Editor’s Note: This article originally posted Dec. 19, 2017. In light of the difficult economic and social impacts from Covid-19, we felt it was timely to re-post now. We will get through this together. I couldn’t handle it. The pressure of closing the business, being hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and in the middle […]
Overcoming Obstacles
8 Steps Every Leader Must Take to Deal with Setbacks
As a business owner in this age of rapid technological change, with the surge of worldwide competitors, setbacks and adversity are virtually guaranteed. Based on my years of experience mentoring and advising entrepreneurs, you need to attack problems and challenges with a mindset of success, or it is unlikely that you or your business will […]
The Biggest Obstacles Your Small Business Will Face in 2020
Each year brings new challenges and advantages to small-business owners. 2020 marks a new decade filled with possibilities. However, there are also some big obstacles smaller brands must face as they move through the year. One major challenge is outpacing the competition. There are around 32.5 million small businesses in the United States. While the […]
Australia’s Small Businesses Are Struggling. Here’s How Accessible Financing Can Help
Australian small businesses have been struggling as a result of the struggling macroeconomy. The Coversation’s 2019-20 forecasts predict that economic growth will be at its weakest since the 2008 financial crisis. Many SMEs are experiencing dips in sales, cash flow problems along with an expectation that it is about to get worse. What can they […]
3 Biggest Challenges New Entrepreneurs Face When First Starting Out
For many people, becoming an entrepreneur is the equivalent of living the American Dream. Being able to work as often as you want, when you want, and most importantly, not having to answer to anyone… all of those things are big perks that everyone would love to experience on their jobs. The only problem is […]
4 Road Blocks to Business Ownership
If you have dreamed of business ownership, you may have found a business concept that captured your interest. Yet, after a short period of a few days or a week, that interest and even excitement was gone—even before you had done any serious research on the opportunity. What happened? You began to encounter road blocks. […]
Fear of Failure
As sales people and leaders, we have an interesting relationship with failure. We are in an intensely competitive profession. Our customers are and should be evaluating alternatives. In any buying decision, there will only be one supplier selected, with the others losing. As good as any of us are, we all fail! Like any other […]
Changing the Questions
We know questions are critical to our success as sales people. Sadly, we ask too few, choosing instead to pitch our products and solutions, hoping the customer has some interest in considering them, though we often don’t know why. Most modern selling programs talk about the importance of questions, but too often they focus on […]
How to Avoid the Social Media Storm
Previously, we dug into the details of two very different but very visible social media storms and how the brands (Crock-Pot and Old Navy) dealt with the unexpected spotlight. Don’t think for a minute that your local business is immune to the same sort of trouble. The good and the bad of social media is […]
How to Avoid the Social Media Storm
Previously, we dug into the details of two very different but very visible social media storms and how the brands (Crock-Pot and Old Navy) dealt with the unexpected spotlight. Don’t think for a minute that your local business is immune to the same sort of trouble. The good and the bad of social media is […]