If we don’t get paid, we go out of business. So with more debtors delaying payment in these tough times, taking action to collect money should be a top priority for small companies. Few small businesses can afford to turn customers away, but being timid about stretched credit terms puts your own company in danger. [...]
Many types of small business routinely offer customers some idea (either a quote – which is legally binding, or an estimate, which is not) of the cost for doing a job. Often customers require such an estimate for a sense of safety or to compare quotes from different businesses before they will commit to a [...]
As I have travelled the world the last year I have been struck more than once by the fact that many other countries seem to exhibit a much hungrier, edgier entrepreneurship than we now see in the United States. Maybe we have gotten complacent and comfortable with our style of entrepreneurship. It strikes me that [...]
In soft economic times cutting back on payroll usually means laying off employees. As a tactic it works, but this strategy reduces your productivity and can end up costing you in the long run. You will have lost any investment you made in their training, lost their knowhow and will be stuck with the cost [...]
I guess you can say I am a mountaineer. I am reluctant to use that title. However, I have now summited all the major volcanoes in Washington State, the volcanoes of Mexico, Kalapattar in Nepal and two of the “Seven Summits” -the highest summit on each continent. The first of the seven summits I did [...]
Thinking about death is uncomfortable in itself – cold blooded sitting down and working out scenarios to deal with what will happen in the event of it actually happening is even more traumatic. That’s part of the reason why succession planning goes to the bottom of the ‘to do’ list for most business owners. Even [...]
John was featured in two major Lithuanian recently! Check out the pictures…
How did we end up in Egypt you ask? A variety of paths collided for us to end up in Egypt: 1. My 7 year old Gwen really wanted to visit all 7 continents on this sabbatical adventure- it may be within reach. Egypt being in Africa was eligible. 2. Alitalia threatening to go bankrupt in [...]
I have served a half semester at LCC International University as a Business professor. The other night as my Business 476 (Market Survey) class was adjourning for the last time one of the students asked me if I had a speech to give them. At first I said no but then I thought yes I do [...]
Wow, there is a lot to write about: school, students, nervous students, moose, wild boars, music, flying contraptions, colleagues, great food… We are four weeks in Lithuania today, Klaipeda to be exact. Klaipeda is a beautiful port city of 200,000 people that sits at the mouth of a 55 km long inlet that empties into [...]
