Jim Olsztynski

Certain people make it a point to arrive “fashionably late” for social events. It stems from a psychological quirk to make them feel important, as if the party doesn’t begin until they arrive and everyone is awaiting their grand entrance.

Last year was one of the bleakest in history for most of us economically. Yet Cincinnati’s Thompson Plumbing, Heating & Cooling grew more than 50 percent in 2009. The company now has more than 50 service vehicles on the road and employs upwards of 80 people, with a penchant for hiring military veterans.

Many of you reading this went into business for yourself because some heavy-handed boss was always telling you what to do and how to do it. 

Many of you reading this went into business for yourself because some heavy-handed boss was always telling you what to do and how to do it. You got sick and tired of “my way or the highway” orders when you knew just as much or more about doing your job as your old supervisor did.

I got to thinking about this subject while reading daily newspaper accounts of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that occupied headlines throughout Spring of 2010. Eleven oil platform workers lost their lives, and many more were injured in the accident leading to the environmental catastrophe, which is still being played out as I write this in mid-June.

So, everyone out there making more than $250,000 a year is going to end up subsidizing the rest of us who make less. Let’s pretend we can squeeze enough out of you folks alone to pay off our federal debt - just as it’s necessary to believe in Peter Pan if you want to visit Never Land. 

This article grows out of a task I’ve taken upon myself to help a good friend put together his résumé. My friend is the same age as I am, 63, which in itself presents a large challenge when it comes to finding new employment.

Hiring new employees is not something many of you had to concern yourselves with for the last couple of years. Most of you have been busier with the nasty task of laying off people for whom there was not enough work.

Everyone has heard the slogan, “The customer is always right.” And everyone who runs a business knows that it’s not true.

Everyone has heard the slogan, “The customer is always right.” And everyone who runs a business knows that it’s not true. Customers are often wrong. They complain about silly things, about things that are their own fault, about the cause of a problem and ways to fix it and, especially, about what it will cost to fix it to their satisfaction.