Business Improvement: Shut Down Your Fix-it Factory!
At the root of all business problems is some form of waste, either defects in products or services, or time-wasting delay. This is what causes customers to go to competitors. This is what raises cost...
View ArticleBusiness Startup: Your First Business Systems and Processes
Starting a new business is both exhilarating and downright scary. Every new business owner has a story to tell about the early days. When I was a young man, my father sadly passed away of cancer at...
View ArticleGreat Customer Service: 50 Quotes From People Who Know! (slideshow)
We can't learn too much about our customers—who they are, where they hang out, how they think, and what they want. Most of us don't have enough customers and would like to get more. Stating the...
View ArticleEmployee Productivity: 7 Tips to Harness the Power of Urgency!
With some people (like owners and managers), everything seems to be urgent, pressing, dire, critical, serious, or top-priority. With others—employees who are laid-back, casual, carefree,...
View ArticleTheory of Constraints: 6 Limiting Factors to Your Business Success!
Every businessperson with a vision of where they are going, and specific goals to get there, will face obstacles or barriers that hinder them from achieving success. Frequently, when confronted with...
View ArticleProblem Solving: Zero In on the Root Cause and the Vital Few
Success in any business depends a great deal on how well you manage the details. I like to say the "dollars are in the details." However, many business owners and managers are overwhelmed by the...
View ArticleBusiness Turnaround: 10 Threats that Can Kill Your Business!
Many business owners wait too long before facing the brutal facts that their business is in trouble. Then they discover—like a bug in a flushed toilet—it’s nearly impossible to escape the downward...
View ArticleWhat Is a Business Process, and Why Should You Care (A Lot)!
A business is made up of people, products, and processes organized to find and keep customers profitably. Many companies fail because owners and managers are unable to create effective business...
View ArticleBusiness Systems: I love It When a Plan Comes Together!
Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith is a fictional television and movie character and one of four ex-Army Special Forces soldiers. Near the end of the Vietnam War, they were all convicted of a crime they...
View Article10 SIMPLE ACTS to Increase Customer Loyalty, Profitability and Growth
The average business owner is always on the run, trying to do everything in his or her power to keep up, solve problems, please people, pay the bills and make a little profit—to survive, grow and...
View ArticleBusiness Systems: Your TOOLS for Greater Productivity and Profit
When I was a little fellow, my father was a carpenter. To apply his craft, he wore a tool belt that contained an assortment of tools for hammering, cutting, fastening, and so forth. The right tools...
View ArticleBusiness Leadership: Six Ways to Increase Worker Desire and Capability
Are you a leader? Do you have enough “juice” to accomplish important things through other people?Leadership is not about who we say we are. It’s not about who we want to be. It’s not a popularity...
View ArticleSystems Thinking: The Plumber's Wall of Fame
Warning: This article contains graphic images and bathroom humor, mingled with a bit of Systems Thinking. Proceed with caution... and a sense of humor.Recently, I had a chance to visit the Plumber's...
View ArticleCustomer Care: A Business System I'm Rather Proud Of
As most of you know, I once had an accounting practice that also specialized in business coaching. As my interest grew in business systems and processes, I began to apply the principles to my own...
View ArticleMy Out-of-Body Experience at Café Zupas, a Case Study in Systems Thinking
My wife and I recently stopped for lunch at Café Zupas, part of an exploding chain of “fast-casual” restaurants that started in Provo, Utah in 2004. While my wife enjoyed the tasty cuisine and carried...
View ArticleMurphy’s Law: How to Crush Murphy with Better Business Systems
On the eighth day, God said, "O.K. Murphy, you take over!We all smile when reminded of Murphy’s Law. Who hasn’t been a victim? The stories people tell are funny in hindsight, not so humorous when they...
View ArticleWhat Is a Business Process, and Why Should You Care (A Lot)!
A business is made up of people, products, and processes organized to profitably find and keep customers. Many companies fail because owners and managers are unable to create effective business...
View ArticleBusiness Systems: I love It When a Plan Comes Together!
Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith is a fictional television and movie character and one of four ex-Army Special Forces. Near the end of the Vietnam War, the four soldiers were convicted of a crime they did...
View Article10 SIMPLE ACTS to Increase Customer Loyalty, Profitability and Growth
The average business owner is always on the run, trying to do everything in his or her power to keep up, solve problems, please people, pay the bills and make a little profit—to survive, grow and...
View ArticleBusiness Systems: Your TOOLS for Greater Productivity and Profit
When I was a little fellow, my father was a carpenter. To apply his craft, he wore a tool belt that contained an assortment of tools for hammering, cutting, fastening, and so forth. The right tools...
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