It’s that time of year. There are holiday open houses, luncheon get-togethers and company parties. While retail operations are in full swing many service businesses like mine find that this is a difficult time of year when it comes to productivity. There are lots of reasons. Customers are trying to get ready for the holidays […]
Stay Productive During the Holidays Read More »
Black Friday. Small Business Saturday. Cyber Monday. You simply can’t get away from the promotions this time of year. While there is lots of hype leading up to these promotions you have to wonder if there are real results. I was most interested in Small Business Saturday which got unbelievable coverage in the media and
Hype or Real Results Read More »
The non-stop political ads have ceased. I think everyone is happy about that. But in the week following the elections the analysis has continued. Everyone is trying to figure out how the changes will play out and if bipartisanship has a chance. There is great speculation about what we will see from the lame duck
Small Business Outlook: Post-election Read More »
Did you ever wonder what a procurement officer or buyer is thinking? Did you ever ask the buyer of your goods or services what they need? Did you ever wonder what drives a buyer crazy? Wonder no more! I have been reading and re-reading a book called “Feedback! Sales Advice from the Buyers Desk.” In
A Buyer’s Worst Fears Read More »
Like most business owners I get asked to speak on different topics to a variety of groups. I did a count and have been averaging about one speech per week for the past few months and traveling around the country. A fellow business owner reached out to ask some questions about accepting and charging for
Shark Tank, it’s that popular TV show where entrepreneurs and inventors try to get the celebrity panel to invest. All the attention on this show is inspiring individuals to take their ideas to the next level. That’s why every day across the country people are “playing out” that show off the big screen. In fact,
Think Like an Inventor Read More »
About eleven years ago I wrote some tips for a business publication to share some of my thoughts about what I had learned in my first fifteen years in business. If you do the math then you will know that the business is now over 25 years old. As I was going through some old
Year-end is just around the corner for those of us that close out the year on September 30th. That means it’s time to assess our accomplishments and reward employees for their work. Assessing the business for me is not just about growing the top line, although that is critically important. But there are other measures
The news has been terrible for years so small business owners are hungry for some good news. They got it. In a recently released survey by the National Small Business Association (NSBA), there was a sense of confidence that finally things might be on the upswing. If you want to check out the whole report
Is Small Business Faring Better? Read More »
All of the local news channels in our area are in the “back- to-school” programming mode. There are features about how to get the most from the last few weeks of summer, trying to get kids back on a regular schedule and planning for back-to-school shopping. With all of the attention, I had to stop
