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Articles from Hugh Stewart | Selfgrowth.com
- Schedule Your Business Emergencies - by Submitted on Mar 05, 2012 from Hugh StewartA major issue for most business owners is the ‘fire’ or emergency. This is a disruption in the normal routine or business process. Unfortunately, many businesses are plagued by consistent fires or emergencies. The entrepreneur or the management team is so busy working on these urgent fires ...
Views: 973 - 4 Simple Things To Run Your Business - by Submitted on Mar 05, 2012 from Hugh StewartResist the urge to make things complicated in your business. To get your business on track you just need to do some basic simple things. Financial well-being – Pull financial reports at least once a month. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to look at your numbers on a regular ...
Views: 953 - Best Business Advice - by Submitted on Mar 05, 2012 from Hugh StewartIt is amazing how a business owner will gain a sense of confidence when there is unallocated cash in the business bank account. As business owners, very often if the business has money, we will try to find a way to spend it, whether we take more money for ourselves or spend it on the ...
Views: 1039 - Dealing With A Scarcity Mentality In Business - by Submitted on Feb 06, 2012 from Hugh Stewartscar·ci·ty noun – insufficiency or shortness of supply; dearth. One belief among business owners is that they do not have enough money, time or resources. Common complaints are: “We don’t have enough money to be able to buy the help we need” “We don’t have enough time to do everything ...
Views: 1426 - Talking Effectively To Direct Reports - by Submitted on Feb 06, 2012 from Hugh StewartBusiness owners sometimes struggle to communicate effectively with their direct reports. If you are fully engaged when communicating with direct reports, the information you receive will be better and clearer. Being fully engaged means giving the direct report space and time to communicate with ...
Views: 1716 - How To Grow Your Business - by Submitted on Jan 16, 2012 from Hugh StewartGrowing a business to be a powerhouse in its industry, or even building a business to be bigger and better, is a goal of many business owners. I believe that the future of niche (high-margin) business is going to be in creating a consistent, unique, and fantastic experience for customers. The ...
Views: 797 - Take Your Hobby to A Real Business - by Submitted on Jan 16, 2012 from Hugh StewartIn June of 2011 my business life underwent a radical transformation. I sold a major business that was responsible for a majority of my income and my attention. After the sale of that business, I began to rethink my consulting business. I began consulting as a hobby or side business. ...
Views: 823 - Creating a Partnership Structure - by Submitted on Dec 26, 2011 from Hugh StewartWhen determining what type of business structure is necessary for your business partnership, one of the considerations needs to be how to protect yourself from the business and from your partners. People considering partnerships generally struggle with the type of entity they should create. ...
Views: 810 - Maintaining a Successful Business Partnership - by Submitted on Dec 26, 2011 from Hugh StewartAfter being in business for a year or more, there are bound to be changes in the marketplace and your business. At this point, you (and your partner) need to ask yourselves “Is what I am doing still making sense?” Communications with a Partner Is your partnership relationship still ...
Views: 745 - How To End a Business Partnership - by Submitted on Dec 26, 2011 from Hugh StewartOne of the greatest mistakes business professionals can make when creating a partnership is to ignore the dissolution of a partnership. Why discuss partnership dissolution at the beginning of a partnership? Understand that partnership is like life; all things must come to an end. The better you ...
Views: 1397 - How to Get Good Employees to Stay - by Submitted on Dec 09, 2011 from Hugh StewartThe retention of a company’s executive and leadership teams is critical to the success of a business. What are some of the ways to effectively compensate them so that they remain happy and productive in the business? The answer may not be as simple as offering more money or stock in the ...
Views: 1376 - Avoid Conflicts in Your Business Partnership - by Submitted on Nov 14, 2011 from Hugh StewartAre you considering a professional partnership? Or are you in the midst of a business partnership that is not going as well as you imagined? Partnerships allows a person to be able to have the flexibility to do what they are good at and share the ownership responsibility and investment with ...
Views: 959 - Creating a Partnership - Lessons from a Horror Story - by Submitted on Nov 01, 2011 from Hugh StewartBefore creating a business partnership it is important to understand that it is like any other relationship; it is a marriage between individuals united in the same purpose and mission. And like any other relationship, if there is incompatibility in values or long-term vision or anything that ...
Views: 810(1 vote) - Maintaining Perspective in Firing an Employee - by Submitted on Oct 27, 2011 from Hugh StewartFiring someone is never easy. Being fired from a position is also never easy. It’s important that as you go through the firing process, that you maintain perspective that the person in front of you is a living, breathing, intelligent, capable human being. They just may not be working out for ...
Views: 814 - Firing Employees - by Submitted on Oct 17, 2011 from Hugh StewartKnowing when to fire someone is a necessary skill for any business owner. I became very good at firing employees because when I acquired one of my businesses it had 200% turnover. One of the things I realized very early in my entrepreneurial career is that the reasons for firing generally ...
Views: 1175(1 vote) - Hiring the Right People for the Right Job - by Submitted on Oct 17, 2011 from Hugh StewartThe concept of Context and Values has revolutionized our business for both in how we relate to our employees and our customers alike. It assists us to tap into understanding how someone frames their world, what they are afraid of, what they are excited about, and what they feel very confident ...
Views: 958 - Who is the perfect employee? - by Submitted on Oct 08, 2011 from Hugh StewartI’ve blogged about setting the stage for attracting and engaging the best employees – primarily understanding the company’s culture and business, designing the role and creating the flow and process. So who is the perfect employee? First off, what is meant by employee? When I use the word ...
Views: 1333 - Hiring – Good Help Is Not Hard to Find - by Submitted on Sep 26, 2011 from Hugh StewartI hear the complaint that good help is hard to find. That has not been my experience. I find that good help is easy to select, Finding good employeesbecause once you identify who you are as a company and the type of environment your company offers, it becomes very easy to determine whether a ...
Views: 1028 - Are Your Business Systems Working? - by Submitted on Sep 12, 2011 from Hugh StewartRecently I was asked “how long do you allow a new system to run before recognizing that it is wrong?” Using a cost basis, your budget is kind of that litmus test. If you are going to just use a cost basis, the end of your budget should be the end of the game. I usually do not just use a cost ...
Views: 809 - Overcoming Business Hurdles - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2011 from Hugh StewartOne of the difficulties of creating business systems is that there is a learning curve. You will make mistakes, you will learn what does and does not work by trial and error, and you will lose both time and money. There are things that you can do that can help you minimize time and money lost ...
Views: 1089 - How to Write Your Standard Operating Procedures - by Submitted on Sep 06, 2011 from Hugh StewartIn the last two months, my blogs have focused more on the philosophy of operational systems. The next blog goes from philosophy to straight content. We are going to talk about actual systems, and so we are going to review just about every system that you need to be able to get through your ...
Views: 1061 - Standard Operating Procedures - by Submitted on Aug 30, 2011 from Hugh StewartStandard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are necessary and useful items for every business to have. An SOP is simply a written document that details all steps and activities of a process or procedure in your business. SOPs are very easy to write. The way you can make them so easy is to start with ...
Views: 1839 - Business Metrics – What Are Your Numbers? - by Submitted on Aug 08, 2011 from Hugh StewartBusiness metrics development is a huge portion of planning your operational design. Business metrics is simply the production numbers in your business that are important to you. What are production numbers? If you are a service-oriented business, that may be the number of phone calls to ...
Views: 829 - Operational System Success - by Submitted on Aug 01, 2011 from Hugh StewartI have a story about how an efficient operational system can make a difference in your business. It has to do with the best trip I took. My family took a 29-day trip to New Zealand. I left the business without a communication plan. No calls, no emails, no checking in. Sounds crazy? Before we ...
Views: 960 - Creating Professional Development - by Submitted on Jul 25, 2011 from Hugh StewartAre you ready to take your company’s operation systems to a completely new level? Then begin by creating more than just a job for your employees. What most small businesses do not realize – I know I was caught off-guard by it – was when I had an employee come up to me and say, “so what are ...
