Units per Hour

Does everything in business come down to units per hour? Time is our most precious resource and therefore, productivity can be boiled down to the value-added per unit of time, right? We have been tracking our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each company weekly for over a year now. We recently stepped up to a Read more about Units per Hour[…]

Strategy is Saying Yes to Lasting Margin Increases

For years I have said, “Strategy is systematically saying no.” But, while saying no is a discipline that establishes a habit of operational excellence, there is more that must be proactively pursued. You must say yes to something of greater value than your competitors. So, what is that strategy which is worthy of your focus? Read more about Strategy is Saying Yes to Lasting Margin Increases[…]

Coping Mechanisms for High Pressure Management

Pressure can result in higher or lower output. A healthy dose of pressure can result in flow state, increased focused, and clarity of decision making and action. Too much pressure and you are crushed by the weight and stress of the situation. What’s the difference? The output is determined by how the pressure is transformed Read more about Coping Mechanisms for High Pressure Management[…]

Succumbing to Customized Software in a SMB

There is a debate among small business owners regarding building your own custom software to run sales or operations versus buying or subscribing to existing tools. Well respected friends of mine argue that it’s wiser to simply buy the SaaS tool that is built for your industry or problem. They’re successful and the proof is Read more about Succumbing to Customized Software in a SMB[…]

When Revenue Outpaces Talent

Do you set annual goals for your business? Update them quarterly? What about seizing opportunity in the moment? Most owner-operators develop a cadence for goal setting. As an entrepreneur turned investor I operated under a continuous flow approach. If they goals needed to change, they changed. Unfortunately, this approach only works in very small teams Read more about When Revenue Outpaces Talent[…]

How to Sell Your Engineer-to-Order Service Business to an Employee

The professional service firm is the classic engineer-to-order service business. Consultants, legal, accounting and technical consultants are people-heavy. Mikel calls these companies, “smart people who can type.” Selling these companies is often quite difficult and rarely produces a large, single payday. The reason? Lack of repeatable processes. However, rather than belabor the problems with the Read more about How to Sell Your Engineer-to-Order Service Business to an Employee[…]

Distinguishing Make-to-Order versus Engineer-to-Order Service Businesses

Service businesses often begin by displacing the internal development or employment of a skill. For example, “I’ll hire you to shovel while I move on to this other thing.” As the sophistication of the skils move up the intellectual stack the singular skill is often replaced with judgement balancing across multiple skills. For example, “I’ll Read more about Distinguishing Make-to-Order versus Engineer-to-Order Service Businesses[…]