I often ask people what they want to achieve in their business. Much of the time, they really don’t know. I ask questions relating to the sales volume of their industry, the volume they want to achieve, the market share increase they seek, and what they are doing, or willing to do to reach those things. It gets me a lot of blank stares and long pauses on phone lines. This is because they really don’t know.

Many companies don’t have goals, or even the right information to understand what goals are achievable at a given level of marketing effort. They don’t know what it will require to get the results they want, and many times they are entirely shut off to finding out the frightening truth of where they are and where they are headed. When this is the case, they simply do not have all the pieces of marketing math and science in place to make good decisions that will optimize their success.

Have you heard the latest message of doom? Did you listen to it and soak it all in? The recession we have all talked about is not over, and there are a lot of very bright people saying that it is about to get a whole lot worse.

If you own, manage, or work for a company with under 500 employees, please pay attention. If you want to avoid economic apocalypse, I welcome you, too.

I have some words for you that I believe you really need to hear. I may not tell it just right, but I believe very strongly in what I am going to share with you. If you are too busy to read this, at least push the play button and listen to the audio version.

There is a mentality which some people and companies have about mixing personal and business relationships that paints an unfavorable picture of this combination. Mixing business and personal life has frequently been viewed as a mistake for businesspeople. The problem is that “businesspeople”, and even the term itself, implies something other than “people”.

Who do you do business with? If you encounter somebody in a given business setting who is less than personal toward you, do you look for somebody else who will appreciate your business more? I do, because I like to do business with people I like, and trust … and who like and/or respect me, too. An impersonal approach is personally appalling to me, and I think it fails at all levels.

Prices don’t get in the way, because if I don’t like somebody, I will walk away even if they are offering a huge discount. Even product quality takes a back seat to trust and comfort in my purchase decisions. The numbers show me that I am not alone with this, and that millions of people feel the same way.

Think about your worst times in your career. You were probably stressed by a lot of little things that seemed bigger than they really were, and perhaps some really big challenges, too. Deadlines, coworkers, health, family, finances, and other stressful issues can make it feel like everything is spiraling out of control. Some challenges can be used to build a company stronger, but it is far more common that they become destructive.

I am going to give you a bit of information that you can email to your boss with confidence, tweet on Twitter, “Like” on Facebook, and best of all … you can blame me for being the one who gave your boss this uncommon piece of common sense.

Is there a solution? I have found through more than two decades in business for myself, and from consulting with many businesses, the majority of business challenges can be improved with more money. That could mean hiring a better accountant, bringing in a strategist, improved inventory and purchasing capability, or having the right equipment to do the job at hand. The list of enhancements is long, but let’s just say that money can bring about a lot of improvements in a company.

One of the greatest improvements to a business comes from the quality of life of the people who make the business what it is. You cannot separate the people from the business, and if you try, you will fail!

Take just a moment and reflect on how your job evolved. Whether you are a business owner, manager, or just working your way up the totem pole, look at your career in a snapshot. It is uncommon for a career to move smoothly along its initial planned path, from start to finish. A business entity is no different in this respect.

Companies change a lot over time, and if the business evolution is just right, people are happy. The world is perfect, and you can look out your window to see pink unicorns kissing adorable puppies on the forehead. Business evolution should always be so perfect, but then the human resources department would have the additional job of giving out hugs instead of layoff notices; accounts payable would cheerfully add a bonus for the utility company; and the accounts receivable department would send chocolates with every delinquency notice.

Since it is usually not perfect, many disheartened business people will give up managing the evolution of their company and cruise along like a crash test dummy waiting for the impact.