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Helping business owners grow their companies and transition with confidence, added value and complete control.
Tag Archives: employees
What a Customer Needs May Not Be What He Wants
The owner of an IT services company recently presented his new reporting system to his peer board. They had provided substantial input as to what they, as customers, would want to see from their technology provider. Per their advice, he provided … Continue Reading
Posted in Customer Relations, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Sales
Tagged employees, marketing, sales, sales management, small business advice
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Holiday Terminations: It’s Not “Just Business.”
Yesterday, I received a comment from a woman on my column from 2012, “Holiday Terminations: Scrooge or Chicken?”. She had been unexpectedly terminated from her position, and said in part “Employee termination during the holidays is an act of spiritual … Continue Reading
The Secret to Growing a $1 million company by 5X
In my work with hundreds of small business owners, I’ve noticed that there are two “danger zones” where an owner may, consciously or unconsciously, prevent his or her company from growing any further. The first zone lies at about $1 … Continue Reading
When Employee Incentives Don’t Work
My definition of an incentive is variable compensation designed to encourage specific behavior. The challenge is to make sure that behavior is really something you want to encourage. A home building company bonuses purchasing managers based on their ability to reduce … Continue Reading
Wageflation and the Talent Wars
Why are so many employers complaining about the availability of talented workers and the cost of hiring them? Government statistics indicate that real, inflation-adjusted wages are now below 1986 levels. In 2012, the Federal Reserve tracked both an all time … Continue Reading
Posted in Customer Relations, Economic Trends, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Managing Employees, Strategy and Planning
Tagged Baby Boomers, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, economy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurship, leadership, management, public relations, small business, small business advice
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My Interview with Bob Morris: Part II
Robert Morris is the number one reviewer of business books for Amazon.com. A few weeks ago he posted a great review of Hunting in a Farmer’s World, and asked if he could interview me. Bob’s questions were really fun, and the interview … Continue Reading
You Shouldn’t be Your Own Second in Command
Business owners are accustomed to wearing many hats, and many don’t have the financial resources or personnel to field a full management team. The owner winds up wearing one or more functional hats in addition to that of the CEO. If you have … Continue Reading
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Managing Employees, Strategy and Planning
Tagged business ownership, business planning, business strategy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, leadership, management, sales management, small business, small business advice
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Meetings Part V: “That’s a Wrap!”
You’ve just run a great meeting, or at least you thought it was great. You stuck to the agenda and got through all the items on it. You reached consensus on action items, and have assigned responsibility with acknowledgement for each … Continue Reading
Meetings Part IV: Action!
Meetings are for the sole purpose of making decisions. Sharing information is important, but there are many far more efficient and cost effective ways to do it. As an aside, unnecessary meetings are frequently excused by “But if I send a … Continue Reading
Meetings Part III: The Meat of the Meet
We will presume that you’ve started your meeting with the proper preparation, as discussed in last week’s column. Now it is time to get into the business of the meeting, the meat of the meet as it were. This week, we will … Continue Reading
Tell Me What I Want to Hear
Those of us who are Hunters tend to be in a hurry. Hunters are linear; we move from objective to objective in as close to a straight line (allowing for our ADD “squirrels”) as we can. The completion of any … Continue Reading
Business Owners are Glubricants
Utility Infielder, Jack-of-All-Trades, Mr. Fixit, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer, Know-It-All, Do-It-All, Swiss Army Knife, Center of the Universe. There are many ways to describe the myriad business roles filled by the owner of a small business. Here’s another. The … Continue Reading