Author: Matt

As a business owner, you are constantly being pulled in different directions. It comes with the territory- everyone wants a piece of your time. The problem is not all demands are created equal (see my recent article on the 80/20 rule!), and if you just spent your time doing things other people asked you to…

One of the most overlooked ways to make your business bigger is by making your business smaller. The usual reaction to that is No, I don’t think so, not for my business. And I get it- the natural reaction of the small business owner is to take everything that comes in and then afterwards figure…

The 80/20 Rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, states that roughly 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes. In business, this concept is powerful for identifying what activities, customers, or products yield the greatest results. The problem is, it’s easy to forget and easy to ignore. When we make a to-do list, we…

I assume you know what Shark Tank is, but just in case you don’t own a TV or hate reality television, let me briefly explain. In this show, entrepreneurs present their business briefly to five experienced investors in the hopes of getting an investment and the investors pepper the business owners with questions about why…

The first job I had out of college was as an assistant restaurant manager. I was twenty one at the time and had never managed anyone. I got pretty thorough training in all the aspects of running the restaurant- I spent time at each of the three kitchen stations and doing all the front of…

There are lots of reasons that having a more profitable business is better than having one that operates on low margins or even razor-thin ones. The first, of course, is that you just make more money for each dollar in sales you add. Like I said, pretty freakin’ obvious. The follow on benefits to that…

After you’ve been in business a while, you will hit a point where it seems like you’ve stalled. This happens to everyone. And it might be true- you might level off or even go backwards. I’ve struggled with this myself and even now- when I know better- it still is something that I have to…

One of the recommendations I’ve heard from marketing people pretty much since the day I started in business twenty-five (!) years ago was that you should have a free gift to offer potential customers. You have to think any advice that’s been around that long has probably survived for a reason. And it does make…

I think the temptation of most business owners is to focus on bringing in more customers as the one thing that will solve nearly all problems. I understand the thinking! More customers mean more revenue and fresh work to keep employees busy and the firm in growth mode. If you are bringing in new business…