When it’s back-to-school time many parents are looking for a little grace and a family-friendly workplace. It takes time and effort for involved parents to get kids settled into a new school year. One way for an employer to build loyalty with their employees is to allow parents flexibility when needed. Since the work that these parents/employees still needs ...
Kathy and I have had a string of unexpected challenges with our home recently. For example, a strong wind blew an entire wall of our deck down. Then our basement flooded. We were about to build a new deck when our basement flooded again, in a different location. That led to discovering hail damage on the roof. Suddenly we ...
When my wife, Kathy, and I work together on a project we’re a good team. Kathy’s a great catalyst to get a project going, while I make sure all the details and pertinent information is gathered. When we were receiving bids on a home project, Kathy secured multiple bids. But before the final selection I asked to see all ...
In the 1990s, I was building a new consulting business during the growing Dot-com bubble. I found a company that seemed knowledgeable about the internet and hired them to develop our website. One question I should have asked was, “What happens to my website if your company goes out of business?” When that vendor closed, like many did, I ...
In the mid-1990s, I was building a new consulting business. I learned many lessons leading up to the Dot-com bubble that may help you if there’s a future Artificial Intelligence bubble. The first lesson I learned was to “Beware of Posers.” In the 1990s, it didn’t take long before almost everyone in the technology world claimed to be an ...
In the mid-1990s, I started a consulting practice. I started hearing about this new sensation called the internet. Everyone began talking about “websites.” Having America as my prospect list instead of just Kansas City seemed like a great idea. Eventually, I hired a company to build a website for my business. I lost my investment in that website when ...
In the 1990s, the internet became public. Investors began investing in local companies that now had a global market available to them. Almost anyone with a Dot-com web address started getting investment capital, even if they never made money. By 2000, when these investors began selling their money-losing stocks it created the Dot-com bubble and the stock market crashed. ...
As a teenager, I worked on my uncle’s farm. In his small town there was a grocery store, a gas station, a lumber yard, a grain elevator, a restaurant, and three churches. This town only has 130 people now with no downtown businesses remaining. There is hope, however. My cousin breeds a specialty type of cattle and has leveraged ...
As a young impatient professional, at times I strived to get rich quickly. This led to foolish decisions that set me back rather than forward. An activity that exceeded my expectations, however, was when a stockbroker talked me into investing $25 per month into a mutual fund. As a teenager, it was painful at times, especially during college. But, ...
One challenge small businesses face, who are forced to compete against larger businesses, is a lack of resources. Large companies can hire more people and invest in technology that may be hard for smaller businesses to come by. This disadvantage requires that a small business needs to be even more selective in hiring the right people who fit the ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
