When making a big business decision, I’ve found it helpful to write out the answers to these questions: What is the financial cost of NOT doing this? What is the emotional cost of NOT doing it? What is the energetic cost of NOT doing it? Then I ask myself these questions: What is the financial reward of doing this? The … Read More

While we’re talking Dragons’ Den (see previous post re my summary of the tear-jerking season finale), the Toronto Star itself has gone Dragon-happy. It’s been running in-depth profiles of each of the 5 Dragons. The series kicked off last Saturday with Kevin O’Leary , probably since he is the best known and most controversial dragon. Nobody’s better than the Star’s … Read More

I’ve been collecting together marketing ideas for small businesses in a file for several years. The intention was to write a series of posts on free/cheap marketing ideas. That list has now grown to 171 marketing ideas and I’ve included it below. Some of the ideas are new, one or two are fresh and innovative, all of them are relatively … Read More

Okay, I am live-blogging a sneak preview of Wednesday night’s season finale of Dragons’ Den . Thanks to the CBC for the preview copy. I am just going to write down my thoughts as the show goes by. This could be a long post. Thought 1: It’s a special flashback episode exploring the Dragons’ roots. Sounds good. The title? The … Read More

” It takes courage to stand up and speak. But it also takes courage to sit down and listen.” Winston Churchill Sir Winston wasn’t always a very good listener; while others were speaking he, like many of us, tended to be planning what he was going to say next. Still, this quote is appropriate for all leaders, in business or … Read More

I have written about Niche Marketing before. It is a subject that business owners often question me on. Some fail to see that narrowing the focus of their business could be the clue to unlocking the next phase of their growth. The challenge they face is having the bravery to reduce the scope of their proposition and of their marketing … Read More

Yes, it came out a bit late, but here are the Young (Canadian) Artists for Haiti performing their song for Haiti: Wavin’ Flag . The song was recorded last month in Vancouver. Great to see young artists getting into the awareness and hope business for their generation - hopefully they have also donated a lot of money as well. (Proceeds … Read More

Your values are who you are and the ideas you represent, and your priorities are the things that are most important to you. Being able to identify what these are for your business will help you be profitable and successful. Trying to build a business that does not take your values and priorities into account will end up making you … Read More

When I first heard of blogging, I said to myself –that looks silly and time consuming and how the heck could it help my business? And I buried my head in the sand for a couple of years. And then, one of my coaches started nudging me and showed me some practical reasons to blog. And now I’m hooked. Today … Read More

Your business needs clients to survive and thrive. There are several steps you must take to attract and to make your business grow. Getting clients needs to be part of your daily business routine. You need to feed your business like you feed your body, with fresh clients. Neglect this for too long and your business grows weak. Schedule business … Read More