Sit back and imagine yourself sitting on a beach looking into the vastness of the ocean. It seems as if the earth continues forever while you watch the sun slowly dip into the violet horizon. As you look at the beauty before you, your thoughts become clear and you forget about all of your tedious…
If you want to see one of the most significant barriers to the success of a small business, just look on the desk of a small-business owner. There, you will likely see piles of unfinished work and unreturned phone messages scattered about. “If I could only get ahead!” they cry. But they can’t get ahead…
We all know the importance of communication in business. But what if, despite our communication efforts, our staff members don’t retain the important information we need them to know? Things like: What is our company’s vision? What is our company’s mission? What are we focused on improving this year or this quarter? What is our standard elevator pitch that…
We have all heard the saying, “Always listen to your customers.” But let’s be honest. Your customers do say some pretty … um, stupid things, don’t they? Of course, when our customers have good things to say, we are all ears. It’s wonderful to get positive feedback. When our work is appreciated it’s fulfilling, rewarding and…
Mission Statement: We resolve to be pretty much OK. We won’t make glaring errors, so our customers will be somewhat satisfied. We want people to like working with our team, and feel comfortable working at our company. Now, there’s a mission statement – if you’re on a mission to fail. No business would ever create such…
People don’t like change. As a result, they resist it. When management implements new systems – whether they are for tracking time or sales activity, or for managing projects or other systems – the biggest challenge often is getting people to embrace the change and accept the new system. While most systems are designed to provide management with information and…
As a small-business owner, you probably are bombarded with hundreds of direct-mail pieces and e-mails that promote upcoming training seminars and conferences. You might glance at the titles and think, “So-and-so could use some training in that,” but the thought goes no further. But, training your employees is an important issue that deserves your time…
While many business owners consider well-defined job descriptions crucial to their business, how many have actually taken the time to create a job description for themselves? Not many. But, a business owner needs a job description just as much as the rest of the team. In fact, a business owner may need a job description…
Many of the small businesses that we encounter are family-owned and operated. And on the surface, this seems like a good idea. After all, you love your family, so why wouldn’t you want to work with them? You know them well and trust them, so it seems like a lower risk venture than relying on strangers. While working with…
I often hear business leaders tell me that they don’t get enough done in a day. They have a to-do list a mile long, but they spend their whole day answering employees’ questions and solving employees’ problems. But, if we let day-to-day issues like these fill our day, it’s impossible to make progress on the leadership tasks that only…