Tick Tock
If you keep your finger on the pulse of business today, chances are you know that the beat is anything but steady. Leading economic indicators are up, they are down and they are sideways. Opinions about the economic recovery are similarly diverse amongst business owners. Even with this variability, one certain commonality exists for running a successful business today: the need for precision.Where Will You Be in 2015?
The past few years have been tough and exhausting for most of us in business, requiring nearly super human levels of resilience, nimbleness, drive and focus. The good news is that whether or not you've already realized it, we have embarked upon the next economic cycle. And in the words of Lao-tzu "to be worn out is to be renewed". So go ahead and exhale.Top 4 Budgeting Blunders
#1 – What They Don't Know Can't Hurt Them
It will come as no surprise that the #1 budgeting blunder is simply living without one.
For whatever reasons, the word budget stirs up all sorts of emotions - many of them painful - for people. Ignorance really is bliss for more than a few business owners in this world. Many of them fear what they'll see when they put the facts down on paper. Others worry that the budgeting process will distract them from running their business. Some are overwhelmed by the numbers and are afraid to admit that they don't fully understand them. Others feel restricted by having a financial plan in place at all.
Rules of the Road: How Can You Drive Your Business When the Market is Full of Roadblocks?
# 1 – Have Constant Tune-Ups
In any economy, high performing companies consistently look under the hood to figure out where they need tune-ups. When performance deteriorates they find the culprits and use the right tools to make quick adjustments.
The Bottom Line
When I think about today's financial markets one word comes to mind - wild. Equally as wild are some of the things that businesses deliberately do to their top lines - in good times, and well, not so good times. The list is lengthy, so today we'll explore just one. Competing on price.