Two sets of envelopes are on stage at all times. One PwC rep on one side of the stage and one on the other, each with the exact same set of envelopes. The rep who handed the envelope to Warren Beatty inadvertently gave him the unused envelope for the previous category, Actress In A Leading Role, which was Emma Stone for “La La Land.”

And what did Price Waterhouse Cooper do? They owned the mistake, almost immediately and without reservation.

A human error was made, the wrong envelope was given, and instead of looking to blame everyone else, PwC took ownership of the mistake immediately. This is called taking responsibility and the hallmark of outstanding leadership. It’s a great lesson for any company, but especially for small businesses.

No person and no company is perfect. Well all fail. We all make mistakes. We all fall short of client and consumer expectations. It’s the response of you and your company that makes the difference in your reputation and client retention. When you do not, or simply cannot, deliver what is expected, you owe it to yourself and to your client / consumer to own the shortcoming. It’s then up to you to provide the resolution up front and without reservation. Throwing the blame around to others will simply lead to frustration and ultimately loss of client / consumer support of your brand.

PwC went 83 Academy Awards without a major mistake. Yes there was a minor hiccup in 1964 but that was a music category and long before social media. Nobody is perfect. I sincerely hope The Academy retains the services of PwC and for the rest of you, use this as an outstanding example of how to handle a client shortcoming. Own your mistakes, learn from them and grow from them. Your reputation and business depend on it.

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Chamber Write-Up & Nomination

Biscardi Creative Media is a full service script to screen Creation Company at the forefront of creative media production. Emmy-award winning broadcast programming, episodics, commercials, feature films and industrial productions are some of the projects our storytellers bring to the screen every day. BCM clients range from local privately owned businesses to national and international studios and agencies.

Drawing on over 20 years of industry experience, Founder Walter Biscardi Jr., pulls together a creative team that has amassed every major award and traveled to every country in pursuit of a single goal. The story.

Biscardi Creative Media believes in being a community partner. The company serves as an advisory board committee member for Lanier High Schools’ Center for Design and Technology Program and industry advisor for Georgia Gwinnett College. Just in 2013, BCM donated it’s services to the Governor’s office, Gwinnett Economic Development, Gwinnett County Public Schools, The Gwinnett Coalition for Health and Human Services and the Buford Community Co-op.

Read at Gwinnett Chamber Webpage  [hr]

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.  Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.

The post Biscardi Creative Media Named January Small Business of the Month appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

Now about my business.  We’re in Buford, GA, 6 full time employees.  Very small company and I don’t offer group health insurance to my employees because it’s just not affordable.  I researched it earlier this year and for the money I was going to have shell out for a group plan, in the thousands plus employee contributions, it was not going to be a very useful plan for everyone.  Add to that some pre-existing conditions that were not going to be covered, well it didn’t make any sense to start subtracting pay from employees for sub-par or no coverage as much I really do want to help my employees with health care.

A few months ago I met up with an independent insurance agent who had become certified in the new Affordable Health Care Act Exchange and really seemed to know what he was talking about.   So I invited him to spend as much time as necessary with my staff to explain how the law works and then for those who were interested, to go ahead and look at the plans available.

Before I go any further, I cannot stress how strongly I recommend you meet with an insurance representative who understand the law and the Exchange.  There’s no way we could have gotten through everything today without his understanding.   You really need that helping hand to truly get the lowest rates and best coverage possible or to even be told, do not change what you have now.   Forget the news, forget your politicians, just get in front of someone who actually understands what the law is, how the Exchange works and show you what the plans truly will or will not cost.

He explained that if you do NOT want to change what you have right now, you can maintain the exact same plan from 2013 for one more year, with no changes.  Most insurance companies are not telling their customers this, they’re sending letters with a new 2014 policy that includes additional charges required by law, such as the addition of maternity care.  What they’re not tell you is that you can keep your 2013 policy through the end of 2014 unchanged, same rate, same coverage.  You need to read the letters carefully and this will expire very soon in December 2013 or discuss with an agent to confirm.

Plans through The Exchange on healthcare.gov may be eligible for a subsidy from the government.   Depending on income level, dependents and other factors, the government may kick in some or even all of your monthly premium (more on this shortly).  There’s also an opportunity for businesses to kick in to cover some or all of the employee monthly premiums and it turns into a tax credit for us.  This part really perked my interest because it essentially means I can “offer healthcare for my employees” but without the exorbitant group premiums. 

