What?

@etu001 ... what he said! This is part of Ben's new series: "Two Sentence Tidbits of Advice"

Ok. Thanks, as I had forgotten why I get up everyday and go to work. It was in fact to make money.

This should be filed under the tag "Mr. Obvious."

Is this missing a link or something? I don't understand the point of this post.

Is the Consumerist now employing Ric Romero?

@courtarro:
If that is true, then I am walking away from this blog like so many deadbeat homeowners did to their mortgages.

LOL. Useless post is useless.

And now, more Deep Thoughts from Jack Handy....

Personally I see it as a commentary on the mentality surrounding what all the CEOs of the failed financial institutions are all saying.

Essentially "It seemed like a good way to make money." and that being (in their eyes) an acceptable reason for the risks they took.

I guess we're violating the comment code by not emailing Mr. Popken to let him know he's high.

This explains the mentality of most of the MBA programs these days. Nothing else matters but making money. Keeping customers happy, who cares as long as it isn't preventing a large amount of cash from coming in. This is why you get such crappy customer service. Companies with this newer business school mentality see customer service as wasted money knowing that enough people will accept being treated like crap and still hand over their money. This goes for grossly inflating the cost of something if they have a captive audience. I think there are a few big businesses out there that would sell you tainted food and drugs if they were sure they would not be caught or only minorly punished as long as it didn't drastically hurt sales. Some businesses don't even have that much forsight. There are businesses that go under because of some major public infraction like tainted hamburger took down a meat processor.

@bohemian: Exactly the point I was trying to make, but made far better :)

@TakingItSeriously: In that I mean that you made the point better than I did ... sheesh I need more coffee.

Losing money makes sense when it's a short-term loss that will get more than made up for by future profit - establishing a new brand, or wiping out a competitor.

But business also involves risk, and more likely a company loses money because a risk they took didn't pay off the way they thought. That's part of business - if you want to make money, you have to take risk, and sometimes you lose money. Usually the risk and potential profit coincide.

@BustedWheel: I am kind of wondering if Ben is trying to destroy the blog out of spite against gawker... not really sure what's been going on lately

@nataku83:

That this post is on the top bar may be further evidence.

Value first, money follows.

Technically speaking business is about making money for the shareholders. So losing money is only okay if the shareholder get a return on their investment.

@nataku83: Driving down it's value to make it more attractive for potential buyers?

@sir_eccles:
Actually, business school taught me that I shouldn't really give a rat's ass about shareholders - they are a tertiary market and I got their money when I issued the stock. If they don't like it, they can sell to somebody else.

I really don't care so much about the stock price because - as long as I'm one of the 'best of breed'- my stock will be purchased by someone. If I don't like the results of any analysis that affects stock price, I simply change my accounting methodology and insert a footnote.

I care about my lenders because I can write off the interest. I care about my lawyers because it is they who play with other lawyers to get me compensation.

I don't need to care about customer aftercare, because I have a certificate that states every process has gone through an audit which proclaims all products and services to be 99.999% error free.

I don't focus on customer service because it is not a core competency. Somebody else can do that better and cheaper while I focus on my core. I have a narrow core, BTW.

@sir_eccles: Yes, but if you only concentrate on the shareholders, you drive down customer service, product quality, and employee morale. And doing well at these things ensures the health of a business in the long run. When you only look at this quarter's bottom line, you will run the company into the ground.

This sounds like one of those prompts where it asks "Agree or disagree? Support your answer."

Maybe he's just using our responses to write a paper for him...

where oh where did the quality of this site go. I think Ben left it on the NBC nightly news....

Thanks for the advice. Can I go now?

@sinfonian94: Sounds familiar doesn't it :-)

OK, don't take this the wrong way, but - Ben, what the fuck is this garbage?

slow news day I guess.

If you think this post makes sense, then you haven't been reading or commenting on any of the other Consumerist stories lately. The Goal of a business is to make money. Now go back and read the comments for the past month and figure out how many people just don't understand this.

Everybody knows the secret to business:

1. Collect Underpants
2. ??????????
3. Profit.

Pretty simple if you ask me.

"Paging Nick Denton....Paging Nick Denton. Please pick up the "right Consumerist post"

@etu001: I like it.

Talk amongst yahselves. Heah's a tahpic. Tha Holy Roman Empiah was neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empiah. Discuss.

@janetcarol: Man Jack Handey just isn't the same these days...

@TakingItSeriously:
actually, this describes the automotive bailout quite well...
(pardon my possible language and abrasive attitude during this post)

You have some people that start a company many years back, and make a LOT of money after a small amount of time(Ford, GM, Chrysler), the business goes very strong until just recently.

These idiots decide that the best thing to do to offset the bad economy is to continue doing what has worked in the past... don't change shit, and even close a plant or two. Well, a few years pass, they continue to hemorrhage money, and the shareholders/stakeholders in their respective companies start to get VERY upset as to the way business is being run.

