The Devil at My Doorstep

by David Bego

  Another consideration—there is no eight to five workday schedule possible when you own your own business. Good ideas are commonplace, and while a good idea is the bud for starting a business, too often people don’t have the discipline and work ethic to work their tails off especially during the initial stages when it is make it or break it time. Stating it another way, when you own your own business, there is no quitting time as the business has to come first 24 hours a day seven days a week. Focus and direction are key too, and persistence, a trait I learned from competitive sports and from my parents. You have to decide to try, and then try and try again and never give up, or give in.

  While I doubt they would admit it, my bet is the SEIU learned this about me when I wouldn’t cave in to its demands. Call it dumb, call it stupid, especially when the odds favor your opposition, whether it is a person, a union, or another obstacle, but “persistence,” the quality of continually moving forward in the face of adversity, is a trait all those who operate there own business must have, especially when someone or some entity is trying to destroy the business. There is no throwing in your hand when you take on the world single-handedly. Through good times and bad, a business owner must suck it up and keep going even when others want them to fail. Some days it will feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, and you can’t go on, but you have to. There is no choice in the matter because your savings, or bank financing, or financing provided by love ones, colleagues or investors, is at stake—no running out the back door is permitted but instead hard work, and then more hard work. This type of mindset is the only thing that permitted me to have a chance when Stern and the SEIU wanted to crush me. I simply told myself nobody was going to take my freedom away from me, my share of the American Dream. Nobody.

  Another key element to starting a business is enough capital. Most businesses fail because of this when poor financial planning causes shortcuts, even though an all-out effort is required. Revenues are going to be sparse for the first few months, or even years, until some sort of a profit and cash flow may be realized. Keeping the business going during these times with enough money to pay the bills and pay yourself so you can feed your family is essential so there is no worry about where the next nickel or dime is coming from. Making a profit is one thing, but cash flow is king—a concept many do not understand.

  Any smart person deciding to start his or her own business tries like hell to take on as little debt as possible. When Barb and I began EMS, we used our own personal savings to finance the company and thus avoided borrowing money we would have to pay back eventually. To this day, our company has run daily operations off cash flow and not borrowed funds providing flexibility and independence when otherwise we would have been paying a bank or another financial institution that might want to dictate how we run our business. Just imagine if we had been heavily in debt when the SEIU war began. Then the financial institution would have been looking over our shoulder worried that our reputation was being tarnished. But because we are fiscally conservative, we could charge ahead and do what we knew was right—defend our employees against unwanted or unsolicited pressure and harassment.

  Speaking of money, one pitfall for business owners is allegiance to the almighty dollar. In today’s world, unfortunately, too much emphasis is put on becoming rich and famous. Look at all the unhappy people who have millions or even billions of dollars, more money than they could ever spend in 10 lifetimes, and yet they have very little peace of mind. So while profit is important, the question remains how much profit is reasonable, especially if those working to help you make a profit are being treated unfairly. Maybe I am thickheaded, but it doesn’t make any sense at all to me to treat employees with disrespect or try to keep them at poverty level when they are the real key to success. This is why allegations by the SEIU made me sick when they said EMS paid “poverty wages.” Nothing could have been further from the truth and the union knew it.

  The real key, money-wise, to running a successful self-owned business is cash flow. Meeting payroll is essential to earning employee respect, and good cash flow and a reasonable profit permit one to meet employee needs, and think of acquisitions and capital investment. Bad cash flow is a killer; an absolute killer dooming many start-ups to failure. But good cash flow opens up many opportunities for growth and for times when money is needed for emergency purposes. If EMS had not had sufficient cash flow, where would the money have come from to fight SEIU? How blessed we were that we could hire expert attorneys and pay them without going deeply in debt.

  Relationships are what owning your own business is all about. From day one, I preached this to our sales and operations people, and to those who cleaned the buildings and plants. Our customers are the real bosses and we work for them, not the other way around. There is thus the need to listen to their concerns, and listen again, and then attempt to fulfill their needs every day on a quality basis with a sense of urgency. That’s how a good reputation is born, and how relationships like many EMS enjoys have lasted for decades. Loyalty from those customers becomes unquestioned even when attempts to soil a reputation are undertaken. I get teary-eyed when I think of people like Gerald who’s wife had to put up with the SEIU trick or treaters, and other valued EMS customers who stuck by us when SEIU was assaulting the company at every turn. Without them, EMS would have been devastated.

  Relationships with “good-hearted” customers are essential to the growth of any self-owned business. Why work with bad people even though a good profit might be possible? In the long run, these bad people will prove to be a source of irritation, especially since you can’t trust them. I can’t count how many times EMS passed up substantial business, or canceled contracts, when we realized those we were doing business with were not ones we wanted to do business with.

  Servicing good customers means servicing them every hour of every day. Becoming complacent is the enemy of any business and a death knell for self-owned businesses that rely on fewer customers than the big boys. Show you care, every day, and in every way. It’s like the waiter or waitress who keeps coming back to fill your coffee cup or check to see if your food is okay. Little things mean a lot in the business world and customers appreciate a telephone call or a letter checking to see if the service you are providing is up to speed.

