The need for organizations to improve productivity and quality is at an all-time high. With competition increasing exponentially, effective operations management and decision-making can have a major impact on your organization’s success. Operations is at the core of most businesses because it tends to consume the most resources in labor, materials, equipment, energy, and capital… Read More »
Marketing and Sales
In Seth Godin’s book The Purple Cow, he describes the experience of driving with his family through the European countryside and being enthralled by all the brown cows. He noted that their excitement did not last long, however, and he began to wonder what would happen if there were purple cows standing in the field…. Read More »
Talent Management
The ability to attract and retain talent is a critical component of success. You cannot do it alone. All successful businesses need good people, and once you have those good people in place you need to be able to retain them. As a business owner, the ability to leverage other people’s time, energy, and talent… Read More »
Leadership and Your Management Team
The most important aspect of business success is leadership. Peak performance depends on it. Leaders set the direction and then help everyone head in the same direction. I often run into leaders who are trying to do it all. They usually tell me that no one can do it as well as they can so… Read More »
Are You Having an Impact on Your Customer?
Is your business organized to meet customer needs effectively and efficiently? Is your management team focused on meeting customer needs? Are you having an impact on the customer? What do they believe about your company? Have you asked them? Your customer beliefs about your company affect their actions which has a direct affect on your… Read More »
Vision and Direction
The first time I visited my client’s two locations in China I immediately recognized the symptoms of the lack of a clear vision and direction. The team was working hard every day without a clear understanding of what the end results should be and why they were doing what they were doing. This made it… Read More »
Strategy does not need to be complicated
In graduate school, one of the instructors (a business person, not a professor) told us something I have never forgotten. He said that business was relatively simple and amounts to this: Find a need, fill the need, and collect a check. Then he added: Don’t screw it up in the middle because most business owners… Read More »
MAKING MONEY EVEN DURING a PANDEMIC
Last October 2019, a local banker called me with an opportunity and asked if I could meet with a company that had been losing money for a number of years and was in trouble. When I met with the owners of this company I discovered that they had a business consultant working with them trying… Read More »
Your Balance Sheet Is a Snapshot in Time
Recall that your P&L, or income statement, is like a movie in that it covers a period of time within your business. Your balance sheet is more like a snapshot in time since it is taken on a particular date in time (for example, December 31, 2019). The balance sheet is a record of the… Read More »
Net Income Is NOT Cash
Many business owners tell me they are making money, but they have no cash in their accounts to work with. Too often business owners look at the net income (profit) on the bottom of their P&L and think they are making money and have cash in their business. Reality says otherwise. Remember that profit is… Read More »