I received an inquiry from a person wanted me to help him find a business idea that “would make my life easy, make me a lot of money and require a small investment.” I thought if I had an idea that fit his request, why would I give it to someone else?  I would start the business, sit back, relax, and collect the cash.
 
Business, like most endeavors, requires hard work, focus and many hours of effort to be successful.  When I was CEO in an international trade company, I knew some people looked at my position and felt I had it made. They thought I could just sit back, relax, and enjoy my view from the top of the company. The reality was that I arrived most mornings by 6 am and didn’t leave early.  I also had to travel quite a bit. On the airplane I didn’t read novels, but took a briefcase full of work to do while traveling.  I’m not saying this to impress anyone with my work ethic, but to reinforce the truth that business is hard work.

From time to time I have been contacted for advice about how to intervene in issues with a nonprofit organization when concerns about finances or the organization’s leader have been called into question.
 
My perspective about responsibility of a board, church elder, council, or other organizational structure involves three critical tasks:
They hire and hold the leader accountable.
They oversee the general ministry plan.
They ensure financial integrity.

In business we frequently negotiate as we discuss arrangements with others. At times our paradigm or someone else’s will have a dramatic effect on the outcome of a discussion. Often to obtain the best results, you need to dig deeper into an issue to uncover the background and experiences of others.

I help market franchises to individuals who want to use the franchise idea to launch a business. “Sharon” was interested in a business that provided home tutors for students, and she was well qualified for the business. A key issue came up that threatened to derail the entire transaction. The franchisor required the purchase of a smart car as well as branding the car with the business logo and information. The franchisor understood this marketing was effective. The prospective franchisee was adamant about never using a smart car.  For a time it looked like an impasse that would derail the franchise agreement.

Several weeks ago I posted an article showing a dramatic increase in online store sales while brick-and-mortar stores show declines. For those who missed my article click here:  http://bit.ly/2moKyhF

I ran across an article from the Affluent Christian Investor with a very dramatic chart showing the market value of retail companies over the past 10 years.  We already know that Amazon is valued at more than Walmart in the marketplace. Sears has lost over 96% of its market value, and I would be surprised if they survive another 12 months without filing bankruptcy likely taking Kmart with them.

Every day you probably send emails and would like a timely response. I’ve learned two techniques that are easy to apply to improve your response consistency.

Based on a study from Boomerang, a business that creates apps, the most effective ending for an email is “Thanks in advance.” This ending out-performs some of the more common endings such as regards, thanks, cheers and sincerely. The study showed that you can gain as much as 20% improvement on your response rate, a significant number.