This Insights post has been updated. For our latest thinking on professional management, see our most recent post here. In the video below a number of small business owners explain—in their own words—how professional management has helped their businesses. Professional management is something that can help you run your business, rather than letting it run you. It [ Read More ]
Throughout my career, I’ve developed many products and services that were good, sometimes even great. But more times than I would like to admit, they never got noticed. Never got talked about. Never achieved the desired results. Why? Because they were really just another offering in a sea of offerings. Imagine you compete in the market for rock bands. [ Read More ]
Those that have attended my competitive strategy workshops have heard me say that the key to a great strategy is choosing what not to do: what products/services do I choose not to offer; what activities will I not undertake; and what customers will I not attempt to attract. But we all know that its hard to say “no” to a new opportunity. Especially the [ Read More ]
How do you let go of doing it yourself? In this video, Lavender Home Care Solutions’ President, Bernard Dalichau, shares how he’s learned to let go. Many can relate to the feeling of having to "do it all"—whether they are a business owner or not.. Being able to effectively delegate is a critical capacity to both scale your business [ Read More ]
Profits have dipped, productivity has slowed, and your business has felt like it’s been on a roller coaster for years. I hear it all the time when leading business owners through Aileron’s Course for Presidents® program. Sure, maybe it's the economy. Or those conditions could be clues that your organization is lacking the right kind of leadership. Here are some [ Read More ]
Is your profit margin average for your industry? Is your revenue per customer in the middle of the pack for companies like yours? How about your growth rate as compared to the industry? Statisticians like to point to averages as a way to explain trends and define an industry. And we oftentimes think that we are lucky if we [ Read More ]
Not all company growth comes from selling more. Wes Gipe, Founder of Agil IT, agrees, saying he experienced this within his own company: “I had been so externally focused. I was focused on growing the business," he says in this video. "I really didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about the success of the people within the organization.” [ Read More ]
“People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it,” says Simon Sinek. Stacy Sheldon, Managing Partner at POMIET, agrees, saying that having clarity on POMIET’s why has helped their sales team attract more of their ideal type of customers. (POMIET provides customized web and mobile solutions in the healthcare space.) “What we realized early on is that [ Read More ]
In 2008, Nick Sarillo’s team at Nick’s Pizza & Pub made the decision to abandon its expansion plans for a third restaurant, and refocus on its existing two. (Based in Illinois, Nick’s Pizza & Pub is one of the top ten busiest independent pizza companies in per-store sales in the nation. Today, it has margins nearly twice that of [ Read More ]
We sat down with Ed Baker, author of The Symphony of Profound Knowledge, to talk about the motivation behind writing his latest book, including what he says was the most challenging and rewarding part of the process. “This book provides a framework to think differently about organizations, in contrast to what business schools teach,” Ed tells us. “Living is [ Read More ]
How do you know when it’s time to add new members to your board? Tony Schroeder, CEO of Choice One Engineering, says it really comes down to how much value a board member is providing you, the business owner. (Tony is also a Business Coach at Aileron.) “When I can predict what the board member is going to say, [ Read More ]
“A good plan today is better than a perfect one tomorrow.” – General George Patton Many entrepreneurs start their company wanting to build the perfect product or service for their customer. This is a big mistake and here's why. Perfect can take too long to develop. Most entrepreneurs have a limited amount of development funds before they need to [ Read More ]
