Professional Development

Predict Future Economic Activity

The ability to predict future economic conditions is useful in business, business planning and investment. Turns out there’s a pretty easy, inexpensive and reliable method for doing so — at least for short-term forecasts of less than a year.

Master the Art of the Symbolic Gesture

To grow your business, you must continually entice new people to give you a try. To buy something from you. And because they don’t have actual experience with you or your products, they make their purchase decision based on signals of quality, integrity and dependability. “Symbolic gestures,” as Quy Huy and Christoph Zott call them.

How to Get Focused and Make More Money

Plan by the month, not by the year. Keep a daily log of three things: bookings, cash collections and owner withdrawals.

These are Mark LeBlanc’s suggestions. He’s a veteran of the public-speaking circuit. You know: land speaking gigs, sell books at the back of the room, do some consulting and coaching.

Know and Avoid Common Decision-Making Mistakes

To err is human, but don’t give up! You can learn to make better decisions. You have the intellect necessary to gather and objectively assess the relevant facts. Just slow down, conduct a level-headed analysis and get familiar with psychological biases that tend to derail sound decision-making for humans (so you can avoid them). Here are the common ones:

Tips for Wringing Out Cost and Improving Gross Margins

Purchase, Don’t Expedite. Time is money. Given a little time, a purchasing manager worth his/her salt should be able to wring a significant amount of cost out of any purchase. So give him/her incentive and time. Expedited orders add substantially to freight cost, and when you need it quick, your bargaining power is weak.

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Whether you’re an individual subscriber or your membership is paid for by a sponsor, your membership provides a compelling set of benefits:
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Tips for Making a Great Impression

Warm, healthy smile. There may be nothing more important than a warm, healthy and relaxed smile. You’ll feel happy, more comfortable and be well on your way to making a good first impression.

Eye contact. Just as important as a warm smile is eye contact. Engage people by looking into their eyes as you meet them, listen and converse. Of course, it’s open eyes with a smile and a nod (as opposed to a cold stare)!

The Business Owner Journal Enhanced!

Growing a successful private business is a challenge, to say the least. Our mission at The Business Owner is to provide you with meaningful support. We do so by providing trusted, how-to information you can consume quickly and put to immediate use. You should also know:

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Book Review: “The Sociopath Next Door”, Martha Stout

Life is a struggle. Why so much violence? Hurt? Poverty? Deception? Greed? Delusion?

What is it, you say? Why focus on the negative when there’s so much good all around?

True, our world is also filled with love, health, hope, care, generosity, sanity. All of these rest — at least in part — on our ability to hold tight to the “good” that is and is possible. But is there also value in acknowledging the “bad?” Is there value in, at least on occasion, viewing the underbelly and pondering why it exists in such abundance?

Subscriber Benefits to The Business Owner Journal

Whether you’re an individual subscriber or your membership is paid for by a sponsor, your membership provides a compelling set of benefits, including the online article archive and web-based library, forum and free monthly webinars, also know as The Business Owner Boardroom.