As you begin 2019 with the end in mind—the goal of creating your best year ever—some things will probably need to change. One big thing is learning to say no to time wasters and “busyness.” These are traps that keep you from achieving the results you desire. Many business owners think that because they are… Read More »
BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND
At the start of this new year, I am thinking again about beginning with the end in mind, a concept brought to my attention in 1989 by Stephen Covey. This is habit two in Covey’s pivotal book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which I have read five times. I required the management staff… Read More »
MAKE 2019 YOUR BEST YEAR EVER
As you start the New Year, it is a good time to reflect on 2018 and ask yourself some important questions. These questions will help you plan for the upcoming year, which will lay the groundwork for a successful 2019 and beyond. If you make a good start to the New Year and develop a… Read More »
Have a Successful Close to 2018
2018 is coming to a fast close How will you finish out the Year? Goals Have you accomplished your 2018 vision and goals? How are you doing on your Q4 90-day goals? Financials Are your financials in order? Will you make more money this year than… Read More »
What Driverless Cars Have to Teach Us about Success
What Driverless Cars Have to Teach Us about Success In 2011 two top engineers from Google traveled to Detroit hoping to create a partnership to carry their project called Chauffeur. They had developed a car that could drive itself on a variety of 100-mile… Read More »
Cash Flow
What Cash Flow Can Tell You Inadequate cash flow is like Kryptonite was to Superman; without cash your business will suffer and eventually die. Yet most business owners I meet are not tracking their cash flow. They look at their P&L and balance sheet, but they do not conduct… Read More »
Learning the Language of Business
Learning the Language of Business I was recently sitting at the chef’s counter of my favorite restaurant, the Hairy Lobster, watching the chef and sous chefs work their magic to produce what I consider the best food in Portland, I was thinking about mastery and the language required to achieve it. These chefs have learned… Read More »
Are You Feeling Lucky?
Improve Your Odds of Success When things don’t go as we like, it’s easy to blame bad luck—it spares us from blaming ourselves! But a recent Wall Street Journal article* calls that idea into question. The writers, Janice Kaplan and Barnaby Marsh, assert that luck is a combination of random chance, talent, and hard work…. Read More »
Developing a Gratitude Framework
Developing an Attitude of Gratitude “Gratitude can be cultivated at any age,” said Jennifer Breheny Wallace in a recent Wall Street Journal article.* The author cited a 2012 national online poll of 2000 adults, which found that 59 percent of those surveyed thought that most people today are less likely to have an attitude of… Read More »
Gary Furr Consulting—The Most Helpful Family Business Professional
Gary Furr Consulting—The Most Helpful Family Business Professional At the November 2017 Excellence in Family Business Awards presented at the Austin Family Business Program, a part of Oregon State University, our client The Higher Taste, a vegan and vegetarian food processor, was awarded the Generational Development Award. In… Read More »