Do you work with someone with a Scrooge mentality?

Yesterday I was finally able to identify my client’s problem with growing her business; her not so ‘silent’ business partner is a miser.

What the heck is a miser?

You don’t encounter as many these days, but I am sure you’re familiar with the character Ebenezer Scrooge?

He was a quintessential miser or ‘penny pincher.’

So how is he sabotaging her business?

1. Always fixated with cutting and capping expenses
2. Resists investment in growth or development
3. Views employees as necessary costs, not valued assets
4. Always suspicious and paranoid about being taken advantage of

The way I was finally able to identify this mindset issue is that since working with my client, she has doubled her revenue, pretty good, hey?

Not according to her Scrooge business partner who complained about her spending money on a business coach.

And that's just the point when you have a miser mentality or have ‘Scrooge Syndrome’; you always feel poor no matter how much money you make.

It saddens me that all the financial gains that she has made in the business since working with me have been banked and little re-invested.

The focus on saving instead of improving the business has kept her like a mouse on a wheel, and she now feels burnout with no reward.

Since little has been re-invested, her employees are disengaged and feel unappreciated, and Mr. Scrooge is now complaining about their work ethic.

Also, a potential business partner who would have provided excellent support and has a much-needed talent for marketing is re-thinking joining the partnership.

It is unfortunate, and what's worse until now, she has not been able to see the damage her business partner has done to her business.

Of course, Scrooge syndrome has nothing to do with money and everything to do with a feeling of the need to hoard and control.

This could be due to a feeling of lack, but quite interestingly, psychologists have also linked it with early childhood toilet training.

It could also be a sign of something more serious such as a personality disorder.

I highlight this case because many businesses have had to cut overheads, which can feel awful, not just for the employees but also for morale.

However, miserliness has nothing to do with money and everything to do with the mindset and the way you make employees feel.

I had to slash overheads in my business in the GFC, and my staff lost a lot of comforts and took a small pay cut.

To compensate I worked alongside them, had them over to my place for BBQ’s and did everything in my power to make them feel valued and appreciated.

It was funny that many viewed the GFC as the happiest time of their working career despite the ‘lack’.

The second reason I highlight this case is to show how much damage can be done to a business when you have a Scrooge mindset, there is a huge difference between being careful with money and being miserly.

My advice to my client will be kind but direct; she needs autonomy in her business to run it in a financially healthy but sustainable way with a focus on growth.

Do you work with or know someone with Scrooge Syndrome?

How has it impacted on you and their business?