As an entrepreneur, you know that your day can throw almost anything at you. Creating and sticking to a morning routine can help ground you and prepare you for a successful and productive day. If you create a successful routine, you’ll foster a successful business. Ultimately, you’ll want to create a routine that is tailored […]
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As entrepreneurs, we may often feel confident about where we are and where we’re headed in our careers. However, sometimes it is a good idea to step back and take a look at the big picture. Personal development plans are essentially a broader set of goals that are similar to a map to get you […]
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Working remotely with a team of people presents its own set of challenges but it can also be rewarding if you make a few adjustments to your remote management style. Managing a team working from their own homes requires a careful balance of structure and flexibility. Here are a few things to keep in mind when […]
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Maintaining a positive and fun office culture is one key to the success of your business and the productivity of your team. When your remote employees are separated by time zones and physical distance it is important to foster and maintain your office culture even more so than in a traditional office setting. Here are […]
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Over the last twenty five years I have helped thousands of business owners develop and fine-tune their sales funnels. Whether it be pricing challenges, closing tactics or choosing the right salesperson for the job, there are many ways to increase sales within your company. But the one thing that many business owners fail to look […]
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You’ve made your vision board and determined where you want to eventually end up as an entrepreneur. Now it’s time to get to the work of reaching those long term goals that you’ve carefully thought about and written down. Even with your vision board and a personal development plan, you might feel like your goals […]
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If you are an entrepreneur, chances are you are working too many hours and focusing on the wrong things. Generally speaking, we are working more hours and taking less vacation than ever before and suffer from more anxiety and stress than previous generations. While this isn’t a new issue for business owners, it’s one that […]
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As a business owner, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut. You have employees and customers that are relying on you to know the answers and do the right thing, and sometimes those answers don’t come easy. You don’t know everything and at times you may be stressed and anxious thinking about what the […]
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In the past we have talked a lot about how to grow your business and scale without sacrificing your life and personal relationships. And today, I wanted to introduce you to the concept of “fewer and better” and how this very simple concept has allowed my own business (along with thousands of others) to grow […]
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Want to close more sales? Of course you do! Every day I talk to business owners in various stages of growth and help them find new ways to reach their target audience and close more sales. No matter what the product or service, 95% of the time the sales process is going to be very […]
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For 25 years I have helped thousands of business leaders grow their company and succeed professionally. Some of these high performers needed help scaling their business, some wanted to be able to step away from it all and spend time with their friends and family and a growing number of entrepreneurs are simply physically and […]
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Over the past 25 years, I have helped thousands of small to medium business owners learn how to hire smarter and more efficiently. And if I am being completely honest here, it took me another ten years before that to learn the ins and outs of finding and hiring qualified team members. The biggest mistake […]
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I have talked about the concept of Focus Fridays before on my column. On how setting aside blocks of time each week to do your best work allows you to clear items off your plate faster and create real value in your business. And thousands of business owners agree that creating focus blocks is a […]
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When it comes to business, entrepreneurs that challenge the status quo are the ones that break out from the pack. Having the ability to see the marketplace in a new and novel way will change the game. In the past, I have talked a lot about how mindset and thought exercises can help you look […]
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I was recently talking to a new business coaching client about their plans to scale their business. After a few minutes of going over our plan of attack he posed the question to me: “How fast do you think I can grow my business?“ My answer: “It all depends on how you handle these thirty-two […]
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Have you ever thought about writing a book? If you are like many business owners, the idea has crossed your mind a time or two. You have knowledge to share and you know that others out there could benefit from that knowledge, but you don’t know where to start. There is often conflicting information or […]
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I recently told you about a business coaching client of mine: Josh. He had been in business over five years, and had done a great job of building up a loyal clientele and solid product portfolio. But he suffered from a lack of cross training in his business. He wasn’t sure where to start and […]
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Business costs is something that no business, even the most successful ones, can overlook. However, there are ways a business owner can cut back on these costs and save money in the long run. I recently shared with you 17 Things You Can Do To Reduce Your Overhead Costs within your business, and the tips […]
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Over the years, I have shared with you many tips and tricks to improving your profitability. Things like raising pricing, focusing on your winning products and services and redesigning workflow and systems, all play a huge part in your bottom line. Today I want to address some ways that you can look at your cash […]
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I love talking to business owners about their businesses. The way that their eyes light up and they lean in as they tell you about their product or service. The way that they share with you how they took their business from an idea scribbled into a notebook to the business that they have today. […]
