Small Business Minute

Work from home is not a new concept. People have been looking for any excuse to do so since the turn of the century. Initially, Friday’s was the defacto work from home day. It’s popularity was driven mostly to get a jump on the weekend, more so than trying to get distraction free time in order to get caught up. For evidence, just check the highway traffic on Friday’s afternoons during the summer,...

For many Covid-19 has temporarily changed the way business is done and for others those changes will be permanent. This is both good and bad. The good is that for those that adapt, they will find news ways to do business. The bad is that for those who remain steadfast in their ways, they may not survive. This brings me to today’s topic, discounts. Discounts are necessary Before going any further,...

Those of you that know me and have either purchased my book or attended an event that I have spoken at, know that the advice I share is based on getting the basics right. By getting the basics right, you can grow your business and your leadership skills that allow you to attain a high level of freedom by removing the shackles of ownership. Financial cushion Unfortunately, what I preach has never b...

Covid-19 is creating utter chaos for many small business owners. Fear is taken hold of many owners as they wonder what’s next? No one knows when or if they’ll reopen. Most don’t want to admit out loud what they are secretly thinking-bankruptcy. It’s just too difficult to fathom. Making any kind of decision while under duress is never a good idea. We’re just not thinking clearly. This is especially...

The outbreak of Covid-19 has got the world on lock down and many employees have transitioned to working at home. With that, many entrepreneurs are holding daily conference calls to keep teams connected. The upside is many employees are having greater communication with their managers than they previously had. Unfortunately, many owners have never participated or hosted conference calls and in my c...

A few months ago, I finally did something that I had longed to do but just never got around to it. Not quite a bucket list item, but pretty close. That something was to drive a race prepared car on a closed road course. Calabogie Motorsports offers just such a program. The road course is just a hair over 5 kms that has 20 turns and enough of a straightaway to get you to question your sanity. But a...

Shrink to greatness is a phrase I’ve often had to use when working with clients. To be honest, it’s rarely received well by those I’ve had to tell because everything we read about how to be successful in business says you must grow. So, this contrarian approach can be a little challenging for the recipient to accept as it goes against everything they’ve been led to believe. Numerous articles have...

What if, you had the chance of starting over? What if you could reboot your business? What would you do differently? Theses are questions that I regularly ask small business owners, especially when I come across those that are struggling, stressed out and unhappy. The answers I get range from, “I’d hire better people” to “I would not have tried to grow so fast”. Let’s not forget the commonly heard...

Burnout is one of the leading causes of small business failures. The thing about burnout is that it usually gets justified as just hard work. Of course, entrepreneur knows that being self employed is going to require sacrifices and therefore, burning the candle at both ends is the price of admission to a better life. To that I say, yes and no. Yes, because there is a price to pay for getting into...

This is a guest post by Robert Fraser of Senior Exec Consulting an IT expert. e-Transfers have been a wonderful convenience, especially as a small business, however there are some startling security issues. So lets be honest, most of these can be traced back to lousy security habits on behalf of the person sending the e-transfer. Email systems being hacked and just plain bad passwords. The banks a...

Opportunities are like buses, if you miss one, another one will be along in a minute. That saying has a lot of truth in it, and although I hate missing an opportunity, I’ve found out over the years, not to lose any sleep over it, because it probably wasn’t meant to be. Good or bad, I’m wired to be constantly on the lookout for opportunities. I owe much of my success to being able to identify real...

I recently had some time to kill between meetings and I was hungry. So, I decided to go to a local diner. I figured I could use the time to do some writing. One of the reasons I chose this location is that I knew they had free Wi-Fi and I needed to access some information online with my laptop. After I was seated, order taken, and beverage served, I flipped open my laptop and attempted to connect...

I’ve been considering this topic for quite some time but wasn’t sure it was worth addressing until a recent trip to New York City. Having been out to dinner, we returned to our hotel and were waiting for the elevator to make its way to the ground floor. When the door finally slid open there was a young lady getting ready to disembark. Also, in the elevator, but tucked over to the side where the fl...

