Wouldn’t it be nice if your staff could handle things by themselves without asking you to be the final arbiter on every decision? Wouldn’t it be nice if your team could solve problems as they arise, taking more ownership and freeing you up to focus on growing the business? Imagine if they found ways to […]
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Are you hiring personal assistants who save you time or who cost you time? Recently, I invited thirty-five of my top business coaching clients to a private retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where I live. We were discussing the various aspects of leadership – the ways that business owners can create strategic advantages and breakthrough […]
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Over the past twenty-five years, my company, Maui Mastermind, has been coaching business owners on how they can build businesses instead of jobs. At the core of that work is the process of systematizing your business – creating a coordinated series of processes, procedures, best practices, tools, and internal controls that empower your team to […]
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Here is that tool – I call it the Sweet Spot Analysis™ Tool. We developed this tool to help our business coaching clients have a simple way to determine the very best ideas that they could implement each quarter to grow their businesses in the face of too much to do and not enough time in which to get it all done.
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The whole point of hiring staff is that they’re supposed to be free up your time. But what happens when you end up spending the same amount of time or more managing the staff you’ve hired? Last week, one of my business coaching clients came into town for a multi-hour in-person meeting. As we talked, […]
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Think of all the times in your business week you negotiate: with new hires and existing employees; with sales prospects and long-term clients; with vendors and suppliers. If you’re a business owner or leader, you need to know how to negotiate. This is non-negotiable. Here are the five most important negotiation skills you should focus […]
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In this article, I’m going to share one of the most effective tactics for coaching your key team members. I call it “deliberate practice.” It’s one of the most powerful strategies that you can use to help your employees become owner-independent. Deliberate practice refers to the intensely focused practice of a skill, habit, or ability. […]
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Part of being a successful business leader is to make sure you extract maximum learning out of your week, month, and quarter. In this article, I’d like to share with you the easiest, most effective way to generate the powerful insights and instant feedback you’ll need to grow and scale your business. I picked this […]
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How do you best develop the talent of your current team? How do you groom a direct report to take on new responsibilities? How do you grow your employees so that they can start scaling your business with you? The secret ingredient is for you to coach and grow your team, and here are five […]
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As important as it is to have a big picture vision for how you plan to grow and scale your business, it’s equally important to bring that broader vision back to the level practical execution. And that’s where the one-page quarterly plan of action is so effective. These rolling 90-day action plans are powerful tools […]
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My business coaching firm launched a comprehensive study on time management. We interviewed and surveyed small business owners and their key executives in order to learn how they spend their time and, particularly, where their time gets wasted. We began this investigation because we kept hearing the same concern over and over again. My business […]
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As a business coach, I’m always looking for new strategies to help people and businesses become more effective and more efficient. Usually, I focus on things like leadership and marketing tactics. But, in this article, I want to tell you about a productivity app called Evernote that’s helped me radically reinvent the way I work. […]
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I’ve been coaching business owners for more than twenty years, helping business owners grow their companies and at the same time, reducing their companies’ reliance on them. When it comes to scaling their businesses, one of the biggest challenges that I see business leaders struggle with is the mechanics of delegating effectively. When you’re delegating, it’s […]
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Mastermind groups can help you grow both your business and yourself. But when a group settles into a routine, it can sometimes lose its effectiveness. That’s why I want to share five ways that you can breathe new life into your mastermind group. Napoleon Hill introduced the idea of the mastermind group back in 1937 […]
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Think about how much money you spend on marketing. Then think about your current conversion rate. Maybe you’re converting 3 percent of leads? Or 12 percent? Now imagine that you could use a simple technique increase your conversion rate by 10 to 25 percent. Wouldn’t you want to do that? Of course you would. The […]
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Leadership grows businesses. It empowers teams to take on more responsibilities and deliver results. In fact, the best leaders are those that train their teams to function without them. Having worked with thousands of business coaching clients, I can say with certainty that the mark of great leadership is the ability to delegate. Nearly all […]
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Do you find yourself wishing you had more time to focus on building your business? If so, you’re not alone. One of the most common concerns among business owners is that there just aren’t enough hours in the week. But, I promise you: There really are. Here are five concrete ways that you can use […]
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As a business coach, I find that while a few challenges are particular to individual coaching clients, many are universal. In part one of this article, we talked about the pandemic “Always On” corporate culture to which all businesses are susceptible, no matter their size and no matter their industry. We saw how noxious this […]
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Chances are you’ll receive a new email, text, or instant message before you’ve finished reading this article. Your phone will buzz or your computer will ding or your watch will vibrate. Probably all three. Will you check your email or stick with this article? In our work coaching thousands of business owners, we’ve found that […]
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What would it look like if you followed a customer through their purchase and use of your product or service? What would you learn? Where would you have made their life harder, more complicated, less efficient? How about your internal processes? What would you see if you followed a team member around as she completed […]
