BizOp Blogs

Paying wages and managing the hours your employees work can be two of the most complicated tasks in your small business. There are federal and state laws which cover almost every aspect of these issues. Sometimes federal and state guide lines conflict with one another. In those cases, the employer is... More

If you look at my desk, you will think you are looking at a disaster area. But it only appears to be chaos to the untrained eye. The truth is, I know where everything is and the worst thing any “Good Samaritan” secretary can do is to “straighten up my desk for me.” It is usually... More

When consultants work with small business owners, they usually find the same story. They may be in vastly different kinds of business, but the struggles are the same. The owners feel overwhelmed, like they are running in place and gaining very little ground in their goals. The biggest problem is “time... More

On January 26, I posted an article entitled Debt And The Small Business Owner. In that article , I pointed out that shortage of cash flow kills a small business faster than anything else. Since loans produce debt, and debt produces monthly payments, and monthly payments require more cash flow, business... More

In her list of 10 Causes of Small Business Failure and How to Avoid Them Michelle Witham does an excellent job of discussing the common pitfalls for small business owners. It is interesting that out of the 10 reasons she discusses for small businesses failing, shortage of money comprises six of them.... More

In any business there is a front door and a back door. The front door represents incoming revenue and the profits it generates. The back door represents outgoing revenue which adds no value to the business. Certainly, anything that goes out this back door reduces the profitability of the business and... More

One of the pitfalls of a small business is misdefining its customer base. Some small business owners get into the rut of thinking their customers are limited to the folks who walk through their doors. Someone has said a rut is just a grave with both ends knocked out of it. That is certainly true in this... More

Recession affects everyone in our economy. Manufacturers, distributors, retailers and consumers are all negatively affected when the winds of recession begin blowing across the plains of a free market economy. But no entity on the business side of the equation is more impacted than the small business... More