RECENT ARTICLES
3 Ways Being a Mom Has Helped Me in Business
I'm a business owner. I'm also a Mom. These two have more in common than you might think. You see, before I started my business over 30 years ago, I thought that being a mom was pretty much the toughest thing that I had I ever done. Sleepless nights, temper tantrums, and a nagging worry...
Why You Should Consider Failure Pre-Success
Failure often has negative consequences. If you "fail" at something, you FEEL like a failure, you feel worthless and often times dejected. Of course, in the "startup world" failure is often a badge of honor and at times I think it's TOO much of an honor for startups. However, overall, failure is a good thing....
6 Simple Ways To Get More Hours In Your Day with Better Time Management
In a recent Main Street Pulse Report published by OnDeck, 86 percent of small business owners identified time management as a critical component of running a successful business; 61 percent of them said: “…they constantly feel like they are racing against the clock.” If this describes you, I think it’s safe to say you’re...
Don’t Panic When You Get a Bad Review, It’s an Opportunity. Here’s What I Did…
As a small business owner you are proud of your work and deliver a great finished product. You love a good review. Your customers love you and your business grows through referrals. If things ever go wrong you work this out with your clients often privately to the satisfaction of your customers. Then this happens....
Stop Losing Money and Start Partnering – Intuit #QBConnect Video Interview
Anne Coles of The Wren Group Inc, at Intuit's QuickBooks Connect User Conference, spoke about the benefits of forming partnerships. She also shared advice on safeguards you can take to prevent losing clients in partnership agreements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3RLYFb9l1M
Fast Forward: The 5 Big Trends Every Small Business Must Leverage for Success
When it comes to business success, the old order is rapidly fading. Historically, big businesses succeeded by selling goods and services on a massive scale. Small businesses struggled because they couldn’t match the resources or brands of the big guys. Today, small businesses have access to the tools that were once the sole domain of mega...
Business 101: 5 Important Steps to Creating Your Business Plan
Sometimes in life, it pays to leap before you look—but planning a business is not one of those times. No matter how clever you may be or how groundbreaking your business idea is, you can’t hit the ground running without a proper business plan. To get you started, we picked a few key areas that...
How to Establish a Strong Workplace with 5 Generations of Employees
For the first time, small businesses are selling to and employing 5 generations at a time – each with very specific motivations and inspirations. From a sales standpoint, we know that to be successful selling, we must learn how to ‘speak’ to each generation in our marketing. The same holds true when it comes...
Put a Pause to Procrastination by Blocking Your Time
There's something magical about booking an appointment to work on a project. The date is confirmed, you protect the time - work gets done. Nice. But what happens when it’s just you - the deadline is looming, and procrastination could rear its head? Simple: block time. I stumbled across this simple time management hack years ago, and...
How to be a Great Boss that Inspires
As a business owner, leader or manager of an entrepreneurial company, think about this for a minute: You may have a wonderful, awe-inspiring, audacious goal, a well-defined target market for an incredible product that everyone needs, wants, and is willing to pay a premium to own. You may possess a proprietary technology and even hold...
5 Hidden Costs of Hiring You Must Consider
Most managers have a salary figure in mind when interviewing a job candidate. But they should also consider the costs of hiring a potential new employee before extending an offer sheet. There are various cash and non-cash benefits to account for—such as unemployment insurance, 401(k) matches, office supplies, and other fringe benefits. According to 2016...
4 Ways to Test the Viability of Your Business Idea
An entrepreneur coming up with an idea for a business is like a scientist forming a hypothesis. While a scientist’s idea might sound great on paper, the only way to see if it works is to test it in a lab. The hypothesis might be confirmed — or it could flop. The luxury is...