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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
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Your business is your life’s work. What comes next?
Your Exit Map: Navigating the Boomer Bust, combines humor and real owner stories, to help you understand your exit options, protect what you’ve built, and plan your next chapter.
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: leadership
Leaner and Meaner (Part 3): Investing in Employees
Employees are free agents. As a business owner you wouldn’t sell your customers at a loss because in past years you made a profit. Neither should we expect employees to get better at their jobs without expecting compensation commensurate with their current … Continue reading
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Leaner and Meaner (Part 2): Retaining Good Employees
Last week we discussed the post-recession challenges that face business owners, and the economic and demographic shifts that mean we need to run our companies better than we ever have before. Between 2008 and 2010 many business owners faced a task they had … Continue reading
One Response to Leaner and Meaner (Part 2): Retaining Good Employees
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2013 Planning:
Try Starting with “Who”
For many years, I’ve begun each annum with my clients by helping them answer the Seven Questions, some simple keys to basic planning for the year. This year the questions have been picked up by my friend Jim Blasingame at the … Continue reading
One Response to 2013 Planning:
Try Starting with “Who”
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Thanks John…I’m mainly in the II category…Funny, when I discuss these kinds of things with others, they look at me like I’m analyzing way too much..I agree that these are important insights and that many Decision Makers don’t think this way…I’ll remember this breakdown and watch how companies use or not use it.
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Santa Boss: The Role of a Business Owner
Ebenezer Scrooge was visited by three ghosts, so it’s fitting that I tackle the issue of the holidays three times. We’ve discussed terminations close to the holidays, and the custom of dispensing year-end bonuses. But in the end Dicken’s Scrooge was … Continue reading
2 Responses to Santa Boss: The Role of a Business Owner
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Thanks John…
I’ve never owned a business that supported employees so this is an interesting topic…to be honest, I’ve never worked for a co. that paid a wage/salary that I really felt I’d deserved…the very few times that I did get a “bonus”, I felt it was just balancing out what I’d already worked for/supplied…
You’re right, offering a “piece” of the business would mean much more.
Clint. -
I agree with Clint’s comment about how bonuses are perceived. If your bonus in a privately held business is setup on a profit-sharing basis after an owner-established flat amount, then that is what you have been diligently focused on the entire *prior* year, despite the owner controlling those numbers in the end. Bonus potential is discussed prior to the period for which you are working towards it, so I agree that they are very much a ‘balancing out’ of work provided that met or exceeded the documented criteria. Anything new after the labor year in question would be a simple breach, wouldn’t it?
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Holiday Terminations: Scrooge or Chicken?
This year, my first holiday termination conversation came on November 20th; a bit early in the season. Like traditionalists who hold off on Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving Day, most business owners start avoiding termination announcements a few weeks before the holidays.With the Great … Continue reading
2 Responses to Holiday Terminations: Scrooge or Chicken?
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Yesterday I was “involuntarily terminated” for the first time in my 55yr life…no one saw it coming. Anyway, today, still in quite a state of shock, I realize what high hurtles must be vaulted, in addition to the futility of engaging in a job search during the holiday season: filing (and hopefully qualifying) for UI; researching, deciding how to continue, and actually paying for, continued medical insurance which is mandatory in the state where I live; encouraging supervisors, colleagues, and professional associates to provide written recommendations while they are preparing for or are away for the holidays; and coping with depressed immediate family members; just to name a few. Had my employer waited until after the holiday season to terminate me, I could have been spared all these additional, time consuming, challenges and appropriately spent this most holy time of year in the joyful company of family and friends (many of whom are my co-workers). Employee termination during the holidays is an act of spiritual robbery that has a devastating impact which is farther reaching and longer lasting than termination at any other time of year 🙁
Recruiting, retention, and downsizing should be done within the context of an overall succession plan designed not only for ownership transitions, but also “bench strength.”