Category Archives: Uncategorized

26 Oct

Business is Different Than I Thought

Over time I have been able to identify a fair number of common concerns among business owners. Here in Northeast Wisconsin where I live, the common ground among them is not surprising. The common thread of culture and lifestyle, for the most part, exists in the majority of business owners.  Many commonly express the same thought; “Business is different than I thought.”  The conflict of balancing life and business is real and most struggle terribly with that.

That requires some defining.

Read More →

13 Apr

Agile Leadership Drives Organizational Performance

The ability of an organization to respond to changes in both its internal and external environment is called agility.  An organizations agility is paramount to its long term, and often its short term, success.  The turbulence that businesses have been experiencing in the last several decades is not going away.  Whether the challenges are created by political, climatic or economic events, the organization must respond rapidly, or whether, possibly dying in the process.  The ability to respond to these challenges as well as identify and capture new opportunities is a key factor in ensuring the sustainability, and growth, of a business.  The key is, Agile Leadership Drives Organizational Performance.

How do you make that happen?

Read More →

23 Jun

Your Marketing Budget Should be Focused

Let’s be honest; you cannot operate a successful business without marketing.  For most, marketing is advertising.  You spend money on advertising or, you hopefully are skilled enough to find other ways of marketing that are free.  Regardless, knowing where to advertise is a function of your marketing.  Without this important knowledge, your marketing dollars (advertising) are disappearing down a black hole.

Commonly what I see is a business buys an ad in some media where the business operates.  They are impressed by the reach that media has, they believe this will get their message in front of enough people and sales will come from that.  It might work for them, most often it will not.  It will not for the same reason it might, the media itself.  Is it the right media for your business, the right marketing venue if you will.  Advertising is expensive; you want to put your dollars where they have the greatest chance for a return.

How Do You Do That?

Read More →

16 Jun

Start, Stop. Start, Stop. Start, Stop…

 

Many of us have seen the cycle of Start, Stop.  We start an initiative, and it loses momentum then stops.  Later, we do this again.  Still later, again.  Over time our employees lose any enthusiasm or interest in what they are doing.  Ultimately this Start, Stop cycle causes disengagement of our workforce which leads to employee turnover.

Why does this happen?  Why do we start things and never finish?  More importantly, what can we do to change the behaviors of Start, Stop?  While there are many different reasons for this, a few are:

Read More →

16 Dec

What Is Business Afraid Of?

 

I was having coffee recently with several of my coaching clients.  These few “solo-preneurs” who out of necessity established a business.  They are experts, experts in their profession, experts and not only problem solving but also problem preventing.  They established their business because necessity demanded it.  The necessity of food, shelter, and clothing.  In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, these are considered basic needs, the needs of survival.  Success became secondary to their needs.

The rest of the story is provocatively compelling…

Read More →