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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: leadership
Employee Investment Takes Time
Despite millions of dollars in revenue and expenses, an NBA team is a small business. A coach gets 15 positions (12 active and three reserve) with which to field a winning organization. As in any small business, every player has an important role. While some … Continue reading
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Are Entrepreneurs Smarter, or just Gutsier?
The vagaries of my reading habits had me reading two “How I did it” books last week; Ed Whitacre’s “American Turnaround” and Dave Ramsey’s “EntreLeadership.” Both men are justifiably proud of their achievements, but their differing paths to success are striking. … Continue reading
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Leaner and Meaner (Part 4): Beating the Big Guys
If your small business depends on excellent employees, how can you attract and retain them against the resources of larger corporations? In our previous installments of this Leaner and Meaner series, we’ve talked about how the pressures of running a business today … Continue reading
One Response to Leaner and Meaner (Part 4): Beating the Big Guys
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I enjoyed the article, we have worked hard to bring our small business to the size and profitability to retain our top performers. Although we think of ourselves as a family we do cull the family to make room for new family members. Most of the time “family members” who are repeatable passed up will leave on their own: At times We need to let them know their future is not with us. When this happens we need to step back and rebuild the team, though recently we have the new member work for a week at a time with one trainer in their work related areas. after a month we confer with the trainers and see where their strengths are, should any of the managers feel the time investment will not pay off the individual is let go. the longer it takes to make that decision the more difficult it is to let them go–part of the family dilemma I suspect.
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Leaner and Meaner (Part 3): Investing in Employees
Employees are free agents. As a business owner you wouldn’t sell your customers at a loss because in past years you made a profit. Neither should we expect employees to get better at their jobs without expecting compensation commensurate with their current … Continue reading
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Leaner and Meaner (Part 2): Retaining Good Employees
Last week we discussed the post-recession challenges that face business owners, and the economic and demographic shifts that mean we need to run our companies better than we ever have before. Between 2008 and 2010 many business owners faced a task they had … Continue reading
One Response to Leaner and Meaner (Part 2): Retaining Good Employees
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Recruiting, retention, and downsizing should be done within the context of an overall succession plan designed not only for ownership transitions, but also “bench strength.”
I think you are on track. I know I have toyed with the idea of owning my own business, but realized years ago that I do not have the risk tolerance or the burning need (i.e. I just lost my job and need to eat). Entrepreneurs fulfill a key role, but they often get to a point where they need the skills of “corporate” people. They need each other.
Thanks John, another good topic…
Guts, balls, chutzpah, however you say it entrepreneurs and business owners have immensely more than employees…Like you say in the “crock” paragraph, they choose the known “job” because they feel like it’s the easier way…My reason for quitting my job and starting a business was mainly your 1. Wanted to make more money than my employer paid, but it was more about compensation…example, one company I worked for only about 2 years, told me, (after I left, finding a better paying career), “Clint, you were way better at this than the Journeyman, Bill”…Fine time telling me now!..shoulda compensated me and maybe I’d have stayed…I digress…
Successful entrepreneurs and business owners know how to use risk to their advantage and master it by using it with plenty of practice…Employees go home to watch TV, entrepreneurs go home to work, but fun work.
Clint.
I think self-employed people realise the world is their oyster, they are no longer sheep…they feel they can achieve whatever they desire…but yes and a big yes, they need to foresight to pick up the pieces when things go wrong or be quick enough to STOP and change what they are doing to make it work.
Im from a working class background so the only thing we have is our tenacity and will to resolve.