Author Archives: Don Herrmann

08 Feb

The Problem With Small Business

There are 8.1 Million Small Businesses in America today.  They employ over half of all private-sector workers and almost 40% of those in High Tech jobs (approximately 130 million workers).  They provide between 60% and 80% of all net new jobs annually.  They produce more than half of all non-farm private gross domestic profit in the US (roughly $6 Trillion).    Small Business is important.

Unfortunately, within five years of opening, according to the SBA, almost 90% of all these businesses fail. These business owners are usually very good at what they do, manufacturing something, providing a service, etc.  What many of them lack is the know-how to manage all aspects of the day to day operations of that business.  The high failure rate is due to the very real fact that they do not have the training, education, knowledge, or experience to do it all.  To be successful, they must do it all and do it well.  How do we accomplish that?

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01 Feb

You Don’t Have to Sell More to Make More Profit

I often hear, “Our sales are down…we have to hire a trainer, coach, consultant to increase our sales.”  “Our sales are up…we are doing good…look at that revenue pouring in; we don’t need any help.”   If you are basing the health of your business on your revenue, sales, or profit, you may be making a mistake.  Hopefully, you want to grow your business, and commonly that is measured in sales and profit.  You don’t have to sell more to make more profit.  There are other things you need to focus on first.

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25 Jan

Why Are We Managing Generations

Over the last several years a lot of people have made a lot of money telling business owners and leaders that to effectively manage the modern workforce you must manage the generations differently. Why? They claim these generations are all different, have different values, work practices, and motivators.

In the immortal words of my father…Horse pucky.

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18 Jan

Why Would Any Business Owner Not Want To Grow?

I am sometimes a bit surprised when I hear from Business Owners that they do not want to grow their business.  I can be fairly competitive, and hearing someone say that they are happy with their business at the size it is now causes me to stop and wonder.  Why would any business owner not want to grow their business?

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11 Jan

Accepting Change is Difficult – You Must First Avoid the “Not’s.”

Change is inevitable. Like time, we cannot stop it. To not only survive but thrive in today’s business environment, you must not only accept change but must also embrace change. Given that accepting change is one of the more difficult things we mere mortals must do, having a plan, a strategic plan to manage change in your business is critical to success.

To understand how to be successful with change lets first look at the “Not’s” of change management. There are six of them:

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