If you’ve been a business owner for any length of time and have employees, you’ve most likely had this scenario occur: You asked someone to do something, thought you had made your instructions clear, and expected it to be done. But it wasn’t done correctly or at all. You felt frustrated, annoyed and maybe downright [...]

When we rebranded our consulting firm a number of years ago, we decided to call it BusinessTruths because we believe certain business adages are universally true. Things like “cash is king” or “concentrations kill companies” or “people willing to give advice are a dime a dozen but a good advisor is worth his/her weight in [...]

At the start of every year, many of us tend to think of the next 12 months as a blank slate, full of opportunity and promise. We take stock of ourselves and resolve to improve in various ways. This is a good thing because there’s always room for improvement. If we want to improve our [...]

Someone recently voiced concerns to Laddie about an employee who was not doing a good job and, in his opinion, was holding back other parts of the business. The employee was unwilling to implement new systems and his inability to do his own job correctly created more work for other employees, who were justifiably frustrated [...]

The appointment was nearly over. The man had talked at length about his business but had also shared a lot about his personal life. He lived a lifestyle that many people would consider enviable, with a lovely family and stature in the community. The owner of a successful and respected company, he earned substantial personal [...]

As we near the end of December, it’s time think about how our businesses have fared this past year and what we’ll do differently in 2012. In last week’s article we looked at how to complete an assessment on your overall business. In this week’s column we want to address one topic — making money. [...]

As we near the end of December, it’s time think about how our businesses have fared this past year and what we’ll do differently in 2012. Over the next few weeks, we want to discuss some areas of assessment that should be considered as you begin to plan for next year. Next week we’ll look [...]

Delegation can be a touchy subject for business owners. They often find it hard to relinquish control but failure to delegate can cause problems. Frequently overworked, they can experience severe burn-out from carrying too many responsibilities, and many of the jobs they’re handling aren’t the best or most profitable uses of their time. Too many [...]

Inappropriate sexual remarks to co-workers Inconsistent productivity Reduced profit Disparaging comments about the company left on Facebook Taking money from a cash register. These are all real examples that have forced employers to terminate jobs. No business owner wants to be put in the position of having to fire someone or have lay-offs but sometimes [...]

The holidays are upon us and it’s time for most of us to enjoy time with family and friends, indulge in overeating, and have some fun. It’s also the time of year when we take stock of our lives and show gratitude for our blessings. If you’re a business owner and have successfully navigated the [...]