Gloom and Doom Are For Sissies!

Because of my banking and real estate background, I have an opportunity to consult with chiropractors about their business.

I was working with a particular chiropractor today on negotiating the lease for her new practice. The negotiations had gone well with some excellent concessions on the perfect location for her business. That’s when she started to doubt herself. Apparently, she had heard on the news that the economy was SO bad that there was a 12 month supply of empty office space on the market.  “Should I rethink even starting a practice now?”

While I’m aware of the state of the economy, you should be VERY leery of blanket statements about how bad things are. There is NEVER a better time to start a new business or make the right investment than in a recession, ESPECIALLY a deep recession like this one. Certainly, there are LOTS of empty buildings and space for lease and there are lots of folks going out of business and layoffs and lions and tigers and bears! Oh my! HOWEVER, in the midst of all the bad news there is lots of GOOD NEWS!

Sure, there IS plenty of empty space and folks are going out of business and there are layoffs. BUT, look at it from another perspective. For THIS particular chiropractor, there was only a FEW places that would work for her. The space we found was the PERFECT size in the PERFECT location with a MOTIVATED landlord and LOWER RENT than should EVER have been able to find just a year ago! Furthermore, there is an abundance of highly qualified folks willing to work for almost anything just to have some income.

So, before you buy into the gloom and doom of the recession, understand that it creates great opportunities for small businesses to flourish. So, get to work seeking, even creating great opportunities for yourself TODAY!

Recessions are GOOD! That’s When We Build MARKET SHARE!

Frankly, it’s easy to get discouraged if you listen to all the news.  And to be honest, the news is mostly BAD right now.  BUT, recessions are GOOD!  Recessions are the market’s pruning shears.  Sometimes, wild growth makes the vine less fruitful.  So, pruning actually helps it grow better, more orderly and more fruitful.  An old real estate speculator friend of mine once told me, “Buy on bad news.  Sell on good news.”  It took me a few minutes to understand fully what he was telling me.  Essentially, he was telling me that the VERY best time to invest is when everyone else is selling and the best time to sell is when everyone is buying.

The same hold true when you think about how you’ll do business through these rough economic times.  But, NOW is THE time to expand your market share.  Lower your price if you must.  Offer specials to get rid of stale inventory while attracting potential new customers.  You’ll have plenty of opportunities LATER to reap your rewards in terms of profits.

So, keep your strategies simple NOW.  KEEP your existing clients and GET new ones.  Be active in the market.  Be enthusiastic about your product or service.  Give people a REASON to do business with you NOW!

The View from Outside the Box: Economic Stimulus

In the midst of our current “economic crisis”, we’ve elected a new President and an activist Congress.  The question on everyone’s mind is “What will the Government do to stimulate the economy?”  The premise with the prevailing angst over the recession is that Government can help us out of this (or any) recession by extending jobless benefits, jobs programs and financial bailouts of failed institutions and industries.

Sadly, this premise can only prolong the suffering instead of correcting the problem.  If we’re going to spend AT LEAST a trillion dollars on trying to get the economy back on track, let’s consider some alternatives to the current thinking.  Here are some ideas to consider.

Free Markets and Bailouts:   There should be NO Government bailout, whether for the financial or auto industries, or any other that will jump into the fray for that matter.  If a company won’t run its’ business in such a way as to be profitable while properly managing risks and preparing for financial calamity, then both the market and consumer are better off with that company giving way to companies that WILL.

Eliminate ALL income taxes, including corporate taxes.  Also, eliminate the IRS. Probably the single biggest impediment to job creation in the United States is our system of taxing away individual and corporate incentives to grow and prosper.  Eliminating the corporate income tax would make the United States a virtual tax haven for companies and investors from all over the world.  The influx of investment dollars would create more jobs than any Government program ever could.  It would also allow hundreds of billions of dollars (now wasted on compliance) to be spent on planning profitable and productive areas of growth and expansion.  As with investment, so too would jobs migrate back to the US.

Eliminating personal income taxes would also spur individual investment and savings.  It would also remove the fear many (most) Americans of the Internal Revenue Service.  It would also eliminate the possibility of Identity Theft at the hands of IRS employees (and private collection agencies) with access to personal information from tax returns.  Americans should not fear their Government.  That is not the case when it comes to taxation.

Adoption of a national retail sales tax could provide all the revenue necessary to run the Federal Government with no negative effect on the public.  A tax rebate (as suggested in HR 25, The Fair Tax)  would ensure that lower income households would not be penalized by the national sales tax.

