Work Hard and Rest!

“But you might as well bid a man struggling in the water, rest within arm's length of the shore! I must reach it first, and then I'll rest.” 
― Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

We are almost there, a couple of days of rest are just ahead of us. It has been a great year and I know you, like the rest of us, have been working hard. We are all within an arms reach of some much needed rest.

But, the holidays can be busy. They can fill your days with parties, presents, and places to go. Here are some tips to get some true rest over this Christmas Season.

1. Set aside 24 hours
Schedule a 24 hour period in your calendar over this Christmas and new years season in which you have nothing to do. Guard that time like a kid over a bowl of Ice Cream. That day should be used for rest. Do not do anything that remotely resembles work.

2. Turn the Gadgets Off
Though time in front of the TV, computer, or tablet may feel like rest. Science has actually proven that it takes a large amount of brain activity to decode all the information that these gadgets put out. In fact your brain continues to process hours after you stop looking at these devices. Every once in a while, turn them off.

3. Spend time with people that energize you
There are people in our lives that take energy and those that give energy. I would recommend scheduling some time with those people that refresh you. Extended family and parties can be draining, find some time to spend with people that lift you up.

4. Find Peace
As Dave Ramsey says "True peace can only be found in the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ." If you are a believer enjoy this Christmas season and thank God for the gifts he has given you. If you have not thought much about faith or God lately I would encourage you to explore Christ in Christmas, maybe you will find a peace beyond what you have experienced in the past.

Enjoy this Christmas Season, and Get some Rest

- Chris Reinhard

Don't React, Respond!

Life is full of surprises, that is one thing that should not surprise us. So how do you deal when surprises hit. I was sitting at the hospital the other morning with the family of a long time friend. He was headed into surgery. As I was talking with his father, former president of a major utility contractor, he let me in on one of his business secrets. Don't React, Respond.

There are days where it feels like all I am doing is reacting to the things that come up. So what is the difference? Reacting is emotional, rushed, and many times leaves us worse off than we were before. Responding is taking a step back, getting a new perspective, and thinking a few moves ahead in the game. Our natural reaction is to react, we need to recognize it, take a step back and learn to respond.

Do you spend your day reacting to your business and customers or responding to your business and customers?

-Chris Reinhard

It's Just Like Golf

Mistakes! Mistakes are going to happen, and it hurts when they do. As business owners it costs us money, as managers it slows down production, as employees it makes us feel incompetent. But we need to learn to treat mistakes in business just like we treat them on the Golf course.

Mistakes in business are just like mistakes in Golf.  I make bad shots and I don’t like making bad shots. When golfing, all it takes is one bad shot to ruin a hole, one bad hole to ruin a round and a bad round to ruin the day, etc.... How do you stop that, treat a bad shot for what it is, one bad shot. After a bad shot that puts me in a bad position, I get frustrated and always want to make the hero shot to make up for it. Normally it puts me in a worse position, which causes me to get more frustrated, which leads to another bad shot.

My grandfather on the other hand, will take out his pitching wedge and chip the ball out of the hazard and back into the center of fairway, continuing on like nothing happened. He is 83 years old and still beats me most days on the course.

When we make a mistake in business, don’t try to take the hero shot. Take out your pitching wedge, chip the ball back into the center of fairway and continue the game. Don’t let one bad shot, turn into a bad hole and ruin a great game.

-Chris Reinhard

There are 3 C's in Life

There are 3 C’s in life: Choices, Chances and Changes. You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change.

– Steve Gladen

I have also heard it said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. What things in your life or business do you need to take a chance on? What things have you been hoping will change? What have you done to bring change to those things? If things are going well, keep doing what you are doing.  But, if you want to see change, make the choice to take a chance. Who knows what kind of amazing journey it may take you on?

For some great business inspiration and ideas check out Inc. Magazine. I have been reading it for a while and it is awesome.

www.inc.com

Chris Reinhard

Chris Paul Consulting

The Premier Glass Story

On the way home from Vacation in September 2011 Chris got the call. The call that IGP was closing it's doors for good. As Chris his wife and 2 kids continued the drive home, they began to talk about what was next. Knowing that God would provide for them and open doors, they were not worried but definitely curious.  

Within a couple of hours of getting the call that the company was closing, customers began to call Chris as well. Many of them were wondering what they were going to do now that IGP was gone. This got Chris thinking. This was the beginning of Premier Glass Products. Within just a matter of days deals were beginning to be made, Dougie and Nancy came on board, and three weeks later Premier Glass Products opened it's doors.
We all desired to open a shop that was a little different than the others that were out there. In a sense we wanted to carry on the legacy of IGP. We wanted a business that cared about their customers success. One that was focused on Quality over quantity, a place you could go when you could not find it anywhere else. I hope that we are living up to that standard, and we will continue to refine that so that we are the best in the business. 

Chris Reinhard

Chris Paul Consulting

Technology in Business

“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. “

-Bill Gates 

Sometimes I wonder what people did all day when they only had pen and paper on their desk. I love technology, but we must make sure that we are using technology and avoid it using us. It is very easy to spend our day reacting to the technology around us, instead of proactively scheduling our time. I am not saying tech is bad it would be a little tough to deliver all of our glass via horse and buggy. Technology can be beneficial for the small business owner or office manager.

Some of the ways we use Tech at Premier:

·         Completely digital filing system (no hard copies)

·         Cloud Based phone system (No Land Lines, no pbx)

·         Digital Fax (Computer Based)

·         Mobile/Remote Office

·         Remote Printing

·         Cloud Based Accounting Software

·         Mobile Access to all invoices, faxes, filing cabinets and customer accounts (from cell 

phone or tablet)

·         Computer Pricing calculators

·         Delivery Route Optimization

·         Online Banking

·         Online Pricing Calculator

·         Online Pattern Gallery  

If you ever have any questions about using technology to enhance business feel free to ask, I love this stuff.

Chris Reinhard

President

Dream Big

We are currently not planning on conquering the world. – Sergey Brin

Planning to conquer the world may be a little ambitious, but does mean that we can’t dream big. Do you take time to dream about what your business could be, and how you can get it there?

There is plenty of time and effort put into reality, make sure you set time aside to dream about what could be.

If you could wave a magic wand and make your business whatever you wanted, what would it look like?

Chris Reinhard

Home Runs

Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games. – Babe Ruth

What a great quote from one of baseball’s greatest.  But it applies to all areas of life including business. Do we swing for the fences everyday or do you take a break because of yesterday’s success. Don’t get me wrong, rest is good. But when we get back in the game, swing for the fences.

Chris Reinhard

President