Most owners don’t even consider what would happen to their business if they were to die or become suddenly and permanently incapacitated. Protect your business and your family. According to the latest data from the Bureau of the Census, there are roughly 5.9 million businesses in the U.S. Virtually all of these can be considered “small.”  Only 18,469 (or less than one-third of one percent) have more than 500 employees.  Even getting to several dozen employees is a feat worth of recognition:  … [Read more...]

The other morning I had a project team meeting over chat with participants in New Jersey, New York, Nicaragua and Peru.  In the past I’ve had teams with people from Brazil, Argentina, Thailand and even Belarus working together.  Twenty years ago, this may have seemed completely out of the ordinary. Today, it’s typical. According to the Bureau of the Census, U.S. companies bought over $394 billion of services from foreign companies last year, an increase of over $29 billion from 2009.  The … [Read more...]

At the end of 2009, my company -- like many others -- was faced with the prospect of a very challenging 2010.  We had taken measures to align our investment and operating expenditures with our expected sales, but I felt it wasn’t enough.  It was important to squeeze out as much waste while we still had the freedom to do so.  From this process emerged three simple and effective ideas that saved money without disrupting how we work. Savings one: I started using BestParking.com (Savings: … [Read more...]

I tend to believe that small businesses have a competitive advantage over larger companies. Decisions can be made in less time. Customer service is more personalized and sincere. New ideas can be approved and implemented in days instead of months. Overhead costs are also significantly less. The list goes on. But there is one area where small businesses are not doing well:  lobbying for their own interests. Lobbying for your interest Influence: Over $750,000 in lobbying expenditures per … [Read more...]

I recently had dinner with a group of fellow business owners to exchange war stories and share our opinions on the current state of the economy. Towards the end of the conversation, I asked the group what they thought was the most important financial ratio to calculate for a young, growing business. Several members of the group argued for profitability-based ratios. Others suggested operational ratios or gross margins. This generated some rather interesting discussion. My answer was different: … [Read more...]