Small Business Minute #77 – The Customer Goes First

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I’ve been considering this topic for quite some time but wasn’t sure it was worth addressing until a recent trip to New York City.

Having been out to dinner, we returned to our hotel and were waiting for the elevator to make its way to the ground floor. When the door finally slid open there was a young lady getting ready to disembark. Also, in the elevator, but tucked over to the side where the floor keypad is located, was a young man who was an employee of the hotel.

As we waited, the young lady began to step out of the elevator car, only to be cut off by the hotel employee. There was a look of confusion and sho… Read More

Small Business Minute #73- Incentives, the Owners Dilemma

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Small business owners are faced with a myriad of challenges every single day. If it isn’t sales, then it’s receivables and if it isn’t receivables, it’s operations. Add to this the hundreds of thoughts they are juggling trying to sustain their enterprises. Always at the top of their worry list is how to keep their staff focused and motivated.

Unlike much larger corporations, small business owners usually don’t have the financial resources to implement sophisticated incentive programs. A big part of the problem in smaller organizations is that the employees usually wear more than one hat or … Read More

SBM #63 – Don’t worry about the competition

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Read Time: 5 mins

Don’t worry about your competition. Pretty unusual advice to receive for any business owner. To be sure, we need to know some things about our competitors like:

• Who they are
• What products they sell
• Their pricing strategy i.e. cheap or expensive
• Their reputation i.e. after sales service, timeliness, etc.

But this just makes good business sense. Far too often I find small business owners who obsess about every move their competitors make. This obsession often leads to distraction and paralysis as they are not sure whether to match a competitor’s activity or ignore it.

In i… Read More

Small Business Minute #32- Empathy-The Double Edged Sword!

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Small Business Minute #32 Empathy-The Double Edged Sword

Most successful entrepreneurs that I’ve met have a balanced approach to empathy, deep when required and non-existent when really necessary. On the other hand, I witness owners that aren’t so balanced.

Those that have too much empathy, frequently worry way too much how a given decision or request will be accepted by their employees and regularly succumb to the slightest resistance. This failure to follow through on their decision, even though deep down inside they know it’s the right to do, often limits their success or ability to move the company forward.

“In man

… Read More