Views: 857 - How To Delegate and Outsource Your Business - by Submitted on Jul 18, 2011 from Hugh StewartIf you are looking to make your business an asset, delegation and outsourcing is one of the most crucial pieces that you get to master as you come through your business creation career. Delegation and outsourcing is something that, if you are not good at it, you will probably never have a great ...
Views: 854 - 5 Steps Of Strategic Planning - by Submitted on Jul 12, 2011 from Hugh StewartI want to share with you one of the easiest ways I have learned to strategically plan for things in general. Whether it is a three-year forecast on my business or to plan a project effectively and successfully implement it to the end, I use these 5 simple steps. 1. State your goals 2. ...
Views: 982 - Services or Systems Improvements? - by Submitted on Jul 05, 2011 from Hugh StewartThe difference between a small business and those of a corporate or large business is evidenced in the how each viewBig businesss process improvement. Improving the process is how a business delivers a consistent customer experience. Regardless of the type of business, it is the interaction ...
Views: 951 - Business Operational Process - by Submitted on Jun 28, 2011 from Hugh StewartWhere I see that entrepreneurs lose the most amount of money is when they ask the following question: What do I do next? If you are in the middle of any operational process and you do not know automatically what to do next, you have just lost money. When you hesitate, do not act, or do not ...
Views: 1271 - How to Become Value Conscious - by Submitted on Jun 22, 2011 from Hugh StewartHow do you, as a small business owner, go through the window and become more value-conscious and not cost-conscious? The challenge goes like this: The nature of your value in the marketplace has nothing to do with what you create, or what you do for your customer. It comes from a much ...
Views: 979 - Ways to do Small Business - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2011 from Hugh StewartOne of the biggest differences between self-employed people or Mom-and-Pop businesses and big business owners is how they each view the cost of doing business. For simplicity sake, I will refer to self-employed people or Mom-and-Pop business models as “small business.” In my experience, ...
Views: 932 - Money and Your Business - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2011 from Hugh StewartAccounts receivable is a fancy name for how much money your business is owed by your customers. First, make sure that you have professional customer invoicing. It is advisable to have quick, accurate, professional invoicing that is usually computer-generated. You will want to make sure that ...
Views: 919 - Raising Money for Your Business - by Submitted on Jun 01, 2011 from Hugh StewartPosted by Hugh on May 30, 2011 · Leave a Comment What do you do if you need to raise money for your business? For my business, we were able to raise money through privately offering stock legally in our company. This is something you can do if you are a registered security in the state of your ...
Views: 1295 - Business Debt – Making it Work For You - by Submitted on May 24, 2011 from Hugh StewartPosted by Hugh on May 23, 2011 · Leave a Comment The simple philosophy behind debt in business is – all business debt should somehow generate revenue. This is called performing debt. In order to manage debt, recognize that if debt is not producing, great care must be taken to remove it quickly ...
Views: 1047 - 3 Financial Allocations for Business Success - by Submitted on May 24, 2011 from Hugh StewartOne of the things that can kill a business is extra cash. This is not just any type of extra cash, but purposeless cash. Many businesses miss a huge opportunity to protect themselves, to invest for the future, or to celebrate by having specific fun expenses in the business. This model ...
Views: 1162 - Design a Dynamic Financial System - by Submitted on May 03, 2011 from Hugh StewartAn important principle behind a dynamic financial system is tracking the money. Personally and in business, track the money. The better the tracking methods, the more accountability and the better records will be on hand to justify a stronger sale price on your business, if that is an ...
Views: 1361 - Needing Money for Your Business - by Submitted on Apr 19, 2011 from Hugh StewartMoney in any context is an emotional subject, but in business, an emotional approach to the financial elements of your business can lead to disaster without having productive rituals in place to resolve these issues. Needing money for your business. The next time an extra expense is presented ...
Views: 1087 - Getting Paid From Your Business - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2011 from Hugh StewartDo you pay yourself or do you work for free? You may decide to work for free as you start a new business, spending time and energy without any compensation because the revenue is not there yet to support paying you a salary. This is an important consideration of the business, because it ...
