Tag Archives: business planning

Building Your ‘A’ Team – Part Two

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team

“Teamwork is so important that it is virtually impossible for you to reach the heights of your capabilities or make the money that you want without becoming very good at it.” ~Brian Tracy

Why is building the best team important?

It’s important because I know that you have a big vision for your business, and to get there, you can’t do it on your own.  You and your business need the best resources you can muster and develop.  And you want to do it in a way that the business becomes less dependent on you to do it all and worry about everything.

To use a sporting analogy, you are building a team and you are selecting the best players for each position on the field.  And not only do you want them to be the best in their positions, you want them to work as a team with each other. Continue reading →

Building Your ‘A’ Team – Part One

business planning, business strategy, , , , ,

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“If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”
~David Ogilvy, Advertising Executive

I’ve seen business owners and middle management in corporations  who fight so hard to protect their own patch, as well as their egos, that they only hire people who are either exactly the same as them, or less than them, and therefore no competition. Continue reading →

How Do You Stack Up Against Your Competition?

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competition

What do you know about your competition? Do you ignore them and hope they will go away or at the very least – not bother you?


Pretending they don’t exist is not an option.

You are in business. It is your responsibility to be fully aware of how your target customer views not just your company, but your industry as a whole.  You must know what they are looking for, and it’s not always what you think they are looking for. It’s not even what you think they should be looking for, which is an arrogant standpoint.  Are you meeting their needs? Is your competition meeting their needs? Is it meeting different needs? Is there something others in your industry are doing in the way of product or service offerings that you need to know about? Continue reading →

One-on-One Employee Meetings: 10 Questions

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meetings

Solid strategic plans, strong work relationships, high morale and improved performance are all by-products of good questions. Particularly good questions asked in your 1 on 1 meetings with your direct reports.

Remember these meetings are where you as a manager get to help your staff member ‘be the best they can be.’ This is not a forum for you to talk and tell. It is for you to lead and listen.

This potent communication tool can help you discover important information about your business, your staff, yourself, your customers—and create insights that otherwise might have remained hidden. Continue reading →

Uncovering Your Disadvantage Dollar – Part Two

business planning, business strategy, , , , ,

disadvantage dollar

Finding the disadvantage dollar in your business.

Continuing on from last week discussing your disadvantage dollar. A refresher on what that is… It’s the money your business is missing out on through all sorts of channels and avenues. Sometimes it’s things that are costing your business money.

Last week, I shared an example of a business that was having problems with staff time and approach to work. This week, I’ll talk about a business that was missing quotes (resulting in missed business), and one which had mistakes made too often that were causing stress or overtime on the part of the owner and causing him/her to miss out on things like valuable family time. Continue reading →