Many entrepreneurs go into business for themselves because they want to call their own shots, control their destiny, and make as much money as they think is appropriate. Also, they happen to be very good at something. Unfortunately, whatever unique skills they may possess, these skills alone often are not enough to ensure business success,…
My friend Steve Yastrow, a shrewd advisor and author, recently introduced this “Ditch the Pitch” approach, which you’ll find in his book of the same name at yastrow.com. It’s so packed with great ideas, I asked Steve for permission to share my top takeaways here. If your sales pitch isn’t delivering the results you want,…
Embrace Your Role as Company Leader As their small businesses grow, many owners struggle to define their shifting roles within the organization. It is a given that many business owners are great “doers.” After all, they’ve built successful businesses from the ground up. But as a business takes off, owners are suddenly confronted by tasks…
Goal: Manage Your Human Assets Wisely Make the Most of Your Human Assets In today’s highly competitive world, employee performance matters a great deal. As a result, your employees are either your company’s most powerful asset or its greatest liability. How do you ensure that your employees are the former, not the latter? By…
Goal: Learn to Sell Strategically Maximize Sales with Strike Zone Selling Like everything else, the key to selling effectively is focusing your time, efforts and energies where they’re most likely to pay off. That means identifying and targeting your best prospects by drawing on intelligence you already own. It’s called Strike Zone Selling, and it’s…
Step 1 – Target Your Market No matter what size your business is, the key to growth is working smarter, not harder. That means focusing your resources—time, money, personnel—on those activities that deliver the greatest return. Follow the 80/20 rule of productivity: just 20% of our customers, products, and activities generate 80% of our business…
Many entrepreneurs don’t set specific goals for their business, but studies show that goal setting really does drive higher achievement. According to small business peer board members who’ve embraced this technique, goal setting forces you to focus your energies effectively and develop real, viable action plans. It isn’t hard if you follow their lead. Here’s…
GIVE YOUR BUSINESS A POWER CHECK The key to growing your business is to keep evolving. To do that, you have to step outside your daily business and see where you fit in the big picture. You give your business an unbiased power check. Immersing yourself in new ideas is one way to broaden your …
The world around us is changing and if you don’t want to be left behind, you need to change, too. You can’t afford to hold onto your old ways. (The dinosaurs refused to change, and look what happened to them, and also Sears & Kodak.) But changing is easier said than done. How do you…
SWOT Analysis: Learn to Manage with Insight and Vision Conduct a SWOT Analysis Are you familiar with the concept of SWOT analysis? This is a great offensive and defensive study and activity. Large corporations and progressive small businesses (such as PRO, President’s members) use SWOT—an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats—as a strategic planning…
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