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MeetTheExpert

How do you define success?

Not by money. I think money is a scorecard you can use in
life to say you want to make a certain amount of dollars to
signify that you're relatively successful in your business
career. But I have a great wife and three great kids. I
think success is much more important on your family
side. I know a lot of very financially rich people who are
miserable.

What inspired you to transition from being an
investment banker on Wall Street to become an
entrepreneur?

When I was at Lehman in 1988, I worked 80 to 100 hours a
week and got into business school. I decided that I didn't
want to be a corporate person; I wanted to be my own
person and be an entrepreneur. Having a finance degree
was a good background. Through a family friend, I heard
of the payments industry, which I was unfamiliar with.
Jeff Shavitz I did homework for about a year or so and hired some
consultants to teach me the business. I then founded an
ISO called Charge Card Systems Inc.

ntrepreneur and former Street Smarts author
SM
Jeff Shavitz owns four companies. LexCharge What are the biggest challenges for
maintains his strong ties with the payments entrepreneurs in small businesses today?
E industry, providing transaction processing for
law firms. His other ventures, TrafficJamming LLC,
Clickit Golf Inc. and Jack Daly Training, have expanded I think the biggest challenge is that entrepreneurs work
his influence into new spheres. In this interview, Shavitz in their business but not on their business. Most business
discusses how he maintains a healthy work-life balance, owners come in and put out fires every day, but they don't
how he became a best-selling author on Amazon and how have a strategic vision. They may say they do, but they
success is not always defined by the amount of money really don't. They are living in the moment.
you have.
Many small business owners are also scared to invest in
the right talent to grow their company. They often don't
How have you been able to even do the proper assessments to see if the person is
achieve work-life balance? right for a particular job. An employee might be a great
person but may be in the wrong job within the company,
causing that person to fail. An assessment test could have
I try to have an outline the night before of what I want to easily shown that the person should have been, say, in
get done the next day. I also work really hard from 8:30 marketing instead of accounting.
a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and don't check emails or phone calls. I
just aim to do real work and be extremely productive. If I
can work hard for three or four hours, then the rest of the What inspired you to join The Green Sheet
day is fun; it's just making phone calls. advisory board?

And really, what's hard about what we do for work? We
just sit on the phone and at our computers. It's not that In everything I'm involved in, I always want to be a part
difficult. It's not like we're farmers; that's real labor. If I of the leadership. The Green Sheet is the trade journal of the
can focus just for a couple of hours to divide and conquer payment processing industry, and I want to be a leader,
and then collaborate with good management teams, that contribute, give back and learn from the community. I want
is what makes it work. to meet other high-achieving people, share my thoughts
and learn from others. I find that very meaningful.

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