Category Archives: John’s Opinions

A New Tax

I dislike taxes as much as anyone. I have a copy of Davey Crockett’s speech “Not Yours To Give” and I think it is true, albeit completely ignored since 1933. But taxes are a fact of life, and some serve … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, John's Opinions, Politics and Regulation | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

All for one…me

Continuing the discussion on employee incentives. We have four possible combinations for incentives, monetary/group, monetary/individual, non-monetary/group and non-monetary/individual. How can we determine which incentives will work best? Sometimes the answer is trial and error. There are many good reasons to … Continue Reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship, John's Opinions, Leadership, Managing Employees, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Small Business can Sell in a Recession

This was an article I had published in the San Antonio Express News yesterday. Guest Voices: Small businesses can sell in recession Many business owners think that the current recession has ruined their exit strategy. While the climate may be … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Entrepreneurship, Exit Options, Exit Planning, Exit Strategies, John's Opinions, Selling a business | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

It’s Not Adoption

I spent some time this week with a client who was implementing his first-ever layoff. He has been in business for over 17 years, and has become very close with many of his employees. Some were friends before they were … Continue Reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Incentives, John's Opinions, Leadership, Managing Employees | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Your Official Inflation Notice

A number of my clients have not yet reacted to the crashing of the financial world around them. They are not idiots, but San Antonio remains relatively healthy, and almost 2/3 of the companies we currently work with (about 104 … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Economic Trends, John's Opinions, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Double Bubble

After three positive days in the stock market, it is tempting to breathe a sigh of relief and forget the doom and gloom reports. There are still dynamics, however, that will take a while to work through the system. Take … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Economic Trends, John's Opinions, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

If This Goes On…

Today the government is announcing a trillion dollars for “asset based markets.” The government has become a vague amalgam of “Treasury and Federal Reserve officials.” The asset based markets are apparently banks, hedge funds, credit card issuers and private equity … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Economic Trends, John's Opinions, Politics and Regulation, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Overview

Two stories from last week. I was making a couple of follow up calls to prospective clients. These are business owners who have expressed an interest in our peer group and coaching process. The first was to a sign shop … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Economic Trends, John's Opinions, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Taking a 360 degree view

This is an article I had published in the San Antonio Business Journal yesterday. http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2009/02/16/editorial1.html When the economy slows, small-business owners most often focus on the top revenue line as a key indicator of company health. In reality, the events … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Entrepreneurship, John's Opinions, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Separating Winners and Losers

Even in the relatively healthy business climate of San Antonio, some folks are describing their business to me with a mournful look and “The economy, you know.” It’s the current shorthand for ” I’m losing money and I’m doing nothing … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Economic Trends, Entrepreneurship, John's Opinions, Managing Employees, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Planning for the Strategic Triple Threat

1. The new need for multi-level strategy Over the last 4 months, I’ve been devouring information on the recession and economic crisis. I have come to the conclusion that small-business owners are faced with unprecedented complexity in their planning process. … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Customer Relations, Economic Trends, Entrepreneurship, John's Opinions, Leadership, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments