How is your business doing lately? As an owner, you probably have a sense of how things are going, but is it right? While I have developed a great respect for an owner’s “gut feel” over my 40 years of consulting, there are many illusions and counter-intuitive aspects to business that can mislead owners. A common counter-intuitive illusion is that if sales are increasing, things … [More]
Are You Prepared for a Crisis?
The fire alarm rings. Instantly, trained personnel leap into action. The dispatcher pinpoints the location and provides clear directions to the firemen and firewomen headed to the scene. Upon arrival, the first responders assess the situation and react with seamless teamwork and precision. Everyone has a role to play, everyone is prepared and the situation stays under … [More]
Restaurants: Setting the Table for Business
To the casual observer, the restaurant business is exciting, even glamorous. Many chefs and restaurateurs enjoy household-name status and snag as many headlines as rock stars. Plus, being a foodie is hip, and the public fervor for flavorful fare makes restaurants more vital than ever. Add to that the fact that Arizona is seen as a growth market, and it’s no surprise that … [More]
Ask Straight Up — and Close the Deal
Most salespeople, when it comes down to it, are downright scared of being direct and to the point and telling people in no uncertain terms, “Here’s what I want!” Think about it. There’s a conspiracy that encourages people to bury their most important wants and desires. Marketing trainers use consultative selling to draw people out. Social media consultants say, “Selling … [More]
Best Practices for Accounts Receivable Collection
The cash-flow crisis resulting from inadequate accounts receivable collection practices in a growing business is generally the greatest threat the business will ever face. Even a profitable firm can be forced to close by the resulting cash crunch. Here are a few tips that, when taken as seriously as client service, will greatly help collection efforts: Invoice clients in … [More]
Golf: A Swing and a Walk Is Good for Business
Every morning grounds crews on more than 420 Arizona golf courses activate sprinkler systems, meticulously manicure greens and rake sand traps in anticipation of the nearly 12 million rounds of 18-hole golf games played in the state each year. While the game of golf has a way of teaching humility, it equally has a way of pumping life into Arizona’s economy. According to … [More]
Dealing with ‘Difficult’ Colleagues Leads to Happier Customers
Too often, organizations promise satisfaction to external customers and then allow internal politics to frustrate their employees’ good intentions to deliver. It’s important to remember that customers aren’t the only ones who come through an organization’s door every day seeking quality service. Employees and company leaders also need to be served. If they’re not happy, it’s … [More]
If Cash Is King, then Working Capital Is God
Working capital management is the most important management activity in emerging and mid-sized companies because of the significant financial impact that it has on the company’s well-being. While most CEOs and business owners have heard and accept that “Cash is King,” working capital is often the least understood and most poorly managed area of their companies. When working … [More]
Architecture: Design Plan Build for the Future
Cautious optimism is the mood today at Greater Phoenix’s leading architecture and design firms. Hard hit by the economic downturn and fallout in formerly readily available financing for commercial projects, firms have found varying ways to come to terms with the economy. Tightening staff numbers, focusing on new kinds of projects and teaming with other architectural businesses … [More]
Drive Business to Success with a Winning Marketing Concept
Behind every successful product, service, or brand is a powerful concept. It is really that simple. Products and services that win in the marketplace are successful in presenting an idea that combines a clear benefit with invisible consumer logic. Whether the business is big or small, just started or in some stage of maturity, it needs a marketing concept. Surprisingly, many … [More]
Rx: When a Website Needs Surgery
... So the guy stands there with his mouth agape and says, “But Doc, why do you have to operate on my foot? The splinter is in my finger!” What does this punch line have to do with fashioning a successful website? Its underlying lesson applies to about 80 percent of people who can’t figure out why their website doesn’t “work.” Pretend your website is the patient in my … [More]
How to Set Owner Compensation
You may have decided to take no wages or below-market wages at the start of your business. But, by not accounting for the real cost for your services as if you paid someone else to do your job, you have distorted net income (or loss!) from your business. You are not at breakeven until you are paying yourself a market-based wage and you are profitable. Salary vs. Return on … [More]
Strategic Planning Vitalized
It’s that time of year again: strategic planning season. As annual planning and preparation tasks begin popping up on corporate calendars across the country, leaders cringe at the distraction. Given the current atmosphere of uncertainty, many executives approach planning with urgency and impatience — simply looking to get it over with — rather than approaching the process with … [More]
What Manufacturing Means to the Valley Economy
“Thirty years ago, manufacturing accounted for about 15 percent of output in [Arizona’s] overall economy. Now, it’s about 8 to 9 percent. That’s because other parts of the economy have gotten bigger,” says Research Professor Lee McPheters, director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He sees … [More]
Social Networking — Off-limits in Employment Decisions?
In the last several weeks, a minor firestorm has developed over private employers’ use of social networking sites, such as Facebook, to inform their employment decisions. Though the controversy about social networking sites was not exactly news to employers — many of whom have been monitoring employees’ Facebook, myspace, and similar pages for years — recent reports that some … [More]
Priced for Business: Starting a Consumer Enterprise
It’s common sense but often overlooked: To start a business, you must plan a strategy to decide what part of the potential marketplace you are going to attack. First, obtain the relevant facts about your competitors and the importance of your chosen marketplace and its potential for growth. From this, assess what you can aim to achieve and how you can be different from what … [More]
Creating a Corporate Dynasty
Winning businesses follow the championship formula: People + Personality + Process + Purpose = Dynasty. People, naturally, are the first element needed to be in place in order to build a business with sustainable success. It is the people at the top — plus their personality traits along with processes and their purpose in life — who provide a more complete answer to identifying … [More]
Social Strategizing with LinkedIn
LinkedIn was founded by Reid Hoffman in 2002 as a business-oriented social network. It differs from Twitter and Facebook because its primary use is professional networking, job searching and recruiting. Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members, and more than 2 million companies have developed LinkedIn Company Pages. With more than 150 million users in more … [More]
