Carol Roth is a radio host on WGN, a CNBC TV contributor, a ‘recovering’ investment banker & a bestselling author of The Entrepreneur Equation. You can find her on Twitter @CarolJSRoth or at www.CarolRoth.com. She also has an action figure made in her likeness.
Once your business has clawed its way to the top, no other position in the pack will do. But, getting there and staying there are not the same thing. Your competitors are watching your every move, imitating your winning ways — and trying to figure out how to do the job just a little bit better.
It's almost impossible to get through life without seeing a few disaster movies, but you seldom see how those events affect everyday businesses and the customers that count on them. The disasters don't even have to be as dramatic as hurricanes or earthquakes. Anything from construction delays caused by rain to missed deadlines due to a workforce minimized by a bout of the flu can have a devastating effect on customer attitudes. Customers are not unfeeling monsters, but their needs can outweigh their compassion.
If you run a business, you have a company culture. It may not be posted online. In fact, you may not even realize that you have one. But, all aspects of how you do business, whether you define them or not, tell your clients and employees about your company attitudes, direction and focus.
You have a choice: define your company culture or let it haphazardly define your company to the world. Think about the following six company culture elements that help attract the right people to your business.
It is not uncommon for new small businesses to get their start without the expense of a brick and mortar presence. Transporting products directly to customers can be quite cost-effective. For example, restaurants can start with a food truck or retail stores with pop-up shops as a way to reach new customers with lower fixed costs, all while testing their business models.
In 2014, Russia banned four dirty words from use in the performance arts, but U.S. small businesses should strongly consider banning these six words: "We've always done it that way." Granted, conventional wisdom says that long-lived processes make business life predictable and comfortable. But, your small business is less likely to grow if you don't move beyond old, tired ways.
This is just one example of conventional wisdom that may not be so wise for your small business. Here are 5 more.
Change is an essential part of any small business. Whether you need to hire more employees to accommodate growth, advance the skill levels of employees you want to promote or if you need to change processes to meet expanding business requirements, everyone in your organization needs periodic training.
Before you assume that you or knowledgeable staff members can conduct effective training in-house, consider that many subjects — from word processing to the diversity initiatives — are generally best delivered by professional trainers who know how to develop core competency levels. Don't let the costs dissuade you. If you follow certain steps to obtain high-quality training, you will get major bang for the buck from the new skills and knowledge that employees bring back to your business.
More small business owners are aware of the importance of using a management style that incorporates emotional sensitivity with brainpower and developing your emotions quotient (EQ). However, some small business owners are naturally more about numbers than feelings, so it’s easier said than done.
The good news is that increasing your EQ is a learnable skill if you're willing to practice. If you want to be less like Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada and a bit more like Willy Wonka (well, except with the bad kids…), the following 5 tips can send you on the road toward sensitivity.