I was talking with a friend who owns his own business. I often tell him that he’s my business hero – he makes a terrific living for his family and significantly impacts his clients – and does it all in less than 20 hours a week. But that’s a story for another day… Anyway, He…
One of the keys to maintaining momentum when progress is slow is having people who are ready and willing to cheer for you. Celebrating small wins doesn’t come naturally for most founder-types, and we need folks who will cheer with us. When I first started my business I realized I needed someone who would cheer…
Part of what makes it hard to give things time and to be patient when results are slow is that we keep raising the stakes on ourselves. We start something new; maybe we start doing more consistent outreach. In the first week, we see 1 – 2 leads, and the second week the same. Now…
I’ve made a solid plan, considered every angle, and committed myself to the actions I need to take to execute the plan. I’m seeing progress, and there are signs of hope, but I haven’t seen things “turn the corner.” It will get really stressful around here if things don’t improve soon. I need to see…
Before you read this I want you to know, I’m not advocating for a position — this is a problem I’m trying to solve. And I’m asking the hive brain (you) to help me. An owner of a 10-person consulting firm is very vocal about their politics on social media – they post pictures of…
We’ve been talking about the importance of building your business development muscle. If you don’t want your business to slow down when the economy slows down, you will likely need to be more aggressively reaching out to prospects to find the ones willing to invest in your services. The hardest part of outreach is the…
If the economy slows over the next 18 months winning new business will get more challenging. To keep your business strong in any economic condition, you need to upgrade your business development process. There are three critical decisions you have to make to ensure you’re able to win business in unfavorable economic conditions: Focus on…
During the last slowdown in 2009 – 2010, I had one client who had a unique response to the economy. She is a very focused and driven leader who doesn’t accept excuses and knows the power she has to create the reality around her. So, when the economy started to slow and other leaders became…
If you’ve been listening to the news the last few weeks, you’ve likely heard about inflation and the fears that it will cause a recession in the US economy. What does that mean for how you should be managing and leading your agency? First, what is a recession? A recession occurs when economic growth slows…
“Don’t get too high with your highs, don’t get too low in your lows.” I have heard my clients, agency founders, describe leading their firm like they are riding a rollercoaster. One minute they were on cloud 9, they closed a big deal or had a client presentation dripping with insights, and their clients clearly…