Tag Archives: business planning

Uncovering Your Disadvantage Dollar – Part One

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disadvantage dollar

Do you need to uncover the disadvantage dollar in your business?

Most business owners are not aware of the places their businesses are ‘leaking’ money. Sometimes real, sometimes in other forms such as lost or missed opportunities, inefficient use of time and other resources and ongoing frustrations that seem constant.

More often than not, these frustrations are dismissed with a shrug as ‘just a part of running a business’. Until the day you decide to measure what it is actually costing you.  Better sooner rather than later.

The good news is that once you look into these you can generally uncover the cause, and the higher the cost to you or the business, the sooner you want to address it.

In almost every case of when a business is leaking money, it will be because of a missing system. Continue reading →

Managing Your People to be the Best They Can Be – Part II

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managing

Today I’m going to talk more about the Personal Progress Meeting (PPM). You may be wondering what the PPM covers. What do you talk about if you’re not talking specifically about their works items, or work in progress?

Here are some of the topics you can cover:

Current work issues – what’s working, what’s not working in their job and the jobs of others. What are their ideas for improvement and cost savings. What are your ideas and what does the direct report think of them. Continue reading →

Managing Your People to be the Best They Can Be – Part I

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managing your people

How does a small business owner who is extraordinarily busy at the best of times become a great manager? How do you go about managing your people to be their best?

There is one system that is the best training and learning ground for both managers and their direct reports. This system is extremely powerful and effective, and the more often you do it, the faster you’ll move toward your strategic intent.

This system might sound counterintuitive. Some of you are going to say, “But that’s just going to give me more work.” Believe me, if you do this the right way, it will free you up in ways you could never imagine, and at the same time, help your employees on the way to being the best they can be. Continue reading →

Common Hiring Mistakes

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common hiring mistakes

When recruiting and hiring, there are bound to be mistakes. Knowing what to watch for, and planning carefully, will get you well on the way to hiring great people.

Let’s take a look at some of the common hiring mistakes.

Not being clear about what the position entails – including the objectives of the position. Make sure that when you are in that hiring interview, you set out the responsibilities, and the standards. It’s very important to mention the standards expected and set them out clearly, and how the job and the results are going to be measured.

Not being clear about the skills and experience required. Be clear in your own mind of what the required skills are and the experience. Continue reading →