Its time for a confession. I have had a negative mindset lately. Like really negative. Here are the symptoms: I’ve been rough around the edges with my kids, I’ve been grumpy with my wife, I’ve gossiped about others, I’ve marginalized…
Giving Advice
I like to give advice. I like to help others. In fact, the mission of Tinderbox Consulting is “to serve God by serving others.” But, I want to be transparent about something. I don’t give advice because I’m the smartest…
Lessons from Four Years of Tinderbox Consulting
It recently occurred to me that I’ve been running own company longer than any job I’ve ever had. The longest I was employed was 15 years ago. While attending college at Western Washington University, I worked in the computer maintenance…
Facebook for Business, the Twitter Dashboard, and You
It’s summertime, and while we’re all out working on our tans, Twitter and Facebook too have been perfecting their beach bods with some notable facelifts. Twitter Dashboard: Baywatch Beautiful Twitter Dashboard has single-handedly halved the number of tools you used…
Work Like An Olympian
The analogies between sports and business, or really sports and anything, are as ubiquitous as they are tiresome. And yet, there’s this strong temptation to take an inspiring performance and make it even MORE inspiring by analogy. . . So,…
The Hiring Decision
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…
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…
Entry Points for Failure
As a small business owner, the world can seem overwhelming at times. There are so many hats to wear, and so many fires to put out. Sometimes, you have approach things from a different angle. Instead of being reactive, think…