At the end of the year, I find it to be a good practice to reflect back on the past year – both the highs and the lows. Many times, I’ll see various business owners celebrating their wins (which is something I wholeheartedly support) or simply putting the past year behind and moving on to what’s next. I’ve noticed that it’s quite rare, however, for business owners to actively recognize both the highs and lows from the previous year.
“Show me your calendar and I’ll show you what you value.” Joel C. Peterson, Professor at Stanford Business School, said these words over 20 years ago, but they still hold true today. Your calendar and your checkbook, those two pieces of data quickly tell us about your priorities. Learning to realign the priorities to point you to where you want to go is the secret sauce.
Writing a business plan is a task that many small business owners shy away from – not because they don’t want a plan, but because it seems like a daunting exercise. What goes into an effective business plan? Doesn’t it have to have an array of confusing numbers and professionally designed graphs? How many hours …
4 Steps to Write an Effective Business Plan in 60 Minutes or Less Read More »
At Upleveling Your Business, we help a lot of business owners develop strategic hiring plans and build their hiring and onboarding systems. The challenge doesn’t stop there, though! If you want to build a strong, sustainable team that will help you drive your business forward, you must be intentional about your leadership and culture.
I love being a small business owner. I have the freedom to make my own decisions, follow my own vision, develop an outstanding team, and make a difference in so many lives. This isn’t my first company, though – and although I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, there are several things I wish I would have known years …
3 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting My Small Business Read More »
As nice as it would be to reach our goals by simply wanting them, it just doesn’t work this way. Goals worth achieving are worth working for, even when things don’t go according to plan.
Ups and downs will happen. Plans will go sideways. People you thought you could depend on will fall short. Unanticipated challenges will arise.
This is where strong habits come in.
Nearly every small business owner I know shares one need right now: hiring the right people at the right time. This is no easy task, though, especially with today’s job market. There are a lot of different steps you can take to attract the top talent you’re looking for, but one you may not think of is the importance of knowing your numbers.
When you hear the word “forecast,” you probably think of the weather – and of how inaccurate weather forecasts can be. This is totally understandable! Forecasting in your business can feel the same, like you’re just making educated guesses and hoping they pan out… that is until you hone your skill of using your numbers …
How to Use Your Numbers to Forecast for Financial Growth Read More »
“Living on the financial edge” in business means not understanding your numbers and “hoping” that it all works out. It means there are times you are rushing around dealing with cash crunches or trying to fix cash flow problems. It doesn’t have to be this way!
Many business owners think of their Financial Team as the stewards of the company’s finances – the people who keep the books balanced and run reports. While it’s true that this is an important part of the responsibilty for this team, it’s definitely not the whole picture. Being strategic about building your Financial Team at different stages of growth is essential for the health and success of your small business!
