The Tip System
Here is an evaluation system, albeit waggish. It’s about tipping in restaurants, and I’ll preface things by saying I don’t believe a tip is a diner’s obligation. It’s a tip—something extra that one earns if...
Browsing Tag
small business
139 posts
The Cardiovascular Equipment Sign-Up System
Here’s a remove-the-system-altogether scenario. It’s the ultimate in simplifying things. My staff and I take delight in chucking unnecessary Centratel protocols. System-elimination is great to see in personal life, too. The cardio room at the...
Losing Key Employees
In my small business, Centratel, each of our half-dozen key management people has had several years of on-the-job experience. Training managers to operate a telephone answering service is a long, drawn-out affair because it is necessary...
Hey, Green Business, is regulation a good idea?
· How does environmental regulation affect your small businesses? o Additional taxes? o Ability to get loans? Credit? o Required compliance to unnecissary rules? · Are self governing goal setting more effective? How have you...
Installing a Preventative System
Sometimes we install a system and it doesn’t do much. We achieve the desired effect by the mere existence of it. At Centratel, we knew a few of our employees spent time “cruising the net”...
Paying the Bills: An Illustration of Replacing an Old System with a New One
For years, a nagging problem in my small business, Centratel, was the time and effort it took to pay the monthly bills. The process did nothing for the bottom line and each month required 10...
Leader and High Earner
Not too long ago I participated in Cycle Oregon, a weeklong bicycle tour. Seventeen hundred riders pedaled an average of 75 miles each day through remote eastern Oregon. At night we camped in ad hoc...
Nobody Wants New?
I just returned from the ABC Kids Expo in Vegas this past week. The show is a children’s industry tradeshow that connects children’s manufacturers with buyers from specialty boutiques, department stores, and chains. Buyer traffic...
Getting Back To Basics: Lessons From My Interviews
When I first started social venture labs, I drew inspiration from companies who were classic examples of triple bottom line organizations like Burt’s Bees and Life Is Good. The owners of these kinds of companies...
The Roots of America. The Roots of Your Business.
It’s Sunday, September 6, and Linda and I are in Philadelphia. We stand in a pouring deluge – the brunt of tropical storm Hanna is upon us – as we wait to enter Independence Hall,...
The Curse of the Blackberry: A Subtle yet Virulent Anxiety
"In the past 20 years, the lure of instant gratification has gripped the youngest half of our population. For the hooked-up generation-those born after 1970 who are wedded to iPods and the immediacy/pervasiveness of the...
Communication in the Workplace: Quality versus Quantity
“The quality of your communication equals the quality of your life” - Anthony Robbins The sense I have developed over the years is that quantity of communication is more important than quality of communication. Of...
Focus on the System, Not the Product
It seems logical the manager’s total efforts should be focused on the product or service itself; that all energy be directed to the work that must be done, the customers who must be found, and...
Point-Of-Sale: The “Do It Now” Theory
"Why? Because I’m the mommy and I said so." - Anonymous mommy Do it now and let’s get on with whatever is next! Point-of-sale is a phrase taken from the cash register industry. It describes action...
Interview Two with Jared Tanner, PrintingForLess.com
On Tuesday, Jared Tanner, the vice president of marketing at PrintingForLess.com, shared his suggestions about successful PR efforts. Here is the rest of that discussion: What advice do you have for small business owners who are...
PR Insights from Marketing Expert Jared Tanner, PrintingForLess.com
I recently caughtup with the vice president of marketing at PrintingForLess.com, Jared Tanner, to ask him about the relationship between public relations and marketing. With an extensive background in web-based marketing, direct and database marketing,...
Five Potent Strategies to Auto-Pilot Your Small Business
The numbers are gloomy. Statistics show that of one hundred new business startups, eighty will be out of business within five years. Too often, the causes of these failures are recurring inefficiencies and their offspring:...
Know your mechanical prime time
Most people have jobs, and as of this writing, there is not a general revolt against the concept. In any society, it is a revered position - one that carries a certain “it’s a good...
Aim for 98 percent perfection
Time and money wasted is time and money gone forever. And a waste of time and money means some other positive thing that could have happened, didn’t. Apply a “Good Enough” rule to the Working...
Are you a StartupNation PR Success Story?
In order to see how PR can truly help your new business succeed, I'll be sharing some stories from our own StartupNation members. To start, have you met Janie Honeycutt of www.houseofjerky.net? Janie is an...