It's fun day Monday, so here we go with 10 reasons to start a business! 1. Because you love working half-days. And by half-days, I mean you get to pick which 12 hours to work each day. 2. You love that the buck stops with you. Of course, you also don't love that often times you have no bucks in … [Read more...]
Trust your team, grow your business
I have a confession to make - I'm a control freak. But by growing the team I work with over the last year, I'm learning to let go. We've added some quality folks to the team and it's a whole lot easier to let go of responsibility when you are putting it in capable hands. With fewer day-to-day … [Read more...]
Small business resource that will save you time and money
A while back my Third Tribe Marketing friend Matt Mansfield interviewed me for his "The Elephant in the Could - How Safe is Your Data?" blog post. I enjoyed the "interview" because it turned into a conversation and Matt and I got a chance to know each other better. Matt is a man of integrity so it … [Read more...]
Small Business 101 Series – Revisited
Last July I took a week to share some of my favorite advice for small business owners. As I look back six months later I realize that these five posts represent cornerstones of how I do business. Perhaps it was the writing of the posts that refocused me. Instead I think it was me writing about what … [Read more...]
How smiles and thank yous pay dividends
Earlier today as I was leaving the partner business where I'd spent the last two days, I stopped to say goodbye to Betty, the woman at the front desk. I started with a smile, and then thanked Betty for her help over the last year tracking down invoices and payments. Betty smiled back, and said, … [Read more...]
Accountability Circles
Want to stay out of trouble? Of course you do. More success comes your way when you are staying out of trouble. Besides, you wouldn't be reading this blog is you didn't want to be more successful. Well here's a way to improve your success. Create Accountability Circles In six tips for the traveling … [Read more...]
All costs are variable in the long run
One of the things you either learn in business school or in the school of hard knocks is that a business has two kinds of costs: fixed and variable. At least in the short run, that is true. In the long run, a fixed cost can become variable and a variable cost can become fixed. Fixed and Variable … [Read more...]
Starting a Business in Seven Steps
There are many details involved in starting a business. Here, I've boiled it down to the seven that I have found to be most important to continuing business success. 1. Open a checking account. The moment you make the decision to go in business for yourself, open a new checking account. Decide how … [Read more...]
Kitchen Table Companies Reviewed
By now you may have heard that my friends Joe Sorge and Chris Brogan have started Kitchen Table Companies. Kitchen Table Companies is a community for small business owners doing business the old fashioned way - around the kitchen table. Chris started there, so did Joe and hey guess what? - me too! I … [Read more...]
Changing Business Processes
As I closed out my 2010 bookkeeping over the last two weeks, I realized I had done something right about 12 months ago. As I tallied my business auto miles and out of pocket cash expenditures for the year, the process was going much faster than the previous year. I had made two business process … [Read more...]