I am curious how you, as a business owner, decide whether to offer your customers a special day or weekend with sales and special offers or allow your employees to enjoy the holiday with a day off. The holiday offers your business an opportunity for extra visibility with some sales and gives customers a chance to save a bit of money.  But often these sales create additional work for your employees and longer working hours the day of the sale. How do you make the choice?  What points do...

by Iris Dorbian. Like many small business owners, Ceres “C.C.” Opanowski has had an unusual career trajectory. After spending a decade as a paralegal, she jettisoned the corporate lifestyle to become a certified Pilates instructor. Recently, the 35-year-old Opanowski opened her own studio, Rivertown Pilates in Tarrytown, New York where she now works 50 hours a week giving classes and running her own business. Recently, writer Iris Dorbian spoke to Opanowski about her new venture and why a...

When it comes to attracting and retaining talent, small business owners often wonder how to show their employees appreciation for a job well done. The good news is that there is no shortage of ways to reward great performances, and none of them need to break the bank. Consider: 1. Money: It is no secret that money motivates employees; we all know that. Holding sales contests, offering bonuses, dangling raises—these are tried-and-true approaches that are effective. But these things also...

In the late 1930s, George de Mestral went for a walk in the woods. He wanted to catch some damselflies to view them underhis new microscope, but the only thing he was able to catch were scores of sticky burrs in his sock. De Mestral decided to look at the burrs under his microscope to see what made them stick. He discovered that each burr was covered with hundreds of tiny “hooks” that grabbed onto anything with a loop, such as clothing fiber, animal fur, or even human hair. And that is when...

It is easy when you are a small business owner to have a narrow view of how you are doing. If things are going well and you are making a profit, you are in good shape, right? And, if you are in a rough spot and money is tight, then you need to be doing something better, no? Let me suggest that both views are probably too myopic, and as a result, probably incorrect as well. Judging the success or failure of your business by a snapshot of how you are doing today, or this week, or even this...

By Sherron Lumley. Award-winning business reporter for The New York Times, Charles Duhigg (right), discusses his new book, The Power of Habit, about the science of habit formation in people, companies and societies. He explains the research behind the book, why habits exist, the secret to changing them, and how keystone habits set off chain reactions for sweeping business transformations. He examines the habit loop, making it clear why some companies struggle to alter course while others do...

Recently, I had the good fortune to sit down with some exceptional small business owners to discuss their businesses. We chatted about the importance of what we called “relationship capital” – specifically how they fostered and maintained great relationships with customers to keep them coming back time and again. Their ideas and strategies were as unique as their businesses. Whether it was creative uses of social media, quality products, exceptional service, or using videos to reach their...

Recently, I was speaking with a client at a large tech firm about her business and she was explaining to me that she was very busy because they had recently bought a smaller business and she was part of the team that was working to integrate the two companies. The companies faced all sorts of challenges combining their two distinct forces – work overlap, communication, and geography – but guess what the biggest issue was? Culture. The smaller business was still in startup mode and did...