  Hiring good, solid, hard-working, honest, and ethical employees is essential to any successful business. Fortunately, I found four or five of those in my family, a true blessing if ever there was one. They cared about EMS as much as I did, and we planned together and worked together to build a business of which we all can be proud. And they, along with other long-term top management, were there for me when we fought Stern and the SEIU. Without a hitch, our business kept going without me contributing as much as I normally would have done. Perhaps they enjoyed my being away so much, or at least my mind being away so I wouldn’t bother them. I’m afraid to ask.

  As for the front-line employees, selecting those who have the same value systems regarding hard work is key. “You are your employees” is a nice slogan to consider because those people wearing the EMS logo on their shirts represent the company every day. If they are trustworthy, honest, and hardworking, customers know this and appreciate it. But if they are not, customers notice this as well. There are many examples where EMS, despite not having the lowest bid, won a nice contract based on our employee reputations. Compensate and treat employees well and they will treat you well and with respect—the core of any relationship. Additionally, with the threat of EFCA hanging over everyone’s head, training for managers, supervisors, and hourly employees concerning EFCA and union organizational tactics is a good idea. EMS has developed and copyrighted simple training pamphlets that use pictures to help get the message across in a manner that captures interest, understanding, and retention.

  In addition to providing good working environments where employees don’t have to be concerned about safety, it is important to make certain workers feel free to express dissatisfaction with any n
umber of areas of concern. At union plants I managed, I learned that the inability to express dissatisfaction is a major employee irritation whether complaints focus on working conditions, work products, or personal issues. The latter are especially important to EMS, because we never want any employee to be scared to report for work or feel threatened while at work. When the company was a year- or two-old, a young, African-American woman told me, “Mr. Bego, I’m being sexually harassed by the supervisor in my building.” Because she was 20 and the supervisor was in his late 70s (what does age have to do with anyone’s ability to do a job well?), I immediately investigated. The older fellow had gone through some tough times to the extent that I loaned him some cash to get by. I talked to him and discovered that he and the young woman had been romantically involved despite their age difference. But he had fallen deeply in love with her and didn’t want the relationship to end. We moved the woman into another building after I warned him to stay away from her. He understood and we never had any problems after that.

  Sometimes employees just need someone to talk to or to listen to their problems. Through the years I’ve heard more confessions than most priests but I feel honored employees trust me enough to share their deepest concerns. And they know I keep what they tell me confidential because I respect their privacy. We’re all human, we all make mistakes, and we all need people to rely on when times are tough.

  Back to starting the business, you must have a vision of what you want to do and how it is a different from the ones that exist already in the industry. Possessing what I call “good business sense” is important, as is understanding the marketplace, and how your product or service might compete. Good business sense allows for development of a sound game plan when the time arrives to grow your business. Determination and the will to survive carry one only so far until more risk is necessary when growth opportunities present themselves. While we were pleased with EMS company expansion in Indiana, we decided to grow into other areas of the Midwest and beyond. With integrity and good camaraderie with our employees as a staple, we took the leap and moved EMS from a small, local company to a company that could compete successfully with the largest companies in our industry. Our EMS team—management, clerical, the front-line employees, expert lawyers, and accountants—propelled us to a position of respect in the cleaning maintenance business. That’s why Stern and the SEIU faced such stiff competition when they decided to wage war.

  Politics

  ON FEBRUARY 4, 2009, I HAD THE PLEASURE OF APPEARING ON CNN’s Lou Dobbs Show to discuss the SEIU and the Employee Free Choice Act. Investigative reporter Drew Griffin had actually prerecorded the interview a week earlier at my office.

  In the segment, I was able to provide EMS’s side of the story and felt I did so in a fair manner. Conversely, Stern was also interviewed for the segment and came across as dictatorial and threatening in accordance with how he runs the SEIU. In fact, he made two comments directly to the politicians he helped get elected. First, all politicians better keep their promises or else, and second, everybody should be scared about failing to live up to their promises. Wow—can you imagine the everyday person, or business owners, threatening the politicians and our President in this manner? They would be crucified in the media and publicly. I cannot imagine people wanting to be part of an organization run by such an individual. (Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru5D4u2Q4QY.)

  To further my ideas about the SEIU and the EFCA, I sent a five-page letter on March 4, 2009 to every member of Congress, House of Representatives and Senate alike, regarding the Employee Free Choice Act. I received less than 20 responses in return. What puzzles me is that few people seem to be listening. Deaf ears are the call of the day and I truly believe there are two main reasons why this is occurring. First, the very nature of the name of the pending legislation is attractive. Who wants to vote against something with the words “Free Choice?” Second, the political process, and the SEIU’s ability to influence politicians exists to the extent they would vote for any legislation the union supports. Millions of dollars in donations permit labor to carry a big stick and those politicians accepting the money know they better step up in favor of union legislation or, as Stern, has vowed, be targeted come election time. Cross the unions, the SEIU in particular, and the comfy job with all the benefits and nice salary in Washington disappears with the loser relegated to a “real job” back in their home state.

