledged and appreciated. Otherwise, you can expect to spend large chunks of the year rehiring for roles that have been left vacant. RESOLVE TO DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF In today’s marketplace, it’s almost impossible for your company to offer something your customers can’t get anywhere else. Every product in the world is just a few clicks away, so articulating what makes your company different is a matter of defining your values. If you haven’t already formulated a unique selling proposition (USP), now is the time to start.
A USP provides customers with a brief, compelling snapshot of what makes your business different than your competitors. “Think of a USP as your secret sauce — the special ingredient your business uses to prevent becoming a ‘me too’ company,” says Brad Sugars, founder of ActionCoach. “It’s something that’s truly unique. It grabs people’s attention. It can’t be easily copied. And it offers a clear- cut, marketable benefit to your customer.” Understanding and communicating your USP will increase your chances of attracting new customers this year. RESOLVE TO LOOK FOR WEAKNESSES This one is especially important for businesses that are doing well. If you’re struggling, you already know to look for problem areas and attack them before they cause too much damage. But if you can analyze those weaknesses while you’re growing, you could stop a downturn before it starts. Too many business owners use growth as validation that they’re doing everything correctly. The truth is that no business — not Amazon, not Google, nobody — is firing on all cylinders all of the time. Taking the time to assess where you’re weak when you’re feeling strong is what separates the companies that rise and fall with the market from those that excel no matter the broader economic climate. Here’s a word of caution: When looking for weaknesses, don’t let them overwhelm you or turn you into a pessimist. If your company is doing well, you can fix inefficiencies without making them life-or-death issues. That’s the advantage of proactively solving these problems rather than waiting for them to metastasize. AND THESE ARE JUST THE START There are countless resolutions that will help spur your business to greater heights in 2019. While these are excellent starting points, they’re by no means a black- and-white guide to the best resolutions. You know better than anyone else what will help your business this year, but you have to take the time to think about it and express it throughout your company if you want maximum results.
Amiel Wade
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HOW TO DRAW THE BEST NEW HIRES IN A RECORD-BREAKING LABOR MARKET 3 STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
of customers you started with in 2018 by the number of customers you lost in 2018. Churn can also be measured by the value of recurring business lost or as a percentage of recurring value lost. Choose the measurement that makes the most sense for your business. Why is this number so important? Think about it this way: Beyond representing how many customers flew the coop in 2018, churn represents an exponential loss of profit. Each year those lost clients don’t do business with you, you lose a year’s worth of potential revenue. By tracking customer churn throughout the year — ideally quarterly — in addition to end-of-year churn, you’ll begin to notice trends that you can address. Does the highest churn always happen in the third quarter? Did you sell more subscriptions in 2018 but lose more longtime customers in the course of chasing those leads? Noticing how these threads lead back to your losses is the first step in decreasing your churn rate. Of course, it’s impossible to calculate your customer churn if you haven’t been tracking and measuring it throughout the year. If you haven’t, you now have the opportunity to do so for the coming year. Add monitoring these numbers to your resolutions for 2019. 2. GIVE NEW HIRES THE CHANCE TO GROW. The best employees constantly hunger for new growth and development opportunities. Show prospective hires the potential heights they can reach at your organization. First, your business has to have a growth mindset that promotes loyal employees and empowers them to step into exciting new roles. Then you need to present prospective employees with challenging, rewarding projects and responsibilities and show examples of how those who’ve come before them have succeeded. Annual reviews and raises are a start, but you should also explain how a job at your business will improve your prospect’s skills, career, and life. 3. GET THEM IN THE DOOR. If you already offer a legitimately competitive salary, an expansive benefits package, and a good work environment with opportunities for growth, the only challenge left is to get on your ideal candidate’s radar. One of the best ways to do this is to implement an employee referral program. Ask your team if they know anyone who’d fit the empty role. If you end up hiring their prospect and they stay on the team for, say, six months, then reward the referrer. Cash, PTO, and other benefits will encourage your loyal employees to bring in their skilled friends.
Finding good employees has always been hard, but in the economic environment of 2019, it can feel downright impossible. At the end of 2018, U.S. unemployment was the lowest it had been since 1969. For months, unfilled jobs outweighed the number of people seeking employment. In a market where job seekers have the pick of the litter, employers face stiff competition when courting prospects. Here are three strategies to draw in top performers and keep them. 1. PAY MORE. Excellent benefits, fancy perks, and flexible hours are important items on any job seeker’s checklist, but virtually every prospect’s top priority is adequate pay. Workers today have unprecedented bargaining power, and yet, according to ADP, small businesses with fewer than 50 employees boosted wages only a little over 3 percent last year, an amount quickly swallowed up by inflation and increasingly steep living costs. There’s just no way around it. To attract top-tier talent, competitive compensation is paramount, especially in 2019.
