Small Business Minute By Greg Weatherdon

Many business owners complain that they never seem to get anything accomplished during normal business hours because they are constantly being interrupted to deal with relatively unimportant issues. As the business grows the interruptions just keep on multiplying. This happens because when they first started out they were accustomed to doing everything, because they were it and only had to take care of themselves. They handled every issue. But as the company grew, they didn’t realize that they need to find an alternative, so they continue running the business like they’ve always done, o… Read More

A common mistake entrepreneurs make is that they expect their employees to take responsibility for the job they are tasked to do but fail to give them the authority they need. “It’s a little contradictory and more than frustrating for your team.” This is particularly evident in customer service or customer facing positions. We tell our team that we want to provide the best customer service or experience, yet what typically happens is the individual is powerless to deliver on that promise without first checking with the owner or manager. It’s a little contradictory and more than … Read More

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

Its not always your bosses fault that you don’t like your job (Tweet this). Sure it’s easy to blame someone else that you’re not reaching your full potential, that your job is boring and repetitive to say nothing of the fact that you feel stuck without choices. To that I say, get over it. Working for an entrepreneur can be both challenging and fulfilling Where is it written that they are responsible for your future? Working for an entrepreneur can be both challenging and fulfilling all at the same time. Challenging because they don’t always have the time to communicate their wants clearly, leavin… Read More

I regularly tell business owners that you don’t have to be an expert in every area of your business, but you have to good enough at everything until you can afford to hire someone who is better than you in a specific discipline. This is pretty simple advice but it can be challenging for the entrepreneur because they don’t know where to begin. As humans, we tend to gravitate towards the things we like or good at and avoid those things we don’t understand. “learning anything new can be tedious” Chances are you got good at something because you spent time doing it and eventually became prof… Read More

A wonderful piece of advice we can all use is that we should all have two mentors. One that is older that can share the wisdom that comes with age and can helps us avoid the many pitfalls that they’ve experienced. The second and younger mentor, and by younger I mean at least one generation behind us and not just a few years our senior. This mentor or group of mentors will be the ones that keep you in tune with the new trends and applications that are changing as quick as the seasons. “have a mentor for sales and another for logistics” In either case you may want to have more than one mentor in bot… Read More

Being the creator of our future is part of the allure to being an entrepreneur, however one of the costs of doing so is the increased stress we experience while chasing our dreams. The thing with stress is that although we all experience it, how we deal with it can be far different. Some even look upon it as a badge of honor and fool themselves into thinking that stress is a great motivator and therefore they’re making progress, when in fact they could be more effective if they could just reduce their stress. Get Things Done Funny enough, one of the easiest ways to do that is to get things done. You see, st… Read More

As entrepreneurs, we are faced with a daily buffet of decisions we must make. Some days the sheer quantity can overwhelm and dishearten an individual. Granted many decisions are simple and require little or no effort, however they all aren’t and this can really cripple an individual if they’re afraid to make a mistake. The saying “I’ve learned more from my failures than my successes” is one often expressed by many successful entrepreneurs. They learned early on that failure is a big part of being successful. What you learn and how you apply that lesson, is the … Read More

  Wilfredo Pareto discovered the 80/20 rule when he wanted to determine who owned all the lands in Italy in the 18th century. He found out that 80% of the lands holdings were owned by just 20% of the families. As he continued his research he soon discovered that many things fit that profile. Applying The 80/20 Rules For Sales So how do we apply the 80/20 rules for sales? Well as entrepreneurs we seem to manage to bog ourselves down doing all sorts of non-productive activities. Sure we justify them as necessary activities but in many cases we’re just doing busy work that could easily be de… Read More

Let’s face it, employees will screw up. But how we manage the situation can have greater importance and do more damage to your business than the actual mistake. It has been my experience that most mistakes occur because the information or directions issued were not clear or detailed enough yet as managers we assumed they understood. Too Little Information In many situations, we’re so busy or stressed that we’ve issued just enough instructions to get the item delegated without considering whether they have ever done the task before or are clear about the end result. The employee on the other h… Read More

