Hiring will (and should) change your business. Hiring an employee, especially your first employee, means you have more mouths to feed. At first, my business was just supporting me and my family. As soon as I added an employee, the…
The Agora Awards
An Agora is an ancient Greek word denoting an ancient Greek concept; an ‘open place of assembly’ where citizens from all walks of life would gather to talk and to trade. Philosophers, Socrates himself, strolled barefoot through the square, sparking…
Checking Things Off the List
As entrepreneurs and small business owners, we all need (and deserve) a win every now and again. Unfortunately, it’s not often enough that our clients or customers thank us – however, they are often quick to criticize. For that reason…
Bedside Manner
Your bedside manner goes a long way – good and bad – with your customers. It doesn’t matter if you’re actually in sales, marketing or customer service, if you interface with clients you should have good bedside manner. We condition…
Critique vs. Criticism
If you’re giving an honest and helpful critique, don’t say sorry. Own the comment and deliver it. It’s for their benefit, right? Or, are you actually sorry about helping someone? If you say sorry after offering someone some insightful feedback,…
DisasterProofing Your Small Business
Coming off the tail end of the Great Windstorm of 2015 (AKA, #InlandWind, or the #Windocalypse) and contending now with the regular variety of snow and ice (#SpoSnow, and #Spice?), there seems no better time to discuss small business preparedness…
Keeping Your Online Reputation Squeaky Clean
Slanderous comments about your business can stick like graffiti on your online presence: super noticeable, super hard to remove. Rather than scrubbing till your hands are sore, take some simple steps to be proactive about protecting your online reputation. An…
Motivating Without. . . Money?
Small business owners can motivate employees by promoting culture over results. Really own the reason WHY the company exists – assuming it’s fairly altruistic – and employees will want to help more. Speak the culture. Live the culture. Really own WHY you…
Be There In Five
No you won’t. And we both know it. It’s not because I don’t trust you. It’s because I do the same thing. I’m running late and am embarrassed that I’m running late so I text you to let you know….
Smart Enough to Know Better
A friend of mine said to me while discussing a work issue, “I’m smart enough to know better, but not smart enough to know why.” His meaning was that he knew he was being taken advantage of, he just didn’t…