Articles
Check Your Priorities: Real World Lessons Learned
Many years ago (I won’t say how many), I had a new boss (we’ll call him “Kevin”). He was actually my supervisor’s boss. Kevin had spent most of his career in communication roles (he created presentations and documents to give to the board.) When Kevin came from a part...
Customer Disservice – How to Kill Your Business
Customer Disservice – How About a Hello and a Smile I am constantly amazed at how businesses invest so much time, money, and effort getting customers to literally walk in the door of their business, and when the customer gets there the greeting is less than...
Overtime Eligibility and Minimum Wage Increases – How to Survive Rising Labor Costs
Changes in Overtime Regulations to Expand Eligibility – the Impact on Your Business The change in overtime eligibility will impact an estimated 4.1 million businesses – small and large across the United States. The minimum wage increase will have varying impact as the...
Use This Formula To Write A Solid Business Plan In 30 Minutes Or Less
A 30-minute Business Plan is Better than No Plan A little back-of-the-envelope arithmetic now might save your company from screwing up big time later. A client of mine is starting a new retail business, and she's finding that setting up the operations is pretty...
Dishonest Clients – Dangerous and Unprepared
Dishonest Clients After all these years in business, I am still amazed when I encounter a dishonest client. It is doubly confounding when the client is not only dishonest, but also inexperienced and unsophisticated in the intricacies of business. It is especially true...
Business Danger Signs: Is Your Business the Frog in the Pot?
A business danger signs may be ignored or unnoticed, much like a frog in a pot of water on a stove. Yes, I am talking about the the experiment with a frog and a pot of hot water. If you put the frog in the pot and the water is boiling, he hops out fast! But when you...
Managing to Avoid Not Achieve
I have been witnessing a growing trend in many organizations. I call this trend “managing to avoid,” in which goals are set and decisions made simply to avoid failure. Instead of setting a goal that will challenge and stretch the organization to grow, a goal that is...
Switzerland Seeks to Decouple Income and Work – An Atlas Shrugged Moment
Switzerland Attempts to Decouple Income and Work I am always surprised when life follows fiction (perhaps I shouldn’t be). In Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged1 the world stops working and things start falling apart. As the story unfolds, we learn that the governments of the...
Overtime Impact and Minimum Wage Increases – Labor Costs Rise
Overtime Impact from Eligibility Rule Change and Increases in Minimum Wage: Labor Costs Rise The overtime impact from new eligibility rule and minimum wage increases are this year’s hot-button issue for small business relates to rising labor/wage costs. This is a...