Decentralize the banking system. Probably more than any single institution (other than the IRS) the Federal Reserve actually distorts and magnifies swings in the financial markets through politically motivated machinations of interest rates.  Milton Friedman advocated slow but steady growth of the money supply to ensure growth while minimizing inflationary pressures and wild swings in interest rates.  Interest rates fluctuate according to the market as a self-regulating mechanism.  Messing with that mechanism only causes problems.

Instead of bailing out huge banks that have in part cause this financial crisis, encourage the development of community banks.  Local banks are much better able to respond to local needs AND cause little or no impact if/when they fail.  Local banks also ensure better service at the consumer level.

Free Trade and Fair Trade. Free trade is good for the American consumer AND our economy.  Because American consumers can buy more with less because of cheaper imports, they have more to spend on their families or even to save for college, retirement or whatever.  However, when I think of “free trade” I assume there are no restrictions on either side and that everyone is playing on a level field.  Unfortunately, American manufacturers are generally held to a higher standard in compliance with various regulations.  Hold importers liable for the same safety and quality standards as American manufacturers and make sure that American exporters are allowed the same access to foreign markets as foreign importers have to our markets.

Greater Consumer Power and Freedom. Instead of giving a trillion dollars to poorly run and managed companies that should be allowed to fail, I would rather give that trillion dollars directly to American citizens.  This could be done in one of two ways.  The Government could just suspend collecting taxes until a trillion dollars is not collected.  This would benefit primarily taxPAYERS.  The other alternative would be to send every citizen a check for $3000.  Americans could decide for themselves how best to spend that money whether it be to pay bills, catch up on mortgage payments, put a down payment on a house or car or even invest it.  Either way, the money goes where it is both needed and can do the most good.

In the final analysis, it was Government that created this mess.  From the outside looking in, the only way to clean up the mess is to have the Government involved as little as possible.  Do I expect President Obama or this Congress to enact these suggestions?  Of course not.  BUT, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be considered.

The View from Outside the Box

Surely you’ve heard the term “Think outside the boc”.  I first heard th term in a business workshop way back in the 70s.  We were told to put the following drawing on a piece of paper and told to connect all the dots with four STRAIGHT lines WITHOUT lifting our pencil off the paper.

It was amazing the gyrations we all went through to get the assignment done.  Well, there were a couple of folks who had seen the exercise done before.  Otherwise, no one had even a clue how to solve the puzzle.  Then the instructor proceeded to show us how the puzzle was solved:

As we all now know, the ONLY solution for the problem was to draw outside the (imaginary) box created by the dots.  What an awesome metaphor for many (most) of the problems facing our society at this point in time, including the economy, world affairs, politics, education and healthcare.  In fact, many of the problems we face have become SO institutionalized and entrenched that they can NEVER be resolved with the same thinking that caused the problem in the first place.

Let’s consider just healthcare.  As far as any of us can remember, healthcare in this culture has been one of fighting disease.  We start at birth vaccinating kids against all sorts of diseases from routine childhood illnesses like chicken pox and measles to diptheria, smallpox, TB and polio.  As we age, the battle is joined against cancer, heart disease and now diabetes.  Now, we’re being attacked by chronic health problems ranging from chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia to irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis.  And, that says nothing about the proliferation of autoimmune disease.  And lest we forget Restless Leg Syndrome?

In essence, we’ve creasted a “disease managment” system instead of a HEALTH care system.  Drug companies seems to “discover” diseases that they just happen to have a “new” drug that treat THAT diease perfectly.  Unfortunately, that system of “care” has made going to the doctor and paying for it an almost impossible task.  Finally, we’ve reached the point where we’re looking to Government to take over health care.  I take little comfort in knowing that the same folks that are handling Social Security, Medicare, the IRS and Hurricane Katrina will now be taking care of our health decisions.

So, for these and other reasons, I opted out of the traditional Western approach to “health care” a long time ago.  I guess it’s been almost 20 years now that I haven’t taken a drug or gone to the doctor for anything but emergencies.  Well, I DO go to the chiropractor on a regular basis to get adjusted.   But, I don’t go for pain management or any kind of symptom control.   I thought it might be interesting to explain what it’s like on the other side of the healthcare fence looking in.

Even prior to my exposure to the wholistic lifestyle, I was somewhat leery of established Medicine and would only take an aspirin for an occasional headache or when my back problem would flare up.  And, until I got my back problem resolved, there was always a tube of Preparation H in the medicine cabinet.  I don’t rember the last time I took prescription drugs.  The last flu shot I got was in 1975 when Uncle Sam made me get one before letting me out of the Air Force.