Technology has been an amazing boon for businesses of every size, but none more so than for small businesses. Having come of age as an entrepreneur through the technology evolution, it’s truly amazing that what once took days by many, is now done in minutes by one person. The development and ease of use of current technology now allows small businesses to compete with much larger organizations. So...

In the movie Top Gun, Maverick and Goose are flying in close formation with Iceman in a training manoeuvre as they try to shoot down a much nimbler fictitious Russian MiG fighter. Maverick having been accused of abandoning his wingmen in the past, is sticking tight to Iceman but clearly has “the shot”. Maverick pleads with Iceman to break off and let him take the shot. Iceman’s rebuttal is that he...

We all know how much work it takes to survive, let alone thrive as an entrepreneur. We have all put in the long hours and have faced disappointments along with the successes that come with the territory. Some days, you’re just freaking awesome. On others, not so much. It just feels like you’re taking one step forward and two steps back. Such is the life we have chosen! You work your butt off to ge...

Small business owners are faced with a myriad of challenges every single day. If it isn’t sales, then it’s receivables and if it isn’t receivables, it’s operations. Add to this the hundreds of thoughts they are juggling trying to sustain their enterprises. Always at the top of their worry list is how to keep their staff focused and motivated. Unlike much larger corporations, small business owners...

We all learn lesson throughout our working lives. Some are good lessons, some are a little painful. Some of those lessons we remember, some we forget. Hopefully, we learn to apply the good lessons as frequently as possible and not repeat those painful ones too often. One of those lessons I learned a long time ago, was to play the long game when it comes to sales. So, what do I mean when I say, “th...

In the movie City Slickers, Jack Palance’s character Curly and Billy Crystal’s character Mitch are riding along having a bonding moment, when Curly turns to Mitch and asks, Curly: Do you know what the secret to life is? Mitch: No What? Curly: This! (As he holds up one finger) Mitch: Your finger? Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else doesn’t mean (expletive). Mitch...

In its heyday, the Kodak company used the following tagline in their advertising: “Make it a Kodak Moment!” This phrase was used when taking a picture of someone at a particular moment that will never be forgotten. It even made its way into everyday use to highlight anything good or embarrassing that happened to an individual, even when it wasn’t captured on film. I’m sure we’ve all experienced ou...

A constant refrain that I hear from business owners is “they should know better!” “They” of course being any or all the employees that screwed up. Naturally, when I hear this statement, I just can’t leave it alone and therefore I need to challenge it. At which point the conversation goes something like this, Client: They should know better Me: Really, why is that? Client: It’s their job Me: Did yo...

READING TIME: 5 minutes Discipline is not always a strong suit when it comes to describing many entrepreneurs, it just goes against their rebel nature. One of the main reasons they went out on their own is because they figured they could do a better job, make more money and have a better life, but to do it their way. For many, their jack of all trade, get it done, whatever it takes the attitude, h...

I have worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs helping them to shape their businesses into their vision. One problem that I frequently come across is the quality or I should say, the lack thereof of some 3rd party service providers e.g. bookkeeping, IT specialists, etc. For the record, I’m all about outsourcing non-core or mission-critical activities to individuals who specialize in a given area. Bu...

Someday I’ll be able to slow down. Someday I’ll be able to take more than just a couple of days off. Someday, someday, someday. This refrain is repeated daily by millions of overworked and underpaid entrepreneurs. Some feel trapped in a design of their own making. Others feel they have traded their soul or some other part of their being for the sake of their company. Still, others are oblivious to...

Why is it that so many owners think they and they alone have all the answers, to every problem in their business? When you consider that most owners started their companies as the only employee, it’s easy to understand how this attitude got started but why it continues is the question? Granted, there will always be those technical, legal or safety issues that require the owners input, but what abo...