Technology can make your preneed packages more desirable

The death care industry has become more competitive in recent years, with many funeral homes spending thousands of dollars on marketing strategies to compete for preneed sales. However, before you go and invest your money and time developing a sales strategy, you should really be examining the types of preneed options you are offering. “There are many funeral homes that are putting the cart before the horse,” said Paul Rauseo, managing director of the George S. May International Co.’s worldwide headquarters in Park Ridge, Ill. “They continue to blow money on marketing, but they are not marketing the type of services that people are interested in.”

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The Smell of Leather – The History of Rochester Shoe Stores

With things going along so good most owners would leave ‘well enough alone.’ Not Jack Rubenstein though. With an eye to the future he was unsure if he knew what steps to take to assure the continued success and growth of the business. His team of confidants – his lawyer, accountant, and friends – suggested that he talk to a professional consulting firm to analyze his business.

Whenever Jack decided to do something he usually did it first class. He was true to form when he met with Mr. White, a representative of the George S. May Consulting Company. Mr. White explained that his company was international in scope, providing clients with proven business methods for cutting waste, reducing costs, and increasing profits.

Jack said, “Didn’t you leave something out? How about doing more business?”

White said, “Of course.”

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William Fisk Harrah – The Life and Times of A Gambling Magnate

“We grew just as businesses that start with six employees and get to thousands.”

“But on the management end, we still tried to operate the old way and we knew we were spinnin’ our wheels.” It could very well have been Maurice Sheppard’s Daily Report that triggered the notion of rationalizing management: at any rate it was becoming clear that something had to be done if Harrah’s were to be run in Harrah style. There was a problem with that – Harrah didn’t know how to do it. So he did what was coming to be instinctive: “I think I read about the George S. May Company in TIME. They were called ‘business engineers.’
“So we got in touch with them. They came in and they really turned us around. I mean – we were doing so many things just like a bunch of little kids. It’s just what evolved, just hit-and-miss.

“Our chain of command and our management chart – we were just terrible.” Certainly by the time of the business study, Harrah’s was committed to the idea of bringing in consultants on most major decisions. It is Maurice Sheppard’s view that these consultants served a dual purpose. The substance of their reports was important, of course. But they were also there to make recommendations reinforcing decisions that Bill Harrah had already made. In many cases this entailed acting as Cassandra, for surely if there was one part of his job that Harrah hated, it was being the bearer of bad tidings.

“We must have had four or five or six or eight (consultants). We’ve learned (that) every two, three, four years (they) should come in and take a look. “They’re super, and that’s why we are as efficient as we are. We get credit for being very efficient and our accounting system and all that, which, of course, is our doing. But the incentive came from these concerns, these business specialists.”

Look inside for the fix

Your business isn’t doing well. Or, it isn’t doing as well as you would like. Where do you look for a fix? Too many business owners are looking in the wrong direction, says an expert in small and mid-size business operations. According to Israel Kushnir, president of George S. May International Company, it is much better for businesses to look inside their own companies for what they can control. “When times are tough, far too many business owners immediately look to improve sales because they believe that’s where the problem is,” says Kushnir. “However, if sales were easy to come by, the business would already have them. So what businesses are grasping for is what I call ‘desperation sales.’ Businesses desperate for cash flow can fool themselves. Sales don’t necessarily mean profit. Some sales in fact, even cost the seller money.”

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To Paul Rauseo and the George S. May team, Thanks for making my good company Great! Your the best

Israel Kushnir tells us how a focus on improvement helps this management consultant company save many a small business.

Before he became president of George S. May International, Israel Kushnir was a field analyst. Then he had a conversation that would stick with him. A client had turned to Kushnir’s company to improve business performance yet was afraid employee questionnaires would upset staff, telling Kushnir he treated employees like family. “I told him to tell his employees because he ran the business like a family and lost $100,000, they could share the loss and give him $10,000 each. They would’ve headed for the door to look for another job,” Kushnir said. “If you want to do the best for your employees, you have to be as profitable as possible, otherwise you won’t be around.”

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Quick Books Data Analysis Helps Ensure Factual Reports For Management Decision Making
by George S. May International Company

INTRODUCTION

QuickBooks from Intuit Corporation is the most widely used business accounting and management software by small and mid-size businesses. Since its introduction, QuickBooks has increased in popularity. However, the usefulness of QuickBooks depends on one key element – the accuracy of the information that the user inputs. Many small and mid-size business, which are the primary users of QuickBooks, are not getting full value from their investment of money and time because of data input errors. In accurate information in QuickBooks results in inaccurate reports being generated by QuickBooks. These bad reports can result in poor management decisions.

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LLC filing often pact with state

Dear Karen: Is the filing for a limited liability company different from the fictitious business name registration?

Answer: Yes. They are two completely different things. A limited liability company is a legal form of business organization (similar to a corporation) governed by state statute. A fictitious name registration is a legal listing of the public name of a business. State statutes regulate the corporate governance rights of LLC owners, how property is held, what authority they have to enter contracts, liability to third parties and tax issues, said Israel Kushnir, president of management consulting firm George S. May International Co. “LLCs are usually created by an agreement and filing with the secretary of state,” Kushnir said. Talk to your accountant or attorney about which structure is best for your company.

A fictitious name registration, often called a “doing business as” notice, must be filed for businesses whether they operate as sole proprietors, corporations, partnerships or LLCs. Your DBA notice can be registered with the county clerk in Los Angeles County (www.lavote.net/CLERK/Business_Name.cfm) and Orange County (www.ocgov.com/recorder/fbnfiling.asp).

Replacing the annual review

Dear Karen: Is there a better way to access my employees’ performance than the traditional annual review?

Answer: Managers typically don’t like writing performance reviews and employees don’t like reading them. A recent poll of small-business owners by management consulting firm George S. May International Co. showed that nearly half of business owners rated their own performance-review processes as fair or poor. Try “catalytic coaching” as an alternative, said Paul Rauseo, managing director of George S. May. Employee and manager exchange written feedback, goals and aspirations, then create a road map for contributing to each other’s success. Coaching sessions should be done twice a year, Rauseo said.