Navigating "Minnesota Nice": Essential Business Advice for Success in Minneapolis
Navigating "Minnesota Nice": Essential Business Advice for Success in MinneapolisIf you’ve ever done business in Minneapolis or anywhere in Minnesota, you've likely encountered the infamous "Minnesota Nice." On the surface, it seems ideal—polite conversations, friendly smiles, and a strong sense of community. However, this unique business culture can present challenges when you’re trying to close deals or move a...
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How to Handle “I’m Going to Shop Around” During a Sales Call
When a prospect says, “I’m going to shop around,” during a sales call, it can be tempting to jump into defense mode or try to close the deal immediately. However, how you handle this moment can make all the difference in whether you eventually win the sale or lose the prospect entirely. Here's how to respond effectively—and what to...
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When to Fire an Employee: A Business Coach’s Guide for Small Businesses
As a business coach, one of the things that stresses my clients out the most is making the decision to fire an employee. The impact extends beyond the individual to your entire team and can affect your business’s performance and culture. However, knowing when it’s time to let an employee go is crucial for maintaining a healthy and productive work...
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The Recent Microsoft Windows Outage: A Wake-Up Call
In today's digital age, small businesses rely heavily on their IT infrastructure to operate smoothly and efficiently. From managing customer relationships to processing transactions, the backbone of many business operations is a robust and reliable IT system. However, what happens when that system fails? Recent events have underscored the importance of having a solid contingency plan in place for IT...
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What to Do When a Prospect Ghosts You: Effective Strategies to Stay Connected
We've all been there. You have an amazing conversation with a prospect, they're interested in your services, and you know you can genuinely help them. The excitement is palpable. But then, silence. Days turn into weeks, and despite your follow-ups, you never hear from them again. It's frustrating, annoying, and can leave you questioning what went wrong.Here are some...
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Mastering Communication Skills: A Guide for Entrepreneurs
Mastering Communication Skills: A Guide for EntrepreneursI recently had the pleasure of hosting a workshop at Breakthrough Fitness in North Minneapolis on one of the most crucial yet often overlooked aspects of entrepreneurship: non-verbal communication. The event was a fantastic opportunity to connect with fellow entrepreneurs and dive deep into strategies that can transform the way we present ourselves and...
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Using Client Case studies to sell
Case studies are real-life success stories from your clients that demonstrate the tangible benefits of your product or service. When prospects see the success others have had, it resonates with them on a deeper level, fostering trust and encouraging them to take the next step with your business. When done correctly, case studies are a great tool to drive up...
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How to Make Virtual Meetings Engaging: 3 Effective Tips for Better Connection and Participation
Virtual meetings have gained a reputation for being boring, not as engaging as in person meetings and a waste of time! However, it's not usually the virtual or in-person setting that makes meetings less engaging; it's usually the way the meeting is run. Here are three tips to make your virtual meetings feel more connected and engaging, along with practical...
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3 Proven Strategies to Make Your Business Stand Out and Wow Customers
Creating an X factor that sets your business apart is essential for attracting and retaining customers. By focusing on exceeding customer expectations, you can transform ordinary interactions into extraordinary experiences. Here are three proven strategies to make your business stand out and wow your customers.1. Special Touchpoints for WOW MomentsIncorporate Special Touchpoints: Strategically build special touchpoints into the customer...
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3 Ideas to Run an Effective Team Meeting
Team meetings are a waste of time, don’t achieve anything, and can be downright boring. But they shouldn’t be like that! If this sounds familiar then don't worry!. Here are three tips to transform your team meetings into productive and engaging sessions.1. Set Clear Objectives and AgendasOne of the most important steps to running an effective team meeting is...
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Get stuff OFF your plate!
“Busy?" You’re probably swamped, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right? And if you do mention you have your hands full, people often come up with the super-helpful suggestion: “Why don’t you just get someone to help with that?”No way...If only you had thought about that! (sarcasm there, in case you think I’m serious)How many...
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Business Trends : How to Stay Ahead of the Curve
The business landscape is constantly evolving, with new technologies and innovative practices reshaping the way we work. In an increasingly competitive environment, it is crucial for business owners to stay ahead of the curve and adapt to these changes. This article will explore the top business trends of 2023 and provide insight into how your organisation can capitalise on these...
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Lack of Accountability? Here Are 4 Reasons Why
One of the most common challenges that businesses face is a lack of ownership and ‘buy-in’ from the team. This becomes apparent when team members don't take the initiative, do the bare minimum required by bosses or clients, and drag their feet when new ideas are being implemented.While it’s easy to point and blame, it’s worth looking internally, and...
