Credit Card Liability – Processing Cards Can Create Liability for Your Business
My business does not do a high volume of credit card transactions except at speaking events and trade shows. Yet I chose to make a significant investment this week to protect my firm from liability related to credit card fraud. The investment was not significant from...
Get Out of the Cubicle and Into (Your Own) Business
Before you take the plunge into owning a business, examining the what, why, and how of running a business is crucial. Running your own business requires a tremendous commitment to the business – sometimes to the exclusion of every other aspect of your life. The business takes on a life of its own and, in the initial stages, requires you and your resources – time, money, commitment, and passion – to be successful. Many people liken starting a business to giving birth – it can be slow and painful or fast and painful. Business life cycles are also similar to the stages of life – birth, infancy, toddler, child, youth, teenager, young adult, mid-life, senior citizen, and death. Each stage has its unique issues, needs, and challenges. You and your business will experience many positive and negative lessons on the road to success. For your business to have a long and prosperous life, it takes thought, commitment, resources, and time (an “overnight” success is rare at best).
Women Mean Business – Seek Investors or Be an Investor
Women are often overlooked or underappreciated when it comes to participating in investment forums, serving on boards, and leading companies. Women pursuing investment capital and GETTING investment capital are disadvantaged because many forums aren’t “friendly” to...
“Who You Know” and Open Market Competition
The world is not objective. It is composed of people, and people are human (at least most of us are). People are at our most basic emotional and relationship-based. We do deploy our logical minds to override and control much of our instinctual behavior and that also...
Who Is Running Your Business?
In every business there are activities and tasks that the owner, manager, founder, or key executives don’t like to do, don’t know how to do, or just don’t want to do. When those tasks are key elements or effect the key elements of how your business does business, the...
Where Was the Board?
One of the most critical roles the board of directors plays is the fiduciary role of ensuring that the actions taken by the organization (through its management and the board itself) are in the best interest of the organization and its stakeholders in the long run....
Where Is My Cash Flow?
What do I do about customers who consistently pay late? Why does it seem that the money flows out faster than it flows in? These are significant questions for every business. Managing the cash flow is critical to a business's viability. The cash flow equation and...
When Vendor Services Fall Short
I have to admit: I had a hard time deciding what to title this article. What isn’t hard to do is actually write the article, at least knowing where to start comes easy. Like many businesses, all too often—despite doing the homework of checking out vendors and getting...
When No One Answers
Everyone has experienced it. Someone calls you prospecting for business. You get a message on your voicemail, you get a card or letter in the mail, and sometimes it is something you are interested in getting more information about. So you return the card, send an...
What Are Your Employees Saying About Your Business?
The only way you can avoid employees talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly in your business is to not have employees. Whether you like it or not, employees will talk about what happens at work from the lack of sales, to the lack of management, to the affairs...