Know Your Role As The Owner

As an entrepreneur starting a new business, you often have to wear the hat of cook, dishwasher, accountant, and general manager. However, one of the biggest mistakes a young owner will make is not quickly clarifying their role within the organization.
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Protect Your Cash, Part 1

There is no sense in doing the work if you’re not collecting the cash for the work you do. That, from a business standpoint, is one of the most important things to do. But once you get the cash in the door, you must make sure you protect that cash from employee theft and other mismanagement. There are some simple and very easy things that you should do to make sure that you protect your hard earned cash.
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The Fairness Doctrine

Most emotional responses to decisions in business are generated not because the person making the response feels the decision was unwise, but rather unfair. So I’ve created the “Fairness Doctrine” as a stated element in the cultural fabric of businesses where I am involved.
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Manage Your Bottlenecks!

The definition of a bottleneck in your business is one that constricts the flow of work from one area to another in the flow of product or service through your organization. A bottleneck in your organization’s flow can happen, shift, or disappear quickly.
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3 Key Questions to Ask Before Hiring for Your Startup

One of the hardest but most exciting things about being a young entrepreneur, first-time business owner, or even a startup manager is the hiring process. But there are a few things you have to think about before green-lighting a new startup employee, especially in the earliest stages of starting up.
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Role Models

In order to be a great leader, you have got to be a great role model. Managers often forget that their staff watches their behavior and uses it to guide their own reactions. So what characteristics should the role model of a business—or a non-profit, for that matter—have?
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8 Ways to Inspire Employee Behavior That You Can Implement Today

Leaders create the vision, set company goals, and develop strategies—but it is front line employees who execute the plan. They are the ones who carry out the daily tasks and initiatives that help make a leader’s vision become a reality. They are the ones who interact daily with the customers who are the life blood of any successful organization.
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Humanizing Your Customer Service

Customer service gives your company an opportunity to build a strong relationship with customers at a critical point. If they’re calling for help, then they’re likely frustrated. All too often, customers are greeted by “customer service robots.” Everyone’s familiar with this type of representative.
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Interview with Business Owner Joe Fugere of Tutta Bella

In honor of small business month this May, we sat down with small business owner Joe Fugere of Tutta Bella, the first (and best) Neapolitan pizza chain in the Pacific Northwest, to document his experience running a business in America, how he’s growing under the current economic climate, and how he plans to be successful in the future.
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