The New Year always gives us a sense of renewal and focus. It provides us with a time, albeit frenzied, to reflect on what happened last year and what we can do to improve upon our performance, our systems, and our “working on our businesses” as opposed to “working in them.” Many times, when we [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
As one of the 22 million business owners in the United States, you are likely over 50 years old. According to a 2005 PriceWaterhouseCoopers survey of companies in the $5 million to $150 million of value range, there's a two in three chance that you plan to leave your company in the next 10 years. [...]
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 [...]
Can you hear the clock ticking? By the time you finish reading this sentence, a baby boomer business owner will have turned 65. By the time you finish reading this column, five more will have reached the traditional age of retirement. Those business owners probably have big dreams for retirement, such as moving to a [...]