Running your own business ranks up there as one of the most challenging things most people will ever do in their lifetime. It’s unfortunate, but the majority of those small businesses will end in failure. In the U.S., only about 25% of small business startups make it past their two-year anniversary. While the odds are stacked against new business owners, …
Can We Live With Constant Change?
Unless you’re brand new at this small business thing (and if you are, good luck to you), we’ve all made it through the dreaded start-up phase. We’ve soldiered on, taken our lumps, run the gauntlet, learned our lessons and come out of the other end. We mourn for those who weren’t as lucky as us; the 75% of start-ups that …
Seeing Through the Disguise
Often, when starting out in a new small business, we run into problems. One of our biggest problems happens to be figuring out what type of clientele we want to deal with in our business. There are always two different type of potential clients available to sell our services to: professionals and amateurs. Unfortunately, because we’re just starting out in …
(Why are We) Just Getting By
We all have important things to do in our lives, both in our business and our personal lives. Some of these things are very important to us, like renewing a business license, getting exercise or visiting a sick relative/friend. And some things are much less important, but much more desirable, such as going to a sporting event or binge-watching our …
6 Common Mistakes of New Business Owners
Starting a new small business is often the most difficult thing most people will do in their lifetime. Short of a major tragedy in your life, nothing else will cause you the pain and suffering of creating a new business from scratch. While a handful are successful, the majority of new businesses fail; some dying out like embers in the …
Your Report Can Do It All
Note: This post is the second of a two-part article. Click here to read part one. There are many things to consider when running a professional home inspection business. Often, the number of things that must be taken into account can be overwhelming, especially for inspectors that are new to the business. As we’re all operating on a limited time …
The Pig Farm
One of the things that we constantly discuss in these articles is the need to continually educate yourself. Arguably, the worst thing that a business owner can do is to assume that they know everything there is to know about their business. Our world is constantly changing, and business and industry are no exception. Certainly, it’s in our best interest …
There’s Power in These Words
It’s one of the most common complaints that I hear from real estate agents about home inspectors is “they always scare the hell out of my clients.” As an industry, we all get a bad reputation for the actions of just a few bad apples. Maybe if we’d all just stop and think for a moment before we opened our …
Walking the Tightrope in your Business
Many years ago, before entertainment was available on demand in the palm of our hands, a traveling circus was considered to be one of the most enjoyable distractions available for middle-class families. I have many fond childhood memories of an evening’s enjoyment watching the various attractions presented under the big top. Without a doubt, one of my favorite performers was …
Investing in Your Business
It’s not our fault. Really, it’s not. We were all trained the same way; all indoctrinated into the same mindset by the same school system. As author Seth Godin is fond of saying, we were all raised to be cogs in the wheel of industry. Put the peg in the hole; eight hours a day; five (or six or seven) …