Who has time to think about strategic planning?

When have you ever heard of a Navy Admiral saying to his crew that an impending storm was going to be too intense and unpredictable to develop a strategy for navigating through it successfully? Many business owners feel that they cannot sacrifice this time to develop a strategic plan due to the day-to-day tempests they are dealing with: employee performance, accountability & (dis)engagement, keeping up in the digital marketplace, increased…

Acquainting Yourself With the Family Business

If your business has been in the family for even one generation, there is a good chance you spent many summers working with Mom or Dad, doing odd jobs here and there. For me, it started with shredding paper, stickering marketing materials, and putting together binders for conventions. As I got older, the responsibilities and tasks shifted into an administrative focus. Or as I saw it, all of the boring stuff: typing notes, ordering supplies, filing,…