Solid growth in a small business does not happen by accident. It is planned growth that creates solid growth. Similar to many large, highly organized businesses, a small business must plan not only for the very near future but for the intermediate future, as well. While large, publicly-traded corporations with highly specialized financial employees can…

Sometimes, you might get a hint that your employees are not satisfied with their jobs. It might be how they act at work, a rumor you hear from other employees, or a comment an employee might even tell you outright that they are not pleased for one reason or another. As a leader, you must…

VRIO Analysis Overview Like most organizations, we’re always striving to find a competitive advantage that propels us in front of our competitors. But, even when you create a competitive advantage, oversaturated markets and technological advancements mean it’s never long before competitors are able to replicate your competitive advantage. A sustained competitive advantage is a holy grail, and…

In most marketing campaigns, there will very likely be a number of marketing components all working simultaneously to achieve one or more objectives. These components might include different types of advertising, a website, email campaigns, social media, pay-per-click, or even something unique that the business has never tried before. With so many different components in…

You can’t apply what you don’t understand. And since many leaders are looking at OKR and KPI to apply to their strategies, we decided to write a post on their differences. No, OKR vs KPI isn’t an upcoming boxing fight between two YouTubers (though we understand your confusion). It’s equally interesting business jargon (interesting, really?)…

Here is a fun fact about strategy: The word “strategy” comes from the Greek word “στρατηγική,” which is a compound word that stems from the words στρατός=army and άγω=lead (I’ll spare you the 2-hour linguistics lecture behind it). So, literally, the word “strategy” means “leading an army.” This doesn’t really help people agree on a…

Businesses, somewhat similar to humans, go through different life cycles. Regardless of location, industry, organizational formation, or the number of owners, businesses move from one phase to the next phase in a rather predictable and sequential manner. It is important to understand the various stages in the business life cycle and be adaptable to changes…

If you ask 100 business owners, coaches, or consultants, you will probably get 100 different answers. But the answer is in the name. Strategic Planning = Strategy + Planning Bur, unfortunately, I find that most strategic planning is heavy on planning, but light on strategy. So that begs a second question: What is strategy? Without…

You have a business that is doing well, but at some point, you as the owner have to leave it or pass it on.  You can just assume everything will go as planned but unfortunately, there are lots of factors that could make that outcome radically different than you had envisioned if you do not…

Many small business owners say they have an entrepreneurial business and many entrepreneurial owners say they have a small business. If this sounds a bit confusing, it can be since the phrase small business owner and entrepreneurial business owner are frequently used interchangeably. There is a difference, however, that should be noted. A small business is… A…

What can change in an instant? Answer: any business. It can take literally years for a business to build a solid reputation, however, that reputation can be changed in an instant. Business reputations are built on integrity and credibility. Integrity is the quality of being honest, fair, and having strong moral principles. A similar trait,…

Do you know why 52% of projects fail? Because the company lacks strategic alignment. If you have a misaligned strategy, your employees feel like we did while watching the movie, Tenet—confused, frustrated, and unsure of what direction things are moving. Strategic alignment is how an organization coordinates its project objectives, decisions, and actions to support the overall corporate strategic…