Studies of business survival over many years reveal a disturbing fact: five out of ten businesses do not survive more than five years and as few as 3 out of those that do survive the first five years live to Continue reading “Why Most Small Businesses Fail or Only Achieve Modest Success”
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Client Selection: Do it Right and You’ll Do Your Banking in Cornsacks
It was a dark and stormy night. The power was out and I heard the back door squeak. I was sure someone was in my kitchen. I called out but I couldn’t have expected what was about to happen … Continue reading “Client Selection: Do it Right and You’ll Do Your Banking in Cornsacks”
Worthy Cause Marketing is a powerful tool for being good and doing good
Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey founded Barefoot Wine in 1986 almost by accident. They knew little about wine and had no idea what they were letting themselves in for at the time. They sold the business to E & J Gallo in 2005 and what they created has become the world’s largest selling wine brand. The story of how this amazing business Continue reading “Worthy Cause Marketing is a powerful tool for being good and doing good”
Trash your annual performance reviews
At our Bootcamps and other events one of the biggest and most important recommendations we made for getting team engagement was to stop doing annual performance reviews with your team members. I was reminded of this the other day when I saw a FB post from a good friend Michelle Golden in which she announced with deserved pride that the firm she is a Principal at, K-coe Isom, have abandoned doing annual reviews. Continue reading “Trash your annual performance reviews”
A Mentor’s Messages: Jim Rohn
One of the people who’s teaching has had a profound impact on me is the late Jim Rohn. His humor and pithy insights about human nature and especially the impact personal development has on contribution, success, and self-directed happiness are worth taking note of and talking about that Continue reading “A Mentor’s Messages: Jim Rohn”
What would Henry Ford think about the Cloud?
I was going through some old note folders and came across a photocopied page from a report that, unfortunately, I no longer know the title of. It contained an infographic that I found incredibly interesting. Continue reading “What would Henry Ford think about the Cloud?”
Why don’t we always do what’s best for us?
Wanna bet? If you were offered two bets. Bet A calls for you to put $50 down for a certain win of $100. Bet B calls for you to put $50 down for a 50% chance of winning $200. Which would you choose? Continue reading “Why don’t we always do what’s best for us?”
A Couple of Things We Could Learn From Sam Walton
The richest family in the world – The Waltons, estimated total wealth $150 billion – owe their fortune to the genius of Sam. From what I have read about his he would be the first to say he was nowhere near the vicinity of genius but if seeing what others don’t see and persevering in the pursuit of a vision is genius then he most certainly was. Continue reading “A Couple of Things We Could Learn From Sam Walton”
Your Brand: Your Mindset: Your Success as Change Maker
Your brand represents the public image of who you are, your values, what you stand for, your core competency – in short, the value you bring to the table for anyone who might want to work with you or for you. The more strongly you can position yourself on all of these dimensions in a way that differentiates you from other people (or firms) that operate in the same space the more likely you will be to drive success for yourself and those with whom you work. Continue reading “Your Brand: Your Mindset: Your Success as Change Maker”
A Glimpse at The Firm of The Future
I was talking to a previous Results Accountants’ Systems team member yesterday about how technology has caught up with the ideas I had talked and written about extensively back in the last century. He reminded me of a paper I wrote called “I had a Dream” that from memory was circulated internally at RAS in which I outlined what I saw as the evolutionary changes that were playing out in our profession. These ideas were detailed in a presentation I did for the Kentucky Society of CPAs in June 2000. Continue reading “A Glimpse at The Firm of The Future”