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‘Whale Done’ - Review and Takeaways
I recently re-read 'Whale Done' by Ken Blanchard – a brilliant author, and I highly recommend all of his books.The main idea of the book is to focus on positive reinforcement in order to achieve desired outcomes, rather than relying solely on negative feedback. This concept has been proven time and time again to be more effective for both...
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What is Factoring and How Can it Help with Improving Cashflow?
Factoring is a financial solution that allows businesses to convert their accounts receivable into immediate cash. It can be used as an alternative to traditional financing and provides businesses with the ability to access funds quickly and easily, without having to wait for customer payments or apply for bank loans. With factoring, businesses can improve their cash flow while still...
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Top 5 Mistakes Businesses Make While Automating Internal Operations
Business automation is quickly becoming an essential tool for optimising internal operations and improving efficiency. However, with any technology-related project, there are always risks of failure and mistakes to be made.Here are the top five mistakes businesses make when trying to automate their internal operations, as well as a checklist of what businesses should focus on before investing in...
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What Are the Top 3 Methods Venture Capitalists Use to Value Businesses for Acquisition?
"Business Valuation" is the general term for determining the current "worth" of a business, by using quantitative and qualitative measures, and evaluating all the elements of the business. A business valuation would probably cover the management of the company, the current and future revenue, and the value of the tangible and intangible assets.Why would a business owner want to...
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How Can a Small Business in the US Create Fresh and Engaging Social Media Content Without a Big Budget?
Creating engaging social media for SMEs in the US can be a challenge, especially when working with a limited budget. But, with the right mix of creativity and strategy, you can create fresh and engaging content that will attract new customers and help you stay connected with your existing customers. Here are 6 tips to help you create fresh and...
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Getting a Business Loan in the US: Top 5 Tips to Get your Loan Approved
If you’re looking to launch or scale your business in the US, getting a business loan is a great way to get the capital you need to get your venture off the ground and accelerate growth. But before you apply, you need to understand the process and the different tips and tricks that can help you get your loan approved...
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4 Suggestions for SMEs to Get Better Pricing from Suppliers
As a business owner, you know how important it is to get the best pricing from your suppliers. While it can be difficult to get the lowest prices, here are 4 suggestions to help you secure the best possible deal from your suppliers.1. Establish a Long-Term RelationshipDeveloping a long-term relationship with your suppliers is key to getting better pricing...
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3 Tips on Reducing Accounts Receivables (and How to Get Paid!)
For small to medium businesses, collecting payments from customers (usually bigger ones!) can be a challenge. Accounts receivable (AR) is money owed to you by customers, and not collecting payments on time has a massive negative impact on your business’ cash flow.Here are 3 tips on reducing your accounts receivable.1. Create payment terms and stick to themThe...
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Overcoming the Big ‘BUT’
So you’re on the final step of your sales process with a prospect.They’ve been telling you how much they love your product and service up until now.They say they really want what you are selling.Then they say the words you dread…“This is great, BUT... it's too expensive." OR "Now is not the right time.”What do...
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Treat Recruitment Like Marketing
So I have a challenge for all of you…I challenge you to type the following message onto your social media pages: “I am looking for a new client. Message me if you are interested”.None of you in your right mind would do that. It goes against what every marketing book, guru and school has taught us. It is vague...
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Don’t Confuse Criticism with Feedback!
If you are a small business owner who is leading a team, then one of the most important skills that you need to develop is how to provide effective feedback to your team members. If you are not providing feedback in an appropriate way, then there is a risk that you are not getting the best out of your team...
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Budget vs Actual: The Golden Ratio
Note before reading:Category 1: No (real) budget created; Category 2: Budget created, not reviewed;Category 3: Budget created, reviewed regularly.If you are in the first or second category above, the ideas in this article may be a stretch. If you are in either of the top 2, and want to move into the third, get in touch. You’ll be...
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Timely Financial Reporting: Three Tips
Average companies usually have these in common: They have a bookkeeper or an accountant (no Financial Controller, Director, or CFO);The financial reports (not just outstandings) are prepared 2-4 times per year - usually within 30 days of end of period;These reports are actually reviewed by the owner/manager within 15 minutes every few months - and usually more than...
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What are ‘Customer Trust Points’ and Why are they Important?
The quality of any personal relationship is built on the level of trust between two individuals and business is no different. If small businesses want to build a loyal customer base they must actively work towards strengthening the trust that their customer has in them. What is customer trust?Simply put, customer trust is the faith a consumer has in...
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Stop having Pointless Meetings!
