Working with Millennials and Generation Drone

Yesterday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a new category of surprisingly business-friendly new rules for drone operators. The new category of FAA rules will make it substantially easier for law-abiding farmers, ranchers, photographers, contractors, videographers, real estate professionals, and fire-safety professionals to use lightweight drones for commercial purposes. The new rules, which may go into effect as early as August, will also have a pronounced impact on many industries and career choices, especially among young adults. More on this in a future post.

Meanwhile, our recent post, Once and For All, Millennials are NOT all Alike, generated more feedback than usual. One big takeaway: Our followers tell us that Millennials are not any more self-indulgent than previous generations were at a comparable age. They are simply the latest “disruptors” to enter the workforce with different values, work styles and motivations than their elders.

Josh Patrick, head of Stage2Planning Partners wrote, “The noise around Millennials is no different than the noise that was around Gen X or for that matter Baby Boomers. As each generation moves into their 20s, the whining starts about how this [cohort] is the worst of all times. It’s not that they are better or worse, they are different and understanding the difference can help you connect with these people.”  

Daniel Obst, Deputy Vice President of the Institute for International Education told us, “Millennials care a lot about mission and values.” Also, if you’re trying to reach them electronically (and who isn’t?) Obst said you’ll have much better luck going through Facebook and Instragram than you will via email.

Derek Poarch, Executive Director of APCO International, the world’s oldest and largest organization for public safety communications professionals, told me he doesn’t communicate with Millennials any differently than he communicates with staffers who’ve been at APCO for 25 years. “We hire quality people of all ages and train them well. Every person, regardless of age, has measurable goals and objectives tied to our strategic plan. It may sound tough, but we have very low turnover here. Everyone is empowered to suggest ideas.”

Russ Webb, Vice President of the Atlanta Apartment Association said his communications coordinator is only one year out of college. “Everything we plan to send out to members and the public must go through her. If she thinks any communication piece is not going to resonate with younger members, she’s very quick to let us know that it should be changed.”

Our blog and website have more about this and related topics. 

Conclusion

If you’re still scratching your head about how to engage with 20-something staffers (or children), Patrick recommends the book Generations by William Strauss and Neil Howe. “They were the first and I think still the best when it comes to talking about how different generations act and what tends to motivate them.” You could also ask young adults directly. Our client Naylor, LLC has also done many thought provoking pieces by Next Gen about what Millennials really want in the workplace.

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6 Dumb Things That Business Owners Do at Year-End

With Christmas trees trimmed and Chanukah menorahs fully lit, the last thing that most of us want to talk about right now is year-end planning and tax mitigation. But you’ve got to, or else experts say you and your clients could have a heck of a fiscal hangover in the weeks and months ahead.

Josh Patrick, CFP®, a wealth manager who specializes in working with owners of privately held businesses, checked in with us recently about some of the really dumb things he sees business owners do at year-end. “If you’re spending money unwisely, you’re taking at least 60 cents out of every dollar you spend and just flushing it down the toilet, said Patrick, head of Burlington, Vermont-based Stage 2 Planning Partners.

Here are 6 of the biggest mistakes Patrick sees his clients make again and again at this otherwise festive time of year. Make sure you and your clients don’t fall into these common year-end traps.

1. Buying capital equipment you don’t need. Just because you’re having a good year doesn’t mean you should go out and buy equipment to get a tax write-off. Before buying capital equipment, do an analysis to see if there is a payoff for the expense.

2. Pay bonuses because you had a good year. Patrick warns about the “pennies from heaven” bonus. Employees don’t know why they’ve received the bonus. They surely will appreciate it, but if you haven’t told employees why they received the extra money it can turn into an annual sense of entitlement—not an incentive to work hard every year.

3. Rushing to acquire a business before year-end. There is nothing magical about December 31. “If you’re really not ready to close the transaction, don’t do it,” advised Patrick a frequent contributor to the New York Times “You’re the Boss column” and our client CEG’s Elite Advisor Report newsletter. “Rushing into any transaction, let alone buying a business, is always a bad idea. It’s really hard to do an acquisition that’s accretive under the best of circumstances. The only way to make a business purchase that actually works is to follow a purchase process very carefully that you’ve designed before you start.”

4. Rush because it’s year-end. Don’t rush to finish up a project just because the end of the year is coming, advised Patrick. “I made that mistake when I launched our new website. For some reason I decided that I had to rush to get our site up and running before the end of the year. One of the things I missed was making sure that all of the pages from our old site were linked to the proper pages on our new site. Our old site was never mapped to our new site. Because we didn’t map our site properly, Google penalized our site for almost a year. This happened just because I rushed a project for no really good reason.”

5. Increase your inventory. If you or your client is a cash-based taxpayer, you can deduct inventory as you buy it. The problem with loading up on inventory is that you then have to sell it. If you have too much inventory, you can be sure that some of it is going to go bad. Don’t fall prey to end-of-the-year deals. They’re always just so your suppliers can make their numbers. Before loading up on inventory, make sure it’s returnable. Otherwise Patrick said you’ll be in the market for a full-size dumpster.

6. A tax write-off still means you’re spending money. The days of tax credits for buying stuff are long gone. Don’t buy stuff just because you have money burning a hole in your pocket. Your clients shouldn’t either. “A tax write-off is only part of the money you spend. It really does come out of your pocket,” admonished Patrick.

Conclusion
Be smart and think about your year-end purchases just like you would for one in April. If you need it and

Wishing you and your families a safe, happy and fiscally festive Holiday.

Best, HB and team

Our blog has more, as does the FREE Resources page of our website.

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TAGS: Josh Patrick, Stage2 Planning, dumb things year end tax planning