What if I told you that the job you’ve chosen as the owner of a service firm is to balance a see-saw? A see-saw between your staff and your sales. The way service firm businesses work is that if either end of the see-saw touches the ground your business has brewing problems. But, both ends…
This week we’ve talked about evaluating the performance of our team and having difficult conversations when needed. Now its time for the hardest evaluation question… Who has difficult conversations with YOU? Business owners wear a lot of hats! First and foremost, you are the CEO! You set direction, manage performance, and guide the business toward…
One business owner replied to last week’s email about courage with this question: My fear is I just don’t want to confront people and tell them they are fired which I’ve never done in my business. I remember watching The Apprentice and admiring the way Trump fired people. Back then, I was not even in…
I work with a lot of different businesses which means I get a ringside seat to all the ups and downs that business owners experience. And there’s no greater source of ups and downs than the nutty employee stories I’ve seen. You may think that you’ve hired some bad apples, and maybe you have, but…
Do you know why I send emails on Saturday morning (and have for many years)? Because I get the highest open rates when I send on Saturday morning! For whatever reason Saturday morning is a time when business owners get caught up on their email (or at least open and read my emails). But one…
On Tuesday we explored what courage can mean to a business owner. Courage is knowing that there’s danger, feeling the fear, and then going ahead anyway. But, being courageous is different from being fearless. When I look back at my career and think about when I was afraid, but pressed on anyway, those situations mostly worked…
When I hear the word “courage” I think first about physical danger; fighting fires, going to war, battles against Mother Nature. But there are other sides of courage that we talk less about. The courage to tell the truth. The courage to reveal your vulnerability. As anyone who’s been on stage can tell you, it…
I’m an email marketing believer. I started my email newsletter very early in my business life — some of you have been readers for over 15 years! For a long time my email list was my #1 marketing tool. But recently, the results from my email list tailed off. Fewer people wrote back. Fewer leads came in….
On Tuesday I talked about all the fears and stories we tell ourselves that make hiring hard, today I’m going to give you my best advice for making it easier. Tip #1: The truth is, it’s a LOT of work to find, screen and select the best people. Believe me. I’ve experimented with lots and…
All of a sudden I have a lot of clients who are hiring. Hiring should be something to get excited by—you’ve got new clients! You have the opportunity to expand your team! But, more of my clients are dreading the hiring process rather than embracing it. Even though their teams are screaming at them for…