Tag: small business success

  • Small business owners can ditch plans and still smile

    Small business owners can ditch plans and still smile

    Unexpected life circumstances can derail our carefully crafted small business plans. Sometimes it’s best to simply deal with the urgent and not beat yourself up for getting off track on the important. Rarely are important items so urgent that they become lost opportunities if you don’t act immediately. Admittedly, I’m a list maker and a…

  • Small business success & cell phone cocktail?

    Small business success & cell phone cocktail?

    “Samson killed a thousand men with the jaw bone of an ass. That many sales are killed every day with the same weapon.” — Anonymous I recently did something I won’t do again. Granted, I tend to accept ā€œmodern conveniencesā€ grudgingly, but being plugged in seems to create a modern expectation of 24/7 attention –…

  • Driving into Darkness

    Driving into Darkness

    As I headed back from the warm, welcoming sun that greeted me to Rochester the day prior, I grimaced when fog fell thick on the Thruway just as I approached Albany. It was that kind of shroud where you can’t tell if it’s dawn, dusk or midday. The playful drizzle that had accompanied me for…

  • Small business success story fun – 17 YO gal projecting $250 million in sales

    Small business success story fun – 17 YO gal projecting $250 million in sales

    The ones that make the news are the exceptions, of course, but it always puts a smile on my face when I read about a small business success story that exceeds the founder’s wildest dreams. Forbes ran a story yesterday about a young girl that had the gift of planning already in her heart. She…

  • Wild rides provide small business lessons

    Wild rides provide small business lessons

    The scariest ride I ever faced was on a 1954 International Tractor. As I rounded the top of 20-foot-wide pathway between pastures and started heading down the half-mile or so hill, it popped out of gear. My mechanic had advised against replacing the breaks, citing anything legal today would be shot in three months. I’m…

  • Are you on the right trail for small business success?

    Are you on the right trail for small business success?

    ā€œIf you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.ā€ -Chinese proverb Finding your path to small business success doesn’t necessarily come from doing what you’re supposed to do. Sometimes, you need to put platitudes aside and forget about ā€˜standing on the shoulders…