Do you ever ask an employee for something you requested several days earlier and get a puzzled look? Or get the response: “I didn’t know you wanted it today.” Or even more baffling, the employee tells you: “I don’t know how to do that.” These are the kinds of answers that cause many owners to hesitate when delegat...
This is the fifth installment in helping you fully develop and implement Org Charts and Position Agreements, which support a culture of ownership within your business. “My employees know what to do, but if one thing goes wrong, they just stand around.” “They can get the job done—but only in the slowest possible wa...
This is the fourth installment in helping you fully develop and implement Org Charts and Position Agreements, which support a culture of ownership within your business. Click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Fully implementing your Position Agreements is an endeavor that requires simple steps over time. It starts ...
This is the third installment in helping you fully develop and implement Org Charts and Position Agreements, which support a culture of ownership within your business. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2. If you followed my previous blogs—and you kept it simple—you should have a Position Agreement for each role in yo...
This is the season for planning for the new year and we’ve been talking a lot about it. If you haven’t started yet, it’s not too late to create your Annual Plan. We have a six step process to get you there. If you really want your business to look, act, feel and perform differently a year from now (Is there anyone...
Have you ever stepped back from your business for a few hours to think about what you want this company to give you? Maybe it's the dream you started with, the one that gave you the momentum and courage to quit a job and venture out on your own. Maybe it's the time and support you want to dedicate to your family a...
This is Part Four on how to build a sales system that works. Read Part One, Part Two, and Part Three here. When you really break it down, a salesperson who has the highest lead to sales conversions is doing one thing better than everyone else: leading the sales conversation. If you, in your sales role, or your sal...
As an owner of EMyth and its Board Chair, this is a meaningful time for me. October is National Women’s Small Business Month. My 35th anniversary at EMyth is a few months away, having spent the first 17 years building the company into a global brand with my former husband, Michael Gerber, EMyth’s founder and best ...
This is Part Three on how to build a sales system that works. Read Part One here, Part Two here, and Part Four here. How well do you know what’s really going on in your sales department? Whether you’re a solopreneur or you’ve got a team of salespeople responsible for bringing in new business, how much do you reall...
This is Part Two on how to build a sales system that works. Read Part One or Part Three here. Isn’t it curious that sales, the lifeblood of every small business, is so damn hard to get right? You started your business because you believed you could make or do something that other people wanted, but then you strugg...
This is Part One on how to build a sales system that works. Read Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four here. It’s not hard to agree with the idea that your business needs systems. But, when it comes to sales, small business owners often have a lot of difficulty really getting behind creating a comprehensive sales sy...
I’m in the upstairs bathroom writing notes on my iPhone when it strikes me—the apparent irony of me sketching out notes for a blog post about work-life balance while in the middle of giving my daughters a bath. I left work hours ago but had hardly left my work behind me. And in that moment I felt so close to the m...
This is a guest post by EMyth client, Morgan Spradling. When I started Highland Cycles in 2007, I wanted to change the way people thought about the motorcycle industry. Over the years, motorcycle repair shops have lost their appeal and have earned a poor reputation. Everyone told me it would be impossible to make ...
How do you inspire your people? You can feel they need something. You see them come into work with tired eyes and watch them half-listen during meetings. You know it’s on you to uplift them or bring them more meaning, something to get their head above water and remember why they took a job with your company in the...
On It is a monthly podcast where we tell the stories of business owners and how they transformed their companies. Listen to the latest episode on Soundcloud and iTunes. In Part 1 of Jeff Schneider’s turnaround story, his business, Marketing Ninjas, was on the edge of failure. But, Jeff was determined to keep his b...
What happened over the last ten years? For me, it went from door-to-door salespeople and a mailbox full of advertisements to electronic overload. My gosh, my inbox fills up fast. My Facebook feed runs faster than I can run my fastest mile. My phone battery now dies quicker than ever before, and at times, I want to...
Are leaders born or made? From business school courses devoted to the topic to books and articles to many a thought leader’s opinion—this question has been debated for a very long time.