I received this question from a business owner recently: Q: “I’ve been successful in growing my small business, and I’ve started hiring some staff members. At first, I could keep track of what everyone was doing just by overhearing them and by quick check-ins. But now that I’ve hired more people, I feel like I…
A few years back when the economy was soaring, many business owners would think, “If I only had more time!” There was too much work to handle. They were stressed and unhappy. Today, many find themselves with lots of time – too much of it, in fact. Business is slow. And they’re … stressed and…
Performance evaluations have gotten such a bad rap over the years that sometimes we forget why we do them. It’s a high-stakes conversation, sometimes adversarial. The employee wants a raise and we want better performance. The risk of frustration, disappointment and even anger seems ever present. I’d rather go to the dentist! At Anchor Advisors, we agree with those…
Many of us have just completed setting our goals for 2009 (and if you haven’t yet, stop reading this right now and get going on it!). Writing down your goals is a great first step toward achieving them. But once you’re done with this exercise, then what? Unfortunately, for so many business owners, the next…
When our business grows to be more than we can handle on our own, we bring in employees and entrust them with portions of the work. In the beginning, the risk is low; we can monitor them closely and if someone drops the ball, we know how to pick it up since it’s stuff we’ve…
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…