Accentuate the positive*

As business owners, it is often easy to fall into the habit of looking at the negative.  We look at what we didn’t get done that we intended to do, how far we fell short of a particular goal, how a key employee left us for greener pastures, how we made another hiring mistake and […]

Create an environment that promotes employee retention

In attracting the type of employees that you wish to have, it is important that your company project professionalism from the start. All communication with potential employees throughout the recruitment process should be professional and project the culture of the company. Ideally you have a system of procedures and communication that make this easy to […]

Should you trade or barter your services?

In my opinion, NO! I am not a fan of trading or bartering of business services…generally speaking. I do believe it may make sense for certain types of solopreneurs who have similar pricing and service delivery. For example, an aesthetician trades a facial for a massage from a massage therapist. That makes some sense. But […]

Risky Business

This morning I sat down to my computer planning to write a blog post and discovered that my website had been hacked. Not a good way to start the morning! A little research and a phone call to my hosting company resulted in a successful outcome. My site is being cleaned and I’ve installed some […]

Are You Working Below Your Paygrade? – Webinar

I bet you are, and it’s not good for you or your business! Many entrepreneurs (including me) find themselves at least occasionally, but sometimes all too often “using dollar time to do nickel work”. This is not a new concept, but a while back in my work as a business coach and TAB Facilitator, I […]

Financing Options for your Business

With the seasonality of most home improvement contractor businesses it is not surprising that many business owners feel the pinch of slow cash flow and a smaller than comfortable amount of cash in the bank at some point or another. This is the time when you wish you had access to more working capital or […]

There are no silver bullets

As a business coach, I find myself saying this often. In fact, I just had a conversation with a client this week. He’d asked me about an estimating program that “everyone” seems to be using and whether that was the answer for him. We’ve worked together for a while, so I didn’t even have to […]

Build Good Relationships with a Customer Communications Plan

There is gold in your contact database if only you take the time to mine it. Every business owner has a list of customers who love your service, a list of prospects who have contacted you for a proposal even if they didn’t hire you, and a list of valuable contacts who can refer business […]

How to Succeed at Short Term Planning – Webinar

It’s not a secret that long term planning one of the keys to success in achieving your dreams for your business and your life. I’ve given talks and written articles about the importance of planning for the next 3, 5 and 10 years. But short-term planning, the next day, the next week, the next month […]

Taking the Long View – Part 3

What does long term strategic planning look like and how do you do it? The Nuts and Bolts of Planning Who should be involved in your long term strategic planning process and when and how should you do it? You may want to start the process by yourself or with your business partner if you […]