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Have you ever wondered how the world’s top entrepreneurs get so much done in their days? After all, they have the same 24 hour days and 7 day weeks, yet they consistently get so much more done in that time. I was recently talking with a friend who owns and still runs a $155 million medical […]
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As we enter into the final half of the fourth quarter, headlines shout how online giants like Amazon.com and others expect to increase online sales by billions of dollars. Here are five powerful tips to increase your website conversion that they consistently use that allow them to maximize their sales conversion rates. Follow these best practices and see your sales quickly increase. 1. Put your […]
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Most professional service firms have operating profit margins from 25-40 percent. This means that out of every dollar of revenue, 25-40 cents drops to their bottom line as pre-tax profits. I want to share with you a simple strategy that one law firm I work with used to increase its operating profit margin by 29.5 […]
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With Uber and Google’s workplace diversity issues sparking headlines across the country this year, I wanted to share three things that will make a difference. To be clear, none of these things are quick fixes. All three of these ideas are designed to help create a company culture that is diverse and empowered. This can sometimes take […]
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The response was so strong from the article I posted last week of 15 email marketing insider tips that I wanted to share nine more with you in this article. Considering that my company Maui Mastermind sends out millions of targeted emails every month to our subscriber elist for our business coaching company, we’ve learned […]
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It’s an exciting time, as start-up culture has taken the business world by storm over the last ten years. People are eager to bring their visions to life and dream that “their” idea is the “next big thing”, and that it’s the “new and improved” Facebook or Airbnb. Because there are so many new start-ups […]
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I’m gearing up for a conference I’m keynoting in two weeks and one of the sessions I’m leading is an expert panel on email marketing. I wanted to share with you 15 of tips to improve your email marketing so that you can increase your sales. 1. Value your list. Protect it; connect with it; […]
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Morgan was a young man in his late 20s when he started his mortgage brokerage company, Morgan Financial. He built a successful owner-reliant company for himself with one office in Portland, Oregon. After a few years, Morgan took the scary step of opening a second office. It turned out to be profitable, and for a […]
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One advantage of working with hundreds of business coaching clients is that we get to see which “levers” in a business are the easiest to quickly impact profitability. Here are my three favorite “profit levers” for you to adjust to increase your company’s operating profit margin. One: Raise Your Prices I know you may be […]
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Earlier today I was leading a web cam round table with a dozen of our top business coaching clients. The subject was leadership. During a portion of this round table the participants were sharing how they were personally using a simple delegation technique we had taught them called the “Capability Spectrum”. Imagine a scale from […]
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If there were any one sales generating activity that applies to a large cross section of businesses, yet is commonly overlooked, cold calling would be my pick. Cold calling is the outbound dialing to a person or business who isn’t expecting your call. I’ll be the first to admit that it isn’t glamorous or sexy, […]
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Earlier this week I was talking with a business coaching client who runs a $10 million a year professional service firm. He shared with me that it had taken him several monthly to build out his core marketing funnel for a new service he started less than 12 months prior. He was excited that it […]
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Here’s a clear list of 10 proven time-tactics guaranteed to double your productivity… Do you find yourself complaining about your consistent lack of time? Here are 10 proven time-tactics guaranteed to double your productivity. In fact, you put even five of these time tactics to work and you’ll find yourself breaking through to a new […]
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It’s a common pattern I see catch even the smartest entrepreneurs off guard. After a long period of successful growth they notice that their lead flow and prospect pipeline has dried up. In a panic they rush in to figure out what to do. Having worked with so many business coaching clients has taught me […]
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Then here are the five in-your-face questions you must ask yourself. Be ruthlessly honest in your answers. Your insights will help you accelerate your growth as a business leader and the success you enjoy. 1. Are you doing less things, but the less that you do matters a whole lot more? A clear sign of […]
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Recently I was invited to give a keynote address at a large industry conference on the east coast. The organizer wanted me to share what I thought were the most essential principles that would make any entrepreneurial venture successful. Reflecting back on the thousands of business owners I’ve coached, and the companies they owned, I […]
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Recently I was working on a tool to help our coaching team internalize the best practices we’ve developed to handle the most common business challenges. While the document I eventually created dealt with 12 key challenges, here is a summary of four that I’ve observed are most common to small businesses we coach ($1-25 million […]
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Think for a moment about how much money you spend on digital and print ads. If you’re like many of our business coaching clients your ad spend may total up to 10 percent of revenue. Yet what if you’re wasting a massive portion of that money? Here is a simple principle that is guaranteed to […]
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I was talking with Tony about his benefits consulting company when he shared his biggest struggle. (Disclosure: Tony was a former business coaching client for three years.) “David, how do I get my sales people to spend more time in the field actually selling?” I understood Tony’s frustration. He knew that the success of his […]
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Thomas owned a successful manufacturing business in northern California. He was an experienced business owner who recognized he needed help to take off many of the lower level administrative details off his plate that were distracting him from the higher value work he needed to get down. Here is the same 5-step process we suggested […]
