Great leadership is a must have in any work environment. While it can be hard to define what makes a great leader, I consistently come back to these basic themes: The ability to teach. Consider the old Chinese proverb: “You give a poor man a fish and you feed him for a day. You teach him […]

The art of effectively selling products and services is a skillset that all successful companies look to develop.  For some people it comes naturally as asking for the order is second nature.  For others, the idea of pushing another to buy something is a very uncomfortable thought.  Relationship selling is different approach to generating revenue, […]

I was thinking the other day about how I am starting to look at my work through a different lens. For example, if I were to have written down my top five career priorities as a 25-year-old, making a lot of money would have been near the top of the list for sure. Today, working […]

For the better part of my career, I have structured, negotiated and closed financial transactions.  There are several things that I have learned by participating in over 100 closings that I will share here. To begin with, I think it is critical that all parties start from a place of personal trust and respect for […]

There are many benefits to setting clear and consistent short term and long term-goals including a plan to achieve them. Best summarized, if you have clear directions to your favorite vacation spot, the chances of arriving at the destination increase dramatically. Each year, the preseason for most teams starts by studying the playbook and practicing […]

Taking steps to hold team members professionally accountable can be a challenge for many business leaders. Common causes include a fear of hurting an employees feelings, a concern that a hard discussion may decrease future productivity and uncertainty that replacing one team member with a new hire may result in a step backwards for the […]

Before stepping into any sort of business competition, most will consider a variety of things.  How are the products and services differentiated?  How many other companies are in the mix?  What role does price play in the decision-making process? While those questions are important, the little things can ultimately be what matters.  For example, it […]

I have had a handful of discussions with clients and peers lately about how to differentiate products or services in the marketplace.  Those same discussions seem to lead to the age-old themes of: Being all things to all people VS Limited focus Expertise VS Generalist I think a key part of solving the challenge of differentiating a product or […]

The best time to consider an investment in software or technology is when faced with an opportunity to improve upon an existing process. For example, if you have a good manual process in place to track and manage your customers today, the time may be right to invest in a cost effective CRM package to […]

There are a variety of different options for business owners to choose from if they are in need of assessing the value of their company.  Specifically, a quick web search will point toward a variety of accounting firms and appraisal firms to choose from.  One common oversite in choosing a provider, however, is an assessment […]