Category Archives: Small Business

How to stay on track with your goals

by Posted under discipline, Goal Setting, Meeting rhythm, Personal Growth, Small Business | No Comments
Newton’s first law, states that a body in motion tends to stay in motion and a body at rest tends to stay at rest. Of course, Newton is talking about objects like a ball or a chair. If these things are at rest, they tend to stay at rest unless some outside force moves them. I was thinking about how this law as it applies to life and how the disciplines we apply in our lives have the same “first law” effect. For example, I know I should exercise. I know this is an important discipline which is part of being healthy. I've gone through periods where I’m exercising a few times a week. It’s tough to get up at 5am, but I do it. I've noticed it’s easier to get up at 5am when I’ve Read more [...]
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The Risk and Reward Principle

by Posted under decision making, Personal Growth, Small Business, taking risks | No Comments
This past spring I decide to buy a boat. I had never owned a boat before and literally knew very little about how to operate one. I didn't know the bow from the stern and the hundreds of other things that a boat owner needs to know. I did however have a goal - to spend more time with my family. After talking to many other boat owners, I felt that boating offered a great way to spend time while enjoying the outdoors. I began my research and ended up purchasing a great boat for a family that offers the ability to stay overnight (camping in the water). My kids were all thrilled, my wife was happy - I was good to go. The day came to take the boat out for the first time. The dealer who sold me Read more [...]
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Analytics and the Independent Insurance Agency

by Posted under Analytics, Metrics, Small Business | 2 Comments
I just read a great piece in Forbes magazine about Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS. SAS is the leader in high-powered analysis software. SAS helps large to midsized business analyze their data so they can make better decisions. The author asked Jim the following question: “What do businesses want to analyze today?” Jim’s response was, “Businesses are looking at customer data to gain insights into cross-selling and up-selling.” This sounds very familiar. It’s the old adage, “it’s cheaper to KEEP the customer you have than to acquire a new one”. Businesses are starting to realize that they need to objectively understand their customers better. Every customer leaves clues Read more [...]
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The Law of Comparative Advantage Applied to Business

by Posted under Small Business | No Comments
I just read a great blog post on the Law of Comparative Advantage. According to Wikipedia, the law states the following: “Two countries (or other kinds of parties, such as individuals or firms) can both gain from trade if, in the absence of trade, they have different relative costs for producing the same goods. Even if one country is more efficient in the production of all goods (absolute advantage), it can still gain by trading with a less-efficient country, as long as they have different relative efficiencies.” In Bussgang’s blog, he applied this law to start-ups. I’d like to expand the law to all small businesses. To quote Bussgang: “As such, they [owners] get sucked into spending Read more [...]
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Embrace Change

by Posted under Small Business | No Comments
It’s seems like just when I have things under control, a new challenge presents itself. When I first started Astonish Results, I had a picture of what our business would look like. I was always looking to the future. I thought that if we could only get “X” customers or “$X” in revenue, then we’d really have arrived! I also found myself thinking this way in my personal life. I would look to the future, and say to myself, “If I could only get to this point, things would really be great.” If I could only make $100K in income, have that huge house with a pool or you fill in the blank. Do you ever catch yourself thinking this way? Then one day it hit me. When I actually get to the Read more [...]
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Belief and the Decision Making Process

by Posted under Small Business, Social Media | No Comments
Today is Easter and I’m thinking about the concept of belief. A belief is defined as “Something one accepts as true or real; a firmly held opinion or conviction.” If you believe something is true, your behavior should reflect that belief. If you believed you were going to die next week, you would do things differently. Belief is connected to behavior. Most businesses would say that their customers are really important. I think if you asked most small business owners they would say that customer satisfaction is a strongly held conviction. Yet when you begin looking under the hood, you find that is not the case. In other words, their expressed beliefs (customers are really important) Read more [...]
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