It’s easy to run a business in default mode, to operate reactively instead of proactively. Many business owners do it. They allow systems to develop by happenstance in their business rather than designing them with intention; they keep their business afloat on referrals and word-of-mouth instead of developing a Ma...
As the world continues to change and uncertainty abounds, you may be facing the big question, “When should I reopen my business?” Or, if your business has remained open in some form during the pandemic, maybe you’re asking different questions like, “Should I continue this new social media campaign I started to kee...
EMyth Client Jason Keen didn’t always feel like a leader. But when his father and owner of their family business, Village Beach Market, passed away from a rare form of cancer, Jason had to step into the role of leader quickly and start planning for the business' future. Making the transition from Technician to Ent...
Just like so many of you, my company’s been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. Since the end of February, I’ve woken up every morning relieved that today wasn’t the day I had to ask our Team to take a pay cut. Layoffs have been out of the question except as the last possible resort—and I’m just glad we haven’t re...
In moments of crisis, it can be hard to see beyond the overwhelm. You may be faced with the need to keep employees safe, manage productivity, protect revenue—or all three at once—in an environment that’s constantly changing. But often in crisis, there’s opportunity. As the leader of your business, taking hold of t...
Your Customer Fulfillment system—the way you deliver your product or service to your customers—is an essential part of every business. But at EMyth, we talk often with our clients about how your fulfillment system is more than your product or service: It’s the promise you make to your customers, the experience the...
The world is experiencing a seismic shift, and it’s affecting businesses of all sizes—including ours. An email from a business I follow, sent on March 17, offered a poignant example: Inside the CEO publicly shared a letter to her employees, announcing a minimum 8-week closure of all their stores and a full company...
As a small business ourselves, we know that the national crisis of the coronavirus is likely creating unexpected financial challenges for many of you. We feel it, too. But the good news is that support for small business is coming, either through state or federal government assistance or through organizations offe...
Now is a particularly challenging moment to show up for and manage your people. As a business owner weathering a global economic crisis, you have so many demands on your time and focus—not least of which may be keeping your business financially afloat. So making sure your team has what they need to do their jobs ...
When EMyth went fully remote last year, we had the benefit of time to support our transition—time to research, develop and implement an action plan so that we could be as successful a remote team as we were an on-site team. In this current moment of the coronavirus crisis, when remote working has become at least r...
Starting last Tuesday, the topic of COVID-19 and the coronavirus became a part of each of my coaching calls, and as the week went on, it started to consume more and more time. Conversations about whether or not we should prepare quickly turned to, “We’ve already lost a job,” and “We’re going to shut our doors unti...
Every business owner takes on three distinct personalities in how they think about—and work within—their business. The Technician lives in the present and is focused on doing the work of making it, selling it, and delivering it. The Manager focuses on achieving results through people and systems, focusing on the p...
When Curt Richardson started OtterBox in 1998, he didn’t have a college degree. But that didn’t stop him from building a business that generated $1B in revenue in 2019. Hear how he did it in this inspiring interview on NPR’s How I Built This, with Guy Raz.
If you’ve followed along in this series, you’ve (hopefully) started the work of organizing your inbox and your physical environment in a way that allows you to focus on your priorities as a business owner. In this piece, we’ll home in on your most valuable resource—time.
Here we are at the beginning of a new year (and a new decade!)—an incredible moment that offers the opportunity to metaphorically wipe the slate clean and start fresh. And what if you really could start fresh, start anew? What if this were the year you could achieve the dream we know so many business owners have, ...
To grow your business, you need a dedicated physical space to do the strategic work of growing it—a place for dreaming, thinking and planning. And many business owners don’t have that. Instead, they work from a mobile location, share a space with employees, or have a desk that’s more of a dump zone than a place ...
As the owner-operator of your business, you’re often the first point of contact for anyone trying to connect with any part of your company. So no doubt your inbox is a constant distraction—even a point of overwhelm. And no matter how diligent you are about managing your email, messages can still build up quickly. ...