Recent Economic Developments in 2018

The private sector's tax cut

You may have heard that many businesses are getting tax breaks.  The reality is that mostly C-Corporations are getting a tax cut from 35% of their net income down to 20%. While this may seem like a huge cut, most C-Corporations still pay taxes twice: once when the company makes money at 20%; and then again when income is distributed to share holders. 

Still, this is quite a cut.  This means that companies are...

As I coach business owners, I find that many have difficulty moving through the four phases of business ownership:

1. Technician;
2. Manager;
3. Entrepreneur; and
4. Investor. 

A key obstacle in making any of these transitions is automating their business.

I'm not talking about adding computers or different machines to take over the jobs of humans. I'm talking about creating systems and processes designed to orient, train and hold human employees accountable for the tasks that make your company...

Elmer entered his office as he had every Monday morning. 

He shared cordial 'good mornings' with his administrative assistant and Chuck, one of his sales people, as he made his way to his office. While the day seemed normal by all accounts, Elmer felt out of sorts. He noticed something that he couldn't quite identify. There was a quiet in the office.

Elmer had started his engineering firm five years ago, designing exterior lighting systems for municipalities. His company  started...

The bank notified Michelle that she had insufficient funds for her last check that she had sent the credit card company. She decided to once again pay the minimum balance on her credit card so that she would have some money in her checking account. 

Michelle knew that she could always borrow money from her husband to get her checking account balance up; but she didn't want to do that again. She didn't want to face her husband's criticism about her business one more time. But she also...

Glen was getting more disappointed by the week.  His lawn care business wasn't that large, but he needed to get clients for this coming spring, or he wouldn't be able to grow.

A month ago, Glen hired a business coach called Coach Russ.  Russ told him that he needed to start working ON the business instead of IN the business, so he hired a new sales woman.  She was going to make phone calls each week and he would gain new clients so that he could grow this upcoming year. ...

It was another dark night, Larry looked at his watch; and it was midnight. 

He had his torch light on, but there was no way he would finish framing this house in time for an inspection the next day. It wouldn't matter if he worked all night. 

He decided to call it a night and send a bad news email to Jack, his general contractor. He knew that he would get chewed out the next day. It wasn't his first time; and probably wouldn't be his last.

Larry showed up to the construction site...

Patrick could feel his cell phone vibrating as he was carrying the new furnace down the stairs of his new install. 

Patrick owned an HVAC installation and service business that was doing extremely well. He felt like the phone call could wait as he couldn't afford to drop his furnace down the stairs. After he got to the bottom, he noticed the call was from his banker, Andy. He called Andy and asked what he wanted.

Andy was a little frazzled, "Patrick, this is the second check that has...

I started, grew and sold a multi-million dollar business over a 16-year period; and I constantly heard consultants tell me, "You need to work on your business, and not in your business." 

While I understood the general premise of what they were telling me, they really never told me HOW to work ON my business instead of IN my business. That's what I want to talk about in today's blog post.

As an over-achieving employee, you figure out early on how to work and earn money. You learn that...

Marla had always wanted to own a flower shop; and she felt like she was living her dream. 

She now had two green houses growing beautiful flowers year round. She had one problem... she wasn't making money. It didn't make any sense.

She only spent money on things that she needed for her business. She didn't even pay herself a salary. Yet, somehow she was adding to her credit card debt monthly because she could not make ends meet with her flower business.

Bob, Marla's husband, wanted his...

I have gone through a recent journey that I'd like to share with you all. 

As a recovering engineer, a life-coach and a practicing business coach; I have struggled getting fully organized. I have always thought there was some nirvana of organization...and when I found it, life would be EASY. With that said, I had a problem.

I would come to my office; knowing I needed to do something important; and then 2-hours later be surfing the internet; or checking my email for the 40th time to see...