What Makes You Stand Out in the Marketplace?

Since COVID I have noticed many business owners having difficulty reconnecting, whether with customers or even prior networking groups.. As a growing business owner are you getting caught in the hyper-competitive market environment? When you work alone it is often difficult to fulfill all the roles you have to play. So how do you stay competitive? I often harp on the importance of staying focused to the high-priority, high payoff areas of the business, but when you are doing it all, everything seems “high priority”. But being in business means staying connected to the people who do business with you … Read More

Leverage, What is it and How to Use It

In the course of meeting with members, I have found many service providers have a challenge leveraging themselves. So I started looking at what leverage really means to a small business owner. There are a variety of ways to increase business or the bottom line with leverage.

Leverage in the pure sense deals with how a business utilizes borrowed money, (that’s referred to as OPM, other people’s money). Sometimes it is used for expansion, research and development, and in early stages for getting the business on its feet.

Then there is operating leverage, which is the impact of a change … Read More

Are You Promoting Your “Sweet Spot?”

As a growing business owner are you getting caught in the hyper competitive market environment? When you work alone it is often difficult to fulfill all the roles you have to play. So how do you stay competitive? I often harp on the importance of staying focused to the high priority, high payoff areas of the business, but when you are doing it all, everything seems “high priority”. But being in business means staying connected to the people who do business with you as well as the people who refer business to you.

Do you work consistently with your Marketing Read More

What Can Accountability Do for You?

Most small business owners don’t have anyone to report to on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis. Sure, you’re self-starters, you’re proactive. You get stuff done—and in some cases, at least some of the time—you get a lot done.

And you like not having to answer to others, and want that freedom and independence. You wouldn’t be in business otherwise.

But I think if you’re honest with yourself, you have to admit that you don’t always do as much as you could. Sometimes you coast. Sometimes you do what you like to do instead of the most important things Read More

Build From Your Strengths

As business owners keeping pace with the changes in technology can sometimes =, it reminded me of one of the keys I wrote about in my Master the Game of Business book, “work from your strengths”. 

You have the opportunity to do what you do best everyday; but chances are you don’t because you are not investing your time making the most of the strengths, skills and resources you already have. Psychologists have studied the effect that when you’re focusing on strengths, you have higher productivity and increased overall satisfaction with results. 

When a business owner focuses on the businesses Read More

Commitment, Your Best Execution Strategy!

What comes to mind when you think of the word COMMITMENT? Hopefully as a business owner you understand that commitment requires a program of goal setting joined with a decision to take action.  Being a self-starter means you are focused on a desire that you hold in expectation with a belief that it will be realized.  

The challenge comes when the words you use about yourself, your dreams, and those around you impact you, in a way that most of us underestimate. Words are our first weapon in the battle for keeping our commitment to what we say we want. Read More

Work from Your Strengths

“Unless you try to do something beyond what you already mastered, you will never grow.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

You have the opportunity to do what you do best everyday; but chances are you don’t because you are not working from your greatest assets, your strengths. Do you realize you have barely scratched the surface of your potential? Most people do not have a clue to what their strengths are and allow their weaknesses to take hold.

According to Tom Rath in his book “Strengths Finder”, you devote more time fixing your shortcomings than developing your strengths. If you always work … Read More

Strengthen Your Brand Identity

Customers make the heart of your business beat with their desire to choose products, services and experiences that meet their needs, fit their values, engage their emotions and respond to their desires. Your role is to transform prospects into customers and customers into fiercely loyal advocates. As your own marketer you have to be heard over the marketing noise that is everywhere, (TV, newspapers, on every street corner, now even at the movies). You then have to overcome the skepticism of the more sophisticated consumer.

In creating a Personal Brand it is important to understand that all of this starts … Read More

A New Year, New Goals, New Opportunities!

Now that you have things sorted out and put together, put last year behind you, scrap the old plans and get ready for a new start. New things require new strategies, new tactics and new plans. There’s an old saying – if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. Einstein may have put it better when he defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over, while expecting different results.

Recently our Mind Masters Licensee Facilitator Erin Samaniego posted some ideas that support what we all need to change and recognize in … Read More

Are You Preparing to Thrive and Survive?

Where is your business now in relation to this years goals and plans. Is your business thriving and surviving?  As business owners we are all playing a high stakes game of on and done and it’s our responsibility to the hero of our business.

So let me ask you, do you have your finger on all the aspects of the business?  As a business owner with so many conflicting priorities, and so much information out there trying to sell you the next most important idea, gadget, or technology, how do you make good decisions and concentrate on the critical matters? Read More