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Despite their fearsome demeanor, gorillas are generally peaceful. Their strength commands respect because they are powerful and can do massive damage without intent. In business, gorillas come in many forms. They are most often customers but are frequently vendors or competitors. Some are universal Read More

Choosing entrepreneurship means you have control of your life. That is, unless a customer makes unreasonable demands, a vendor fails to supply as promised, or an employee doesn’t show up for a critical task. If a new business owner makes it through the gauntlet of competition, changing markets and Read More

How much will your exit timing be affected by the global economy? Most small businesses serve local markets. Their owners, if they have thought about it, plan to sell to a local individual. If the local market is healthy, why worry about the rest of the world? Read More

If you are preparing to sell your business, your buyers will likely be members of the “buy now, pay later” generation. Generation X is the first demographic group to be raised in a culture that put little emphasis on savings. If you have built a business worth a million dollars, it will be hard to Read More

A friend says that she hasn’t been able to tackle any new projects because she is in “time bankruptcy.” It expresses very well how she feels about her ability to control her schedule, but she has been claiming bankruptcy for over a year now. Even Chapter 11 reorganizations end sooner or later. Read More

Generational differences are a hot topic for organizational behaviorists. Is this a real issue, or is it just the current management fad? “Never in history have we seen four generations together in the workplace.” That line starts thousands of articles and hundreds of presentations. Read More

Great employees are a wonderful gift, but individual heroics aren’t healthy for your business. Someday, you will start thinking about leaving the business. When you begin planning for your transition, what will your company systems sound like when you describe them to a critical buyer? Read More

When can good customers be bad? What could be wrong with a customer who buys a lot, pays promptly, and never has a service problem? They might be buying too much. No matter how strong or comfortable a sales relationship is, it could end. Read More

Do you run an immortal business? If you answered “no,” or hesitated to be sure of your response, then you don’t think of your business as immortal. So when do you plan to shut it down? Most owners react viscerally to that question. They’ve invested too much to watch their companies become a memory. Read More

Checklist for vetting a financial buyer: Do you trust them? Can you see working side by side with them as your partners? Do they understand your business and your customers, or are they just looking at your financial statements? How important to you is the future of your employees and your reputati Read More