The view from outside the box is interesting.  I don’t take drugs.  Period.  I don’t need them.  I don’t get sick.  I also don’t go to doctors.  It’s not that I don’t “believe” in them.  I just don’t need them.  Now, if I were involved in a car accident or broke a leg, I’d be the first to go to the ER because that’s where Medicine shines.  Otherwise, I just don’t need it.  I don’t have a cardiologist, proctologist, orthopedist, neurologist (although I’ve referred folks to a few) or even a General Practitioner.  Are there any of those even left?  Now, quite a few folks have asked me “What if…?”  And, my response is “What if…what?”  The point is I simply don’t live in that “disease” world.  I don’t know what ny blood pressure is or my cholesterol level or my bone density or if I have polyps.  I don’t care.

Because I know that we were designed to be healthy, my focus is on health, not disease.  I know that if I eat right, exercise, drink water, develop and maintain a good attitude and spiritual life, get adjusted and do those things that help build HEALTH, I’ve done all I can do.  And because of my fiath and what I know about health, I am not afraid of living or dying.

When I look inside the box, I see folks living in fear of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, etc.  Their lives are consumed running from disease.  And, by the time many folks are 60 they have those little boxes with pills for every day of the week.  They run to the doctor every time they have a cold or a symptom.   Some folks I know spend almost a thousand bucks a month on “health” insurance that typically covers far less than people really need.  Health costs has virtually driven American automakers out of business.  Even folks with “good” insurance aren’t immune to the fear of disease.  In fact, I know several millionaires who suffer from anxiety attacks and the same diseases that afflict the poor.

The main difference in the perspectives on either side of the box is fear.  From the inside, fear rules and limits one’s fullest expression and enjoyment of life.  From outside the box, a sense of peace about health is the rule rather than the exception.  Now, I’m not necessarily telling folks to cancel their insurance and shoot their doctors.  But what I am saying is that there is another way to view health and life.  In a later post, I’ll talk more about inspired living.  Until then, consider all your alternatives.

How might the financial market crisis affect your healthcare?

Good question.  Probably NOT the first thing folks think about when they hear and read reports about the (almost $1 TRILLION) Government bailout of the financial industry.  However, this nonsense will ripple throughout our entire economic sytem with repercussions not yet considered by our “leaders”.

The real estate, banking, securities and insurance industries are all linked in a variety of ways.  In good times, insurance companies are flush with cash and invest heavily in the stock market and real estate.  Also during good times, bankers tend to get a little over-enthusiastic and get very aggressive in their lending.  As we have seen from this “bailout” madness, securities firms speculated on the value of real estae and bought and sold essentially worthless mortgage backed securities in astounding volumes.

As the market turned, all of these entities became less liquid and started pulling in their horns.  If it were just one bank, or securities firm or insurance company, there would be virtually no problem as a result.  However, everybody involved started pulling back at the same time and in a drastic way.  The result is what we are seeing right now,  a liquidity crisis throughout the financial industry.

So, just how will all this affect your healthcare?  Good question.  Specifically with insurance companies, I think you’ll see a few things happen.  As they try to improve their liquidity, I think you’ll see premiums increase while payouts are tightened.  In other words, t’s going to cost you more to have insurance AND it will pay you even less than before IF they pay, at all.  You can expect underwriting criteria to get insurance to get much toughr.  You may see your healthcare providers ask you to pay up front and have your insurance company reimburse ou directly.

So, how might you deal with this scenario?  One alternative might be to purchase a higher deductible insurance policy.  Another would be to think twice about even using your insurance.  Isn’t THAT a heck of a note?  Pay out the nose for insurance and not be able to use it.  Still another might be to seek out providers that operate on a cash basis and offer reasonable fees based on what YOU need instead of what your insurance policy might pay.

However you decide to deal with this situation in the banking and finance industry, you should keep your debt down and try to manage your expenses as much as possible.  Stay healthy and on the job.  If you need to find a good chiropractor to help you stay healthy and on the job, just let me know.  I have friends that can help you stay on the job AND save money while doing so.  Best wishes.

The “next” bailout will be the healthcare (?) industry

Given the current hysteria over the Government “bailout” of the financial industry, we tend to lose sight of other potential problems on the horizon.  Now that the Government has injected itself into “saving” whole industries, we should not be surprised when traditional healthcare systems in this country start clamoring for the government to bail them out, as well.

The following article indicates that one estimate is that problems caused by hospitals (not related to the reason for being in the hospital) accounts for over 12% of total legal liability costs of healthcare facilities in 2007.  As you know, hospitals bill your insurance company for these so-called “never events” AND GET PAID!

