Browsing Articles Written by

Carol Roth

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.

Disrupting is Good Business… As Long As You Pace Yourself and Care for Your Customers

By Carol Roth July 9, 2018 No Comments

By now, you’ve probably heard the term disruptive innovation and you know that disruption has positive connotations when it comes to the future of your business. Jeff Bezos has proven it to the extreme. But, any level of disruption can have a negative effect on your business if your customers are not ready for it — or cannot afford it.

As is frequently said, “Steady as she goes”; done correctly, disrupting does not mean chaos. As long as you are thoughtful and well-organized, you can be the next successful disruptor.

Do Mid-Sized Businesses Face Middle-Child Issues?

By Carol Roth May 10, 2018 No Comments

Do you remember Jan on The Brady Bunch? Plagued by middle-child syndrome, she couldn’t simply rely on small-child cuteness, like little sister, Cindy. And, she didn’t get the recognition and accolades earned by her older sister– Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.

At times, the celebration of growing to mid-sized status wanes due to the unique issues of being in the middle of the pack. You’ve lost some small business benefits, but you’re not quite ready to compete with industry giants. This is the time to get creative.

The following 4 ideas can help your business flourish as it continues to grow.

How to Get More Productivity From a Larger Team

By Carol Roth April 30, 2018 No Comments

In small companies, everyone wears many hats. Now that you have a larger team (and departments with defined functions), you can embrace the saying, many hands make light work. Unfortunately, another saying, too many cooks spoil the broth, can also apply to your team.

As your company continues to grow, you have to adjust your organizational thinking to maintain a productive and engaged team. Here are 6 steps that can increase output while reducing stress.

All Departments Share Responsibility for Great Customer Service

By Carol Roth April 26, 2018 No Comments

You know that all customer-facing employees need to handle customer concerns with due care and a degree of finesse. But, do you realize that the people in your company who never see customers also have a great deal to do with the customer experience?

Everyone in your company should view their roles with a customer perspective.

Let’s look at 6 common business functions to examine how they affect the level of service that you bring to your customers.

Is Too Much Flexibility Slowing Your Business Growth?

By Carol Roth April 13, 2018 No Comments

With a small customer base, you can be very accomodating. You’ll happily perform backbends to retain flexible business systems. This is how you grew into the business that you are today. But, with a larger customer base, all those backbends would send you straight to a chiropractor. It’s officially time to take on a new mindset by redefining what flexibility in business means.

How You Can Let Millennials Better Manage You

By Carol Roth March 21, 2018 No Comments

As millennials now fill more employment roles in your business and given that they are projected to be 75% of the workforce by 2025, you have to face the fact that you’re dealing with a very different mindset. This generation does not view authority with the same deference as your more seasoned team, and managing them can be a challenge. Take note though; a growing number of your customers are also millennials. Listening to your employees’ viewpoints might help your businesses’ bottom line.

Lessons That “As Seen on TV” Can Teach About Marketing

By Carol Roth March 1, 2018 No Comments

If you are an insomniac like me, you may turn to your TV late at night for some distraction.

And, if you’ve done this at any time in the last couple of decades, you may be the proud owner of a “My Pillow”, “Shamwow” cleaning cloth or one of a cornucopia of other gadgets and items that are so effectively advertised with the “As Seen on TV” infomercial formula.

Granted, the Internet may today be the best go-to marketing format vs. those As Seen on TV (ASOTV) infomercials. But, the lessons learned from ASOTV successes remain true, regardless of media.

Here are 5 ideas that can work when marketing any type of product or service, even if you never sell on TV.

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