This basically works by my employees paying the premiums directly and then I reimburse them for the payments.   I can choose to pay as much or as little of the premium as I want per employee.  This is any healthcare plan that any of my employees is under so long as it’s a personal plan, not administered by another company, such as if their spouse has a plan through their company.   Such as one of my employees currently carries their own insurance plan, I can offer to pay part of the monthly premium by simply having them issue a reimbursement request each month.

I’m not going to go into all the details of what went on today because that would violate the privacy of my employees and their situations, but I can tell you that Quentin Moses spent the better part of 6 hours in our facility meeting with my employees individually.    Six hours, meeting one on one to listen to exactly what their situations and needs were and walking them through the plans and websites.  His knowledge and understanding of healthcare, the Exchange, the plans and everything to do with the Affordable Health Care Act was invaluable.  Two employees said there was just no way they would have figured out the plans without Quentin’s help.    He could really navigate the sites to truly find the best deals for each unique situation and especially explaining how the government subsidies could work via the plans on the Exchange.

The subsidies are set based on the information you enter and it’s a fixed number, it doesn’t change based on the plan.  So for example, based on everything entered, you are allowed a subsidy of $300/month.   Now as you look through the plans you’re free to choose anything knowing that the government will contribute $300/month towards your premiums.  Any plans $300 or under will be free to the customer.   Now above certain income levels, no subsidies are offered so then you’ll be more likely to look at plans outside of The Exchange.  What the law has really done there is leveled out the payment plans for Men and Women, companies can no longer charge more for women.  And it cut down the raise in premiums for people 50 and older from about 7 times higher to about 3 times higher.

And that’s what the law is truly all about.  Each healthcare plan is uniquely tailored to meet the specific needs of the insured both their income and health needs.  No cookie cutter, one size fits all group plan where some folks are overinsured and others are lacking for things they truly need.  Each plan is set up for what YOU need, not what someone else needs.  The removal of pre-existing conditions as an excuse to exclude someone is a welcome move indeed.

Quentin set up several employees with new plans right on the spot, getting them registered with healthcare.gov and confirmed into the plans.  Two of the employees were better off staying with what they had already.    Oh by the way, the website worked fine for the six hours he was in the office.

At the end of the day, if I want to pay the full premiums of all those who have individual health care now in my company it’d be about $800/month, total.  And these are Silver level plans for the most part, excellent plans.  That’s vs. a couple thousand per month just from me plus employee contribution for a Group Plan that wouldn’t be on par with the Silver plan AND would have excluded some people due to pre-existing conditions.   I’ll probably set up a structure for some sort of monthly healthcare allowance for the employees.

This is an incredible opportunity for a small company like mine.  Think about it, I can offer healthcare to my employees on par with the “big boys” and their ridiculously expensive Group Healthcare Plans but at a rate I can actually afford.  Each employee can get the healthcare THEY need tailored to their specific situation rather than being forced to get something they’ll never use or something that doesn’t cover something they really need.  Truly individual insurance and as a company, I can offer to help pay the premiums, leading to a tax benefit for me.  A deciding factor for many new employees is healthcare and now it can be a “checkbox” for any new employee.  It’s a win-win all around.

The time spent with Quentin today, removing all the politics and talking heads and everything that goes with it, brought so much clarity of what the law truly does and does not do. It doesn’t help everyone and in some cases, your premiums might go up.  But as an alternative to Group Plans, the Affordable Health Care Act is definitely where healthcare coverage should be moving.  Both for business affordability and individualized health care plans.

It’s time to forget the hype, scare tactics and willing misinformation from those who seem to hate the new law for no other reason than it was passed by President Barack Obama.  Find someone who knows what they are truly talking about and get the honest facts for yourself and your situation.  You owe it to yourself and if you have a company, your employees.   Everyone deserves to have quality healthcare and we finally have an opportunity to offer it.   I have to say this new law is not horrible at all, in fact it’s more like common sense to take care of your fellow American.

If you’re in the Atlanta area and would like to meet with Quentin Moses, I encourage you to visit www.insphereis.com/quentinmoses

For a comparison of the Individual plans vs. Group Health Insurance, here’s a great Blog Quentin forwarded to me.

Walter Biscardi, Jr., Founder Biscardi Creative Media

Gwinnett County, GA 2013 Small Business of the Year. (presented by the Gwinnett Chamber)

The post ObamaCare: Get the Truth. It’s a Winner for my Small Business appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that we’re really excited about our new facility construction project.   SunTrust Bank and the SBA have helped us finance this venture.   We’ve been banking with SunTrust for a number of years and if you saw the pictures of our Groundbreaking, you can see that our business banker joined us for the event.  She was very instrumental in getting the loan moved through the process.

Over the past two weeks we’ve been informed that we owe an additional $XX,000 towards the project due to an omission during the loan closing.  At first that number was double what we’re told now, but we’re utterly confused at this point how we owe this additional money.

Here’s the facts:

At Closing we were walked through the process by a lawyer chosen by the bank.

At Closing we were told to pay a specific amount to close the loan.

According to the Loan Closing Statement, this amount included $XX,000 of closing costs.

At Closing nobody disclosed verbally, or pointed us to any verbage in the documents stating that we would owe an additional $XX,000 when it came time for our first Draw against the loan. (When you do a construction loan, the bank does not just give you the money.  They hold it and you make a draw periodically to pay contractors as they complete the work.)

Our business banker was present at the closing as was the SBA representative.  Neither made any sort of a disclosure about additional monies being required in the future.

Two weeks ago we were informed that we now owe an additional $XX,000 towards the project.  As I said earlier, at first the amount was double what we’re being told now.

As of today, my banker has told me we are going to have to pay this additional money.  Even though it was not disclosed properly at the time of closing.

At first she told me it was for additional closing fees like Appraisal, Environment Review and other fees.  I told her those are shown as part of the Closing Costs we paid at the time of closing.   Then I was told it’s actually additional fees that are required for the building project.   So I’m not exactly sure what this additional $XX,000 is going to pay for, I’ve been told multiple things.

It’s possible this information is buried somewhere in the pages we signed, but if any of you have ever had a house closing, you know you can’t really read all the paperwork because you’ll be there for days.   The lawyer hands you a sheet, gives you the overview of what you are signing, and you sign.

I have informed our banker that of right now, will be pulling our accounts from the bank if not tomorrow, then by next week.

See the way I do business is that if I make a mistake, and I neglected to tell the client something, that’s my fault. If I make an error in a budget, that’s my fault and I correct it.  I eat the costs, I make more copies, I fix the graphic, overnight new masters….. whatever the problem was, if it was created by me or my company, it’s corrected for the client.  I do NOT go back to the client after a mistake has been made and ask for additional payment.  Certainly not a 5 figure payment.   What client in their right mind would return for business after a request like that?

For me it’s ethics.  Your word is your word.  You stand by your customer and take care of them so they will want to come back again and recommend you to others.     The bank failed us and as a result, they broke their word.   Time to move on.

AUGUST 19 UPDATE

Well we had a phone call with the Lawyer who handled the closing and my banker and now it’s being deemed a “misunderstanding.”  The “misunderstanding” is that SunTrust never gave us our paperwork in advance so we could review the closing documents and the Lawyer made a mistake at the closing.  Forgive me, she made a “misunderstanding” at the closing.   So the lawyer and the bank are “graciously” giving us back our closing fees to help “make this right.”   That will be a 5 figure amount, but won’t cover the whole thing.  We still have to give up four figures in closing costs.  The lawyer assured me this is a great “good faith gesture and I’ve never heard of a bank giving up its closing fees before.”   Statements like that just ring hollow.

So over the course of three weeks we’ve been given multiple explanations as to the reasons why and where the money is supposed to go.  None of the explanations make any sense, nor do they match.  Now today we got the first draw request sort of kind of squared away and not surprisingly, we’re now left with a shortfall for the entire loan.   I.E. anything above that amount we have to pay out of pocket.   I wish I could share some of this paperwork online because the math and all the numbers change on an almost daily basis with SunTrust.  And by now we’re so confused with everything going on, nothing at all even remotely matches the paperwork we signed.

We’ve purchased three homes personally, have had quite a few business loans and lines of credit and have never, EVER seen this level of failure from a bank.  As I said previously, what client in their right mind would return for business after being treated like this?   Not this one.

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