5 Tips for “Frightening” Efficiency
Every day, as entrepreneurs and business owners, we have two focuses. First, we need to take care of day-to-day business to earn money in the present. Second, we need to make sure we have work…
Managing Cash When Business Booms
Of all the problems of a launching business; explosive sales hardly seems like one of them. Who ever heard of an entrepreneur complain that sales were too great? Particularly for a newly launched…
Busyness in Business: Getting Support to Get the Job Done
Blair Welchel launched her heirloom grain and pasta business in 2015, and moved into a retail location in 2016. Like most start-ups, the to-do list is longer than hours in a day. From the basic…
Increase the Range of Voices and Quality of Ideas We Hear in the World
We all have opinions… as banal as what we like to eat or movies we enjoy seeing, to more deeply held beliefs that revolve around our values, religion and work. For me, I’m adamant that farmers think…
10 Tips for Surviving a Labor Shortage
Google “labor shortage in New England” and you’ll see a long list of articles lamenting what farm and hospitality business owners know too well. A confluence of events has made it harder than…
What I learned about business from tea sandwiches
When I launched my catering business in 1997, I was starved for work. While I had a clear mission of the kind of events I wanted to do, I also needed to pay the bills. So when a prospective client…
Lean Business Planning
I received a call the other day from Danielle, a woman I met at workshop I led. She wants to start a private chef business. She reached out to me because she wants to have everything planned out…
10 Tips for Getting the Most from Your Advisors
“Opinions are like armpits: everyone has them, and they usually stink.” When asked my opinion, whether in a casual conversation or through my consulting work, I’m quick to acknowledge that I don’t…
Four Steps to Successfully Grow Your Business
Naomi and Reid are thinking about retirement. Sure, they’re still young, in their early 30’s, but they know that if they don’t start socking away some money now, they will never save enough to…
9 Resolutions to Boost Profitability
Whether you’ve been in business for 10 months or 10 years, you’ve probably turned over the calendar to 2017 with the goal of increasing profits. I know I have. For me, I spent the last week of 2016…