The Coffee Pot Syndrome
You may not recognize the phenomena by name, but many have experienced it. The coffee pot syndrome (CPS) is the first signal that a business has performance issues. CPS occurs when a business isn't achieving profitability objectives and starts looking for ways to cut...
The Business of Technology
As the pace of technology innovation increases and as more and more players are able to enter the markets and provide alternatives (to each other and existing solutions), differentiation and adoption is fostered by the ability to put sound business practices,...
The Accidental Business Structure: Start, Go and Revise
So many businesses are started by the seat of the pants, and with only the basics of knowledge about how to organize and run them. The businesses start spontaneously, with its founders’ limited exposure to various types of organizations and bits of information that...
A Target on Your Back – When the Competition is Out to Get You
There is something to be said about having the "competition" out to get you. It means that you are doing something right. It means that your competition view you as a serious threat. It also means that you need to take action so you can accomplish the following: Keep...
Sustainable Growth: A Formula for Success
For businesses of all sizes, the credit and banking industry issues of the last decade have raised questions of how to build and sustain organizations with less dependence on external sources of capital (debt and equity) and more from internal resources, such as funds...
Standing in a Queue, Lining Up for Services
What happens when you miss a meeting or a deadline to a service provider? Suppose you have a deadline to submit a document for review to a business advisor (lawyer, accountant, marketing professional…) Friday at 5 pm and you don’t send the document until noon on...
Software Is a Tool, Not an Answer
Regardless of the size of your organization, software is a tool when it comes to running your business. It is not an answer. Software enables you to do more with what you have, IF (and it’s a big IF) you make the right selection. Making the right selection when it...
So What If You Fail? It is Part of Succeeding
“How can you do that?” It is a frequent question. “You do so much; aren't you afraid to fail?” Yes, everyone is afraid to fail to some degree, but it gets less as time goes on and you get use to it. Everyone fails at something, usually every day. You fail to lose...
Payroll Systems – It Pays To Get It Right!
Payroll is one of the “simple” business tasks that we often think that anyone can handle. After all it is just math, right? For those of us who aren’t either experienced in payroll issues or payroll professionals trained in the complexity of complying with local,...
Small Business, Competitive Markets
While big businesses (especially those traded on public stock exchanges) get the press, the real news—and arguably the differences in day-to-day life and the economy—rest in the small business, in this country and around the world. The majority of existing and new...