SATISFIED WITH LAST YEAR’S PERFORMANCE? ARE YOU SURE YOU SHOULD BE? CALCULATE CUSTOMER CHURN — AND LEARN HOW TO REDUCE IT IN 2019
You’re looking over last year’s numbers, feeling pretty satisfied about the results for 2018. Production increased and you have a lot to feel proud of overall. But what about those customers or subscribers who said goodbye to you in 2018? If you haven’t yet calculated your end-of-year churn, you should feel a little less comfortable. Looking at that churn rate is key to your business’s success. Most business owners say that if they could change one thing about their business, it would be their customer churn rate. Retention is key to success because it almost always costs less to retain a client than it does to attract a new one. Increasing client retention and reducing churn in the coming year can only happen if you know what your churn rate was last year. CALCULATING CHURN It’s not rocket science! One of the most straightforward ways to express yearly churn is to calculate it as a percentage of customers lost: Divide the number
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In many of his speeches and sermons, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about love. He wasn’t talking about the romantic kind, though. King often used the term “agape,” an Ancient Greek word used to refer to the unconditional love of God for man, to talk about universal love for all people, regardless of race, religion, or circumstance. We commemorate King on Jan. 21. It’s a celebration and a National Day of Service, so take the opportunity to honor King’s message of universal love. Here are three ways to put agape into practice. 1. PAY A VISIT TO A HISTORICAL SITE. Immerse yourself in King’s message this month by visiting the places where these historic events occurred. Our nation is full of opportunities to become better acquainted with the birth of the civil rights movement, from the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, to Selma, Alabama, where protest marches were held in 1965. After all, if we don’t know our past, we are doomed to repeat it. A MESSAGE OF UNIVERSAL LOVE 2. EDUCATE YOURSELF AND OTHERS ABOUT THE STRUGGLES PEOPLE HAVE FACED. Learning about the experiences of others cultivates empathy. When you interact with someone across cultural or subcultural boundaries, it helps to reduce prejudice. Promote positive interactions in your community by hosting a film night or book club focused on the civil rights movement. You can feature a movie COMMEMORATING MLK JR.
like “Selma” or “13th.” For a book club, select an autobiography or biography that puts yourself in someone else’s shoes, like Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” or Rebecca Skloot’s “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” 3. SHARE THE MESSAGE OF NONVIOLENCE AND GIVE BACK TO YOUR COMMUNITY. At the center of King’s message was the principle of nonviolence. Consider how you can advocate for nonviolence in your community. You could donate your time or money to a local shelter for victims of abuse, or volunteer your home to foster abandoned pets. If you’re part of a PTA or another school organization, encourage students to put an end to bullying. The Mix It Up program has anti- bullying lessons and activities that support King’s message.
Take some time to reflect on Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision this month and take part in the universal message of love. Don’t we all want more of that?
SUDOKU
Winter is the height of citrus season, so it’s a perfect time to experiment with oranges and lemons. Roasting the fruits concentrates their flavor and makes the skins edible, creating a blast of flavor for this winter salad. CITRUS AND AVOCADO SALAD
INGREDIENTS
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2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
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1 blood, cara cara, or navel orange, sliced 1/8-inch thick and deseeded 1 Meyer or regular lemon, sliced 1/8-inch thick and deseeded
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1 bunch arugula
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1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
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1 avocado, cut into wedges
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4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
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Salt and pepper, to taste
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1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
DIRECTIONS
4. Add citrus, arugula, and mint to onion mixture. Drizzle with remaining oil, season with salt and pepper to taste, and toss thoroughly. 5. Add avocado, combing very gently to not crush avocado.
1. Heat oven to 425 F. 2. In a rimmed baking sheet, toss citrus slices with 1 tablespoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast citrus until lightly charred and caramelized, about 10–15 minutes. Let cool. 3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine onion and lemon juice. Season with salt and let sit for 5 minutes.
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Inspired by Bon Appétit
408-842-1688 www.WadeLitigation.com
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WADE LAW GROUP
84 West Santa Clara Street, Ste. 750 San Jose, CA 95113
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1 2
3 Resolutions Every Business Should Make in 2019
3 Essential Strategies to Court New Hires in 2019
Why Acknowledging Customer Churn Is Key to Success in 2019
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Put MLK Jr.’s Message of Love Into Practice
Citrus and Avocado Salad
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Local Events Around San Jose
ENJOY WHAT SAN JOSE HAS TO OFFER GET OUTSIDE AND TRY SOMETHING NEW
ALMADEN LAKE PARK San Jose
If fitness is anywhere on your list of goals for the new year, you’ll find a few ways to exercise it at Almaden Lake Park. With two trail systems, fishing, bocce ball courts, and pedal boating available among over 30 acres of lake and 65 acres of land, there are some great options to choose from. The Los Alamitos Creek Trail connects to Santa Teresa County Park and features a fitness course, and the Guadalupe River Park trail winds through a mile to bring you to a pond. Enjoy the outdoors here!
MIDTOWN ARTS MERCANTILE Visit the Facebook page for details Lincoln St., San Jose
Relish the start of the new year with relaxation, movement, and local ingenuity. You’ll find it all in San Jose. Here are few ways to enjoy these activities.
SYMPHONY SILICON VALLEY PRESENTS BRAHMS AND DVORAK Jan. 19 and 20 California Theatre, San Jose
The concept of the Midtown Arts Mercantile is enticing: Refurbish a deserted warehouse and use it to bring together local artists and artisans. The community gathering space has attracted a number of local vendors and offers a variety of libations, food options, and entertainments, including comedy and musical acts. You’ll have to stay tuned to see what the Mercantile brings in 2019, but if nothing else, grab a pint and check out the new space. Visit the Mercantile’s Facebook page for updated events and vendors.
Enjoy an evening of classical music performed by contemporary talent. The first part of the performance features pianist Jon Kimura Parker, whose energetic expression of Brahms gives way to the subtler, more playful tones of Dvorak in the latter part of the night. Visit SanJoseTheaters.org to learn more and buy tickets.
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