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Josh had been in business over five years, and had done a great job of building up a loyal clientele and solid product portfolio. His biggest reason for coming to Maui Mastermind had to do with his lack of owner-independence. He felt that if he were to take a vacation or got sick, the business […]
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Hiring a solid sales team can be a challenge for any business owner, especially one who doesn’t feel particularly confident with sales themselves. Over the past 25 years, I have spoken with thousands of business owners who struggle with hiring and keeping a sales pillar running smoothly. So I wanted to share my top five […]
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Do you ever wish that there was a magic number that would give you an insider view on your profitability? Do you wish that there was an easier way to take the pulse of your business’s financial health? Do you wish that there was one financial metric that you could use to help determine if […]
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“I would love to scale my business, David. But I am really struggling with cash flow issues right now.” I hear this every single day from small to medium business owners. They have a great product and a loyal customer base, yet they still can’t seem to make ends meet and cash flow is always […]
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I recently shared the idea of the business coaching concept of the six hats from the Late Dr. de Bono with our readership and I wanted to go into more detail about the hat that is going to change the way you look at your business. This creative hat will help you find new and innovative ways to serve your customer […]
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I’ve been an entrepreneur for 25 years, and the majority of that time I’ve hired just like most people do: When I had an opening, I’d write an ad, sort through résumés, and hire the best candidate I could find. Is it any wonder that the stats on bad hires are so shocking? According to a survey […]
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Over the last 25 years, I have helped thousands of business owners grow and scale their businesses. I have had the privilege of helping business coaching clients increase their revenue in a short period of time by teaching them how to create systems and controls and making smarter business choices. Unfortunately, for many business owners […]
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Over the past few weeks I have been sharing the business coaching concept of the six hats from the Late Dr. de Bono with our readership. Today, I wanted to focus in on the blue hat, which has to do with organization and planning. This particular hat is one that I wear on every team […]
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I recently shared the idea of the business coaching concept of the six hats from the Late Dr. de Bono with our readership and I wanted to go into more detail about one of my favorite hats: the yellow hat. This hat is the one that the majority of business owners struggle to wear, and […]
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I recently shared the idea of the business coaching concept of the six hats from the Late Dr. de Bono with our readership and I wanted to go into more detail about the third hat in the series: The Black Hat. This hat is often one that doesn’t go over very well in meetings. It’s […]
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I recently shared the idea of the business coaching concept of the six hats from the late Dr. de Bono with our readership and I wanted to go into more detail about the second hat in the series: The Red Hat. This hat is often one of the first hats that you will put on […]
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Just a few short months ago, businesses were flourishing. In February, the unemployment rate was hovering around 3.5 percent . It was the perfect situation for job seekers and as employers we had to work hard to attract, recruit and retain top talent. Fast forward to the present. Job seekers are facing a completely different […]
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I recently shared the idea of the business coaching concept of the six hats from the late Dr. de Bono with our readership and I wanted to go into more detail about the first hat in the series: The White Hat. This hat is often one of the first hats that you will put on […]
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For many small business owners the idea of working with the competition can make their blood boil. It seems counterintuitive. But after twenty five years of business coaching, I can tell you that some of best boosts in profit and revenue come from thinking outside of the box. So today I wanted to share six […]
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Many entrepreneurs have taken to wearing the same thing day in and day out to reduce decision fatigue and free up their time to focus on more important matters. Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, and the late Steve Jobs all believed in minimalist wardrobes. And while I agree the concept is a sound one, I want to […]
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I have talked many times about the importance of having a focus day. The act of setting aside a day (or two) once a week to work on your business’s top goal and taking steps to make it a reality is crucial to growing your business and gaining independence. We have seen first hand the […]
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I was recently talking with Ian, a business coaching client who had seen amazing growth over the course of the past year. He had increased his revenue by almost three hundred percent and had reduced his overhead and staffing costs by almost seventy five percent. He had great systems and controls in place, and was […]
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As a business owner, you are constantly looking for ways to be more productive. You use the latest software programs, read all the books and try to make your time spent working in the business the most valuable possible. But ultimately, you end up putting out fires and dealing with staffing issues and training. Which […]
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A few days ago I took my kids to the local public library. As I sat there in an uncomfortably small chair waiting for my oldest son to pick out another ninja book, I happened to overhear a father and a son at the table next to me. The boy, no more than eleven or […]
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I recently wrote a piece entitled The 6 Words Successful CEOs Say Everyday and the response has been overwhelming. So many of you resonated with the piece, and let us know via social media and through email what your favorite word was and why. So I thought that I would expand on the idea of […]
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As a business owner, you know how important your team members are to your success. And like many, you spend a great deal of time in the hiring and firing process. It can seem like a never-ending quest to find the right team members. Over the course of the last 25 years as a business […]
