Small Business Articles on Processes

The holidays can be a stressful time for business owners. While your employees (being the selfish people that they are) take time off to prepare for the holidays, travel and spend time with loves ones, you are left holding the bag. It's clear that no one cares about the business the way you do. Another holiday ruined! So what do you do? Join them. Think about: As a business owner, do you enjoy the holidays as much as you did when you worked for someone else? A lot of business owners that I know say no. The stress of owning a business interferes with their ability to truly enjoy spending time with their loved ones. A survey by Bank of America found that maintaining a small business … [Read more...]

We've entered small-business budget season, and as I look ahead, I see uncertainty in the future that I haven't seen in a long time. There's the presidential election, health care reform, the fiscal cliff that Congress created for us, and the European central bank's series of crises scheduled for mid-2013, which could spill over to the United States. Generally, I advise small-business owners to stay positive when there's uncertainty like this, and I believe this is still sound advice. The success of most small businesses is tied much more closely to the owner's attitude and hustle than it is to the larger economy. So when you create your budget (and if you don't, we need to talk about … [Read more...]

If I had a magic wand and could wish one thing for each of the business owners I work with, it would be, "Give them a strong team." That's because I know the quality of the team behind the leader can make or break a business. It's the difference between slogging through mud and running effortlessly. Just one good hire can change the whole outlook for a business, and improve morale, efficiency and profit. I know because I've seen it happen. But hiring goes so wrong so often. Why do people struggle to hire competent, ambitious, responsible people? There are so many good ones out there! I've actually spent years pondering this question and I've decided that hiring goes wrong for two … [Read more...]

It's amazing to me how many business owners I have to order to take a vacation. And when I do, I'm usually met with this sort of reply: "But I've got too much work! It will just come back to bite me when I get back anyway ... it's not worth it!"  Believe me, I understand -- it is hard to get away when you own a business. I'm a business owner too. But when I hear owners talk like this, I think it's time for an "intervention" -- they've got an unhealthy, abusive, one-sided relationship with their business and they've got to get away. NOW! Taking vacation time doesn't just mean jetting off to a secluded island (but that does sound good, doesn't it?). It can be anything that takes you away … [Read more...]

Why are you here? Really ... why? What are you doing every day? What's it all for? Ok, this isn't some existential discussion. It's really important that you know why you work. I'm not talking about your company's purpose here, though that's very important too. I'm talking about your purpose. Why do you work? What are you working toward? I've found that there are three things that motivate business owners (once they are beyond the stage of wondering where their next meal is coming from). They are generally trying to do one of the following: Sell and score. Build a monument. Sell when they are personally ready. Sell and score. The most common motivation I hear is wanting … [Read more...]

Business is coming back a bit can you feel it? The sales cycle has quickened for most of my clients. The hesitation and "putting things off" that was common even a few months ago is waning. But it's not all cheers of good times are here again. There's a shadow waiting in the wings- tightening cash flow. Two trends are driving tighter cash flow. The first is a terrific trend <- more business! But when sales rise, it typically consumes cash. When sales go up,  receivables go up (we loan more money to our customers) and payroll goes up (often with more expensive freelance talent to start with). So even though sales go up, cash is going out faster than it's coming in. The second … [Read more...]

The whiteboard in my kitchen is literally an extension of my brain. I have random notes on there that make sense to me (mostly), but it's also the checking-in point for the rest of the family. Take Thanksgiving, for example. I write down the name of each dish, when it needs to be made, and when it needs to go into the oven. That schedule coordinates all my activities during the day. Everyone makes fun of me and my whiteboard on Thanksgiving, but you know what? Every year, our Thanksgiving meal is perfect. Everything is planned and timed just so. It all comes together the way it's supposed to and when it's supposed to, and the meal is delicious as a result. Without that action plan on … [Read more...]

With the momentum that is starting to build in the marketplace, a number of my clients are putting "upgrade the website" on their 2011 to-do list. It's understandable; they want to invest in marketing and building their business, and their website is an ideal place to start. But creating a website in 2011 is a little more complicated than it was in 2005. There are some great websites out there that are doing innovative and exciting things. It's a lot tougher to attract traffic and be found than it used to be. Even if you are found, how do you stand out? Why do you look different or better than the thousands of other professionals that pop up in Google? And most important, how do you … [Read more...]

When you have a project you really need to get out by the end of the day, what do you do? Shut the office door, set the phone to DND, close your browser and focus on that one thing? Probably not, even though you know that switching from project to project reduces your productivity, not to mention drives you crazy. You need to get things done ... but you're busy. No one else can do the things you do, but generally, it takes a crisis to help you focus and to be productive. Why is that? Somehow, our world conspires to prevent us from finding focus. Team members ask seemingly trivial questions all day long. Emails and voicemails keep piling up - someone needs to return them! Some days, … [Read more...]

If you own a professional-service business, pricing is probably high on your list of challenges. How can you align the value created by your work with any tangible measure? It’s not easy, but it can be done. With products, it’s easier. Look at the market price for similar or substitute products and compare the features, and you can at least get into some kind of range. In a service business, your product is people – and people are inconsistent and very different from each other. Therein lies the problem (and opportunity, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself). For example, you could own a marketing firm. There are other marketing firms in town and we could survey them and find … [Read more...]