The Importance of Willpower in Sales Execution
Recently, I had a call with a top salesman I coach. I asked how selling to his top 25 clients was going. He shared that he hadn’t stuck to his strategy because he wasn’t excited about it anymore, so I asked if he was excited about his current sales numbers. He was not. Three months earlier,…
Read More9 Actionable Tips for Small Business Budgeting
Balancing a budget is rarely simplistic. But a business with a budget is a business with a goal. A budget gives your business guidance, clarity, and focus. It gives you the ability to know where your company is and what the future holds if each piece connects properly. The challenge, of course, is that you…
Read MoreSelf-Leadership: A Prerequisite for Teamwork
Building effective teams requires building self-leaders. Let’s start with teams first. Is it better for organizations to be more like a natural (wild) garden or an orchestra? One of these models is not better than the other—they reflect different purposes. A natural garden has beauty, freedom of expression, and individuality that cannot be reproduced in…
Read MoreHow to Brand Your Small Business on a Budget
Effective brand messaging is one of the surefire ways to ensure a business’ success. Every business has a general image that represents its values, expertise, and service. However, not every business has a well-developed image, complete with a voice, a memorable logo, and an overall persona. When you’re just starting out, however, it can be…
Read More5 Steps to Due Diligence on Your Potential Investors
Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married—it is a long-term…
Read MoreBusiness or Hobby, What is the Difference?
Maybe you cater for your friends, maybe you make jewelry, maybe you sell your artwork, maybe you have a lemonade stand—regardless of what you do, do you know how the IRS views this? Here are some tips on how to tell if your activity is a business or a hobby and the tax implications of…
Read MoreWhat’s the Most Important Part of Cash Flow? Invoice Terms
Owning your own business provides a rewarding experience. As your own boss, you can set your hours and your priorities. You are also free to pursue the work that you find rewarding and fulfilling. But no matter how much you love what you do, collecting your pay remains a necessity. After all, if you don’t…
Read More7 Simple Ways to Ensure You Get Paid on Time
It’s no secret that running a business is tough. You knew it long before you even started down this path. You’ve heard all the stats before—over 20% of all small businesses fail within the first year, and more than half don’t make it to five years—and everyone you spend any time with at all feels…
Read MoreThoughts on Agility
Agile is one of the “hot” business buzzwords these days, right along with digital, transformation, and disruptive. (You get double buzzword bingo points if you can use, “disruptive, agile, digital business transformation” in a single sentence on a PowerPoint slide.) But much of what I see under the “agile” banner is far from agile. The…
Read MoreLearn to Never Handle a Paper or Email Twice
We all do it… to our own detriment. So, let’s make a pact that we will try, if not succeed, to handle our incoming messages more efficiently. Personal time management helps immensely to make a better manager of you and me. All of us have time management tips and tricks to help us get through…
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