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Helping business owners grow their companies and transition with confidence, added value and complete control.
Tag Archives: management
The Peter Principle Goes All the Way Down
Every small business, if it is to be successful, needs a competent Second In Command (SIC). In many companies that position is held by dint of tenure or loyalty as opposed to pure ability. When we see a key employee … Continue Reading
Posted in Leadership, Managing Employees
Tagged business ownership, business planning, employees, leadership, management
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Does the Economy Affect Your Business?
I love this quote from Paul Krugman in a breakfast speech a few weeks ago. “The Financial Industry rolled along extending credit to everyone, until they had their Wiley Coyote moment. You know how that works. Wiley Coyote runs off … Continue Reading
Employee Incentives that Work
After four blogs on the long term motivations for running a business, perhaps it is time to return to some more practical advice. One of the most persistent issues for a business owner is trying to motivate employees with incentives. You install … Continue Reading
Posted in Incentives, Managing Employees
Tagged business ownership, employees, leadership, management, sales, small business advice
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Why is San Antonio Bucking the Trend?
The national economy is recovering, but it has a long way to go. Residential and commercial foreclosures, consumer debt levels, and bloated public pensions will take some time to correct. Yet San Antonio has been named as one of the … Continue Reading
Posted in Economic Trends, Strategy and Planning
Tagged business strategy, economy, leadership, management, trade
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Losing Your Mind
All of us who are business owners know how tough it is to run a business. Most of us have long ago gotten past the ego part of owning a company. Sometimes I’m really surprised at how that affects folks … Continue Reading
Hunters and Farmers
Several times monthly, I interview entrepreneurs who are considering membership in The Alternative Board® as a means to improve their business. Part of the process is asking each one what his or her core skills are – the things that … Continue Reading
Off to Planet Ten!
I confess to being a fan of really, really good “B” movies. What is a good, bad movie? It’s one that knows it’s a bad movie, and lets the audience know that it knows. I haven’t seen it, but Piranha … Continue Reading
Whose fault is it?
In small business, we tend to give out titles with aplomb. You can be a manager. You’re a director. You are a vice president. When there are few levels to differentiate between, it seems meaningless to attach a lot of … Continue Reading
Mission, Vision and Values: Weighing in on the Definition War
The other day during a continuing education class, the old argument came up again. “These are the kind of things that belong in a company’s Vision Statement,” the instructor said. “I thought they were Mission Statement kind of things,” replied … Continue Reading
A Goal isn’t a Finish Line
I was going over some productivity numbers with a long term client. “Remember when our goal for this was 2000 man hours?” he said. “Now we are below 1200, and closing in on 1100, and with greater volume!” Everywhere we … Continue Reading
No! No! Bad employee! No!
A very successful plaintiff’s attorney once told me that there were two keys to getting a settlement in a class action product liability suit. The first was to find the smoking gun. Somewhere, an employee had told someone not to … Continue Reading
Posted in Leadership, Managing Employees
Tagged business ownership, employees, management, small business, small business advice
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Accountability vs. Guilt
While discussing oil rig disaster in the Golf Of Mexico the other day a friend exclaimed “Someone needs to go to jail for this!” While I understand his anger about the massive economic and environmental damage involved, his comment illustrates … Continue Reading