As other insurance carriers follow Medicare’s lead and refuse to pay for these “never events”, I think you’ll see these facilities and even the AMA and other groups calling for the Government to intervene.

How did we EVER get to the point where we PAID for doctors and hospitals to screw people up and NOT pay to get and keep them well?

Here’s the article:

Study: Never events major factor in hospital liability costs

According to new research by insurance firm Aon Corp., hospital-acquired conditions accounted for 12.2 percent of total legal liability costs insured by healthcare facilities in 2007. It is perhaps the first study to benchmark claims specific to “never events” affected by Medicare’s new policy of not paying for hospital-acquired conditions. (All four of the never events reviewed by Aon are covered by Medicare’s new policy.)

According to the study, one out of six claims against healthcare facilities were related to hospital-acquired infections, injuries, pressure ulcers and foreign objects left in the body after survey in 2007, according to the company’s 2008 Hospital Professional Liability and Physician Liability Benchmark Analysis. Of these, claims for injuries were most frequently reported of four hospital-acquired condition categories. Pressure ulcers were the most expensive for healthcare facilities, which cost them about $145,000 on average for claims per incident in 2007, Aon concluded.

To draw its conclusions, Aon analyzed almost 78,000 claims, relating to a total of $9.3 billion in incurred losses. The data included information from more than 1,200 facilities from 1998 to 2007.

Panic, fear and the financial bailout. Just say “NO!”

Here we sit on the eve of another vote by the U.S. Senate on the $700 BILLION bailout of the financial industry.  We’re told that if this bailout plan is not passed immediately (virtually WITHOUT review) that we could be headed for another Great Depression and that people retirement accounts will vanish into thin air.  As for me, I say “STOP!”

If a problem that has taken AT LEAST a decade (probably two) to manifest itself, how can we expect it to be restored with ONE fell swoop of the Congress.  And worse, how can we expect any different results when the VERY same people who allowed this debacle to be in charge of doling out the money?

The collective wisdom of a HUGE majority of Americans are skeptical (at best) about the validity of doomsday predictions if the Paulson Plan fails to pass.  Most Americans STILL oppose the bailout.  Yet, despite the will of the majority of Americans, arrogant politicians apparently feel that you are simply stupid and can’t possibly understand the complexities of the issues at hand.  However, those politicians don’t seem to understand that what the electorate DOES understand is that If business is allowed to profit from such careless practices, then businesses should be allowed to FAIL when those practices cause them financial calamity.

This whole scenario is akin to going to the doctor when you have a cold only to be told you MUST check in TODAY for emergency surgery WITHOUT fully explaining to you what is wrong, what are the procedures being recommended and why, and what are your chances of recovering or even dying on the operatiing table while TELLING you to sign a waiver “just in case” something goes wrong.  Who wins in THAT scenario?  Certainly not you, the patient, who will pay the bill and deal with the consequences?  In that scenario don’t you AT LEAST deserve a full explanation, including your alternatives, of what is being proposed?  And shouldn’t you KNOW the risks involved?

This bailout of the financial industry is simply wrong.  Our economy is essentially strong.  And, just like your body is designed to absorb dead and dying cells and use them for good and eliminate any waste, so would a free market do with these failed institutions.  In fact, just look at the Washington Mutual and Wachovia situations.  Both banks assets were acquired without hurting anybody but their stockholders.  As a result of their failure, another bank will be able to expand and provide better service than what existing customers may have been able to expect from a struggling bank.

Do NOT be swayed by fear and panic.  As the old saying goes “Haste makes waste”.  Allow the free market to deal with this mess.  It really is the best way to get through this with the least harm to the most people.  And the next time someone tries to scare you into acting out of fear, simply tell them “NO!”

Better – Faster – Cheaper

One of my major chiropractic influences has always advocated a volume practice.  But, he always warned us that chiropractic could also be a difficult career path, at times.  His admonition was to always be looking for opportunities to serve and to tell others about the benefits of chiropractic care.

My mentor was from another time, a time prior to insurance where a consumer’s only reluctance was due to ignorance or outright lies about chiropractic from the medical establishment.  Then, the message was fairly simple, “Chiropractic is better, it’s faster and it’s cheaper” than other approaches to health problems that had failed so many health consumers.  And, at that time, there was no such thing as third party reimbursement.  No “health” insurance, no Medicare, no nothin’.  Huge practices were built simply by referral, education and, obviously, results.

