Written from the owner's seat, not the lecture hall. No theory for its own sake, just what I've seen actually move a business.
Most of the questions that reach an owner during the day could have waited a week. They arrive daily because there is no scheduled time when they would get answered, and that is a fixable problem that costs one recurring calendar entry.
Read → Thinking Out LoudThe work that would give an owner their time back is structurally the work that loses every week, because it is the only thing on the list with no deadline attached. That is not a discipline problem, and it does not respond to trying harder.
Read → Owner Blind SpotsEvery owner knows the business leans on them too much. Almost none of them know it has a price attached, and by the time a buyer puts a number on it, the window to fix it has closed.
Read → Operator PerspectiveProfit and cash flow are not the same thing. A business can look steady on the P&L and still reach the month where the money is not there, and that is a different problem with a different fix.
Read → LeadershipMost owners who feel like the bottleneck have distributed a great deal of work and delegated almost nothing. There are four rungs to this, and most people stop on the second one.
Read → Operator PerspectiveYou ran the numbers and found a customer you thought was solid is quietly costing you money. Before you fire anyone, there is a ladder to climb, and letting go is the last rung on it.
Read → Owner Blind SpotsOwners can recite last year's revenue to the dollar, then go quiet when you ask which customers actually make them money. A look at the number that tells you where the profit really is.
Read → LeadershipLast week I said the owner is the one person no one holds accountable, and left it there. Here are four ways to fix it, from a leadership team to the one I would pick every time.
Read → Thinking Out LoudEveryone in your company answers to someone. Except you. It sounds like the reward for building the business. It is also the quietest problem most owners never put a name to.
Read → Operator PerspectiveGoing out on your own means learning, working in, and eventually managing every part of a business. A short take on what to learn yourself, what to outsource, and what to hire for.
Read → Strategy & ExecutionWin a customer, lose one. Make a hire, two leave. The bottleneck is usually the owner working hard on the wrong things. How to find the rocks that actually move the business.
Read → Owner Blind SpotsYou're not just buying technology, you're buying a relationship. The questions that cut through a polished demo, including the one most sales reps dread.
Read → Thinking Out LoudWhy would I give you reasons not to hire me? Because a consultant can't want it for you. When outside help won't help, and when it actually will.
Read → Owner Blind SpotsNot might. Will. A short, written incident response plan is the difference between one bad day and a fight for survival. What goes in it, and where to start.
Read → Operator PerspectiveYou skip the bootstrap phase, but acquisitions hide their problems like a used car. Five things to look hard at before you sign anything.
Read → Operator PerspectiveRunning your own business is incredibly rewarding, and genuinely hard. The honest pros and cons, from someone who has lived both sides of it.
Read → LeadershipLeaders feel they have to look in control at all times. What people actually need in a hard moment is the truth, and a clear way to help.
Read → LeadershipA tribute to Terry Fukami, and the leadership traits I valued most in him. He made everyone around him feel like he genuinely wanted them to succeed.
Read → Owner Blind SpotsOne client at 20% or more of revenue isn't a good problem to have. I've lived what happens when you lose them. Two things to do about it, starting now.
Read → Thinking Out LoudNo IT department, no transformation budget, eleven minutes between meetings. Your first AI business case is simpler than all the noise makes it sound.
Read → Owner Blind SpotsBe honest about the biggest bottleneck in your business. It's you, isn't it? It was me too. Why that happens, and why you have to get out of the way.
Read → Owner Blind SpotsIt isn't a bad vendor or a botched project. It's having no one in the room who understands both the technology and the business. That's not a tech problem. It's an accountability problem.
Read → Operator PerspectiveThere's a difference between learning from case studies and actually walking the path. I bought a company, ran it for nine years through the highs and the lows, and sold it.
Read → Operator PerspectiveAt $500K the owner is the business. By $3M it has to stand on its own. The four things that make the difference.
Read → Operator PerspectiveYou're great at the work. Then one day you wake up with seven employees, fifty customers, and chaos. The leap from working in the business to working on it.
Read → Owner Blind SpotsReplace your IT provider and the new one might paint a bleak picture. Sometimes the business was one failure away from disaster. Why it happens, and how an annual audit protects you.
Read → LeadershipThe hardest part of leading IT: when you're doing it best, nothing happens. Why success quietly gets punished, and how to show the value anyway.
Read → Strategy & ExecutionYou spent an energized day in January writing down goals. By March they're a distant memory. Three reasons these plans fail, and what to do about it.
Read →A discovery call is straight talk about what's going on and whether I can help.
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