Tag Archives: business ownership

If You are a Victim; You are Guilty.

Let’s say you own a small Italian Restaurant. Fifteen tables. Pasta, Pizza, beer and wine. Not really a white tablecloth place. More like plastic red and white check tablecloths with Chianti bottles and drippy candles. On a good Saturday night … Continue Reading

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Small Business Goes Global

I know that the business press has described the Internet based global marketplace for a decade now. Certainly I have any number of clients who’ve seen their small businesses impacted by a customer’s ability to search the globe for competitive … Continue Reading

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A Goal isn’t a Finish Line

I was going over some productivity numbers with a long term client. “Remember when our goal for this was 2000 man hours?” he said. “Now we are below 1200, and closing in on 1100, and with greater volume!” Everywhere we … Continue Reading

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No! No! Bad employee! No!

A very successful plaintiff’s attorney once told me that there were two keys to getting a settlement in a class action product liability suit. The first was to find the smoking gun. Somewhere, an employee had told someone not to … Continue Reading

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Accountability vs. Guilt

While discussing oil rig disaster in the Golf Of Mexico the other day a friend exclaimed “Someone needs to go to jail for this!” While I understand his anger about the massive economic and environmental damage involved, his comment illustrates … Continue Reading

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Ready…Set…Wait? Leading Indicators and small business

In the last few weeks I’ve talked to a score of small business owners who say that things are improving for their companies. Several have been involved in trade shows that had record attendance. A few manufacturers are seeing a … Continue Reading

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Penny wise

A client who provides Information Technology services to small and midi-sized clients was expressing frustration the other day. His company has a relationship with a business to support their employees’ technology needs. They were constantly delayed, however, by the network … Continue Reading

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Do you understand where this is going? Four

I ran into a friend in the gym the other day. he is the President of a tech company providing IT services to the government. What they do is highly skilled and highly sensitive.I asked him how his business was … Continue Reading

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Do you understand where this is going? Three

We worked on an interesting hypothesis with a client the other day. He has 100 employees (or close enough to make the math easy.) The company pays for 75% of each employee’s health insurance. Additional coverage for the family is at … Continue Reading

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The 7 Sins of Entrepreneurs on TV

My interview with Eyewitness News in San Antonio about “The 7 Sins of Entrepreneurs” is up on You Tube. Take a look. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8knGXIRXUE

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They bite the hand that feeds them

On Friday a local columnist in the San Antonio Express News, Rhonda Templeton, wrote about a recent survey of employees lying on the job. I quote: ” Bending the truth is a long time tradition in U.S. workplaces- as the … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, John's Opinions, Leadership, Politics and Regulation | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Technology- Investment or Expense?

I regularly hear one of my small business owner clients saying something like this. “Dammit! I have to buy another computer. I just spent (fill in) on this one just (fill in) years ago.” Why are we so offended at … Continue Reading

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