I was recently introduced to the concept of Minimum Viable Product or MVP. If you work in the software development industry, you most likely have heard of MVP. But for everyone else this will be an eye-opening experience. When I first heard the term Minimum Viable Product, it definitely sounded fishy to me. My customer value instinct immediately questioned any concept that put the words minimum and viable in front of product, even more so when it’s my product! But after further analysis, I … [Read more...]
The United States Postal Service is Going Broke – Should You Worry?
The United States Postal Service (USPS) operates on a scale unimaginable to most business owners. The USPS is the second largest civilian employer in the country. On a given day, USPS delivers 584 million mail pieces and generates $224 million in revenues. Yes per day. Last year, revenues exceeded $67 billion. Unfortunately, the USPS has one metric that stands out from the rest: in fiscal year 2010, it lost over $8 billion. This year it expects to lose $7 billion. While the scale of the … [Read more...]
Protect Your Business and Your Family from Yourself
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 problem with employees is that they think like employees and not like owners
What is the Problem with employees? and Why You Should Teach the Janitor About Finance. Is it realistic to expect employees to act like owners? As an owner, the personal stakes for you are very high. A successful business can make you a millionaire many times over. "The problem with employees is that they think like employees and not like owners" Your personal reputation is on the line. Nothing less than the very sense of who you are is at play when you are the owner. For employees, it … [Read more...]
Does the AOL-Huffington Post Deal Make Sense?
The AOL-Huffington Post Deal has generated hundreds of expert views on the matter. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions, in general, show mixed results. Despite making sense on an Excel spreadsheet, many M&A transactions are plagued by problems: systems integration issues, differences in cultural communications, lack of post-merger direction, and a failure by management to articulate the benefits to the market cause the downfall of many transactions. According to Thomson … [Read more...]
Alternative Ways to Pay Foreign Vendors
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...]
How 3 Simple Changes Saved My Business $44,000
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...]
Should You Start a Carbon Offset Program?
Depending on who you ask, global warming is either the greatest threat to the survival of the human race or a wacky scheme concocted by environmental extremists. Whether you are a true believer or a confirmed skeptic, as a business owner it’s important to recognize that a significant percentage of your customers believe that global warming or climate change is real and that it is caused by human activities. Recent studies confirm a majority believe in global warming According to a recent … [Read more...]
Are You Lobbying for Your Interests?
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...]
The Most Important Ratio for Your Business: Revenue per employee
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...]
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