Fatherhood has been one of the greatest things I have ever done, hands down. Watching my three sons grow up and learn about the world has taught me more things than I ever expected, and has really given me a new perspective on life and business. As a business coach for over twenty five years,…
For many business owners the only thing worse than hiring, is firing someone. I have seen it far too often with my business coaching clients. It often starts with procrastinating filling a position in the first place, only to find out days, weeks or even months down the road that you chose a team member…
If you’ve been reading my column here on Inc.com you’ll see several hundred articles I’ve written on topics like increasing sales, retaining your best employees, managing cash flow, and growing your profit margins. Many of these ideas started from a seed I read in one of the 1,000+ business books I’ve read over the past…
I recently sat down with Tara, a business owner, who was having trouble with the marketing pillar of her business. She had made it a goal to get new clients and her marketing department head had a ton of ideas on ways that they could market the product line and get the word out, but…
“I would love to hire help, but I just can’t afford it right now.” I have heard this statement a thousand times over the last twenty five years as a business coach, from business owners that are stressed, overworked and overwhelmed. Their businesses are usually doing well and growing, which leads to the need for…
You arrive in the office at 8:00AM ready to work. Your to-do list is full of high value tasks that will help your business scale and grow. You fire up your laptop and the all too familiar “ping” of your inbox serenades you…drawing you into the depths of mundane tasks and low level activities. The…
Over the past 25 years, I have worked with thousands of business owners in all stages of life. These are intelligent, hardworking people who have the drive and passion to go out and start their own consumer or service businesses. But for many, they aren’t the ones calling the shots in their business: It’s been…
If you are like most business owners, you crave independence. You are likely one of the business owners who work 60, 70, and even 80 hours a week on their businesses and feel like they are neglecting their personal and home lives in the process. You know that working such long hours with little time…
“David, if only I had more time…” “I would love to do that, but I just don’t have the time…” “I work 70 hours a week and still run out of time…” The only thing business owners need more than cash is time. I see it over and over again with the thousands of business…
I was recently re-organizing my office when I came across one of my journals from 2001. In it, I had written about how hard I was working and how close I was to getting burnt out. I was on the road teaching workshops 10 months out of the year, and it was really taking a…