How many times have you been part of a conversation which included the phrase “This meeting could have been an email.” Our business world is plagued with poorly planned, poorly executed meetings with little value add.However, meetings are important for any business. It is important that the employees know and understand what’s going on with the company and...
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The Science of Timing Your Tasks
Your effectiveness as an entrepreneur is determined by not only what you do but also WHEN you do it too!Experts have determined the best times of the day for high-intensity productivity. Your attention and mental ability is biologically programmed to rise and fall according to your circadian rhythm--the internal processor that regulates our daily sleep-wake cycle. When you wake...
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It’s Time to Set Goals for 2023
As you’re going through this process, it’s important to set goals from an entrepreneur's mindset and not from an employee's mindset. Let’s quickly break down some key differences.As an employee, you:Must set your goals in line with what the organization wants to achieve;Stretch yourself a little bit but hopefully not too much, as that means more work, right...
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Coaching ROI: Why Business Coaching is Worth It
From athletes to actors, the professionals in any field are the ones who know best the impact that an experienced Coach can bring. The world of business is no different; the entrepreneurs and business leaders on the winning edge often have a secret weapon in their corner: a Business Coach who gets them better results, faster than the competition. Business...
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Selling with Personality
Imagine if you knew how your customer prefers to communicate, take in information, and make decisions. This information would be an invaluable tool to close that deal, right? Well, step into the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a personality tool that helps us understand people in exactly these areas.The MBTI assesses people's personalities on 4 dichotomies:How are they energized, Extroversion...
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3 Steps to Recruiting your Winning Team
Whilst the Minnesota job market is still recovering from the effects of the pandemic unemployment levels are decreasing but they are not back to pre pandemic levels just yet. With unemployment relatively high you would thinking hiring the right talent for your business should be easy right? Well not really! It is always a challenge for small businesses to compete...
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Are Discount Websites like Groupon a Good Strategy for your Business?
Given the turbulent times, it’s no surprise to see many Minnesota businesses looking for some ‘quick wins’. One common short term focused idea are discount platforms, such as Groupon. And that strategy will likely come back to bite you soon. Here’s why:Given the heavy discounts provided to Groupon customers, a successful campaign requires you to:Up-sell items not included on the...
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Budgeting After a Tough Year
Budgeting isn’t the most pleasant thing to do. Having to justify why each department needs the money (“How much did you say???”) is disheartening enough in good times. Add a challenging previous year into the mix, and “getting budget approved” is now at the top of the never-again list.But, there’s no good business without good budgets, and -...
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Why Client Acquisition Cost is Crucial to your Marketing Strategy
Minimum Effective DoseThe Minimum Effective Dose (MED) is simply defined as “the smallest dose that will produce a desired outcome.” The concept has been around for many decades, but has more recently been associated with exercise and weight training in particular. The idea is simple - any resources allocated beyond the MED is wasteful. To boil water, the MED...
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Business Coaching in the Age of COVID: A Luxury or a Necessity?
"The only constant is change, and the rate of change is increasing" - Peter Diamandis, Founder of Singularity University The Changing Business LandscapeMaking good decisions in uncertain times is often what great leadership is about. Currently, business leaders are not only faced with an onslaught of external challenges such as market instability and faster growing competition, but also internal challenges within...
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The Second Wave of Business Impact (and HOW YOU CAN PREVENT IT)
From the desk of Murtaza Manji:Over the second quarter of the year, local and global economies faced an onslaught of challenges. The immediate response, for many businesses across the world, was to batten down the hatches and cut any extras costs. This manifested in job cuts, salary cuts, suppliers unpaid, rents and assets unpaid...all of which, while conserving short-term...
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The 5 Critical Keys to Setting Powerful KPIs
With the growing pressure on businesses, people are working 9, 10, 11-hour days – powering through lunch, typing out reports with one hand while rummaging through a Fattoush salad with the other. Team members have missed birthdays, meals and exercise to try and reach their yearly goals, and yet, is your business truly better served?What metrics (besides revenue and...
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How to Select the Best Business Coach for your Business
There are 7 criteria that you’d want to consider before making a selection. Keep in mind that coaching is a two-way street, so it’s possible that the first coach you speak to won’t be the one you end up going with. Most professional coaches will make that clear to you upfront, so don’t be surprised if the coach asks to...
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4 Ways to Increase Business Profitability
Business ProfitabilityThere are two ways to make more profit:a) generate more revenue, and b) lower costs (increase margin) Every other ‘strategy’ will ultimately boil down to one of these two. Either increase the total, or increase your share of it. The latter is a series of articles on its own – and a really good reason to have a great accountant! –...