Many of my chiropractor friends that had practiced prior to the coming of insurance reimbursement for chiropractic care lament the days when folks gladly paid cash for their care BECAUSE they knew their problem would be dealt with WITHOUT a whole lot of nonsense like they had come to expect at their “other” doctor’s office.  They also knew that if chiropractic care could help them, the results would show up pretty quickly and that it would not cost them an arm and a leg.

While many chiropractors that love the principle of innate healing and the power of the chiropractic adjustment, the reality of student loans, financial overhead and sometimes easy payment from insurance companies, we’ve become (as a profession) guilty of essentially medicalizing chiropractic.  We’ve taken a very simple concept of reducing nerve interference and turned it into some sort of treatment regimen.  And while a chiropractic problem (if left unresolved) may eventually BECOME a medical problem, it is now used to scare people into care.

Early chiropractors desired to make the “one” adjustment that permanently corrected a person’s problem forever.  While that’s certainly a noble desire, today’s stressful world does make that almost impossible.  However, chiropractic pioneers offered a revolutionary concept of empowering folks to be as healthy as possible and less dependent on ANY sort of doctor, chiropractors included.  One famous chiropractor had a saying, “Find it.  Fix it.  Leave it alone.”  The whole premise was to fix the problem and not screw it up by doing anything more.  Good advice, indeed.

There are (at least) two approaches in chiropractic today that really bother me.  They both are based in the concept of “exhaustion of benefits”, even more evidence of the medicalization of chiropractic.  With one approach, HMO and PPO providers will see you as few times as possible and bill for everything the insurance company will pay them.  The other suggests a care plan with a huge number of visits, showing how much your insurance will pay, then allowing you to make payments on the balance.  Both of these are heavily oriented towards a mechanistic approach and diminishes the true value of chiropractic as a simple, safe and affordable means toward better health and living.

Wouldn’t it be better to see LOTS of people INSTEAD of seeing people lots?  If people KNEW they could go to a chiropractor and feel better and function better and NOT EVEN have to use their insurance, wouldn’t ALL chiropractors AND the public benefit so much more?

My chiropractic mentor (one of many, actually) often said “You’ve gotta always market yourself BECAUSE people get better!”  I long for the days when chiropractors strove to empty the hospitals and prisons and fill the churches and synagogues because people wanted to live better lives and chose chiropractic as a vehicle to help them do so.

Good News! Some states not allowing payment of NEVER events

Lord have mercy!  Can you believe it?  Some states are not allowing hospitals to be paid for costly medical errors like cutting out the wrong body part or operating on the wrong limb.

I just have to ask “Why in the world would they EVER have allowed payment for malpractice in the first place?  Is it any wonder modern Medicine is having such problems these days.  Here’s the link to the story.  I just can’t believe it.

Remember, it’s cheaper and safer to avoid dangerous drugs and surgery if at all possible.  Your chiropractor just might be able to help!

Why Real Estate Agents Need a Chiropractor

It’s simple, really.  Real estate agents are under so much pressure on an ongoing basis that it affects their health and, eventually, their ability to work effectively.

Having been in both residential and commercial real estate, I have experienced firsthand the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat that defines the business.  I closed a 700 acre land assemblage at the end of 1996 just before we entered the last recession.  The contrast in highs and lows of that experience drove me into the residential end of the business.

Having had all the fun I could stand on the listing side, as soon as I learned about exclusive buyer agency, that’s the route I took.  I really enjoyed working with homebuyers (mostly) because you KNEW there was a good chance that THAT relationship would probably lead to a closing.  Well, as anyone reading this post knows, things don’t always work out that way.  Although the sire of the transactions were much smaller than I had experienced in the commercial real estate realm, the contrasts were still stressful on the mind, the body and the spirit.

Once I realized the effects stress can have on the body and the role chiropractic care could play in alleviating that stress, I undertook the task of becoming a chiropractor.  And, I must tell you that I haven’t been disappointed.  If you’ve read any of my other posts you know that I’ve seen seizures stopped, blood pressure lowered, hemorrhoids eliminated, acid reflux reversed, back and neck pain controlled and headaches vanquished.

Given the stress real estate professionals endure, it only makes sense that they should include a chiropractor on their health team.  And since many agents don’t have adequate (?) health (?) insurance, a chiropractor who focuses on long-term wellness care and with reasonable cash-based fee systems makes more sense than those with heavy insurance oriented fees and who practice purely from a pain management perspective.

If you know a real estate professional who seems to be bending under the pressure, forward this post on to them.  Better yet, have them contact me.  I’ll help them find the right chiropractor for them.