  There really isn’t a better testament for your business than having repeat customer sales. It tells you you’re doing something right because your customers are coming back for more. But the true magic of repeat business is understanding the frequency a customer buys, what they buy and the value of their purchases. In Small Business Minute #21, I discussed how profitability increases when you deal with existing customers, but now I want you to leverage this information so you can enhance a customer’s lifetime value to your organization. Big Companies Understand Customer Lifetime Va… Read More

As entrepreneurs we are use to doing everything because in the beginning there wasn’t anyone else. As they say, old habits are hard to break so when a staff member gets sick or overwhelmed, we’re usually the first ones to jump in and cover the situation. But who covers for you when you get sick? Who’s got your back? We’re Only Human I know we think we’re superhuman, and sometimes we really are, but most of the time we’re just frail human beings just like everyone else and we need to seriously consider a contingency plan. How would your business operate if you we’re sidelined for a week or even wor… Read More

Have you ever taken the time to actually inventory your achievements? Every once in a while we should stop and look back over our shoulder to appreciate really how far we’ve come since we stepped into the abyss of self-employment Success has many definitions. To some it’s a state of mind, to others it’s a financial achievement or the accumulation of possessions. Unfortunately, many have yet to create their own definition. Define Your Own Success The advantage of being an entrepreneur is that we can set our own parameters to this definition. In this age of over-hyped 24/7 news cycle, it’s easy to … Read More

I regularly work with small business owners who are so focused on growing their customer base that they ignore their existing customers. Existing Customers Are More Profitable What most don’t realize is that existing customers are far more profitable than new customers. In fact, it can cost you 5 to 10 times more to get a new customer than it does to service an existing customer. In addition, if you can increase an existing customers’ loyalty or purchase frequency by just 5%, you can increase your profitability between 25% and 85%! So why is that? Well, when you consider how much effort goes into … Read More

Prior to starting my own business, I literally devoured everything I could about owning and running a company. One thing that I could never understand was how a perfectly good business ended up going bankrupt because of cash flow problems. It wasn’t until I started my own first enterprise that I quickly learned that regardless of how profitable you were, it didn’t matter until that money was in the bank- Cash flow ruled! Cash flow in a business is much like the oxygen we mere mortals need to survive. Getting paid for what we do is like breathing in, it’s the oxygen our business needs to survive. On th… Read More

            As a business owner, do you even know what you’re trying to achieve? Waking up and hoping that today will be better than yesterday is not much of a strategic initiative (TWEET THIS) and will do nothing to advance your dream. Alternatively, simple statements like I want to be wealthy or sell the company someday and retire just don’t cut it, they are just too vague. Being successful in business is a combination of hard work, focused attention, and luck. Unfortunately, all three elements must work in harmony to ensure a fruitful outcome. Hard work is not eno… Read More

            Entrepreneurs are notorious for not delegating duties and responsibilities within their organizations. A common reason for this that they figure it’s just easier and quicker to do it themselves than to take the extra time required to train someone. So instead, they just figure they’ll work a little harder. (TWEET THIS) Delegating Is Freedom For those lucky few who do find enlightenment, they quickly realize how learning to delegate can be a revelation in freedom that, over time will allow to become a better manager and allow you to focus on the long r… Read More

            Trying to increase the profitability of our business is always at the forefront of our thoughts and that usually revolves around looking for the next big idea, product or service that we can offer our customers. Many times this makes perfect sense, especially if we’re confident we have maximized the opportunities within our current clients, products and operations. Unfortunately, more often than not, we have done neither and are simply looking for something new to play with, something to get us excited simply because we may be a little bored with th… Read More

            One of the key skills successful entrepreneurs share is their ability to use the selling process as a research vehicle. Being a great designer, mechanic or programmer matters little if you can’t convince someone to buy your goods or services. Alternatively, hoping “to be discovered” may leave you waiting a long time. (TWEET THIS) Sales Generate Revenue With the exception of sales, all other activities that you do are costs to the business. Sales is your sole revenue generator and supports all other activities. Remember, No sales, No business. But g… Read More

            I often come across business owners whose sales style is to use scare tactics rather than a consultative sales process By scare tactics, I refer to that style whereby the sales individual attempts to pressure the individual into making a purchase decision based on world ending events. An example of this would be a roofing salesperson telling the client that they can’t wait any longer because their roof is failing and if they don’t act now they risk a leak that would cause untold damage to their ceiling, furniture and flooring and may not be covered by ins… Read More