The ass holes in charge decide that "hey, perhaps if we start making hybrids, people will continue buying our cars," which is a great idea. But then Ford, who is also contriving to this plan and course of action, decides to one up (read, completely screw the whole idea), by producing nonsensical hybrids: enter the Ford Escape Hybrid. Wow, now you have a SUV that gets the same MPG as many cars, and don't fix the problem at all, GREAT GOING.

Fast forward to the very recent past, these companies decide "hey, these banks are getting all kinds of money from making bad decisions, why not us?." In Ford's defense, they are not looking for handouts as much as the other two, only saying that they will ask if it is absolutely required after all their attempts to stop the bleeding of money.

The idiot CEO's of these companies decide to beg for mercy by flying out to Washington DC on their private jets to beg for money, saying that their companies are already in the toilet, and are circling the drain as we speak (notice: PRIVATE jets).

Consumer outrage that they would come begging for our money in private jets, show that you are hurting. You would be pissed off if some guy came to your house asking for money with his driver and rolls royce phantom waiting outside.

Much to the chagrin of the populace, it easily passes.

Thus the lesson that you don't need to worry about making money to make money in this country.

This economy sucks, my business is doing horrible, and you have these god damn bottom-feeders stealing my tax dollars to fund their bad business model.

Screw you America, you are not for the people, you are against them. If the founders were still around, they would be embarrassed of what America has become.

It is what all the ceo's yak about while getting ready to play another round of golf at the country club (which their companies pay memberships for)...

@bohemian: well, making money is the point of business. Sacrificing customer service for money is a bad thing, yes. But the belief that the customer is always right is the wrong approach. If a customer is having a temper tantrum about something that is not our fault/problem, I will try to help him, but I will not baby him and let him have his way.

Customer service at the expense of a sound business model is a bad methodology in business. I refuse to treat the customer as a god in my business. If they are being unreasonable fools, I will inform them of this; and if they continue, I will ask them to get out of my office and come back when they come to their senses.

I will not drive my business into the ground just because a few customers feel entitled to something that everyone else is not getting.

Granted, this is not to say that I will be an ass about it, I will always be courteous and treat them with respect, as well as always try to resolve any problems that I can. But, I will not sacrifice my bottom line - taking money out of my own pocket, and food off my table - on unreasonable demands or expectations from even my biggest client.

@madanthony: Indeed, this is the case, as the old saying goes: it costs money to make money.

But there is also a big difference between making a wrong decision and making a bad decision. I feel sorry for people that make wrong decisions and end up hurting their business because of it. But those that do not do their due diligence, and make sure that it is a viable business decision before making it, are setting themselves up to fail, and deserve no pity.

Losing money on a deal that you were rather sure would pay off because of much research is one thing, but losing money because of some gamble that you did not even rationally think about is completely different.

@Joey_Brill: great answer, could not have said it any better myself. Business is for the customer, yes, but the focus of your business should be the product or service you provide, not catering to the customers every whim.

I think Ben raises a good point. One of the behind-the-scenes reasons for our current economic mess is exactly this kind of thinking - shortsighted, goal-driven, close-of-the-fiscal-quarter numbers are all that matters. Move on before the consequences come home to roost, and brag on your illusory success while someone else ends up having to clean up your mess. (That would be me.)

This goes hand-in-hand with another phenomenon I've watched develop over the years. Someone blows it bigtime - you'd think they would be canned and maybe even held liable. But no. They go in to the bosses, give 'em a "lessons learned" spiel, and end up promoted instead. This is how the scum rises to the top, while the rest of us have to work twice as hard to make up for the incompetency of those above us.

My successes are genuine, but they don't look like much because I never get the job until someone blows the "lessons learned" and leaves a huge mess in their wake. Just getting things back to normal is a monumental task in such a situation, but is NEVER recognized - in fact it's usually not even enough. The bosses expect you to not only clean up the mess but also make good on all of the unrealistic promises your predecessor made, whether you are aware of them or not.

Ben's not the one who's high, our current crop of business "leaders" are high. They need to go before our economy can grow again.

I think there was supposed to be more text and a link to a source. Initially the article wouldn't even open properly.

@Joey_Brill: Narrow, or hollow?

@absentmindedjwc: Unless your business is catering to your customer's every whim.

@No_Pants:

LOL ... That's exactly what I was thinking!

@opsomath:

He did it to make money, so it's okay.

I thought the secret had something to do with Michael J. Fox!

@Keter: You got all that out of two sentences? Your literature teachers must have LOVED you in school.

@SomeoneGNU:
Good thing I read the other comments first. I had the exact same thought. It's surprising how many people don't know who Ric Romero is.

[en.wikipedia.org]

@drdom: and why is that surprising? he's news reporter in LA. why would care about him if i'm in Chicago? sure, he regularly reports on things that are patently obvious to most everyone and managed break the "story" on blogging, but that doesn't make him a household name.