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Does Your Firm Accept Credit Cards? Maybe You Should.

This week, we contracted with an award winning local landscape firm to do some stone and brick work on our property.  We met with the owner to sign the contract so work could begin.  When I asked if they would accept credit card payment for our deposit, we were told their company doesn't accept credit cards.  Interesting.  I thought most every small business today accepts credit cards for payment. Credit and debit cards have taken over the world.  Those, myself included, who still write the occasional check are looked at strangely.  Change takes time for most people.  Yes, I do [...]

By |2017-08-03T00:12:00-04:00August 3rd, 2017|Customer Experience, Strategic Management|
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Strategies for Change: Be Alert, Be Aware, Be Strategic

The world as we know it is coming to an end!  Sounds an awful lot like the childhood story, Chicken Little, doesn’t it?  Remember that story about Henny-Penny running around the barn yard telling everyone the sky is falling after some innocent thing fell on her head?  Definitely not a good strategy for dealing with change.  Unlike every other day, something new and different happened - something changed.  Strategies for change should be top of mind for every small business owner who is passionate about the success of their firm. Notice the key words in that first sentence are "...as [...]

By |2017-08-16T15:39:58-04:00June 20th, 2017|Strategic Management, Strategy, Trends|
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8 Important Management Factors That Affect Small Businesses

'Designing Strategies' newsletter March - April, 2017            Volume 14  -  Issue 76   There are eight important management factors identified by Neil C. Churchill and Virginia L. Lewis in the Harvard Business Review.  They apply equally to any small business start up.  Four of the factors apply to the business owner.  The other four apply to the small business itself.  Their research noted factors that affect both the small business owner and the business entity itself.  Those factors are as follows: Important Management Factors for the Business Owner Personal and Business Goals Without specific, clear [...]

By |2017-04-21T01:31:04-04:00April 21st, 2017|Newsletter, Strategic Management, Systems and Processes|
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Create a Small Business Bucket List to Get What You Want

'Designing Strategies' Newsletter September - October 2016                      Volume 13 -- Issue 73 Have any of you written a personal bucket list? A bucket list is pretty simple, it is just a list of things you want to do and places you want to see during your lifetime. It’s a matter of putting down in written form those hopes and dreams you don’t want to miss out on. Writing them down improves the likelihood they will actually become a part of your reality. Wait! How about creating a Small Business Bucket [...]

By |2017-01-10T01:05:44-05:00September 20th, 2016|Newsletter, Strategic Management, Strategic Planning, Strategy|
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Small Business Growth: 5 Important Stages

'Designing Strategies' Newsletter July - Aug 2016                      Volume 13 -- Issue 72 Do you ever think about the stage, or phase, your small business enterprise is in, or has passed through? We are all aware of when our family members and friends birthdays are. We celebrate anniversaries, graduations and other of life's watershed moments. We celebrate in a big way with parties, gifts and major events to celebrate these great moments as we move through different stages of our lives. Small business growth stages aren't much different. It seems that [...]

By |2017-01-10T00:28:57-05:00July 19th, 2016|Growth, Newsletter, Strategic Management, Strategic Planning|
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Strategic Planning According to Dilbert – Dilbert Asks: “Why Bother?”

'Designing Strategies' Newsletter May - June, 2016                      Volume 13 - Issue 71 One of my favorite comic strips is 'Dilbert' by Scott Adams. Day to day, Dilbert represents corporate America in a way that has never been done before in a syndicated comic strip. My take on the strip is Dilbert represents Generation X, dealing with management in a corporate world run by Baby Boomers.  He has all kinds of opinions, most of which are ignored by his supervisors.  Of course he would have an opinion on strategic planning and [...]

By |2017-01-09T23:16:11-05:00May 19th, 2016|Newsletter, Strategic Management, Strategic Planning, Strategy|
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Strategy and Strategic Planning – Critical Processes for Growth & Success

Most successful small businesses owe their growth and success in large part to use of strategy and strategic planning.  This is accomplished through a combination of strategic thinking, planning and management.  Adopting a strategic approach to business operations clearly defines the direction a firm needs to take to achieve leadership's vision of success. So, exactly what is this concept called Strategic Planning?  It is an organized system that begins with envisioning the firm as it will be when it is all grown up. That Vision of your company in its long-term ideal state is further defined in terms of its [...]

By |2018-06-04T02:30:27-04:00January 28th, 2016|Strategic Management, Strategic Planning, Strategy|
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Small Business Systems and Processes: Improve Yours Now

'Designing Strategies' Newsletter September – October 2013                                                Volume 10 – Issue 55 I’m not a huge fan of what is marketed today as 'reality' television.  That said, there is a lot to be learned from some of the business‐themed reality shows on cable television channels.  Over the years, as this genre of entertainment has grown in popularity, we've learned there is not a lot of reality involved in most of these shows. Like all entertainment venues, drama, [...]

By |2017-01-08T01:59:50-05:00September 18th, 2013|Employees, Leadership, Newsletter, Strategic Management|
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Embrace Opportunities for Change to Grow Your Company

Did you ever think about just using change to grow and move your business forward or to a new level? There is no doubt that businesses have faced a lot of change over the past several years. There is no way that all of the change we have experienced will correct itself and return to what we considered normal or business as usual. Change is just that: change - the act of becoming different. Rather than waiting hopelessly for normal, or whatever you were used to, to come back, a wiser strategy would be to use seize change to grow [...]

By |2017-05-19T23:42:42-04:00August 8th, 2013|Growth, Strategic Management|
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A Business Continuity Plan May Save Your Small Business

'Designing Strategies' Newsletter  March – April 2013                           Volume 10 --  Issue 52   For those paying attention, you probably noticed over the past several years, an increase in news of disasters.  We have been inundated by  news and weather reports of a growing number of natural disasters. You name the type - hurricanes, earthquakes, wild fires, tsunamis, typhoons, floods, mud slides, blizzards or drought. Regardless of your personal beliefs regarding global warming, climate change or natural cycles here on Earth, news coverage indicates that natural disasters have [...]

By |2017-01-08T01:51:12-05:00March 15th, 2013|Newsletter, Strategic Management, Strategic Planning, Strategy|
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