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Helping business owners grow their companies and transition with confidence, added value and complete control.
Tag Archives: small business
What are We Afraid Of?
Last weekend I took my sons to see “Battle for LA.” It’s a WWII infantry movie. All the great lines. “Go on without me.” “Mickey can hot wire that; he’s from Jersey.” “Your father was a very brave man.” Nowadays … Continue Reading
Posted in Business Perspectives, John's Opinions, Leadership
Tagged banks, entrepreneurship, politics, small business
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The Psychology of Fresh Paint
A bit more remains to be said about business owners who are gun shy about doing things in anticipation of an economic recovery. An owner mentioned to me the other day that he wanted to redecorate his conference room and purchase … Continue Reading
Posted in Marketing and Sales
Tagged business ownership, employees, leadership, small business
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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
Why a Coach?
I had a special session with my business coach yesterday. That’s unusual. Typically we meet just once a month to cover my goals and objectives, and see if I am on track. This time we met for the specific purpose … Continue Reading
Instant, perfectly targeted marketing.
I’m finalizing my speaker panel for our Fall seminar series. This season we are concentrating on marketing and sales. The recession is over, but no one can feel the “recovery.” If you are waiting for things to be busy again, you … Continue Reading
Posted in Marketing, Marketing and Sales, Technology
Tagged marketing, small business, small business advice
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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
I Guess I are One…Finally!
I just read Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers.” Like The Tipping Point and Blink before it, he gives a very readable and fresh insight into things you thought you knew, or kind of thought you knew but never really applied logic to, … Continue Reading
If You are a Victim; You are Guilty.
Let’s say you own a small Italian Restaurant. Fifteen tables. Pasta, Pizza, beer and wine. Not really a white tablecloth place. More like plastic red and white check tablecloths with Chianti bottles and drippy candles. On a good Saturday night … Continue Reading
Posted in Politics and Regulation, Technology
Tagged business ownership, credit cards, health, small business, small business advice
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Small Business Goes Global
I know that the business press has described the Internet based global marketplace for a decade now. Certainly I have any number of clients who’ve seen their small businesses impacted by a customer’s ability to search the globe for competitive … 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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