  In my letter, I tried like blazes to open some eyes. I established my credential as a business owner of some length before writing, “Today I write to ask for your support in stopping a bill that I believe will cripple almost every business and industry in this country.” Based on that sentence alone, I would have expected the telephone to start ringing and a hundred e-mails to pour through my inbox. But nothing like this occurred. Perhaps it was because I’m from Indianapolis, far away from either coast where the real important people in the country live, or so many believe. Or maybe the fact that I operate a cleaning business didn’t quite register with those who care more about a company like GM on the brink of bankruptcy. Whatever the reason—almost dead silence was the result except for the small percentage of responses heard.

  If the above sentence didn’t gain much attention, I had hoped the first two in paragraph four would. They read, “The so-called ‘Employee Free Choice Act,’ an ineptly named bill supported by organized labor (but not the vast majority of business owners or employees), is not really about employee ‘free choice.’ In truth, this legislation is about taking away the individual employee’s freedom to choose whether they want to join a union or not—in an atmosphere free from intimidation and coercion.”

  The next four pages laid out my concerns about the act. I gave the politicians every reason I could think of triggering my belief that the EFCA was a dangerous piece of legislation. I detailed the vigorous, ruthless campaign against EMS and how the union “employs the exact practices of intimidation, harassment, lies, coercion, bribes and threats it accuses the company of in its propaganda.” The result of such tactics, I explained, “is that unions are not only mistrusted by the company, but more importantly, by the exact audience they target—the company’s employees.” Bidding to make my case that readers consider the impact of the legislation, I ended the letter with the following: “Please remember that you were chosen for your public service by a secret-ballot election. The core value of freedom of choice, in a secret process free from coercion and outside pressure, is central to our democracy. Are you willing to enact a law that would take away the fundamental freedom from American workers? If not, I urge you to oppose the Employees Free Choice Act,” with the final two sentences in bold so as to emphasize their importance. This especially rings true with today’s current events in Iran where people are dying to obtain a true secret ballot process that is not corrupt. Most members of Congress and our President are pressuring Iran to allow a true and uncorrupt secret ballot election process. Yet they are preparing to do just the opposite in the United States of America (the most free country in the world) by passing the Employee Free Choice Act and eliminating an individual’s right to a secret ballot election in the work place.

  During the days when my letter was forwarded, EFCA was in the news, with a CNN article reporting: “Key Union Renews Push For Hotly Contested Labor Bill.” Included in the fourth paragraph was a statement by Stern: “[Business leaders] believe in this old market-worshipping, privatizing, deregulating, trickle-down [policy] that took the greatest economy on the Earth and sent it staggering forward because of their greed and selfishness.” Without the EFCA, “the rich will get richer and the rest of us will fend for ourselves.”

  Perhaps Stern’s tirade drowned out the noise of my letter, but the result, as I said, was almost zip, even though I attached pages listing questionable facts regarding union activities. Whether anyone actually read the letter is a question mark because a few weeks after sending it, I learned firsthand about how Washington politicians can look the other way wh
en it is convenient for them to do so.

  Accompanying several Midwestern business owners, I flew to Washington for an up-close and personal look at the workings of our taxpayer-paid politicians. One I was interested to speak with was Senator Evan Bayh, Democrat from Indiana. To my amazement, his office actually interceded on SEIU’s behalf by contacting a client of ours, a large Indianapolis insurance company, to pressure them into dumping EMS as their cleaning contractor. This tactic did not work, but I wondered why Bayh, whom I had voted for in the last election much to the dismay of Republican friends, would do such a thing. It became apparent later when I met Senator Bayh in Washington with a group of Indiana businessmen about EFCA. When I questioned him on the details and history behind EFCA, it was apparent he had little knowledge. We found this to be the case in meeting after meeting with Congressmen and Senators who depended on young idealistic aids to provide information for their decisions. This is similar to what is occurring with current Stimulus, Environmental and Health bills. From what I witnessed on my trip the members of Congress do not have the time to read the bills and instead rely on the opinions of young aids with very little life experience. This is a very frightening scenario, since it appears the aids, and not the elected politicians, are making the decisions on important national issues.

  At this point I would like to digress a bit and cover the role of politics and how difficult it is for politicians to sort through the information. I saw first-hand how overwhelming it is for our political representatives during my visit and in personal conversations with several of them since. Unfortunately, politics plays too big a role in this whole scenario, from the standpoint that it is not what is best for people or the country, it is what is best for politicians and their financial backers. However, in all fairness, the politicians in many cases truly do not have a good grasp for the facts, because they are besieged by so many special interest groups. I empathize with the position of those who are trying to do the right thing and not succumb to these groups.