The start of a new year is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the past and set the stage. A well-thought-out plan can be the foundation for success….Read more »
Something to Talk About
What’s clear is that word of mouth is one of the most effective marketing tools available. So, what are your clients and customers saying about your business?…Read more »
Improve Your Efficiency in Every Aspect of Your Business
Early in March I had the opportunity to present to a group of twelve bankers at a local commercial bank here in Portland, Oregon. I discussed how applying value stream and process-mapping tools to your business can help to streamline processes and procedures and increase efficiency. A value stream is a sequence of events or… Read More »
How Bank Ties Are Impacting Federal Aid
Several news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday April 21st, have reported about the aid businesses received under the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the fact that many of the businesses that received aid were not the ones with the greatest need. It looks as if receiving PPP was heavily influenced… Read More »
Make Your Banker Happy and Grow Your Business
In mid-February I gave a presentation to 60-plus members of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) based on my book How to Make Your Banker Happy. The book was developed as a result of interviews I conducted with ten small- to mid-market banks on what their best customers do well. The majority of the audience… Read More »
MAKE 2020 YOUR BEST YEAR EVER
As you approach the New Year, it is a good time to reflect on 2019 and ask yourself some important questions. These questions will help you plan for the upcoming year, which will lay the groundwork for a successful 2020 and beyond. Why not create 20/20 vision for the year 2020? If you make a… Read More »
When It Comes to Consulting, Experience Counts
I was recently having coffee with a senior banker when he said something that caught my attention. This banker said he has met a lot of so-called business coaches and consultants, and most of them have no real business experience. He went on to say that he would be hard pressed to recommend a business… Read More »
FINISH STRONG IN 2019
We are starting the last quarter of 2019, and with that you have a great opportunity to have a successful close to 2019. Henry Ford famously said: “If you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.” If you want to finish the year strong and you believe that you can, you will… Read More »
Business Doesn’t Have to Be So Hard
When I was a teenager, my mother and stepfather got divorced and my mom and I moved to a mountain community and lived in a cabin that my aunt owned. We lived there while my mom ran a bakery that she had purchased with the proceeds from her divorce. The mountain cabin had no insulation,… Read More »
The Unemployment Crunch
We are facing one of the tightest labor markets in 50 years. Employers are not able to hire enough employees to meet demand. This Wall Street Journal article on May 13 explained that small companies are adding employees at the slowest rate in eight years, not because they do not have the work for… Read More »