Owning and running a business can be stressful—after all, the buck stops with you. But in an uncertain economy, the challenges of entrepreneurship can be doubly stressful. Read the rest of this entry »

The first half of 2010 is history. It’s time to assess whether you’re on track to reach the goals you set for your business this year. If you’re not, you can still make needed course corrections, hit the ground running in the fall and achieve those goals by December. Read the rest of this entry »

Entrepreneurs often find they have too much to do and too little time to do it in. The tips below can help you solve this challenge, take back control of your time, and enjoy a more balanced and less stressful life. Read the rest of this entry »

Summertime brings its own stresses for entrepreneurs. For example, running a business, while entertaining a string of out-of-town guests can be a challenge. For those with school age children, summer vacations have their own joys and pressures. Add to this the lure of good weather and multiple opportunities to play, the dilemma of whether or not to leave the business and take a vacation and for some a seasonal cash flow crunch. Read the rest of this entry »

What we focus on grows—at least it does when we focus on success. Recent neuroscience research shows that our brains learn from and are likely to repeat successful behavior. Though we can certainly learn from our failures and mistakes, concentrating on these won’t help us. Read the rest of this entry »

Business writers and marketers use the word ‘success’ frequently, often flippantly. Much is written about achieving success and succeeding in business, but little about defining what success truly means or exactly what it will look like. It’s easy to confuse success with wealth, fame or achievement, and to get caught up in the daily demands of running our businesses and our lives with only a vague, undefined idea of what success really means to us. Read the rest of this entry »

If you want to be successful in business and in life today, ongoing learning isn’t an option. You’ve got to be flexible, and open to change and new ideas. In fact, if you’re not continually learning, you’re missing out on a lot. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re like most small business owners, you might be overlooking an important resource right at your fingertips.

Entrepreneurs, especially those who are passionate about what they do, often live life on a fast track—after all, there’s a lot to do and much of it is up to you. It can be tough to take time out, step back, and reflect on, analyze and learn from recent events. Read the rest of this entry »

What is your ultimate goal for your business and for your life? What does it look like? How clearly have you defined it? How badly do you want to achieve it? A crystal-clear long-range goal is like the proverbial carrot on a stick—the incentive that keeps the horse trotting forward. Without it, we can easily become distracted and wander off course, waste precious time and resources exploring unnecessary side trails or lose our way completely. Keeping a laser focus on your ultimate goal will energize and motivate you to persevere. It will make sense of those necessary but mundane tasks you don’t enjoy (or spur you to delegate them effectively), ignite resilience in the face of setbacks and fuel the passion that keeps you going. Read the rest of this entry »

Deciding what to charge for a product can be a challenge, but setting the price for a service can prove even more perplexing. Pricing is more art than science. There are no hard and fast rules, other than making sure you cover your costs (including all overhead costs) and make a profit. Many books have been written and much advice given on this subject, but there is no neat one-size-fits-all formula that’s guaranteed to work. Read the rest of this entry »