Blog
Have you ever noticed what happens when you start selling someone without permission or trust? The tension in the air seems to thicken immediately. When you don't have permission and you start selling prematurely, this is a violation. We don't like to be sold or feel
Blog
When new markets arise, there are always copycats that take an original idea and capitalize on it. Look at the second and fifth movers that are copying Square on merchant payments. They could have started much earlier on this concept, but Square simplified the process, worked with the thick bureaucracy
Blog
There are different types of customers. Some truly do value high performance and can recognize value and are more than glad to exchange cash for services. There are some customers that want everything above board and explicit on every deal. They exchange cash for services in more of a regimented
Blog
I love dinner parties. I like meeting new people and having conversations that vary across all kinds of niches. It's a place to meet new and interesting people and enjoy the hospitality of friends. One of the things that I also like doing is picking up an appropriate
Blog
There has been well-chronicled commentaries about the life span of new businesses and how fast things change. A large amount of startups will not last more than five years, much less a year. Most people have also worked at their job for less than five years. So employment survival in
Blog
Changing a mind is one of the hardest things to do. When you are thinking about buying something, how long do you deliberate? Unless there is an emergency and you need something now, like an electric generator during a hurricane blackout, you will likely take a while to work through
Blog
I have truly enjoyed a pastime in raising my kids by coaching them. My eleven-year-old boy has been through 15 seasons of soccer. Watching him from his very start to the competitive intensity of games today has been pure joy as a dad and coach. I can see similar pleasure
Blog
In the middle of a work week (or sometimes on weekends) millions of people are searching around for answers to the problems they are trying to solve. During the middle of my work day, I may get distracted once in a while by some social media or irrelevant site, but
Blog
Dealing with copycats can be frustrating in our hyper connected world. I have had more than my share of copycats in my work and they come in all forms. The funny thing is to witness how someone might copy a tool I use or try and match appearances, but this
Blog
One of the nagging points of running a business is identifying when to automate. There is always a manual way of getting work done and if you are not careful you can adopt a habit that is hard to break. Without realizing it, you are working slower than your competition
Blog
Large enterprises and small businesses alike face a temptation in business that can compromise their strong positions. They try to diversify their product or brand when they are succeeding. GM has confused consumers because they made big, small, expensive, cheap cars. A small business that sells business accounting services and
Blog
I am not so sure great ideas are what they used to be. With millions of people connected now there are numerous ideas that float around. They are easy to put out there. You can just browse Kickstarter to see what people are thinking about doing and what people are