Understanding Financial Statements
If you don’t understand your company’s financial statements, you’re at a disadvantage as a business owner. For example: When you talk with your bookkeeper or CPA about financial reports and numbers in your business, do [...]
Tell Me What You Want!
Business People: I invite you to Start Something in 2016. Be a beginner*. Newly. What’s important in your business in 2016? For that matter, what’s important in your life in 2016? For most of us, [...]
A Little Extra Goes A Long Way
I'm researching meeting space for seminars that Catalyst will be holding in the coming months. Most often, when I've made an appointment to see the physical layout of a venue to determine its suitability, I've [...]
Weighing Your Words
I had a thought in the middle of the night, a few weeks back. Sometimes my thoughts are really good ideas, so I’ve created a habit of always having a notepad and pen next to [...]
A Pearl of Wisdom
Consider the oyster. (Yes, that’s a book by MFK Fischer, but we’re not talking about that!) So, consider the oyster. The legend is that sand gets into an oyster, which is irritating, so the oyster [...]
Growth AND Profit
Mark Nyman, President of FOODGUYS. Number 81 on the Portland Business Journal's List of Fastest Growing Companies. (With Tim Haskins, Partner of COPIOUS, Number 32 on the List, PHOTOBOMBING!) CONGRATULATIONS to two of [...]
BRING the potato chips
Imagine that you and I are going to a barbeque party at a friend’s house this afternoon. You pick me up at my house and as we drive away I turn to you and say, [...]
Should I Just Kill Them?
Two men, looking at a third one, dead, in the trunk of a car: Louis: Who's that? Ordell: That's Beaumont. Louis: Who's Beaumont? Ordell: An employee I had to let go. This scene, from [...]
Measure it, if it’s important
This is a long post, ...and may only be interesting to people who see the power in rigorous thinking. If you're someone who likes to operate in "Just give me the answer!" you might want [...]
Where are you going?
I was driving home from a meeting last night at about 6:30pm. The gauge showing the outside temperature kept varying between 31 and 33 degrees. (I'm hyper-sensitive when there's a threat of ice--when things freeze, [...]