“I always say, “Be so good that they can’t ignore you.” If someone’s thinking, “How can I be really good?” people are going to come to you…” ~ Steve Martin  Last week I told you the story of my client who tripled her business and only added five employees, by focusing on a specialty and getting good at it.  But how can that work for your firm? How did it work for her? She went all in.  Once we decided that she needed to focus on drug companies, she changed her website and focused all her sales and marketing efforts on just websites for drug companies.  She went and read the regulations, and she learned what the FDA said she could and couldn’t do. She learned them better than the … [Read more...]

Did you know that tomorrow is “Bosses Day”? I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t — it’s a pretty ridiculous holiday.  Don’t get me started on the idea that employees should buy bosses gifts (they shouldn’t) and the ones they do buy are mostly lame (who wants balloons, or a card), the whole thing is terrible. Well, except for one idea.  Bosses need to be celebrated.  Who puts their money, sweat, and ego on the line to get a business started? You do. Who does all the crap that no one else wants to do, but that has to get done to keep the business going? You do. Who went from being someone who knew how to do a thing, to now running a bunch of other people who are doing … [Read more...]

This week we talked about how the “market rate” for your services is irrelevant — your specific qualities and capabilities will attract different prospects than others in your market. Those qualities impact the price you can charge more than the market does. We also talked about we can identify ONE critical feature or benefit that your core client values the most. If you optimize your business around that core feature, you can command a higher price EVEN IF the rest of your business is only average.  Let’s look at how that plays out for a client of mine.  I had a client who started a web-design company. She made websites for all kinds of businesses. But she had two clients who were drug … [Read more...]

About a year ago, I started experiencing some foot pain. One of the doctor’s recommendations was to try some different shoes with wider toe boxes and better insoles. I tried a bunch of things with varying success until I broke down and tried a pair of Birkenstocks.  Why did it take me so long to try Birks? Birkenstocks are ugly. OK, maybe it’s more accurate to say that they’re “not very fashionable.” They come in weird European sizes. They wear out pretty quickly, especially if you drag your heal (like I do). Plus, they’re pricey! They aren’t “good” shoes relative to their competitors, objectively. But they made my foot feel a lot better. For me, not having foot pain is … [Read more...]

As the boss, you get to see daily progress. When a deal closes, or a project finishes up, you know it. When a client is excited about the changes you made for them, you hear their praise. You have access to a lot of positive feedback that the rest of your team doesn’t see or hear. Even more so, when things are going well, you see the bank balance rising. You envision how you can use some of that money to make your family’s life a little better; do that kitchen remodel or take the vacation you’ve talked about… These things all combat a feeling of burnout and exhaustion. So how do you spread that anti-burnout goodness around? Here are some ways. Say “thank you” to someone on your … [Read more...]

I was interviewing team members at a new client’s company, and I heard a similar story from all of them. They loved working for this company; they felt like it was a place for them to thrive. The team was great AND they believed in the mission. In fact, everything was great, except…they were exhausted.  ”I work really hard, Brad! I’m trying my best, but I just never feel like I catch up.” The CFO was almost in tears as the she told me this.  Why did she feel like she could never keep up?  No matter how hard she worked, the owner worked harder.  He came in at 5 AM fresh from his boxing workout and got right to work. By the time his team arrived at 7:30, he had deposited 4 - 6 emails in … [Read more...]

I frequently tell business owners,  “A CEO’s job is to break things. Just don’t break them faster than your team can fix!” I do believe that — someone in every organization has to push the limits to achieve the “next thing.” Someone has to call out the stuff that's not done well and advocate for change. In most privately-held businesses, that person is you, the business owner.  What that looks like from your team’s perspective That pushing, driving, and perfecting can feel a little exhausting to your team. They may feel like nothing is ever good enough. Or just as they are about to accomplish a goal, the expectation increases or moves farther away. Most “worker-bees” want to make … [Read more...]

I’m so grateful for those who have written in the last few weeks. I’ve gotten a bunch of positive responses like this one from Byron, When you decided to increase your emails to this current pace I was “Crap, now I will have more emails to delete”…..just the opposite…I am amazed how you can come up with such thoughtful ideas on such a consistent basis! Very impressed and look forward to your emails! I love to hear this kind of stuff. I do put a lot of time into these emails because it’s the kind of help I think business owners need right now.  What am I getting wrong? What am I missing? I also recognize that I have a limited view of your life, challenges, and opportunities. I can’t see … [Read more...]

In a recent survey I did of over 100 business owners I asked this question: What’s your biggest business challenge? More than 50% of respondents answered, “Obtaining New Customers.”   Not only was it chosen by a majority of responses, but it was also the most chosen answer by owners of every sized business, big, established business and small, start-up businesses.  All of us want more business.  But you know what the second most chosen answer is?  “Finding enough Team Members to do the work.” This perfectly represents the balance of running a services business!  If we’re bringing in new clients, we need to find good people, if we’re hiring good people we need to be … [Read more...]