Articles

It is normal for workplace issues to arise amongst colleagues – after all most Americans spend more time at work than any place else. When employees are having difficulty getting along with each other, or when they are having performance problems, small business owners may question how to handle the issues at hand. Companies of all sizes must manage employees that turn out to have difficult personality traits, are a poor fit for their current role or have trouble working with others....

The dirty little secret about entrepreneurship is that most people who start a business had no idea what they were doing when they began – myself included. Oh sure, they may have read some books and articles, gone to seminars, or maybe have even written a business plan. But actually knowing what to expect, what slings and arrows would come their way – no. The good news about that, as one intrepid entrepreneur once told me, is that you don’t know what you don’t know. That is – you don’t know...

According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), nearly 50% of employers would like to see an internship on a student’s resume. Following up on a previous article about identifying an intern for your small business, here are some guidelines on how to manage interns once you’ve brought them on board. If you’ve found an intern who has some background in your industry, there’s no reason to pigeonhole them into the most obvious position based on...

Small business and sales go hand in hand. Indeed, it is impossible to be a small business owner without learning a thing or two about sales in the process. But that said, it doesn’t always follow that making sales comes easy, because for some people it most certainly does not. The good news is that sales is one of those things that, even if it doesn’t come naturally, can be learned with a bit of effort. This is especially true for those all-important presentations. Small business folks...

Broadly speaking, business coaches provide expert guidance and advice to help businesses and employees achieve their goals, but there are many types of coaches who have specific areas of expertise, ranging from small business coaches to executive coaches to career coaches to work-life balance coaches. For business-specific coaches, there is an exclusive 1,000 member Worldwide Association of Business Coaches that has set certification standards and exists solely for business-related coaching. If...

What is it that separates those small businesses that are very successful with their social media efforts with those that are not? Let me suggest a one word answer: Content. The phrase is not “Content is prince” or “Content is duke.” No, they say, “Content is king” for a reason. Because it is. Offer your folks great content and they will pay attention to you. Don’t and they won’t. So what is great content and how do you create or offer it? The first thing to understand about social...

Workplace culture can be broadly defined as how employees describe their working environment. While some cultures will be defined naturally based on a small business owner’s leadership style or industry type, a lot of it will also be determined by the employees you hire and the office tone that management sets. How you implement your unique small business culture in day-to-day operations can help to attract and retain talent while ultimately contributing to your business’ success.  Here are...

A while back I asked folks who read my USA Today column to share their best business tips. I received many good contributions, several of which I want to share with you today. The idea behind this exercise was to hear about the valuable ideas and lessons learned from different small business owners. The question friends and family ask me most often is where I get the ideas for my column. They come from many sources – articles and books I have read, business associates, press releases,...