Existing Business

Some people love to fly down a mountainside with nothing but fabric between theirs armpits and crotch. Others prefer to watch the scenery from an enclosed vehicle. The first is a thrill seeker, the second prefers monotonous predictability. In business it takes a little of both to get to success.

Below is a list of titles. If the title is a link I’ve written the post. If not I plan to. I’ll explain each title a bit when I write the post. If you want me to do one sooner rather than later leave a comment.  If the topics are interesting to you please sign up for my RSS feed or email newsletter on the home page.

1. If you build it they will come.
2. More than one thing to serve a customer.
3. Equip yourself for the job.
4. Dream it, think it, do it.
5. Systems make the world go round. Profitability, consistent operations, working on and not in your business and then being able to sell your business for a lot of money are all made possible when you create and apply operational systems.
6. Get the right ones on the bus, the wrong ones off. In business it is critical to have a team of employees that all pull in the same direction. Getting the right people on the bus is step 1. Read this post to learn how to implement an effective hiring system at your store.
7. Build a team of employees that care about your business. It is helpful important critical to hire a great team, to lay out the way things run in your business and then to follow through. Doing it correctly will build a fabulous team of employees that make a business hit it’s potential and avoid the all to common failure to launch. Follow these 4 easy steps to success!
8. Train, train and more train. Training is not only critical for successful operations it is valuable for being profitable, allowing owners to work on, not in, there business and someday selling the business for a profit!
9. What’s your name?
10. Maintaining the equipment.
11. Cleanliness is next to godliness, Bugs says.
12. Don’t get Fresh with me! Staying fresh in today’s fickle consumer market is more important than ever. How do we balance consistent, quality operations with staying relevant to our surroundings? This post will teach you the secrets of how to stay relevant In a changing market!
13. Look into their eyes.
14. Various seating for various folk.
15. Give the people what they need. Too many businesses don’t really understand what the customer needs. If we think we are in the coffee business then we are shortsighted and will miss the opportunity to really prosper. Get people to connect to your business emotionally and you’ll have to add seats to serve them all.
16. Charge! I still remember feeling like all my customers would leave me…the first day I raised my prices that is. Truth is, they wanted me to raise my prices. Not that they wanted to pay more for coffee, but rather they wanted me to succeed and adequate margins is a key ingredient to success. Not regularly raising prices is a fatal mistake, let me show you why.
17. Watch the pennies…
18. Deja vu, on being bossy. Leadership is a skill that some have naturally, but most can learn. Simple and effective leadership principles will make you the kind of owner that employees will take a bullet for. This post shares critical leadership skills possessed by leaders.
19. (Em)power to the people.
20. Not only found in a petri dish.
21. “Wha-what’s you name?”
22. Square it up. There are only two ways to make more money in business – sell more or spend less. Read how to spend less on credit card processing with new technology and keep real dollars in your bank account starting today!
23. A rolling stone gathers no limescale.
24. The revolving door policy. Some say you should never rehire an employee who left your company. Read about my experience with former employees and bringing them back.
25. Be the benchmark.
26. Work yourself out of a job.
27. Help me, but let me be.
28. Continuous improvements. Some call it improvement. Some call it change. Some call it doing something new. It all falls under innovation. Read why without ongoing innovation in your business you’ll be looking for a new job.
29. Opportunity comes a knockin’.
30. If one is good, three is better.
31. Exitology.

More content coming soon…