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How to Create a Culture of Accountability in Your Business
Conversely, stagnation, finger-pointing and under-performance are characteristic of businesses where this culture does not exist. The question that business leaders often ask is: How can we create this culture of accountability in our company? There are two major parts to this question, and each one plays a large role in answering it.Part One: A Structure for AccountabilityIt is only...
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The Investor Obstacles: Common Challenges and How to Maximise Funding Success
The well-known storyline looks something like this: innovative-but-broke entrepreneur comes up with an amazing idea, but can’t fund it. After teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, she meets an investor that believes in her and in the dream, and funds the endeavour. Along the way, the investor also provides insight, ideas and introductions, all which are invaluable for the budding...
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Three Operational Oversights That Will Cost You Dearly
Winston Churchill famously said: Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. The quote applies marvelously to business, with every phase, every quarter, and every strategy bringing a new, sometimes unexpected, challenge. At every turning point on your growth curve, there will be the need to revisit previous business decisions, and re-evaluate to see if they...
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How to Manage Cashflow Effectively
When the discussion of managing financials and overheads comes up, there’s often mixed reactions. It is an unavoidable truth that the language of business is numbers; the University of Hertfordshire showed in a study that one of the biggest causes of business failure was a lack of good, “numbers-based decision-making”. The better your and your team's understanding of the numbers...
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Five Strategies Business Owners can Work on Remotely
If you run a business, and are being responsible about social distancing and staying at home, you’re probably wondering what the heck you can do. It’s a bit of a perfect storm with plummeting markets, virus-related quarantine and uncertain economies. The one thing you can be sure about is that the storm will eventually pass. We may not know how...
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How is the CoronaVirus Going to Affect Businesses in US?
Let's get the bad news out of the way first.Yes, there may be another recession coming.But a recession, in and of itself, isn't a bad thing. Think of it like the economy going on a diet.1 - Remove the ExcessDiets focus on cutting excess, not the necessities. There are two kinds of excess in the business world...
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Four Reasons Why Employees Don't Take Ownership
If there was a poll on why businesses don’t excel, the “My employees don’t want to take ownership” option would definitely be in the top three reasons. In the hundreds of conversations I’ve had with business leaders over the last seven years, this issue has been raised almost every single time.So what is it about employment that brings about...
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The Real Cost of Inefficiency
Businesses typically sell a product or service that the end customer needs or wants. The profitability comes when the business is able to sell for more than what it costs to produce. This is of course an overly simplified view, but the basic premise remains the same regardless of company size, offering, industry or sector.On paper (targets, plans and forecasts)...
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A Personal Note: Three Game-Changing Strategies for Business Leaders in 2020
With the dawn of a new year, many individuals have made their resolutions. Weight, savings, travels - these are typical topics that many would include in their goals (and - statistics show - most won’t achieve them, unfortunately. Unless you implement the first suggestion below). For business leaders - in particular - I want to offer three suggestions to consider...
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Why Automation Matters to Your SME
Fiery debates are sprouting all over the globe around how automation is rapidly changing the landscape for business. Like the digital revolution and industrial before it, a rise in automation points to a new way of doing business for everyone. While major corporations shell out waves of cash to test this new industry — with driverless cars, delivery drones, and...
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A Quick Guide: What to Expect When You Work with a Business Coach
Business Coaching: A Quick GuideTime, money and manpower are all limited resources in any business setting. However, in a competitive and fast-moving economy like the US, these resources become even more valuable. Businesses are always under pressure to do more with less. You must enhance your performance while elevating that of your team. In a game with such high stakes...
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Exponential Organisations
Not too long ago, giants like Google, Airbnb, Uber and Facebook started out with a few developers piecing together code from their garage-turned-office. Now they're defining the way we live our lives. It seems a new business-building model -- one some are deeming a Fourth Industrial Revolution -- has risen, characterized by intense technological innovation and whirlwind growth. This has prompted many businesses to ask the...
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Leadership Coaching & High-Performance Teams: 7 Essential Techniques
What is a High-Performance Team?According to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), a "high-performance work-team" refers to a group of goal-focused individuals with specialised expertise and complementary skills who collaborate, innovate and produce consistently superior results. Business leaders are constantly under pressure to improve performance and ensure the growth of their organisation. Rapid developments in technology, competitive pressures...
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6 Lessons to Learn from Business Coaches
A business coach is a professional advisor who uses their entrepreneurial, training and management experience to help you identify your company’s challenges, set specific targets, and hold you accountable for achieving these goals. It’s important to note that business coaches deal with companies of all sizes, as there is a misconception that only start-ups consult business coaches. At Kaizen, the average...
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