Tag Archives: entrepreneurs

The Quest for Recurring Revenue

Recurring revenue is the current Holy Grail of business. Barriers to Entry, a traditional way of assessing your differentiation against competition, have been replaced by Barriers to Exit, how to make it at least inconvenient or at most excruciatingly painful for … Continue reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Sales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

One Response to The Quest for Recurring Revenue

  1. I am striving to achieve different recurring revenue streams over time, so I will check out the book, The Automatic Customer by John Warrillow.

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When a Customer Outgrows You

There is nothing that quite matches the excitement of landing your first really big customer. It often brings with it the confidence that comes with knowing, really knowing, that you can compete in the big leagues. There could be the added security of … Continue reading

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Is Your Business in the “Neutral Zone?”

As Baby Boomers business owners approach retirement (the youngest of them turned 50 this year) they face a unique challenge. The market for small businesses is increasingly a buyer’s smorgasbord A shrinking middle-aged population, corporate competition for talent and less interest … Continue reading

Posted in Building Value, Entrepreneurship, Exit Options, Exit Planning, Exit Strategies, Leadership | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

2 Responses to Is Your Business in the “Neutral Zone?”

  1. Clint says:

    Thanks John. Interesting what the future will hold for these businesses…Buying businesses for millions of dollars seems like pie in the sky for most of us Xers or Millennials. I totally agree with the “hire a buyer” future. When I told my boomer boss that I may be interested in opportunity for buying I think he woke up a bit and has started me on an upper mgmt ladder. I call this Intrapreneurship and have even started a community at http://www.IntrapreneurOnline.com where we IPRs can share our wins, grow and help each other. Maybe it will even turn into a place for nurturing these “hire a buyer”s.
    Thanks again,
    Clint.

  2. TKO Miller says:

    Great article, thanks for sharing! We\’ve written a blog post on why 2017 is the perfect time for baby boomers to consider selling their businesses. Read it here: https://www.tkomiller.com/blog/baby-boomers-and-business-owners-2017-is-your-year

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Police Deadly Force and Management

The outcry over the use of deadly force by police officers has dominated headlines. Ferguson Missouri, New York City, Virginia, Texas, Florida. Although incidents involving unarmed black men have dominated the headlines, the total number of deaths by law enforcement … Continue reading

Posted in Leadership, Management | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

5 Responses to Police Deadly Force and Management

  1. Kyle Whale says:

    So what are some examples of “nightsticks”?

    • John F. Dini says:

      Sorry, I guess even the term is antiquated. A piece of hickory, cured and hardened, round (about 1.5 to 1.75 inches in diameter) and about 30 inches long. Longer than a Billy club, harder than a truncheon. Grooved handle for a good grip, with a strong leather thong for wrapping around your wrist. Formerly standard issue for every police officer in the country. Later “improved” with a second handle that came out 90 degrees from the side about 1/4 of the way up, but my dad never cared for those.

      • Russ Ronnebaum says:

        I don’t want to put words in Kyle’s mouth but I think he might have been referring to a “nightstick” in the context of what examples of a “corrective action” to mete out to an employee instead of the big threat of “deadly force” that results in termination.

        • John F. Dini says:

          Oh. Duh! Thanks Russ. A structured system of progressive discipline gives supervisors the ability to assign penalties without being accused of arbitrariness. Docked pay, deferred raises, forfeiting PTO (which in most states is only controlled by company policy), exclusion from an incentive pool and suspension are all options, but the supervisor needs to understand what is available and when it is appropriate.

  2. Chris White says:

    Perhaps some commercial examples might illustrate the point?
    1. Most serious examples short of termination might include probationary status, docking pay, demotion.
    2. Less serious examples might include a letter in the personnel file, attendance at a seminar on the topic causing the problem, loss of privileges such as parking space, etc.
    3. Least serious might just be a verbal reprimand without the “or else” attached to it.

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Don’t Train with Customer Pain

I have lot of favorite books. In business, they range from cutting edge theory to some of the little “quick reads” that build a single management or behavioral point around an allegory. One of the best in the latter category … Continue reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

2 Responses to Don’t Train with Customer Pain

  1. Brent Lane says:

    John,
    You can usually recover from your pain, but not always from your customer’s discomfort – and especially if you do not know about it.
    With my firm, I would call every client every month just to say “How are we doing”? 99% of the time, I was met with appreciation. The other 1% sometimes involved yelling and occasional unpleasant suggestions. My response was always, “Thank you – now that I know about it, I can fix it.” And we always did.
    In 15 years our collection period was always less that an month and I never had a claim for any cause. I attribute it to good will and the ability to solve a problem before it resulted in slow payments, or worse, lost business relationships.

  2. I think they used to call it customer relationship management

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