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As a business owner, you know what it’s like to lie awake at 2 a.m. Maybe it has happened when you are excited and full of new ideas for your business. More often, it’s because you are worried about issues you will face the next day. Sometimes, it’s because you just woke up with the solution to a problem. I’ve experienced all those emotions about my businesses over the years. Awake at 2 o’clock? is where I share them with you, and hopefully help with answers that will let you sleep.
John F. Dini, CExP, CEPA
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Small business owners are the Hunters of the 21st century. We are 3% of the US population, and yet we create over half of all American jobs. As Hunters, we may not be inclined to manage by the numbers or stick to systems. Are you a Hunter or a Farmer?
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How prepared are you to exit your company?
The Assessment breaks down the four major categories of exit readiness; Finance, Planning, Operations and Revenue/Profit.
Tag Archives: business ownership
The Tyranny of The Bad Customer
“The customer is always right,” or at least that’s what most business owners profess to their employees. We post it for all to see. “Customer satisfaction is job one.” “Our boss is the customer.” The most important person in our … Continue reading
One Response to The Tyranny of The Bad Customer
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Employee Retention: From Thirty Years to Two
The United States has never been known for permanent employment. The flexibility of our job market, the ability of employers to hire the employees need and fire those they don’t, has always been considered by economists to be a core attribute … Continue reading
2 Responses to Employee Retention: From Thirty Years to Two
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John,
Thanks for the article, I am a “baby boomer” and agree totally! I was laid off after 6.5 years and after a year of being a ” you are too qualified for the position”, I decided to do something I could enjoy, and taught myself how to become a wholesale/retail Chocolatier! I have 4 years in the “business” and am finally growing and have learned a lot the hard way and I am more unique and happy. I do have 2 part time assistants that I feel will work,learn,grow with my company…but nothing is permanent so each day is a new door that I can open and enjoy the challenge. Thanks again!
Cathy -
Good blog, John. Per studies, money is well down the list of reasons for employee retention. If I’m not mistaken the employees relationship with their direct manager is #1, followed by other factors such as company culture, ability to learn, their passion for the company mission, etc. So retention boils down to doing some tough work around making your workplace an appealing place to come every day, rather a place to dread. That’s not as easy as it sounds, for a small business person who focuses on meeting his payroll.
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Bah, Humbug! Remembering Fezziwig.
Last week was the 170th anniversary of the publication of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (December 17, 1843). The immortal words of Ebenezer Scrooge are ingrained in the memory of the entire English speaking world. I’d venture to guess that “Bah, Humbug!” … Continue reading
2 Responses to Bah, Humbug! Remembering Fezziwig.
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“God bless us everyone!”
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Nice read! A Christmas Carol is indeed one of the best stories of all time. Happy holidays!
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Should a Small Business Have a Budget?
“I know that my company is doing OK,” the old joke goes. “I still have checks in my checkbook.” Many small businesses run on a version of checkbook accounting, where anything that isn’t paid out at the end of the … Continue reading
4 Responses to Should a Small Business Have a Budget?
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I found in my consulting practice that the small businesses that have the discipline to create a budget also have the discipline to manage their business well. It is a way to the business perspective to pro-active instead of reactive.
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Extremely important if a business offers healthcare to employees. “Life changing events” include a spouse who loses coverage and now enrolls in your family plan.
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I agree, every small business must have a specific budget for their marketing campaigns. A successful business always start from planning to budgeting, to planning and implementation.
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In every business there should always be a budget.
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Employment as Video Game
In a recent survey of 20-something employees, the majority said that they expected a promotion in the workplace at least every two years. Most surprising to business owners, however, was that they did not believe that such advancement should be … Continue reading
One Response to Employment as Video Game
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Great points John. I have seen some significant software trends dealing with “gamification” of business process control systems to address this specific subject. “RedCritter Connector” is a notable example of this.
This is a great article and absolutely accurate! I represent a number of small to medium business owners and have owned businesses for many years and I find the credibility associated with online ratings to be quite shocking. As the owner of a law firm I continually stress about having a client get angry about a result in court one day and write a nasty online review the next, especially on a site that doesn’t allow users to delete reviews.
I have one client in particular that has had to reinvent and re-brand his business a few times because of online reviews and another client that was the victim of a consumer complaint site and is spending thousands of dollars trying to resolve the claims, most of which are wholly unfounded. Yet another client had the ex-husband of a girl he went on a few dates with post that he was a pedophile and claim that his business utilized fraudulent practices and was being investigated. Sadly, those posts will probably never come down because no one wants to spend thousands of dollars suing someone who will fight a silly fight and declare bankruptcy at the end of it all. Unfortunately for one of my client’s ex-employees, he is willing to spend any amount of money to get her to remove comments she made online after he fired her.
I would be surprised if employees or employers have analyzed the potential liability associated with posts and responses, or really any content they put online about another person. It is my opinion that most businesses should have new-employee trainings about this topic so as to avoid future problems.
Business owners certainly do not often consider the impact online reviews can have on the sale of their businesses. Buyers can decrease the purchase price substantially if they have to fight bad reviews because getting enough good reviews to offset one bad review is time consuming and costly. Whether or not the review actually impacts the business is irrelevant in negotiations because a seller can’t really prove otherwise.
Something new that is happening in the law is the use of reps and warranties associated with goodwill and how future reviews impact present covenants. We will be seeing a lot of litigation in the future over poorly written or understood reps and warranties in purchase agreements.
Great article John!