Let’s say you’re walking down the street and encounter someone who expresses their negativity to you and every other passer-by. In this kind of situation, it’s easy to avoid them; you just walk right on by. Maybe shake your head a little. But if that negative person is an employee or customer it’s not so easy to w...
This EMyth notion of "working on it not in it" has to be – by far – the most unanimously embraced concept and seemingly, the most elusive. I would go so far as to say that it is the number one reason business owners from around the globe attend a training here in the Sonoma wine country to work on their business n...
Several times a year, we offer public seminars for small business owners ready and willing to work strategically on their business in a supportive environment here in the Sonoma wine country. I have been involved with these events the last few years and am consistently inspired by the entrepreneurs I meet. Their d...
More than a slogan The ubiquitous business slogan, or tagline, is familiar to everyone. From Nike’s “Just Do It.” to the classic “got milk?” of the California Milk Processor Board, we all carry these phrases around in our heads along with commercial jingles and corporate logos. But the USP (Unique Selling Proposit...
One of the critical instruments in any transaction, whether between a vendor and a customer, an employer and employee or even two private parties, is the basic contract. For some business owners however, the contract agreement isn’t so basic. Some feel that using an agreement is an unnecessary inconvenience. Some ...
Are you one of those business owners who works and works and works all the time? Is your business the first thing you think about when you get up in the morning? Have you lost sight of the big picture? Can you even remember why you started your business in the first place? Let us make one thing very clear: your bu...
Time is just another word for life. —Michael Gerber Time management is a skill that a lot of us struggle with. Even with the best intentions and the latest technological gadget that is supposed to streamline your work and improve efficiency, how often have you left work planning all the things you need to do in th...
At the core of the EMyth approach is that every small business owner plays three roles in their business: the entrepreneur, the manager and the technician. Defining the business is entrepreneurial work, doing the hands-on work is technical work, and managerial work is the bridge between the two. For many of the bu...
Fred Wittenburg spent over three decades running a successful—yet disorganized—business. When he had the opportunity to pass that business down to his daughter, Fred knew he couldn’t do it without first creating a structure to ensure the business lasted as he envisioned it would. Working with their EMyth Coach, fa...
My father was a diplomat and as a young boy I always thought I wanted to be a diplomat like him. But my mom, who had a clothing and textile business (which she started in 1971) always pushed me to work with her. In 1985 she finally won out and during my last year in university I decided to join her in her business...
You know what a bad sales call feels like. The aimless small talk, the thinly disguised attempt at ‘relating’ to you, and the ever-present background anxiety of the sales person desperate to meet their monthly quota. All you wanted was a real conversation with a real person to help you make an informed decision. N...
I had been in the copy business for 18 years. My husband was in sales in the same industry for 10. I was looking for a new challenge, and we decided it was the right time to do this for ourselves. We named it after the place we enjoyed our honeymoon, and it has become much more than a name. Every year we take a fe...
Think about your own responses to the advertising and promotions you receive. Much of it probably goes right past you, deflected instinctively and even unconsciously by your Ad Filtering System. Yet some messages resonate with you. They connect somehow, in ways that you're not even aware of, and you respond to the...
You have a dozen chances every day to change something fundamental in your business. It happens every time you delegate work to a member of your staff: do you manage by agreement or by accident?
What’s more important to you? A one-time purchase, or a customer with a long-term relationship with your business? Customers-for-life is the strategy and the hope behind all great brands.
When I asked Rob what he felt was missing from his life—what he finds himself wishing for—he replied, “Time. I really feel fortunate that I have most of what I want in life, but time is the missing link.”
We define business frustrations as a series of specific recurring events in your business over which you feel you have little or no control.