Starting a business venture with a friend sounds like a great plan—what could go wrong? If they’ve been a loyal friend and a positive influence on your life, why wouldn’t they do the same for your business? While there are many successful tales of business partnerships that started out as friendships, you may be surprised […]
Values
Mission, Vision, and Values
It’s vital to every business that they have a clear idea of who they are and what they’re all about. Few owners have taken the time to distill it down or made the effort to weave it into the fabric of the company. What do the mission, vision and values for your business look like? […]
A Very, Very Important Question
Cleaning out some files I came across one of the many quotes and sayings I’ve cut out and saved over the years. It contains such wisdom that if we’ll only keep it in mind and ask ourselves this question on an ongoing basis we have an excellent chance of attaining that which we truly desire. “Is what I am […]
People Wisdom from Gandhi
In his terrific new book, Reinvent Yourself, prolific author, entrepreneur, blogger, podcaster, and serial reinventor-of-self, James Altucher shares a ton of wisdom. Included are lessons from business titans to historical figures; world-class athletes to top entertainers, and many more. And, in his usual humble, self-effacing way, he shares golden nuggets of wisdom from…himself as he takes their lessons and serves them up […]
How to Create a Core Team You Can Trust
How many times have you heard this line in a movie: “I don’t know if I can trust you…”? The line always comes at a pivotal moment. If there isn’t any trust, then the love affair, caper, or escape won’t happen. It teaches a good lesson: For important plans to be successful, there must be […]
Transparency: The More Things Change…or Do They?
“…{You} must recognize that we are living in a different generation than the one in which {your} father had lived, and that it was possible, in building up an industry such as {his}, to maintain a comparative secrecy as to methods of work, etc. and to keep business pretty much to those who were engaged in […]
How to Deliver Excellence: It Isn’t an Accident
I’ve never met a business owner or leader who didn’t want the employees of their organization to deliver excellence. And the truth is most employees want that too. They want to work for an organization that allows and even encourages them to go above and beyond for the people they serve. Sadly, most employers believe […]
3 Steps to Stimulate Change and Establish a Clear Purpose
Organizations and people grow, evolve, and change. It’s what we do—and failure to do so over time will find us being followers rather than leaders. Change starts with having a clear purpose. Leaders need to have a clear purpose for change if they want their team to buy in. This is the first step in […]
10 Ways an Entrepreneur Can Build a Winning Culture
If an entrepreneur can’t build a culture of excitement and commitment at a startup, the chances of long-term success are negligible. It simply doesn’t matter how great your solution is. Every investor knows this. That’s why they insist on spending a day with your team as part of the due diligence process. A winning culture […]
Choose the Right Franchise Relationship for You
Franchises are growing so much that you can probably find a franchise option for almost any kind of business you’re interested in these days. In fact, you can probably find multiple options. If you’ve made a spreadsheet and you’re still having trouble narrowing down the choices, maybe you need to get back to fundamentals. Your involvement with […]
