The Saturday Blog

LEADERS: Nature or Nurture? by Jana Beals, September 26, 2020 Sales were so low that the greeting card store could not support two full-time workers. Store manager Noah paced as he tried to decide whether to reduce the hours of two employees or lay off one employee. He couldn’t make a decision, so he ignored the problem. He didn’t let the employees know what was going on, and was grouchy for days. When one of the employees asked if there was anything they could do to help, Noah flew off the handle and fired that employee. Problem solved, or was it? Some argue that leaders are born with the ability, or that leadership comes with experience, and there are those that say leadership is a combination of all three factors. Whatever the opinion, it is agreed that leadership is a quality and trait that must be cultivated over time. According to expert Tony Robbins there are 8 leadership qualities that everyone can develop and hone over time: Confidence : Body posture, eye con

GOAL-SETTING: working strategically by Jana Beals, September 19, 2020   Bob owns a small candle company, and his customers love the candles for their beauty and fragrance. Though Bob’s client base is small, he has great ideas for growing the business: by making his processes more streamlined, and hiring an assistant. After working on this idea of streamlining his processes and having hired an assistant, he just wasn’t seeing the level of reward he thought he would. He couldn’t seem to reach any of the goals he had set, and to make matters worse, he was forced to take on an outside job just to pay his company’s bills. He knew there had to be a better way, but he didn’t know which way to turn. Luckily for Bob there is a better way: by setting SMART goals! Knowing how to use this formula for reaching goals is key to Bob’s success! First, goals must be S PECIFIC , and clearly defined: è I want to sell more pillar candles. Second, the goal must be M EASURABLE : è I wan

FINDING BALANCE: Time Management by Jana Beals, September 12, 2020   Mark owns a printing business in a downtown location, and his business has a fairly steady stream of work, but it could be busier. There are seven employees, and the heavy workload really calls for another employee or two. The problem is... Mark is doing the work of two people, and is so caught up in filling orders that the thought of hiring extra help hasn’t even crossed his mind. What he doesn’t realize is that his business volume could  double by hiring extra help.       This happens more often than not in sole proprietor businesses; the owner got into the business because they really like what they’re doing , and they put 110% effort in day after day.   However, owners can get tunnel vision. They see that there are jobs to complete, orders to fill, and they roll up their sleeves to get the job done.   There is a great pride of ownership, and sense of fulfillment when an order is done well,

  TRENDING: Virtual Assistants by Jana Beals, Sept. 5, 2020   Kim faced certain unemployment when the company’s leadership where she had worked for nine years announced massive job eliminations during the upcoming three months. Rather than panic, Kim considered the idea of forming a home-based business, and discussed her idea with trusted friends. Kim made the decision to prepare for her new adventure as a Virtual Assistant so she would be ready when her company began lay-offs.     But wait! What is a Virtual Assistant anyway?! What do they do?   Virtual Assistants are real lifesavers when small businesses or solopreneurs cannot afford to hire employees.   Services vary but generally Virtual Assistants provide administrative task support such as: ·        customer service ·        billing ·        correspondence ·        email and calendar management   Some Virtual Assistants have a special niche that they prefer to offer such as: ·        managing