There is a theory out in the world of baseball that everything you need to know about life, you learn in the outfield. I think there is some truth to that. Baseball is a game of knowing when to swing, learning about the other team and waiting for the right time to steal the bases. Sounds an awful lot like business right? We all know that we have to be strategic and … [Read more...]
The Small Business Owner Blues
In the silence of the night when everyone else has shut down and you are left with your decisions, that’s when you become an entrepreneur. Someone said to me once that to be an entrepreneur you have to have a spouse with a full-time job and while that anecdote is funny it’s also a bit sad. The very essence of an entrepreneur is a risk-taker, however unfair that risk is to the … [Read more...]
Buy and Get Out!
As entrepreneurs sometimes we get so preoccupied with making sales that we forget to take care of the customer. Sadly enough that seems to be the rule rather than the exception the bigger the company. I had one such experience with the vendor Verizon Wireless chose to insure their devices. My company moved to Verizon less than a month ago and as a consultant I get paid by the … [Read more...]
Marketing Your Company, Not You
As I stumble through this minefield of entrepreneurship, I have learned that there has to be a significant switch in your thinking. We start businesses for a variety of reasons, mostly because we are really good at something specific. What happens is that you quickly realize that you cannot be the person that runs the business and the person who does the work. There has to be … [Read more...]
Lead by Numbers
I used to be petrified of failure, but being an entrepreneur cured me of that. I used to think that business owners knew some magical formula for success, but being an entrepreneur cured me of that too. The secret is in knowing that separation breeds indifference. When you aren’t close to your customers, you don’t care how they are treated. Or if you do care, you care too late … [Read more...]
The Tone of Business
I recently got some feedback that I have to say, took me aback a bit. The feedback came from two very different source with very different interest. And while the feedback certainly has merit, I have to say it took me a few days to process it. ‘Leona, you are animated and that’s great. It’s why people love you, but some people don’t know how to take it. It can come off as … [Read more...]
Are you the reason you’re business is failing?
It has taken me 15 years, an MBA, starting my own firm, acquiring and firing partners and staff to understand one infinite business fact. Your gut is always right, no matter what situation no matter who the players. That knot in your stomach that tells you something isn’t right, never lies. So as I come out of a difficult situation I find that I am not doing something that I … [Read more...]
Business Advice for Dummies
As a business owner particularly when you are starting out, ‘constructive criticism’ is something that you get in spades. Some of the criticism is great, it tells you things about yourself and your company that you didn’t know. Other times it can feel like a direct attack, so how do you know the difference and how do you find the silver lining? Consider the source Sometimes … [Read more...]
For Love of the Game
This morning I had the privilege of attending an Executive Breakfast that focused on employee engagement and what that actually means. It was a timely discussion because I hear the phrase employee engagement in just about every explanation of what’s wrong with an organization. But what is it really? What does employee engagement mean and why is it important to your business? … [Read more...]
Can you really Lean In?
I just read the book Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg and I have to tell you, I wasn’t expecting much. I thought it would be another narrative from a privileged woman in a privileged position, telling entrepreneurs like me things we couldn’t use. What I found was a thoughtful and insightful look in to leadership and the surprising ways we female entrepreneurs stand in our own ways. … [Read more...]