Management
Management
Business Progress 1.0
Company makeovers have become a mainstay of my consulting practice, but not all makeovers are created equal. Ignorance may be bliss, but not understanding where your company is in its progress can lead to critical failures.
Management
If You Fix It, It Will Break Again
As a young manager, I made all the best mistakes.
It seemed perfectly natural to blame people who made errors or exercised poor judgment and 'hold them accountable.' It rarely worked. The mistakes kept happening.
Management
Hire Faster, Hire Smarter
When you operate a growing business, you quickly learn how important it is to hire really great people. In fact, next to cash flow, that is probably the most important job you have as an owner.
Where do you find awesome employees?
If you are like me, you want to hire the first person that presents themselves reasonably well and get back to work. The real "interview" is on-the-job.
Management,
Operations
Make Employee Reviews the Highlight of Your Year
Employee Reviews are no one's core competency in small business. They can be time-consuming, sometimes awkward, and potentially polarizing. Done well, reviews can help your team grow, make you a better manager, and enhance company culture. Done poorly? I have seen good employees quit on the spot, dedicated employees give up, and poor employees continue to wreak havoc on your business.
Management,
Sales
How to Leverage Your Cost Leadership Advantage
I don't often talk about how to get your price down. I'm more of a 'how to get more money out of your target customer' kind of coach. However, some of my followers are cost leaders and sometimes they need to leverage that advantage.
Too often we conflate our cost with price. There is a correlation: If your costs are higher so must your price be. But never forget that...
The marketplace sets the price for most of us.
Management
Managing Downtime for More Uptime
Most of my clients have predictably busy and slow seasons. Of course they would prefer to have steady business year-round with no timing conflicts, but I will write a fantasy blog another time. Today I want to expose an opportunity many companies are missing.
It begins with a change in mindset: There are no slow months.