Getting more of your ideal customers is key
Jerry reached out to us because he wanted to get out of his business. The business, he said, was “too stressful,” and he “was tired of struggling.” During our discussions with Jerry, we discovered that while the business was doing several million dollars in sales, it was only marginally profitable. Jerry had to work extra…
Own your success, take your place at the table and power up your body language
Sandra was introduced to me as a highly successful business professional with exceptional leadership skills. She was being groomed for a top executive position and she sounded perfect for my favourite kind of coaching assignment: I love working with accomplished women who are looking to become even more effective. It should have come as a…
Your suppliers want you to succeed. When you're doing well, they’re more likely to succeed too
The relationships we have with suppliers are often critical to our success in business. But most business owners and managers don’t understand how to leverage those relationships for better results and increased profitability. Here are five ways to get the most from your suppliers: Invest in the relationship Your suppliers can make or break your…
When we don’t care about clients, we create a culture of complacency that infects our whole organization
One of my in-laws spent two hours on hold with an airline company last week after his travel agent had spent four hours on hold with the same company. When I asked him about the experience, he said he was happy he didn’t have to wait longer and said the person who answered the phone…
Addressing the essential considerations that can trip up companies will ensure a smooth migration
It should be easy to migrate a web-based application from its in-house computing environment to a vendor-managed, cloud computing environment. While migration is not a high-risk, stress-inducing project, there are significant considerations for your cloud migration project plan. Addressing the essential considerations that can trip up companies will ensure you achieve a smooth migration to…
Band-aid fixes create a terrible work environment. This happens when IS is viewed simply as a cost
In too many organizations, the delivery of information services (IS) is best described as a giant, never-ending version of the Whac-a-Mole arcade game. If this situation describes your organization, it is time to take action. As a technology problem pops up, just like the mole in the game, someone in the IS group whacks it…
It could take a year to sell but if you’ve taken the time to prepare it can be much faster
Selling your business can be exciting and scary. Often business owners aren’t sure what to expect. It typically takes much longer to sell a business than it does a house, up to a year in some cases. However, under the right conditions – when you’ve taken the time to prepare your business – the sale…
Why are you in the business you’re in?
My sister Catherine loves fishing and, to be honest, she’s much better at it than I am. Catherine could catch 10 fish to my one because she knows what she’s doing. Before you even go fishing, you need to know why you’re going. Typically, people go fishing because they love fish and like spending time…
Going digital is “kind of a life-or-death situation for small businesses”
A group of students led out of the University of Alberta School of Business is helping small businesses get ahead of the pandemic-induced warp-speed retail overhaul that is pushing customers online in droves. The students are at the heart of the new Digital Economy Program (DEP), a free initiative that sees a team of U of…
Setting goals gives us something to motivate and rally our team around
If you’re burned out at the thought of another daunting year and trying to plan, you’re not alone. Trying to figure out what will happen and how it will affect your organization seems like a crapshoot. Yet many leaders who recognize that they need to change still fail to understand how to make the necessary…