Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. -Bill Gates It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. -Charles Darwin It is not uncommon for companies to overlook their most valuable assets. Recently I discussed how employees can prove to be [...]
My good friend and fellow Certified Business Exit Consultant Kevin Kennedy has a great way to describe exit and succession planning: "Succession Planning is replacing yourself." "Exit Planning is replacing your income." Think about it! You, as a business owner can do one, both or neither. Please consider the consequences of having no exit and/or [...]
A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle. - Japanese proverb The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say 'I.' And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say 'I.' They don't think 'I.' They think 'we'; they think 'team.' They understand their job to [...]
“Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing with the future; it is a continual calculation, an instinctive exercise in foresight” – Henry R. Luce Steve Jobs death is certainly an incredible loss at many levels. However, there are important questions and lessons for founders and leaders of closely held businesses. Most [...]
To accept good advice is but to increase one's own ability. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe To profit from good advice requires more wisdom than to give it. ~ Wilson Mizner A client of mine recently told me that his long-term accountant was someone he only saw once a year to review taxes. The CPA never really showed [...]
We recently discussed ways in which your organization could tap into its creative resources. I mentioned a few resources and strategic plans that could be put into action to achieve the creative results that any Fortune 500 company would be proud to obtain. Today, we're going to talk a little more about getting creativity from your [...]
Our days are numbered. One of the primary goals in our lives should be to prepare for our last day. ~ Billy Graham What makes greatness is starting something that lives after you. ~ Leonard Bernstein The Reverend Graham’s quotation no doubt refers to larger issues than business management. However, baby boomer business owners would be wise [...]
Companies say they value creativity, and if your company is like most, you're probably among them. The question is, are you really doing everything you can to unlock the creativity within your organization? Are you doing everything possible to ensure that the creativity that your company needs is being accessed and used to its fullest? [...]
1. Focus on increasing cash flow 2. Develop operating systems that improve sustainability of cash flows 3. Improve facility appearance 4. Pay down debt 5. Document sustainability or earnings 6. Implement a strategy to grow the company 7. Build a strong management team and groom a successor
In my work with Jim Horan, founder and chief architect of The One Page Business Plan (tm), I have become enamored with his question, "Who does the best thinking in your organization?" This question not only makes leaders think, but often act very differently. Good leaders recognize that if they are the best thinkers then [...]