When you run into a large competitor, do not count your company out. Your small company can play with the big boys if you use certain tools to your advantage. It turns out that the story about David and Goliath still hits a nerve today. A recent survey of small...
You probably do not own the secret formula to Coca-Cola®, but there still might be important parts of your business – like processes, symbols, special equipment, or brand names – that you have worked hard to develop and that are very important to your company. The...
A job sharing arrangement can help you retain valuable employees, and that can be good for your company and help it grow. But make sure it turns into a win/win. It seems like the workplace environment is always changing. A lot of this is due to technology, but don’t...
It can be easy to get caught up in the week-in, week-out routine. But with a little advance planning and an effort to get to know your customers a little better, you can turn your calendar into a valuable relationship-building and sales tool. Don’t look it as a Monday...
Modern technologies – email, texting, Skyping, etc – have made business communications more efficient, but maybe less personal. But sometimes the tech isn’t to blame, because the message itself just was never communicated. Not misunderstood, but actually not...
Online ads aren’t just for big companies any more. Reduced costs and user-friendly options have made the Internet an effective marketing tool for even “Mom and Pop” businesses. It wasn’t that long ago that most small business owners believed the Internet wasn’t right...
If you’re in a business where long-term relationships matter – and that’s most businesses – then a company-wide plan for improving your Net Promoter Score (NPS) is worth considering. A previous post introduced NPS, explained how it’s calculated, and described how a...
A recent press release from Toronto-based Doxim Inc., a provider of content management services to financial companies, did not report the firm’s quarterly earnings. It did not mention a new service roll-out or announce a major personnel change. It didn’t define an...
Family businesses have always been a force in the U.S, but you may not have realized the degree of impact these companies have on the economy. According to PeakFamilyBusiness.com: Approximately 90% of U.S. businesses – more than 17 million – are owned or controlled by...
There are three fairly obvious ways to grow your business: Find new customers Sell more to existing customers Acquire another company and its sales volume. All three are legitimate growth strategies that can work for companies in nearly every industry. Any of the...