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Years ago one of my business mentors Roy shared with me on a rafting trip how time away from his business was one of the key tactics that helped him scale it. Over the past 20 years as an entrepreneur scaling companies has taught me that a business owner can cast a pretty big shadow […]
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Let’s start with the plain truth–it’s hard to find great talent. And every hire is a gamble of tens of thousands of dollars or more which you lay on the line hoping that the person you hire lives up to even most of your hopes from the selection process. I was recently giving a keynote […]
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You’ve likely had this experience. You just closed the deal. You and your team are sharing hi-fives around the office. You’re mentally counting your profit on the deal and the thrill of the new customer you’ve brought on… then you get that email canceling the deal. What happened? You likely missed a key step in […]
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I was giving a keynote address to a group of medical practice business owners when one of the people in the room came up to me after and shared about his cash flow challenges. His practice was generating just shy of $3 million dollars a year in revenue, but he felt anxious because he never […]
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I just returned from a large business conference my company, Maui Mastermind, hosted in Florida. One of the most important themes we that came up in several of the question and answer periods was how could an entrepreneur, or any business executive for that matter, break the connection between hours worked and value created. As business […]
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“David,” my client asked, “How do we increase of volume? We’ve been struggling ever since we lost that one big account.” This is such a common situation for a professional services firm to deal with – a painful need to quickly grow revenues. Considering that for most professional services firm, whether they be a law […]
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How do you find the best places to focus your company’s limited time, attention, and money? Simple – go for the “Sweet Spot.” Here’s how. Every business has a “Limiting Factor” (capital L; capital F). Your company’s Limiting Factor is the single biggest constraint currently limiting your growth. It’s the one ingredient that, if only […]
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Would you like to know the two most important secrets to being disciplined with your use of time? The remarkable thing is that they don’t require willpower. I understand that most business owners shudder when thinking about a need for greater discipline because they’ve always associated it with pain and effort. But if you can […]
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Finding the perfect vendor for your next project can not only be a challenge but also extremely time-consuming. After weeding through the hundreds, even thousands, of companies in the industry, you narrow it down to the top 20 to 30 candidates. You then reach out to each vendor, set up a discovery call, explain what […]
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If this year has taught us anything, it’s that the way you do business can change at the drop of a hat and as business owners we have to be prepared for whatever comes next. This is particularly true when it comes to strategic expenses such as your marketing efforts. Which is why I suggest […]
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Small-business owners across the country have sought out emergency loans or funding to help cover their expenses during the Covid-19 crisis. Many businesses have received their funds, and may be wondering how best to use their existing funds and credit lines to stretch them further. If you missed out on the Paycheck Protection Program funding, you […]
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Fifty percent of all fraud attempts were due to poor internal systems and controls, according to the Association of Fraud Examiners 2018 report. And the findings went on to conclude that most fraud schemes lasted a median duration of sixteen months. Which means the majority of those stealing from their employers had been with the company […]
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As the end of the year quickly approaches, a lot of our business coaching clients are busy planning for the new year. They are looking at their systems and controls, their strategic depth and their talent bench to see where they need to make adjustments for the new year. And like many of you reading […]
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Despite your best efforts to recruit and hire the best job candidates on the market, chances are they may no longer be with you twelve months down the line. It’s just the reality of being a small business owner. Not only is this time-consuming and frustrating, but it costs you a lot of money and […]
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Just the other day I was thinking about a business owner that I had coached several years ago. Since he may read this column, I will call him Terrance (not his real name). Terrance owned a seasonal hospitality business in southern Utah and worked eighty plus hours a week, every year from May through October. […]
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Do you have the answer to fix the problem? When you staff comes to you and shares a problem does the right thing to do jump immediately to mind and out your mouth? If you’re anything like the thousands of business owners my company, Maui Mastermind, has worked with over the past decade the answer to […]
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Effective communication is the cornerstone of successful leadership. Whether you’re leading a small team or an entire organization, your ability to convey ideas, inspire action, and build trust through communication can make or break your leadership journey. In this article, we’ll explore essential strategies for mastering leadership communication. 1. Know Your Audience Understanding your audience […]
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Goal setting is a fundamental practice in personal and professional development. Whether you’re an individual striving for personal growth or a business aiming to achieve success, setting clear and achievable goals is paramount. In this article, we’ll explore effective strategies for setting and achieving clear goals that can drive your personal and professional endeavors forward. […]
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Effective leadership is built on trust, transparency, and collaboration. And one of the key aspects of fostering these qualities within your leadership team is deciding what information should be shared and what should be withheld. Striking the right balance between openness and confidentiality is crucial for a thriving and effective leadership team. In this article, we’ll explore […]
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Life is filled with challenges and setbacks. Whether you’re facing personal difficulties, professional hurdles, or unexpected crises, resilience is the key to bouncing back and thriving in the face of adversity. In this article, we’ll explore essential strategies for building resilience and developing the inner strength to overcome life’s challenges as a leader. Understanding Resilience Resilience is the […]
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