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Helping business owners grow their companies and transition with confidence, added value and complete control.
Tag Archives: business
Employees and Bosses: What’s in a Pronoun?
Credit for this post goes to Van Palmer, the owner of Palmer Technology Solutions. I’ll paraphrase and elaborate, of course. but that’s the power of the pen. In a recent peer board meeting we were discussing our relationships with employees. … Continue Reading
The Quest for Recurring Revenue
Recurring revenue is the current Holy Grail of business. Barriers to Entry, a traditional way of assessing your differentiation against competition, have been replaced by Barriers to Exit, how to make it at least inconvenient or at most excruciatingly painful for … Continue Reading
Posted in Customer Relations, Economic Trends, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Marketing and Sales, Sales, Strategy and Planning
Tagged business, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, economy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, leadership, management, marketing, new business, promotion, sales, sales management, small business, small business advice, startups, trade
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When a Customer Outgrows You
There is nothing that quite matches the excitement of landing your first really big customer. It often brings with it the confidence that comes with knowing, really knowing, that you can compete in the big leagues. There could be the added security of … Continue Reading
Posted in Customer Relations, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Sales, Sales, Strategy and Planning
Tagged business, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, leadership, management, marketing, sales, sales management, small business, small business advice
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Don’t Train with Customer Pain
I have lot of favorite books. In business, they range from cutting edge theory to some of the little “quick reads” that build a single management or behavioral point around an allegory. One of the best in the latter category … Continue Reading
Will Small Business Win in the End?
A few weeks ago Schumpeter, the nom de plume for each current author of the business op-ed column in The Economist, postulated the decline and fall of the Western Corporation. Could small business be the little furry mammals of the 21st … Continue Reading
Posted in Business Perspectives, Economic Trends, Leadership, Politics and Regulation, Strategy and Planning
Tagged business, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, China, economy, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, international relations, management, media, new business, politics, public relations, small business, small business advice, trade
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Measurement is Not Management
“The employees respect what the boss inspects.” Since Frederick Winslow Taylor published The Principles of Scientific Management in 1911, breaking down tasks into measurable pieces had been the cornerstone for employee training and tracking performance. Why then, do many large organizations with … Continue Reading
Posted in Customer Relations, Entrepreneurship, Incentives, Leadership, Managing Employees
Tagged business, business ownership, business planning, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, hiring, leadership, management, sales, sales management, small business, small business advice
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Is There Anything CEOish for Me to Do?
The line is from one of my favorite New Yorker cartoons. It’s being asked by an executive of his secretary. It is also a common question of business owners who have built successful organizations. The need for a CEO is present … Continue Reading
Minimum Wage and the Middle Class
“Amongst the novel objects that attracted my attention during my stay in the United States, nothing struck me more forcibly than the general equality of conditions.” – Alexis De Tocqueville (Democracy in America, 1831) Americans have always considered themselves “middle … Continue Reading
Posted in Economic Trends, Entrepreneurship, Managing Employees, Politics and Regulation, Strategy and Planning, Technology
Tagged Ayn Rand, business, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, economy, employee performance, employees, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, health care costs, health care reform, hiring, management, media, new business, politics, small business, small business advice, startups, trade
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Does Investment Capital Make Sense for Your Business?
In the business acquisition world, deals where a seller keeps some equity for a future round of merger or acquisition activity is generally known as getting a “second bite of the apple.” Private Equity Groups (PEG), of which some 5,000 currently operate … Continue Reading
Posted in Business Perspectives, Economic Trends, Exit Planning, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning
Tagged business, business brokerage, business ownership, business planning, business strategy, economy, entrepreneurship, exit planning, exit strategies, selling a business, small business advice
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Five Steps to Defining an Employee’s Authority
When we delegate authority to an employee, we are actually delegating the power to make decisions. We all want employees who think for themselves, at least when their decisions work out in a way we like. When they don’t, we … Continue Reading
2013 Planning: Try Starting with “Who”
For many years, I’ve begun each annum with my clients by helping them answer the Seven Questions, some simple keys to basic planning for the year. This year the questions have been picked up by my friend Jim Blasingame at the … Continue Reading