An imprimatur (sometimes abbreviated as impr., from Latin, “let it be printed”) is a declaration authorizing publication of a book. The term is also applied loosely to any mark of approval or endorsement. Wikipedia Imprimatur has become a weird but helpful internal codeword for me and Daryl to use in the office. Daryl and I Read more about  Imprimatur[…]

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[…]

Mikel recently invited a business owner to lunch. In his email invite he used the phrase “negative service company” and the owner chuckled. He said he had never heard that phrase before. He runs a multi location restoration business. This sort of shocked me. Our flagship negative service company does autoglass repair & replacement. For Read more about Run your Negative Service Company with purpose.[…]

Carrying opportunities is expensive. Capturing opportunities can be profitable. Owners and managers alike enjoy identifying and developing opportunities. Many have developed habits and allocations to how much time and expense to allocate to product development. This is usually associated with the pace of customer change or the profit margin of the idea. Developing opportunities is Read more about Where is the opportunity stored?[…]

An often repeated, Little Engine Ventures’ value is “confront the facts.” And, one of the facts of life is that integrity is the consistency across word, thought and deed. What is rarely confronted is the power of words to create. As children, we learn that when we cry we often get our way. We polish Read more about Words Have the Power to Create[…]

My mother is an artist. My father is a farmer. My father likes to say, “The only thing I can draw is flies.” I like to say, “A wise businessman ought to develop the right kind of stink.” He wants to repel the misfits and attract those that will lay eggs in his pile. The Read more about Develop the Right Kind of Stink[…]

I have been called a “serial entrepreneur.” I have recently been describing myself as “an entrepreneur turned investor.” This morning, I read a descriptive phrase that better fits the present phase of my life and doesn’t negate my historical experience. I am a “serial obsessor.” I am a serial obsessor. I have recently been obsessed Read more about On Being a Serial Obsessor[…]

I’ve been in a low church tradition for 20+ years. Folks in our strain of Christianity have a sense of pride around our lack of formal rules in how we worship. But, we know a high church tradition by its formality and ritual practices. But I’ve come to understand that every church has its liturgy. Read more about Creating a liturgy for your business[…]

2022 is our book recommendations’ fourth year (2019, 2020, 2021). I strolled through our monthly offers from our newsletter over the past year to remind myself of the books we’ve been reading. Daryl and I traded a few messages. This is what made our list for this year. Managing for Results Investing Between the Lines Read more about 2022 Book Club[…]