In the first season of Mad Men, Don Draper says, “The day you sign a client is the day you start losing one.” It’s a sobering thought. Almost every business relationship eventually comes to an end. Sometimes it’s over a major disagreement, but more often these relationships die a death of a thousand cuts. We’re […]
Recently a beloved restaurant in my neighborhood closed its doors after serving the community of St. Louis for 53 years. It was owned by two brothers who immigrated to the U.S. from Greece. After working at several restaurants, the two seized the opportunity to buy a neighborhood diner and soon the Majestic Restaurant was serving […]
We all know the old adage: “It costs more to get new business than it does to keep the customers you have.” Makes sense and sounds easy, right? However, in the real world small business owners are often so consumed with running their businesses, they don’t focus enough on customer retention until it is […]
When you start a new business, you obviously start with an idea. But a critical ingredient for success is understanding your “why”. Why do you do what you do? It’s amazing how many business owners and their teams go through the motions of running their businesses on a day-to-day basis without ever understanding the purpose […]
I just returned from speaking at the International Franchise Association convention. This was my sixth year speaking at this great organization’s conference and I decided it should be more of a conversation than a speech. While there was plenty of content in the session, I asked our audience members to share their best practices that […]