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Part 4: What Every Successful Business Owner Should Know About Their Business
In this last installment of “The Four Things Every Business Owner Must Know About His Business,” I’ve saved the best for last: paying attention to team tasks and rewarding excellence.
Read MorePart 3: What Every Successful Business Owner Should Know About Their Business
Many businesses don’t take careful enough aim with their marketing and advertising. As a consequence, they get the results they do with amazing accuracy. The problem is that the results are often far from ideal. Business owners who carefully define their ideal customer will attract far more of them for lower cost and, arguably, less effort. The trick is simple – know what you’re looking for.
Read MorePart 2: What Every Successful Business Owner Should Know About Their Business
After creating the business development plan (outlined in my previous post), the second thing I believe the smart business owner must come to grips with is the daily cash flow break-even sales point. No rocket science here. If a business is to thrive, “cash in must exceed cash out.”
Read MorePart 1: What Every Successful Business Owner Should Know About Their Business
A client recently asked me a very good question: What are the most important minimum basics she must keep in mind if she’s going to be building a better business? What a great question!
Here’s my best shot at the answer and it boils down to just four items.
5 Cautionary HR Lessons from “House of Cards”
I recently got drawn into Netflix’s new original series, House of Cards, and watched every episode avidly until the cliffhanger conclusion (and now can hardly wait for the next season to be released!). In addition to providing great entertainment, the show provided a great lesson for managers on how NOT to handle a problem with an insubordinate employee. Watchers of the show will know I’m referencing the way that Claire Underwood, the super-stylish, calculating nonprofit director, handled the insubordination of her pregnant employee, Gillian Cole.
Read MoreWhy a Social Media Strategy is Important
At WESST, when consulting with clients on business and marketing planning, we recommend: strategy first, tools second. What that means is that you have to understand what it is you want your business to accomplish before you go out and start engaging in different tactics (such as advertising, setting up social media channels, etc). It’s important for every business to have an overall strategy/plan, from which the marketing plan would flow from which the social media plan would flow.
Read MoreGenQuest Donates Fitness Challenges Winnings to WESST
On February 13, 2013 GenQuest, Inc., participated in their 1st annual fitness challenge with Menicucci Insurance Agency. GenQuest and Menicucci competed in 6 different fitness categories: plank, jump roping, calf raises, crunches, wall-sit, and push-ups. Each organization agreed to pay the non-profit of the winner’s choice $100 for each category that they won.
Read MoreUniversal Truths for Small Businesses
Small businesses are remarkable in their diversity. The products small businesses sell, the way those products marketed, the business models, the owners themselves – there’s exceptional variety. However, there are some things all small businesses have in common – some “universal truths…”
Read MoreTips for Growing A Business
Oftentimes, growing a business is like starting a new business, especially when adding a second location. Businesses grow from one level to the next, step by step, inch by inch, always discovering what works and what does not. If all businesses were identical and every business owner was the same, growing a business would be a cinch – in every case. However…
Read MoreAssumption in the Workplace (a Deadly Combination)
Everyone’s lives are made up of assumptions from the time they rise each morning until they go to bed each night. Every day, people make hundreds if not thousands of assumptions without realizing it. When assumptions are not fulfilled, reactions are anger, frustration, or an assumption (once again) that something just went wrong (but actually, maybe something went right).
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