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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, CExP, CEPA
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Small business owners are the Hunters of the 21st century. We are 3% of the US population, and yet we create over half of all American jobs. As Hunters, we may not be inclined to manage by the numbers or stick to systems. Are you a Hunter or a Farmer?
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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: business
Is Two Weeks Fair Notice?
I formerly employed an assistant who held a Masters Degree in Human Resources. On occasion she’d say “I love working here. I’ll never quit.” Of course, as a good employer I felt an urge to reply with equal commitment, but … Continue reading
7 Responses to Is Two Weeks Fair Notice?
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Extreme Democracy
Last week the British government announced that it was naming their new scientific research ship the RSS Sir David Attenborough, acting counter to the people’s selection of “Boaty McBoatface,” despite that name being an overwhelming 3:1 favorite over the next closest choice. … Continue reading
4 Responses to Extreme Democracy
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Great post. Furthering this conversation, I highly recommended Dan Kennedys book: No B.S. Ruthless Management of People & Profits…..a word of warning you will need some thick skin, some honest self evaluation, and Clarity to really appreciate the valuable lessons taught in this book.
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Here, here! (with respect to our British forebearers).
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Well said. True freedom comes when we are obedient and submit to something greater than ourselves. Human are funny animal in search of transcendental joy yet they typically look for it in “things” and fleeting pleasures.
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Very well said. Not all are qualified to lead and thus should be grateful to those that are!
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Too Busy to Do Business
Another tax filing season has passed, and the entire US accounting profession comes up for air. Of course, thousands of businesses and individuals have filed for extensions, thereby postponing the pain of calculating their final numbers for anywhere from a … Continue reading
4 Responses to Too Busy to Do Business
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I love the title. When I was more active in my consulting practice and looking for additional clients, my best prospecting time was tax season. Business owners were unwilling to wait for advice and guidance. As a result, they left their CPA do the tax work and looked to me for the lucrative strategic planning and implementation. I love tax season.
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Excellent. Another thing to think about when I hear politicians talk about helping small business, and I know they have no concept of what small business is about.
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Hi John,
Great posts !
Very interesting article thank you for posting ! -
Great post John! I actually had a very similar conversation with a business owner only a couple of days ago on this topic. In Canada, our tax deadline is April 30th, so we have another week of our accountants being unavailable. You also hear so much about them working 80 hours a week, getting no sleep, rushing to meet deadlines, that it also begs the question as to how many mistakes are happening? Not intentionally, but only because of the time crunch and the pressure of the deadline. Realistically, as everyone talks about “added value” in our industry, you know that at tax time, this certainly isn’t happening.
I agree with you that the governments need to come up with a new system for tax filing deadlines and not make it universally the same for every person. We’ve done it for businesses and base it on their fiscal year end, so why can’t it also be done for individuals?
Thanks for a great read!
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Talk to Your Competitors
In my two decades of managing over a dozen peer groups, I frequently had the opportunity to sit in meetings with a business owner who competed with a member of another Board. I occasionally had to bite my tongue as someone vilified … Continue reading
2 Responses to Talk to Your Competitors
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Good article.
There is another reason to understand competitors. If you understand their methods, philosophies, and other aspects of their business, you can find other ways “Not to compete” with them. Since you are “different from the crowd”, perhaps your customer will conduct business with you without being price sensitive!
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As usual a great lesson,especially for small businesses.
The article has a lot of prudent advice. However, if you added up the total number of times employees have lost jobs without fair notice or reason, and the number of times employers have had employees leave without fair notice or reason, it is not clear that employers would end up with the short end of that stick. The truth is that without mutual respect either party may treat the other poorly. It is because of mutual respect that you and your past employee parted on good terms. When employment is mutually beneficial and mutually satisfying, it will end appropriately even when the termination is inconvenient for one or the other.
Agreed David, and I hope that came across. I have always felt lucky that the people who work for me choose to do so, and try to be worthy of their loyalty.
It is always important to outline in advance how a business relationship will end; Rather it is an employee, vendor or partner.
Shouldn’t it be a two-way street?
The laws today that protect employees in these situations are fair. Companies need to understand that employee loyalty (or lack of) is a product of their own making. When an employee puts their notice in, they’ve been ready to leave for awhile. You protect your investment in employees by making sure the investment continues to work for both parties. When it no longer does, you’re welcome to part ways if it’s for the right reasons.
What if you have a holding company and employees work for separate incorporated companies under the umbrella and each individual company has less than 100 employees each?
Good question. I would guess that it is covered under ERISA (common benefits, common ownership) but I’m not sure. That’s a labor lawyer question.