Excelling at Excel: Mastering Spreadsheets to Master Your Business
Who doesn’t love a good spreadsheet? Beautiful and clean formats with elegant formulas and cell references, they are the epitome of grace in business. They not only look great but they can help…
QuickBooks QuickTip: Keeping Track of A/R
What do most entrepreneurs dread more than bookkeeping? Calling a client to find out if they’ve paid an invoice or not. Small business owners send out dozens of invoices a month (a food producer or…
The Skills for Success
Math, along with numbers in general, scare many small business owners. Rather than deal with this fear, they often stick their heads in the sand and ignore the hard truths and opportunities that come…
Actionable Sales Goals
How much revenue do you want to earn in the coming year? $150,000? $300,000? If you’ve read books like The Secret you know that you need to put out into the universe what you want. But putting down…
Making it Happen: Self-Publishing, Part II
In Part I, I shared the process by which I created the manuscripts for The Farmer’s Kitchen and The Farmer’s Office. For as difficult as this may have seemed, it really was the easy part. I wrote…
Growing Your Business: From Bootstrapper to Manager
For many entrepreneurs, planning growth through spreadsheet analysis is pretty straightforward. Though entrepreneurs may not like numbers, or have a particular affinity towards them; numbers are…
Making It Happen: Self Publishing, Part I
A few weeks ago, after the snow stopped falling, I heard the loud whirl of a snow-blower. I looked out the window to see my neighbor Kathy beaming as she wheeled the machine up and down her driveway.…
The Procrastinator’s Guide to Year-End Analysis
The first week of January, newspapers and magazines offer a flurry of tips on creating and sticking to New Year's Resolutions. By the first week in February, most have been tossed out the window.…
Thinning the Herd: Letting Go of Unprofitable Clients
As entrepreneurs, we’ve come to accept that being our own boss isn’t always peaches and cream. We deal with dreaded tasks and chores (bookkeeping, anyone?), and service difficult clients. With some…
Ego Check: Is Your Pride Hindering Your Success?
Food is personal. Small businesses are, too. Entrepreneurs share their passion and drive with their customers; I am continually inspired by the heart and effort that my clients commit to their…