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I met Jake (name changed to protect the innocent) at one of our business workshops recently. He had been in business for almost ten years now, and was looking to scale his business and gain more independence. When I asked him about his business, his eyes lit up with excitement as he talked about his […]
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As a business coach, I have helped thousands of business owners make major business decisions. We have worked through major key hires, acquisitions, exit strategies, large equipment purchases and everything in between. And for many business owners, making a big business decision can be paralyzing. It’s not uncommon to get caught up in the details […]
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Want to make more money? Negotiate. Want to get a better price with a vendor? Negotiate. Want to hire that rock star new hire? Yup, you guessed it….negotiate. Negotiating is a tactic that is used in many different situations at work with an intended purpose of coming to an agreement. It is something that is […]
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Do you know how to read a profit and loss statement? Do you know what your gross profit margin is and what it means for your bottom line? How about your Cost of Goods Sold? If you are like many business owners, you have a basic understanding of your financial statements but leave the heavy […]
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Almost every job description for a manager includes some variation of “must be an effective communicator” as part of the requirements. Problem with this is that if you poll (as I often do in my workshops) what people define as “Effective Communication” you will get a lot of different definitions. And that’s where the problem […]
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Last week, I took my son to the orthodontist. While he has had countless cleanings over the years, he was experiencing quite a bit of anxiety over the unknown of a trip to the orthodontist. Would he need braces? Would they want to put them on right away? How long would he have to wear […]
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As you are probably aware, finding and motivating talent to fill your job openings is becoming increasingly difficult in today’s very competitive job market. The following will provide you some insight to the reasons why and what you can do to be more effective. There’s a shortage of great talent We are at a historically […]
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As a business coach for the past 25 years, I have helped thousands of business owners reach their full potential. They often come to me frustrated, overworked, and anxious about the future. Together we find ways that help them create an owner-independent business that is able to scale quickly and efficiently. The secret- these 6 […]
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When I first met Daniel he was at a crossroads in his business. By many accounts he was successful. He had a consulting firm in North Carolina and had recently acquired two firms in California. When he reached out to me for business coaching, he was struggling to put the pieces together. He was working […]
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When it comes to selling your business, there is a plethora of information out there pertaining to how to sell a business. You can learn the mechanics of a good sale, the ins and outs of financing and contracts and even what to do after the sale. When it comes to the how-to’s of selling […]
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Another day at the office is about to come to an end. You may have answered hundreds of emails, put out a few “fires” and hopefully made some progress on your quarterly action plan. Tomorrow, you plan to do much of the same. But I challenge you to take the day off. Throw caution to […]
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How many meetings have you attended this week? This month? If you are like most business owners, the answer is too many. In my own business coaching firm, I sat down and crunched the numbers on our bimonthly executive meeting, and the results were eye-opening. Every two weeks my executive team and I meet via conference […]
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These days, it seems like business owner is talking about finding a business mentor and the importance of having an experienced mentor. An entrepreneur mentor is essential when an entrepreneur is wondering how to scale a business. There are websites, blogs, podcasts, radio, and television programs popping up all around the globe talking about business […]
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As a business owner, you make decisions each and every day. You have to decide if it’s worth it to get that new equipment that will speed up your production time, you need to decide which candidate to choose for the new sales lead position, or come up with the best way to handle a […]
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Planning, projecting, managing employees, tracking and increasing sales, designing and implementing marketing strategies…are just some of the things on the to-do list never ends for business owners, especially for startups, small companies, or companies who are focused on growing quickly. Sometimes it feels like you’ll never be able to get everything done without four hands […]
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Three years ago, my company was hosting an awards dinner for our business coaching clients. There at the banquet were the CEOs and owners of over a hundred companies from around the world. One of the final awards we gave that evening was to a quiet woman named Tina, who along with her husband, Matthew, […]
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The internet, peers, friends and even family – all of these sources provide a steady stream of industry news, updates, analysis, knowledge and advice. While these sources can be a great starting point, this stream of information will only help to a certain extent. Online publications are typically generic, peers have their own personal set […]
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“David, I was wondering what is the number of vacations that a successful entrepreneur should take in a YEAR in order to maintain a healthy body, mind, and spirit (i.e., ideal self-care)?” I recently received this question from a business coaching client, and I wanted to share the answer with my readers. It’s More Than […]
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If you’ve decided to hire a business coach, but are having trouble knowing where to start, this article is for you. If you’re wondering what exactly a business coach does and how it can benefit your business, you might want to check out this article before continuing. Hiring a business coach will expedite the growth […]
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