It takes an insane amount of courage and determination to be an entrepreneur. Our perspective is always eerily optimistic and we don’t always respond well to ‘feedback’. We are so busy fighting for the life of our businesses that sometimes we forget that we are the only ones who signed up for this life willingly. Everyone else has come along for the ride to support us or … [Read more...]
What are we afraid of?
Small business owners this is a hard truth to admit, but in order to grow we have to be uncomfortable. So I will do it, I will incur the wrath of my small business brethren and ask ‘what are we scared of?’ I admit to being in a much different environment, federal contracting is a whole different beast but the fundamental principles are the same. Why are we scared to … [Read more...]
How Small Businesses Fail
I recently had a conversation with a colleague about the way we disadvantage ourselves in business. Now I know this is a touchy subject but hear me out, I have something to say about this. As a minority business owner it’s really easy for me to assign blame and scream that it’s not fair but there’s no education in that. While I am not going to pretend that everything if … [Read more...]
The Secrets of Success
Running a small business can be the greatest thing you experience as an entrepreneur, to make sure that your business is successful concentrate on strategy. The best thing about strategy is that it creates a roadmap of actionable steps for building your empire, here’s how you start. Be Willful I’m a mom first so let me apologize that most of my advice will inevitably find its … [Read more...]
Small Business Lessons from Black Friday
For years now Black Friday has been the best sales day of the year for a lot of small businesses. This Thanksgiving however, what I noticed were not the great deals or the savvy shoppers. I noticed the grumpiness and discontent of the people that had to work, the increased security in the malls and the general cynicism of the average shopper. So what can small business learn … [Read more...]
How Leadership Misses the Mark
Today I had an occasion to really explore something about myself that I already knew. I knew it, but I didn’t know what to do about it. You see I am nothing if not up front about what I like and don’t like, but I often skip conversations that are not productive. The end result is that the irritation builds and then you have a blow up. I learned that this is really passive … [Read more...]
The Big Dream of a Small Company
I had an interesting conversation today about strategy and growth. What was different about this conversation was that the tone of it just made sense. As my firm has grown and matured, things have changed. The stakes have become bigger, the rewards better and the disappointments more bitter. As I wondered aloud ‘am I dreaming too large’ these are the nuggets the conversation … [Read more...]
Play Ball!
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...]
Building Bridges
The worth of an entrepreneurs is in their ability to bring create solutions and to build relationships. What hinders small business is that we either don’t use our networks enough or we only use our networks. What small business is most guilty of is not networking because they could be doing something else. The thing is that having coffee or lunch with a contact is something … [Read more...]