This blog is for Alan and John (and YOU) to express their opinions, biases, prejudices and thoughts on topics pertinent to small business! Click the headlines at the top of the article to open the full text.
Please join the conversation and add your opinions, biases, prejudices and thoughts to make this a really valuable resource for learning!
Sometimes in our Business Owners Board mentoring group meetings we work through a case study and discuss what each member would do. This particular case study calls for us to think about ethics in business! (Figures and identities of the companies and individuals have not been disclosed, but it is a real life case study,… [Read more…]
I guess we have all had speeches or events that have inspired us. But this one set new heights and levels of motivation. In 2001, my business at the time was turning over approximately $1m and only had two customers. We were struggling in our newly formed business. We approached a potential client company who... [Read more...]
A deadline is approaching, but has been extended – still, don’t miss out! If your business has a ‘trading name’ and the goodwill of your business associated with it – IT WILL DISAPPEAR FROM 1 NOVEMBER THIS YEAR in 2023! That’s right! Trading names will no longer be recognised and will be removed from the… [Read more…]
Is there an “indispensable person” in your business? Worse still, as the business owner are you the indispensable person? An indispensable person in a business can be a major risk and also a bottleneck! They are the kind of person who has some expertise / knowledge / experience in a particular aspect of the business…. [Read more…]
Business owners, are you guilty of being a rescuer? Do you try to pump life into your staff, clients, peers and friends? James (Jim) Rohn was a favourite motivational speaker of ours and I had the good fortune to meet him on a number of occasions. He gave us all some great life and business… [Read more…]
If your only goal is to have a bigger business, because you think bigger is better – think again. This is a great little story about a Mexican villager to get you thinking about “What is the purpose of my business? Do I have a plan?” The American investment banker was at the pier of… [Read more…]
In their book “Great By Choice” Jim Collins and Morten Hansen dispel a number of entrenched myths about what makes companies great in tough times. What do you think about them? Please add your comment below! Entrenched myth #1: Successful leaders in a turbulent world are bold, risk-seeking visionaries. Contrary finding: The best leaders we studied… [Read more…]
As business owners, how do we learn anything? What happens in the brain? The four stages of learning, initially described as “Four Stages for Learning Any New Skill”, was apparently developed at Gordon Training International by Noel Burch in the 1970s. (Wikipedia) It’s a great theory for business owners to understand because often we “don’t… [Read more…]
“No-one on their death bed ever wished they had spent more time at the office / in the business.” This is a fairly well known quote by the late Stephen Covey, author of “The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People” and many other great personal development books. If you have never read this book, we… [Read more…]
It’s easy to get lulled in to a false sense of security when a business is doing a good turnover and turnover figures are going up. The problem is though that it is NOT about the turnover, it’s all about the LEFTOVER! In other words the profit and growing the profit dollars. So often we… [Read more…]
