Starting out in business (or keeping a current business running) can be frustrating. It seems that no matter how hard we try, we’re just not getting traction. The wheels are spinning round and round but we don’t seem to be going anywhere. And we can’t figure out why. Maybe our goals are just too lofty and we need to readjust …

Running a business. Kind of ironic that they call it “running,” because it seems like that’s all we do. Running here; running there. Trying our best to put out the fires before another one starts. Working hard to figure out what minor issue needs our attention, all while trying not to forget that the reason we’re working is to put …

Many small business owners are hesitant to initiate change. They reason, “If what I’m already doing is working, why should I do anything else?” It’s a “don’t upset the apple cart” mindset, so to speak. But if we keep on doing the same thing we’ve always done, what makes us think that we’re going to get anything different from what …

It’s easy for us to blame the customer. Maybe they didn’t read the emails. Maybe they don’t understand what we’re trying to tell them. Maybe they can’t be bothered to actually follow instructions. But is it all their fault? Maybe if we were just a little bit better at our job, none of this would have happened.

Once we’ve been doing something the same way for an extended period of time, it’s inevitable that things are going to get boring. We notice it. Other people notice it. Our customers notice it too. We start to phone it in. Going through the motions, it’s commonly called. The beginning of the end is what we should call it. It’s …

We all like to think that we’re right about everything. But we’re not. “To err is human” is ingrained in our psyche, but so is “I got this.” When we make mistakes, which inevitably is going to happen, how our clients respond to our errors depends on how we came across to begin with. If we were loud and boastful, …

Achieving success in our business is wonderful. It’s exactly what we’ve been working for all these years. It may also be what leads to our downfall. When something’s working, we’re often hesitant to tinker with it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But if all we do is rest on our laurels, and never move to improve, where do …

What we bring to the marketplace is very personal to us. We work hard to produce a product that we believe is one of the best around. But that really doesn’t matter one bit. It doesn’t matter what we think. Our finished product isn’t for us, it’s for our clients. What they believe about what we make is the only …

It’s an unavoidable reality of owning a business: the problem customer. Arguably, even though we struggle with and (often) despise our problem customers, it can be said that they’re one of the most valuable assets that we can have in our business. So how, you may ask, can a problem customer be an asset? Consider your business career. It’s certain …