Recruiting
By Find the best employees with a little hard work
Traditional recruiting tactics have become obsolete and companies must keep up with the times in order to maintain their high level of recruits. Years ago, active job seekers searched the classifieds of their local newspapers to check for job openings. Today, those same job seekers are drawn to the Internet and away from newspapers. In the past, potential recruits would call and arrange for an immediate interview with hiring managers, but now networking and technology have taken over the recruiting industry. This is true from the perspective of both the interviewer …
Health Insurance
Ask the right questions.
Over the last 10 years, renewals in health insurance have varied from low single digit increases to the mid-twenties and as of recently, settling around 10 to 12 percent increases. The real concern is how can these increases be controlled and what questions should be asked to determine if an increase is warranted?
There are several factors that affect renewals in health care: trend, losses, demographics and location. Although most health insurers are calling “trend” around 10 percent, that is an extremely misleading number. The carriers will cite inflation and contract negotiations, as well as new …
Which Half Is MINE?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, for individuals under age 45, approximately 50 percent of first marriages for men and between 44 percent and 52 percent of women’s first marriages end in divorce. The likelihood of a divorce is lowest for men and women age 60, for whom 36 percent of men and 32 percent of women may divorce from their first marriage by the end of their lives. Business owners of course, are not excluded from these daunting statistics.
For many married business owners the business is both the most valuable and most illiquid asset in the marital …
Productivity Based Incentive Systems
Employee motivation, accountability, incentives and productivity measurements
The focus of a productivity-based excess profit incentive system is to reward the employee based on the work performed over and above the minimum profit standards established by management, as opposed to a bonus given based on entitlement.
Every company has several obligations: to generate enough cash flow to meet the company’s daily cash requirements, produce a profit commiserate with the risk involved in the business practice, allow the owner(s) to maintain a good quality of life and assure the employees a fair wage and safe work environment.
The concept of excess-based profit …
Beware Of Sheep In Wolves’ Clothing
BUYER BEWARE: Inexperienced valuators don’t come cheap. In fact, they may cost you your business. Case law is abundant with testimony of so-called valuation experts who expose themselves in the courtroom as nothing more than sheep in wolves’ clothing.
They are not the smoking guns their clients hired them to be. In fact, under oath, some “experts” revealed they lack the core knowledge of the very topic they were hired to defend. Some may say it’s just plain bad luck the defendant hired a professional who “turned amateur” on the witness stand and others may say it’s just pure luck …
OSHA: Your Business Partner In Success
How many of you reactively reach for your checkbook when you hear the phrase –‘we are from the government and are here to help’? Many small business owners feel exactly that when they hear that the government is making your business their business.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, plays a significant role in virtually all businesses–regardless of size. However, a small business receiving a notice that OSHA is coming to audit, or in a worst-case scenario-there is a serious accident or fatality at the place of business or job site, can spell doom due to significant fines …
10 Ways To Realize Business Success
Many entrepreneurs and top executives are fortunate enough to achieve early business success. However, to sustain growth and enjoy real long-term success in a global economy, it is important to follow a guideline. Long-term business success is tied to three key factors — cash flow, profitability and ease of operations.
1. Develop a strategic plan. The first move toward developing a strategic plan is a difficult one. Many business owners fall victim to measuring success by how hard they are working and whether there is enough money to cover payroll. In reality, businesses operate best with a plan and methodology …
My Thoughts Exactly
Game plan
Business owners whose primary expertise lies in technical applications rather than strategy tend to make decisions based on expediency and personal experience. In many cases, however, these owners don’t have all the facts on which to base sound decisions.
There are two possible reasons for this oversight. One, they have not identified the key operational matrices of the company. Or, two, if they have identified the matrices, they cannot ascertain the key facts that compose them because they lack the systems, methodologies and procedures for daily tracking.
A business that doesn’t have all the facts is like a …
10 Simple Ways To Get Sued
Want to stay out of trouble? Unless you have been sued before you probably have no idea how expensive, time consuming, and emotionally draining it can be.
A little legal preventative maintenance can keep you focused on growing your business uninterrupted. Some firms specialize in litigation or defense work. That means they have a bird’s eye view of what companies do to get in trouble. Here are some surefire ways to get in hot water:
- Hire that key sales employee from your competitor, and trust him not to bring along the customer list.
The best practice is to obtain a
Achieve Maximum Success
In order to define success in any entrepreneurial environment, one must first acknowledge that the ultimate goal is to stimulate the economy and have a positive impact on as many lives as possible. Every entrepreneur has an obligation to impact the lives of all who come in contact with them. This includes employees, their families, customers, vendors, lenders, suppliers and all others that derive a pecuniary and non-pecuniary benefit from that enterprise.
The best way to define a thriving business is to say that the owner has the same responsibility as the leader of a town, municipality or small city. …
