All Entries in the "Business Management" Category
14 Things That Really Matter In Business Strategy
I first learned about business strategy while in college a very long time ago. If memory serves me well then the definition goes something like this: the direction and scope of an organization over the long term that produces advantage for said organization through its allocation of resources to meet the needs of markets and [...]
The Young Professional
As part of the business valuation process, analysts and editors in my department conduct phone interviews with clients to learn more about their companies. I’ve probably performed at least 100 interviews already, but one particular interview stands out as the most memorable in my two-and-a-half years of employment. He was not the most talkative and [...]
Why GPS Fleet Tracking Matters For Your Business
Businesses that rely on fleet vehicles to provide products and services to their clients can experience tangible financial benefits with GPS fleet tracking. GPS tracking essentially puts you in the passenger seat of every truck in your fleet. By tracking your vehicles, you can gain complete control over your fleet, significantly reduce costs and improve [...]
From Entrepreneur To CEO
It takes a certain type of mindset to lead a construction company to success. Most construction company owners started out working for someone else, became experts at a technical skill and then decided to go into business for themselves. Their desire for independence is rarely motivated by money. Rather they are entrepreneurs who want to [...]
Six Ways Your Business Can Go ‘Green’
Paying attention to the environment demonstrates good stewardship and translates into good business. Companies touting their planet preservation accomplishments via marketing messages benefit from positive publicity, while saving corporate money. Though Earth Day was officially celebrated in April, many savvy companies are applying “green” tactics every day in an effort to save money and enhance [...]
What Lessons Can Small Businesses Learn From Non-Profits During These Uncertain Economic Times?
Though it may be difficult to imagine, small businesses have many of the same needs as non-profit organizations. The goal of many non-profits is to help solve the urgent social problems faced by communities. Nonprofits require business savvy just like private companies; they simply follow a different set of accounting and tax principles in order [...]
Make Money Now And More In The Future
Imagine a world in which very little changed over time. This year’s products are the same as last year’s products, and they’ll be the same as next year’s products, too. The same with production methods, management techniques, employee training—you name it. Don’t forget your history lessons—there was a time in human history when the world [...]
It Can Pay To Be Nimble
In business, nothing moves faster than capital. These days—where billions can move halfway around the world with a mouse click, or professional football teams can change cities overnight—your success can be enhanced by a change in venue. Face it, some places want taxpaying, job creating, community-investing people like you, and some jurisdictions will take you [...]
Business Secrets Of The Samurai
You might think that a business manager, whose leadership style is based in martial arts, would be quick to lead by intimidation. For Robert St. Louis, a vice president of operations with a fifth-degree black belt in Kobudo, nothing could be further from the truth. As a manager, St. Louis is a believer in leading [...]
Back To Basics
The first decade of the 21st century has been characterized by exhilarating growth only to be followed by the worst recession most businesses have ever experienced. In loftier times, it took little effort to get work and make money. Even when a job proved unprofitable, who cared? There was always the next job. However, while [...]
Finding An Edge
There’s an old saying that what people don’t tell you is more powerful than anything they do tell you. Recent decades have brought us information systems that produce voluminous reports, which unfortunately then sit on shelves or are used only by accountants to file tax returns. What is missing in many companies is a two-way [...]
How To Catch The Wave
Have you ever been to the beach when the surfers were out? Do you remember watching them sit out in the ocean on their boards, waiting for the perfect wave to come along and carry them into shore? Some were probably paddling to catch the next wave, while others just sat there, as if to [...]
Behavior – What’s Holding YOU Back?
What is wrong with my business? Why am I struggling? Why can’t I grow? Why am I losing customers? If you are asking yourself these questions and looking for the answers on your income statement and balance sheet, you are probably looking in the wrong place. May I suggest that the first place to look [...]
Managing For Predetermined Profit
Managing for a predetermined profit is not a well-known practice in the construction industry, where smaller companies, including startups, owner-operated organizations and small partnerships represent the majority of firms. Yet, when put into practice and administered consistently, a predetermined profit plan can be quite advantageous for construction firms of all sizes. Historically, small construction companies [...]
A Health Checkup For Your Business
Measuring key variables keeps you strong. Imagine you’re going to your doctor for an annual physical. You’re expecting the usual round of poking, prodding and blood work, but the doctor just smiles and pronounces you fit without so much as a pinprick, blood pressure check or a tap on the knee with a rubber hammer. [...]
Taking Chances
There is no shortage of effective leadership. A search on Google will turn up endless pages of magazine articles, books and speeches about all of those characteristics viewed as essential for a dynamic and motivational leader. Yet despite all of this talk, ineffective leadership seems to permeate the corporate world. Certainly those in executive positions [...]
Fear Of Change
Fear of what’s new or different can stifle your business. Change does not come easily for most employees. In fact, it often threatens them, especially when faced with learning a new routine or process. That’s because humans are creatures of habit. And habits, whether good or bad, are hard to break. Even when change is [...]
How To Identify And Avoid Toxic Business Errors
In nature, a number of substances that we eat or drink are necessary to our health, but they can become toxic when ingested in large amounts—these include salt, sugar, vitamins, minerals and even water. When our bodies are healthy, they provide warnings when we get too close to that limit. But in business, it is [...]
Where Did All The Money Go?
A focus on revenue is key, but construction firms must not lose control of costs . You were certain you had done everything right. You won the bids. You generated the sales. Revenue was great, even in this economy. You had dreams of finally taking that vacation. And then, the end-of-year numbers came in—and you [...]
History Vs Reality
When information isn’t real-time Timely and accurate information is the lifeblood of business. Whether it pertains to markets, customers or competition, information is the foundation of the decision-making process. The refrain “I need it now” echoes constantly through corporate hallways as executives and managers search for current reports or data that will enable them to [...]
Shedding Light On Global Commerce
In the summer of 1997, I drove through the 17th century Chinese philosopher’s Zhu Bolu’s hometown. The Village of Kunshan had posted a large sign, in Chinese, above the highway that read, “Mend the roof while the weather is fine, and dig the well before you’re thirsty.” Simply interpreted: Get your house in order to [...]
The Catalyst
As the laws of physics state, an object at rest tends to remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. This inertia can be the death knell of an organization, cause or culture. The question, of course, becomes how to transition any endeavor or enterprise; how to transform or merely reinvigorate a program [...]