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Helping business owners grow their companies and transition with confidence, added value and complete control.
Tag Archives: employees
Can Your Small Business Survive Disaster?
Memorial Day weekend served up numerous reminders of the vulnerability of small businesses to disasters. Boardwalk vendors were reopening on the Jersey Shore and Coney Island. San Antonio was underwater, and a large portion of Moore, Oklahoma was swept away … Continue Reading
Is “Follow Your Passion” Really Bad Advice?
It’s graduation season, and honored guests clutching honorary degrees are speechifying at commencements all around the country. In a recent story on National Public Radio, quotes from celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey and Michael Bloomberg all included the same … Continue Reading
Posted in Business Perspectives, Economic Trends, John's Opinions, Technology
Tagged economy, employees, hiring, politics, small business advice
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Three Rules for Small Business
A few days ago a discussion on LinkedIn’s “Small Business Accelerator” group asked “What are the three things a small business owner should focus on?” As challenging as any business is, the basics remain the same for everyone. We provide goods or services, … Continue Reading
1,2,3 Red Light!
Last week I was a guest on Jim Blasingame’s Small Business Advocate show. The topic was a riff on my article of a couple of weeks ago about excising infectious employees. One of the issues that we discussed was identifying a … Continue Reading
Why Great Salespeople Make Lousy Sales Managers
It’s been said so many times that (at least I hope) it is a business axiom on the same level as “cash is king.” Promoting your best salesman to sales manager is guaranteed to cost you a great salesman and … Continue Reading
Happy Ostara: Owner Infallability
The origins of Easter are lost to history. I don’t mean the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, or even the Jewish holiday of Passover which it matches on the calendar. In fact, the name Easter is a derivative … Continue Reading
Cutting Out Employee Infection
A client found himself in an unenviable position. The cancer of negativity had spread through his management team. He knew the sources, and was prepared to clean house. Where should he start? First, some background. The company was a bootstrap … Continue Reading
Employee Investment Takes Time
Despite millions of dollars in revenue and expenses, an NBA team is a small business. A coach gets 15 positions (12 active and three reserve) with which to field a winning organization. As in any small business, every player has an important role. While some … Continue Reading
Productivity Declines: Does it matter?
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, as reported by Bloomberg, employee productivity dropped last quarter at a 2% annual rate. The common wisdom is that we have pushed an overstretched workforce as far as we can, but there could … Continue Reading
Leaner and Meaner (Part 4): Beating the Big Guys
If your small business depends on excellent employees, how can you attract and retain them against the resources of larger corporations? In our previous installments of this Leaner and Meaner series, we’ve talked about how the pressures of running a business today … Continue Reading
Leaner and Meaner (Part 3): Investing in Employees
Employees are free agents. As a business owner you wouldn’t sell your customers at a loss because in past years you made a profit. Neither should we expect employees to get better at their jobs without expecting compensation commensurate with their current … Continue Reading
Leaner and Meaner (Part 2): Retaining Good Employees
Last week we discussed the post-recession challenges that face business owners, and the economic and demographic shifts that mean we need to run our companies better than we ever have before. Between 2008 and 2010 many business owners faced a task they had … Continue Reading