I recently began to work with a company that had a problem with employees not showing up for shifts and/or often leaving shifts early.  We called a meeting of the management team and began to discuss the problem and how to correct this type of damaging behavior.  I asked The Boss if the company had a disciplinary policy and the proper forms for the managers to use to correct these types of activities.  The Boss said no, the company never had anything like that.  The Boss said in the “old days” he would just threaten to fire any employee the next time “stuff like this” happened and that would be enough to correct the problem.  Today with the unemployment rate so low, The Boss says he is afraid to discipline anybody because of the worker shortage and as The Boss says; “We got to get shit done and we can’t afford to lose anyone!” As we continued our discussion, The Boss was not comfortable saying anything to the employee because he was afraid to lose another worker.  I stressed the fact that at least disciplining the employee or even letting the employee go would be the best action The Boss […]

In my work I have often been approached with these questions; “Do you think this is a good idea” and “should I go into business?”  I usually asked them to further describe their business idea for me.  They begin by speaking calmly and at an average pace, then, as they begin to get excited, their voice tone starts to rise, the pace of their speech increases and they often become animated.  This is a great sign since it shows they have a true passion for what they are describing.  Passion for what you’re doing is one of the critical ingredients for success as a small business owner. Next, I ask them to describe their competitive advantage.  If they respond with, “What’s that?”  I tell them not to quit their day job; end of discussion. Having and identifying a competitive advantage is so important that if a business owner cannot describe their competitive advantage then I believe they are destined for failure. As the owner of your business, you must identify or develop your company’s competitive advantage.  Once you’ve done that, you have to teach your key management and employees how you plan to use your competitive advantage to outsell the […]