A healthy business can radically change lives. A business has the ability to create tremendous leverage that individuals just can’t do alone. The impact can be far reaching – sometimes farther than you can even imagine. From your customers to your employees, to yourself and your own family – even entire communities have been reclaimed, revived,…
Commodity wars are a bloodbath. Everybody selling the same thing, competing on price, driving margins to just-a-hair-above-zero… it’s a losing battle for all involved. A war of attrition. If you are in a commodity war, then raising prices might be a death sentence without clearly adding value. You absolutely have to be aware of what…
It’s 1997. Summer time. Friday night. Where are you going? I’ll tell you where I would be found: Blockbuster Video. Blockbuster was deeply a part of American culture in the 1980’s and 90’s. The latest movies lined the walls, along with your favorite classics, video games, even popcorn and candy were all right there at…
I have been invited behind the curtain of hundreds of small businesses. At least 400 by last count. That comes from decades of helping to turning around businesses, especially when it comes to marketing. Because of this, I have had too many conversations to count with small business owners who don’t know what to do…
Vertical Integration is when you acquire (or become) a supplier or customer of your current business. It is growth via supply chain. Here are the 3 most common ways for a small business to vertically integrate: Buy a building and become your own landlord. Start a new business that becomes a supplier of your current…
Time to rethink the future of your business. Imagine this: you can stay in the same industry, even the same niche. Except instead of serving the end customer, you’re leveraging your years of knowledge and expertise to serve people just like you. This is the “Picks and Axes” approach to your industry. During the California…
I was completely turned around. The last (and final) time I hiked without a trail map was a few years ago on the Cross Timbers Trail on the Texas/Oklahoma border. The Cross Timbers Trail is a 14 mile long backpack-able trail along the shore of the (regionally) famous Lake Texoma. It’s a beautiful hike any…
It’s cold out there… (“Okay campers, rise, and shine, and don’t forget your booties ’cause it’s cold out there…” “it’s cold out there every day.” “Of course it’s cold out there, what is this Miami Beach?” Ok – enough Bill Murray humor, back to the regular scheduled programming) And now that it’s colder, it’s time to…
Before YouTube became a household name it was a video dating site. Yep, 👉️ that kind of video dating. The awkward, amateur, man-on-a-stool, cheesy backdrop, talking at the camera as though she were the woman of your dreams, trying to convince the world that you are attractive, video dating. YouTube was that. People who were looking to get…
Do you know what it takes to be a hiker? All you have to do is start hiking! If you are hiking a flat, half-mile trail around a pond, you are a hiker. If you are climbing Mount Everest, you are a hiker. (And when your hike is finished, aren’t you always glad you did…