Astronaut. Firefighter. Doctor. Movie Star. When you’re little and the world is a wide open field in front of you, the options for what do when you grow up seem endless. You think about your passions and you naturally set the bar high. So what happens over the course of your lifetime that keeps you from pursuing those big dreams? Sometimes we grow out of those dreams naturally when...

No matter what kind of business you own or how successful you are, there’s one thing you can’t buy – time. If you are going to commit time to focusing on making big progress in 2020, you have to find ways to make more time for yourself. So how do you get started? With some major spring cleaning. Declutter: The first step in spring cleaning your business is to declutter....

When was the last time you truly unplugged? Whether it turning off your phone to go to lunch with an old friend or setting a true out of office and taking a family vacation, being able to leave technology – and work – behind is an important part of being an entrepreneur. After all, you didn’t go into business to have nothing more than a really demanding job, did you? In...

Don’t let challenging personalities negatively impact your company’s culture. People are all wired differently and, in many cases, that wiring makes people good at their particular jobs. So what do you do when the challenges of one of your employees starts to create rifts in the team? And how do you help those people – who are sometimes top performers – be success...

Being able to say no is tough, especially when you’re a business owner. You want to be liked, you want the sale, you want happy employees, you want return customers… but never saying no will lead to major burnout. It’s important to understand both when to say no and how to say no. Saying yes is easy as long as you can follow through on whatever you’ve agreed to, but everyone would rather...

“Work smarter, not harder.” It’s a common saying and we hear it all the time. It’s true – and some people have absolutely mastered it – but sometimes working smarter is challenging, especially when you’re a business owner with projects, requests and questions coming at you from every direction. Here are three tactics that, when used together, can help you work smarter and keep your focus...

Thanksgiving is a special time of year that inspires us to slow down and think about what we’re thankful for – whether it’s family, friends, good health, a comfortable place to live or something more personal. But if you’re a business owner, Thanksgiving is also a stressful time that’s on the bleeding edge of the holiday shopping season and the end of the year. As we approach the next Th...

Social responsibility in business has become an important business trend across America, especially as employees and customers continue to raise their expectations around the companies they choose to work for and support. So how do you, as a business owner, find ways for your company to be socially responsible? The first step is to choose a cause. Think about the kind of mission you woul...

Building strong relationships is an important part of the success of any business, but when you’re a new business owner – or when you’re not an extrovert – knowing how to get started can be challenging. While relationships are complex and every relationship is unique, here are the four basic steps to creating, fostering and maintaining business relationships. Meet: Being an entrepreneur ...

Business owner burnout is an epidemic. Our society values entrepreneurs and business leaders who work tirelessly to build success, but working 80 hours a week, never seeing your family and never having a free second without feeling on call is exhausting. There are articles all over the internet – including this blog – about the importance of taking vacations, making sure your staff can r...