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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: employee performance
Meetings Part II: Start Right
Thank you to everyone who posted or emailed their suggestions for productive meetings. Please keep them coming! By far the most frequent suggestion was to have a written agenda. That is as good a place as any to start. Distribute … Continue reading
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“Death by Meeting”
Meetings are often a painful necessity, but they are a necessity none the less. What makes a “good” meeting? The saying “Death by meeting” is common enough. Patrick Lencioni authored a book with that title in 2004, but I remember it … Continue reading
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Would You Like that With or Without Service?
In the 1980’s, when Boomers dug into their career paths and started hiring other Boomers to do things for them, the United States became a service economy. Driven by their ambition for material success, Boomers opened millions of new businesses to provide … Continue reading
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Business Owners are Glubricants
Utility Infielder, Jack-of-All-Trades, Mr. Fixit, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer, Know-It-All, Do-It-All, Swiss Army Knife, Center of the Universe. There are many ways to describe the myriad business roles filled by the owner of a small business. Here’s another. The … Continue reading
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When an Employee Can’t Grow With You
Every business is an organism. It is either growing or dying. I’ve met a few owners who said “I want everything (sales, staff, profits) to stay exactly as it is,” but none who were actually able to pull that off. As we … Continue reading
Meetings should end with agreement on the text for, “Actions Arising From This Meeting”. Where appropriate, the actions should include designation of the person responsible for the activity, resources that will be applied, next task review date, and delivery date. Most likely these last details will require time to flesh out but the process of having them called out as line items in the meeting agenda minimizes the risk that nothing will get done.
Another good practice is to hold “Standing Meetings” where literally all attendees stand. This works well for Monday morning meetings to remind everybody of the targets for the week and quick assessment of any new issues. If the meeting is limited to 30 minutes, it is useful to have some hand signals, (eg throat swipe to cut off a topic needing more time or a different audience), to keep the meeting brief.