Dear CEO Buddy, My boss asked me to help the team figure…
May 25, 2024
The horror stories of business partnerships gone awry, often sound like bad…
February 6, 2021
Dear CEO BUDDY, I CAN'T SEEM TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO BUILD…
January 20, 2021
May 25, 2024
Dear CEO Buddy, My boss asked me to help the team figure out how to do a SWOT analysis for our first-ever strategic analysis and planning session. I know it’s all about evaluating our Strengths and Weaknesses, but I’m new to SWOT. I’m not quite sure how to do a SWOT analysis or where to…
February 6, 2021
The horror stories of business partnerships gone awry, often sound like bad divorces. Most of these stories serve as cautionary tales as to why we should never take on a business partner. Of course, it’s possible to start and grow a business without partners, but there’s also nothing wrong with a good partnership. So should…
Dear CEO BUDDY, I CAN'T SEEM TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO BUILD A PROFESSIONAL NETWORK! I attend a lot of networking events on behalf of our small business. I always feel like I struggle to build useful connections. Either I end up cornered in an endless conversation with one person, or I collect a bunch…
You’re ambitious. You’re driven. You’re independent, focused, and you appreciate a challenge. After all, you’re running your own business. So, why worry about value definitions and writing a mission statement? Can’t you simply do what you need to do? Well, yes and no. To build a successful business (or continue to lead a company forward),…
December 3, 2019
Dear CFO, I’m the Marketing Director for a nonprofit organization. I work closely with our President and Board regularly. In our last meeting, I was asked to work on our organization's vision. We often take cues from the for-profit world, and having a background in that sector myself, I thought I'd explore your perspective. What…
November 26, 2019
Goals, stretch-goals, five-year-plans, targets, and long-term objectives—there are a lot of terms surrounding the future of your business. But how do you keep your eye on the future so you experience realistic (and successful) outcomes? In business, we define the term targets as our long-term objectives (usually looking five years into the future), and goals…
November 5, 2019
Dear CFO, As the Financial Director of a small manufacturing business, I’ve been working with our sales team to set goals for next year…which has led me to wonder if I really understand goalsetting. I’m good at the “big picture” part, but I struggle to help them prioritize when we narrow it down. What are…
October 29, 2019
Building a successful business takes significant time, effort, planning, and implementation to produce the desired results. The more thoughtful you are in strategically planning your quarterly goals and action plans, setting firm project plan ground rules, and considering other roadblocks or opportunities, the better your chances are for improving your business overall. It all begins…
October 22, 2019
Dear CFO, I’m hoping to really ramp up our online sales in our marketing department. As the department head, it’s my job to set our benchmarks and figure out our quarterly goals and action plans. I know breaking it down into bite-sized pieces is key. Could you advise me on the best way to set…
October 15, 2019
Throughout sports history, there are many great pieces of wisdom. Anyone who's read Harvey Penick's golf-based philosophies or Vince Lombardi's insights on teamwork knows there are plenty of business lessons in sports. Today, there are two sports where you can learn powerful lessons about the way you think of your business: high jumping and basketball.…
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