Do you like Baseball?

I really do like Baseball. I coached little league for 11 years for my youngest Son. It was great fun but I did not do it because I like Baseball. I did it because I like my Son and he liked playing. I used to tell the parents of the kids in our first meeting each year what my coaching philosophy was. I told them each year that, no matter what, my Son was going to play. I told my Son that he would play and that, although I liked coaching, I was doing it because he wanted to play. If he ever did not want to play, we could quit. But I wanted the parents to know that my Son was going to play all the time up front. I also told them that if they had a problem with that, I would help them find another team. I did have a couple of parents choose to go to another team and that was fine.

Most of the teams I had were not the great ball players. My Son was great, of course, and there were others that got better and better. Some of those kids played for me for 11 years. Of course, some moved away and new kids came and went. The guy who ran the league used to call and say that he had a kid that other teams wanted to get rid of or that they had a kid that signed up late, etc. and would I take them. I almost always did. Some of those experiences were good and some were bad. Lots of times I had kids that wanted to play and their parents did not have the money for the fees, uniforms, gloves, etc. I took them anyway. I kept pretty good records and can prove that during those 11 years I spent $5835 to help out kids in some way. Almost always, I took the kids out for Pizza, Ice Cream or something after a game: win or lose. Many times, that would be the best meal some of those kids got. That came to another $2995. Remember, this was 1980's and early 1990's. So, it was less expensive than today, but so was my income. Then we had parents that could afford anything. I had one who helped coach whose kid had everything on earth and, believe or not, the kid was a pretty good kid. He not only helped me coach but he helped buy after games several times.

Now what does this have to do with Small and Family Owned businesses? First of all, if you have a family member or selected person that is going to replace you as owner, tell everyone up front, right now. If it is because they are family, say so. No long diatribes about their terrific qualifications and tremendous education. They are replacing you because they are family and that is okay. Second, if there are people in your company that are pretty good, determine what it would take to help them be great and coach them into doing that or getting what they need. Thirdly, once you know what they need, if you can, help them pay for it.

Lastly, most companies frown on helping employees financially, but I think that you should. You should limit it to the equivalent of about a weeks pay (or two weeks pay if you pay every two weeks, or a months pay if you pay monthly). That can change if you have an employee that has been with you a long time and has a problem. If you are not able to help them, try to find them help elsewhere. They have invested in you, now you invest in them. If they need time to pay it back and them have been a steady, good employee, let them make payroll deductions. (By the way, if you are not using ADP for Payroll, you should. No I am not paid by them, but I have used them for years and years and they are great.)

What do you think?