10 Tips to Save Your Company

When a business is struggling on life support, what things can owners do to save their company? It depends on a lot of factors, but we can assume there is a lack of liquidity, which isn’t the cause, it is the result.  That could be the result of low sales, low sales pipeline, lack of […]

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Why Plan for World-Class Results

It’s October…three months to go, but it seems like the year just started.  How is your business performing?  Did you build a plan for this year or are you satisfied just to mark progress against last year?  If you are like the majority, just beating last year is your goal. Unfortunately a surprisingly low number […]

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WIIFM

WIIFM.  A profound acronym for “what’s in it for me”.  It covers many areas of your business, but starting from the source (your customer or prospect) and working its way upstream sometimes (a lot of times) loses its focus quickly.  The easy answer to WIIFM is more sales.  But the ability to make it happen […]

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Is a CEO peer group for you?

Like other CEO peer groups, ours acts as an informal ‘board’ to each of our members.   Accountability is a major benefit CEO’s find with this type of structure, and it works.  Owners in ceo groups generally find their personal and business performances are both enhanced as a result of this enhanced scrutiny by their peers. […]

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4 Steps to a Successful Strategic Planning Process

by Tom Stocker Only 15% of all businesses use formal planning.  This is amazing considering no sports fan would ever tolerate their favorite team to NOT have a plan to win it all.  Likewise, very few of your family would ever consider getting into your car for a 2-week trip without knowing the destination.  So […]

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Why Most Company Mission Statements Suck…But A Good One is Vital

I attended a meeting this morning where the keynote speaker stated that missions weren’t important.  I disagree.  I do agree a major perception of ‘mission statements’ is they are full of BS, fluff and don’t say anything.  I agree that is an example of a bad company mission.  But in my opinion, you already have […]

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Strategy is Fundamental

Your financial statements are the most important measure of the success of your business.  Unfortunately you can’t run your business on just financial statements because they are a lagging indicator.  Getting timely financial statements is very important, but your financial statements are still only the score.  You can’t change them; only react to what already […]

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Grant writing for the rest of us

Want some free money for something you were going to pay for anyway?  This article is not for those who write scientific, medical or biotech grants.  This is for everyday companies, big or small that have an opportunity to take advantage of state and federal grants. The RI Workforce Training Grant is a case in […]

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3 Steps to a Killer Vision Statement

Whenever I do a Vision/Strategic Planning session/workshop for my clients, I insist the owner kick off the meeting by providing the group with their Vision for the business.  Whether they already have one or not doesn’t matter.  The vision is the essential ingredient for any business to be able to create or refine a strategic […]

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