Views: 1150(2 votes) - Rituals and Fatigue are More Alike than You Think - by Submitted on Mar 29, 2011 from Hugh StewartWhat can fatigue teach us about success? To answer that question I have to tell you about one of my favorite subjects from engineering school, Fracture Mechanics. Fracture Mechanics is simply the science of how things break. What will cause a metal or metallic object to break or suffer ...
Views: 1089(2 votes) - Rituals as the Path to Success - by Submitted on Mar 26, 2011 from Hugh StewartAs a Business Coach one question that I am frequently asked is, “How do I become successful?” In order to understand success, it is important to study and become a student of successful systems. The most successful systems have been around a very long time. Some of the most successful ...
Views: 967 - Outsourcing Effectively: Maintaining a good relationship with your contractors - by Submitted on Mar 18, 2011 from Hugh StewartWhether you have a one-time task that needs to be completed or a long-term project, an outsource contractor, when selected and communicated to properly, can be a great asset. Successful outsourcing involves building relationships and staying in touch with contractors, even after an outsourced ...
Views: 1576(2 votes) - 2 Considerations When You Begin to Outsource Projects - by Submitted on Mar 11, 2011 from Hugh StewartMany self-employed people believe they cannot afford to outsource. There are actually good, sound business reasons for outsourcing and delegating. Take an honest appraisal of what you are spending your time on: Are you working on things you do not like doing? Are you spending time on tasks that ...
Views: 1356(3 votes) - How to select the best contractors for your project -4 Things to Consider - by Submitted on Mar 01, 2011 from Hugh StewartA powerful tool for finding a contractor is an online outsource platform called www.Elance.com. Elance is essentially a virtual marketplace that allows you to post projects and tasks for completion by contractors in a wide variety of skill areas. I have had great success outsourcing to ...
Views: 1623 - Outsourcing Effectively – How to select the best for your project - by Submitted on Feb 21, 2011 from Hugh StewartI've written before on outsourcing and delegation,and I encouraged business owners to define their Unique Ability and hire others to do the rest. A powerful tool for finding a contractor is an online outsource platform called www.Elance.com. Elance is essentially a virtual marketplace that ...
Views: 1157(7 votes) - CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS – EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS - by Submitted on Feb 11, 2011 from Hugh StewartPeople can be fickle customers; they may go where the deal is, if their primary mode of differentiating a product or service is price. For example, when you shop for everyday items at a grocery store that does not “wow” you, you may gladly go somewhere else if you can get the same goods at a ...
Views: 928 - DELEGATION: The Vital Role of Systems in Delegation - by Submitted on Feb 09, 2011 from Hugh StewartDELEGATION: The Vital Role of Systems in Delegation Posted by Hugh on January 31, 2011 · Leave a Comment Some entrepreneurs struggle with delegation because they have become accustomed to doing almost everything themselves, and some because they do not have a clear enough idea of exactly ...
Views: 918(4 votes) - The Power of Negative Thinking - by Submitted on Feb 05, 2011 from Hugh StewartEd Strachar, creator of the Reading Genius® program, once said, "Positive thinking is better than negative thinking, but no thinking (just effective action) is better than positive thinking." Negative thinking Can negative thinking serve you? What if I told you that there is an ...
Views: 1093(1 vote) - Delegation: What are your core competencies? - by Submitted on Feb 07, 2011 from Hugh StewartDo you know your core competencies as an entrepreneur? Do you know the core competencies of your team members/contractors? This will help you to know what to delegate. We have previously explored the importance of identifying your Unique Ability and core competencies, with the goal of both ...
Views: 2110(3 votes) - The Only Two Things in the World You Control - by Submitted on Jan 18, 2011 from Hugh StewartI love being stuck in traffic. That is not a misprint, I love traffic. Because being stuck in traffic gives me stuck in traffic gives you time to thinkan opportunity to learn how to metabolize things that I cannot control. I see being in traffic as a gift. The world can be a very ...
Views: 1228(1 vote) - Mastering Emotional Potential - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2010 from Hugh StewartMy favorite class in graduate school was a subject called continuum mechanics. It was an incredibly challenging and mind expanding class that changed the way that I approached everything I did in my world. The most important thing I learned were the five basic Energy Transfer Laws in the ...
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