Last month marked the 30th anniversary of the original Apple Macintosh computer and ever since then icons have been collecting on our desktops. So as “Clean Out Your Computer Day” (February 10) rolls around, it’s a good time to grab the virtual broom and do a little spring, er, winter cleaning. This “holiday”—one not yet […]
My small business trends for 2014 reveal an interesting conundrum. We all know customers demand the ease of doing business with you via high-tech so we’re all scrambling to keep up with technology. But interestingly, at the same time, customers crave high-touch. Customers are quickly frustrated and often irritated when your business phone is answered […]
A few weeks ago, I received an email from a frantic new business owner. One of his clients – a very large company — had an outstanding invoice that was 90 days past due. Concerned and cash-strapped, he wanted to know what he should do. “Calm down,” was the first advice I gave him. During […]
Who invented the light bulb? If you said Thomas Edison, you’d only be partly correct. Edison never took credit for solely inventing the light bulb. He acknowledged it took a team of diverse talent with a passion for excellence. To “invent” your successful business, you need a diverse team of players who augment your skill […]
Before the Internet Age, networking—even locally—was a fairly limited and certainly time-consuming endeavor. Mixers, professional associations and trade shows made up the bulk of the opportunities. Those traditional venues are still around and they are always worth exploiting. But today we have more opportunities and when the subject is networking on an international level, the […]