It’s the quality of a company’s products and services, marketing, sales, customer service, etc. combined with the talent of employees that drives the success of a business. Without qualified, motivated, and loyal employees, a business cannot move forward. Although it is recognized and understood that employees are a company’s greatest assets, too often little time…

The process of strategy evaluation is often overlooked in the overall strategic management process. After the flurry of activity in the initial planning stages, followed by the reality check of executing your strategy alongside business-as-usual, strategy evaluation is often neglected. When this occurs, strategies quickly become outdated and out-of-sync with the changing face of the…

Although anyone with a small amount of capital and little or no experience can start a business, this does not mean that success will follow. Globally, small businesses and SMEs fail miserably. To counteract the staggering failure rates, a small business or SME owner needs an abundance of knowledge to be successful over the long…

Is it a headache to make important decisions in your business? We know how you feel. The average business leader spends close to 40% of their time on business decisions—and most of that time is wasted.  Thankfully, we’ve got something that can flip the script for any business leader. You can stop pulling out your hair and…

Business Owner: We have a goal of 20% EBITDA. Me: How did you come up with that goal? Owner: We want to double our EBITDA in 5 years. Me: Do you realize that the best-in-class EBITDA for your industry is 14%? You’re saying you want profitability to be almost 50% better than the best performing…

Budgets…exciting? Not particularly, but extremely important for any small business. Budgets are additional tools needed for goal setting and performance analysis. Detailed objectives are necessary for any business to operate profitably and grow into a long-term successful venture. When management does not know, however, whether the business has met predetermined objectives, operations become a “hit…

Most operations strategies fail. Why is that? Is it because they aren’t correctly implemented? Or is it because they are built to fail from day one? The answer: both. Your people have their hands full. Without a clear roadmap for decision-making and competitive priorities, each team is like a ship without a rudder. People need…

If you’re going to manage, then you need to manage the right way. Certainly, managing a small business or SME is a difficult task, but that is no excuse for not being a good manager. Managing must still be done correctly in order to achieve positive results. At times, it might seem as though it…

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Have you hit a wall with strategy execution? You’re not alone. In most companies, the best-laid plans drop like lead balloons. For years, the word on the grapevine is that up to 90% of strategies crash and burn. The evolution of strategy in the last century holds promise. But, right now, effective strategic thinking remains an impossible…

No small business owner or manager thinks that occupational fraud can or will happen to them. Guess what? Business fraud happens all the time…every day in every city, small or large, and to any size and type of business. And what is occupational fraud? As defined by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, occupational fraud…