#cluelessowners #cluelessbosses #bosses #employees
In a TV ad, Ryan Reynolds, the new owner of Mint Mobile wireless service, introduces an original Mint customer.
The customer praises the service, and the $15 monthly bill. So, Reynolds retorts: “And under my ownership, it will get even better.”
“How?” the customer asks.
“No idea,” says Reynolds, who then makes a flip suggestion about introducing “Taco Wednesdays,” which he says no one has done before.
“Still $15 a month?” the customer asks. Yep, Reynolds replies.
There are many levels from which to analyze this interaction. First, a new owner may not yet know exactly what he will do to make things better for his company. As an employee, customer or even an investor, it may give you some comfort to know that the new guy wants to improve things.
Second, when – especially if you are an employee or customer – you hear a new owner not have a clue about what he’s going to do next, it may make you wonder why he bought the company in the first place.
Third, since tacos have nothing to do with wireless service, it makes you wonder whether he has a clue about what the company does – never mind what he’ll do to improve it. Did he buy a pig in a poke? (Obviously, the taco comment was made as a joke for the ad, but there have been some clueless new owners in the business world).
The lesson here is that if you buy something, particularly a company whose success, or failure, can affect many, you do so AFTER figuring out what you will do once you own it.
Some entities buy other entities simply to take money out of them. They cut costs with abandon, leaving many people jobless. They reorganize it with other entities under the ownership, meaning that if you are part of the overall entity, but not necessarily part of the newly purchased asset, your job could be affected as well.
Under this scenario, no thought is given to “improving” service to customers, or maintaining or enhancing the work environment for those on whom the product or service depends.
Sometimes, to their credit, instead of taking money out of a newly purchased asset, some new owners put money into it. Ultimately, they may hire even more people, while, at the same time, eliminate inefficiencies in the previous operation.
These business machinations illustrate just how (pick a word: tenuous, fragile, unstable) ANYONE’s employment situation is, or can suddenly become.
It doesn’t matter what you do, how good you are at it or your personal situation – in many cases. You are a cost, and that cost has to be justified in the eyes of any owner. Many talented, hard-working people have lost jobs, and even careers, through reorganization.
The good news here is that if you want some insurance against this happening to you in the workplace, there are many programs out there that allow those willing to spend a few, part-time, off-job hours to generate an income – one that could not only eventually dwarf what you are earning at your job, but also that no one will take away from you.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, be you a customer or employee of a new owner, beware. Just because someone has bought a company does not mean he or she has any idea what he or she will do with it.
That could leave you, and others you like and admire, in the lurch. What if all of you could sport a smile from that lurch?
Peter