I’ve been taking a personal branding course recently with a podcaster I’ve been listening to for a while named Jason Stapleton. One of the exercises we were asked to complete was our “origin story”. It covers things going back to your parents and their upbringing and how many siblings they had and where they grew up and eventually getting into where I grew up and how I got to this point in my life. One of the things that jumped out was my work history. And it got me to thinking, can you spot a budding entrepreneur based on what they do early in their life and career
Why Am I Doing All of This?
It’s pretty easy to get caught up in the “busy ness” of day-to-day activities in our businesses. If you don’t have a longer-term goal in mind it can be frustrating for you and your team to continue on when times get tough. So do you have a longer-term Vision for your business and where you would like it to be in the next 5-10 years? Do you realize you can accomplish just about anything in 10 years?
How Do I Get My Business Ready To Sell?
Is your business ready? If the opportunity presents itself, is your business ready to be sold? Now, that doesn’t mean YOU are ready to sell. It’s a wonderful thing when those two things do align and both you and your business are ready to sell. Unfortunately we often find that too many business owners are ready to sell but their businesses aren’t quite ready yet.
How Did Q1 Go? Did Your Business Make Money on Purpose?
Too many small business owners will respond “I don’t know” when asked questions about their numbers. If you are not in the regular habit of reviewing your numbers as a business owner, this is something you should start to change. One of the easiest ways to start is by reviewing your financials monthly. When we say financials, start with your Profit & Loss Statement and your Balance Sheet.
How Do I Get My Team To Take Ownership?
We all know it’s tough finding good people. So when you find the good ones you want to hold onto them with both hands and never let them go! But how do you get them to stay? Is it all about the money?
How Do I Create a Path For My Best People To Advance?
How many good employees do you have on your team? All of them? None of them? Not sure? We find that most small business owners don’t know how many good employees they have for a simple reason…they aren’t sure what a good employee looks like.
How Do I Know It’s Time To Fire A Customer?
In This Episode We know you’ve talked about this. Perhaps even dreamed about it. How much better off would you […]
How Do I Get Better As a Leader?
One of the Dirty Secrets of business ownership is that whether you like it or not, one of your primary roles is to be a Leader for your organization. You may think, “Hey I didn’t sign up for this Leadership stuff, I just want to run my own business.” What exactly does it mean to be a good Leader?
How Do I Stop Being Intimidated By My Banker?
A phrase that can often strike fear in the hearts of even the bravest of business owners is, “Your banker is on the phone and would like to speak with you.” Oh no, you think, what could she possibly want? Does she know about my key employee who is threatening to leave? Did that upset customer call her to complain? Will she be pulling our line of credit?
Why You Should Hire Family Last Instead of First?
Unfortunately many folks starting out in business make the often fatal mistake of hiring family and friends first instead of last. Now this may seem counterintuitive to many folks, especially those who know us well since we usually espouse the importance of Know Like Trust when building your business. But just because it might be “easier” to start with family and friends, doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for your business.