Self Help & Syndicated Articles « Categories « Consulting and Strategic Growth

Sit Out the Recession by Joining an Upcoming Peer Benchmarking Review Group for Your Industry

Reid Hoffman, CEO of Linkedin, asked an interesting question of participants in the business networking site. He asked a question about the best ways small business people could stimulate the economy on a grassroots level. I believe he is asking the right question. I firmly believe that the recovery, when it comes, will be led by small business owners. Small business owners don’t ask...

Strategic Planning the Big and Easy Way! (Part 2 of 2)

Last month we discussed how most small businesses just don’t make the time to do strategic planning, so they don’t grow as fast as they otherwise might, and they are always in a response mode, not ready for future conditions. Many big businesses have a systematic method for analyzing future initiatives, quantifying their value and choosing which ones to undertake. I learned this...

The Strategic Planning Advantage (Part 1 of 2)

How Much Time Did You Use Last Week on Strategic Planning for Your Business? Two things I have learned in all my experience working with large businesses over the last decade: Those big guys that we often dismiss as too big and too slow are very focused on doing the things they do best, and they set aside lots of time for strategic planning. I know that most small businesses owners...

Virus on Your Computer? Yes, It Can Happen.

Week after week, one of my clients or friends loses their computer to a virus. They end up spending hours or days trying to get back to a state of normalcy. Fortunately, I have never lost a PC to a virus, but to make sure that you don’t, you must: Have good virus detection software: I use Norton, but McAfee is just as good. There are a lot of “free” anti-virus programs out...

Diary of an Identity Theft Victim Two Tools to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

Imagine receiving a visit from a local sheriff with a handful of your mail that he retrieved from a ditch. Consider how it would feel to get a welcome call from an account representative at a store in a city 1,000 miles away verifying that you have opened a charge account. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that 9 million Americans have their identities stolen every year. If you are...

: Would You Trade $250 for $8,000? Plenty of Today’s Job Applicants Don’t

If you are entering the workforce today, how many times do you think you will change jobs before you retire? A dozen? In fact, Penelope Trunk, a columnist on careers for the Boston Globe, estimates that today’s new employee will change jobs every two years. Because it is an important investment, most people spend hours (or days) picking out their next car, but how much time do people...

Your Most Likely Customer: A Secret from Charles Tandy (part 5 of 5)

Charles Tandy of Radio Shack fame once said, “Your most likely customer is the customer who just bought something from you.” With that in mind, I held weekend events twice a year where customers could come in and retrieve their own auto parts. Twenty dollars would provide my customer with all he could carry. Some of my competitors had done that type of promotion quite successfully...

Management Article October 2008

In 1993, a good friend of mine and fellow auto salvage business owner DL Fitz opened a new location about 60 miles south of his family’s existing locations, near Tacoma, WA. Traffic in the Tacoma area made delivering parts on time very difficult. In response, a new facility at Graham was added to speed deliveries. DL created a marketing plan that outlined how they would attract retail...

Facing A Competitor Who Wants To Be The Low Price Leader September 2008 part 3 of 5

In the mid-eighties, I thought things were moving along pretty well for my business. One of my competitors was a former employee. He was a low-price provider. He bought cheap cars from individuals and sold parts for very low prices. I bought cars at auctions where I had to pay more for them in most cases. This competitor seemed to be doing a lot of volume, but I couldn’t tell whether...

A Case Study in Real World Marketing: Salvaging Millions August 2008 part 2 of 5

Last month we talked about marketing vs. advertising. This month, I would like to share a personal example. Here is how my marketing team applied the principles we have been discussing to help make my first book for entrepreneurs a success. We applied the same basic principles of marketing that can work in your business in marketing How To Salvage Millions From Your Small Business. We...