The Freestyle Entrepreneur

  When I launched an ill-fated business in the Caribbean years ago, I never quit working to find ways, each and every day, to cut my costs by a fraction here, raise my sales by a smidge there, etc.  It was a daily challenge upon which I thrived.  (The business did fail, but that had more [...]

The Issue With today’s modem-based auto-dialers, telemarketers can easily manage thousands of outbound calls in one shot. A handy device for call center operations or telemarketers working solo, with its flexibility in recording calls auto-dialers also work just fine with market research. Basically, clicking the Dial button triggers a call to the next number on [...]

  “You know what you should do?”  When I hear that question – which the asker is going to answer, whether I like it or not — I cringe and start looking for the exit.  That’s because the person so eager to offer advice almost invariably hasn’t a clue about what I do, need or want.    [...]

The Issue Whatever happened to “You’re welcome?” What I Think Several months ago Issue of the Week gently chastised sales and customer-contact people…and waaay too many others in all types of businesses…who say “No Problem” when thanked. Not that I thought we’d nip that particular verbal transgression in the proverbial bud, but it’s been getting [...]

The Issues This week we tackle two issues: Avoid blocking visibility and creating hazarous conditions in your parking lot. Why many women need voice lessons, and what they can do about it. What I Think What’s the connection? None really. Except that it’s better to know sooner than later about potential problems—or things that are [...]

SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times By Gary Keller, with Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan (McGraw-Hill, 2008, $21.95). Estimates put the number of 1099 workers as high as 40% of the post-recovery economy.  As more people lose their jobs, they are striking out on their own. And National Employment Report finds that [...]

By John A. Mangin, Jr. As a nation, we face immediate challenges, both of which threaten to destroy our capitalistic system if we let them: Cap-and-Trade, that rip-off by a government bent on rewarding its political favorites by creating a scarce new commodity, “carbon credits,” making businesses buy it, but forcing the poor pay to [...]

I had an employee once who thought it was her job to catch me in mistakes … and to make me feel as stupid as possible about it.  That got old real fast, especially because I used to make a lot of mistakes.  But in a strange way, I must say that (today, in retrospect) [...]

There’s a good chance your business will be knocked for a loop if you die or become disabled … that is unless you make plans in advance.  One option worth exploring is a buy-sell agreement. A buy-sell agreement answers the “what if” question about what will happen to the business if one of the owners [...]

I need a marketing pro who can drive business to my new business site at Family Finance Conference Center by the  handful and bring/keep my site high on the search engine list.  I have a set of quality products, including workshops, seminars and money management clinics built around my latest two-book set (book and workbook) of The [...]

By Bill Willard Contributing Author The Issue Small-business owners should take time to put their companies under a microscope, assessing what they’re doing and what they could be doing better, and fixing what needs to be fixed. What I Think If this is a good time for you to do that, consider the following tips: [...]

Even though I enjoy (?) playing the game and one of my three sons was a golf professional before accepting a position with the Nationwide PGA Tour, by no stretch of the imagination am I an expert on the sport of golf.   To illustrate that point, at one time I assumed that great golfers hit [...]