http://thesmallbusinesscoach.com/blog Ideas for people whose companies have between 5 and 75 employees. Tue, 13 May 2008 20:14:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en First, there are the things you know. This means you know the question and you know the answer. Then there are things you know you don't know. This means you know the question but you don't know the answer. And finally there are things you don't know that you don't know. This ... http://thesmallbusinesscoach.com/blog/2008/05/13/in-praise-of-the-generalist/ I got the blue plastic tub for free and turned it into a garbage can because it used to hold car wash soap so I didn't want to use it for a compost bin and we turned the old garbage can into a compost bin. Do you know how ... http://thesmallbusinesscoach.com/blog/2008/05/02/my-garbage-man-knows-my-job/ Thanks to an email from Will Hill and Paul Graham's latest essay I've shortened my advice (so you get to do less reading) 1. Make something people want. As obvious as it sounds this advice is often ignored. Well not exactly ignored, but confused. Inventors especially, are apt to confuse the word ... http://thesmallbusinesscoach.com/blog/2008/04/21/fewer-tips-for-start-ups/ Doing any thing takes time - agreed? We are limited to 24 hours each day - right? So, the number of things we can do is limited by time - are you with me so far? Most entrepreneurs respond to this truth by trying to do as much as they can every day. ... http://thesmallbusinesscoach.com/blog/2008/04/14/get-more-done-by-doing-less/ Dan Pink turned me on to this post by a guy named Jason and this one by Mark Cuban (at least I've heard of him) with tips for start-ups. I was mildly distressed by the focus on tech and software companies. What about an old school company that makes stuff ... http://thesmallbusinesscoach.com/blog/2008/03/28/tips-for-a-start-up/ This post is not about what you think. It really is about business. First a little background. I started a company in 1991 when I lived in Texas. Two years later I moved to Connecticut but the company stayed Texas. I've run it long-distance as a "remote ... http://thesmallbusinesscoach.com/blog/2008/03/27/the-difference-between-my-wife-and-me/ I mentioned this before but I don't think I gave it the focus it deserves. The focus it deserves is actually in this New Yorker article and a shorter one in Fast Company. But consider this key quote If someone found a new drug that could wipe out infections with anything ... http://thesmallbusinesscoach.com/blog/2008/03/04/want-effectiveness-and-productivity-use-a-checklist/ I usually keep politics out of this blog, but I'm writing this piece not to change your political views as much as challenge how you think about the relationship between business and politics. Many years ago I was a member of a small business lobby group called NFIB. They poll ... http://thesmallbusinesscoach.com/blog/2008/02/16/politics-and-business/ I got this idea from a client - Thanks, Kendra. In meetings when they have an topic on the agenda they allot a certain amount of time to it. Then they set a timer at the start. It keeps the meeting on schedule. We also talked about the benefits of spending 15 ... http://thesmallbusinesscoach.com/blog/2008/02/12/for-time-management-use-a-timer/ It's a stupid tradition. Most of them get forgotten or broken in a week anyway. So why not just be honest. If something's worth doing it's worth doing whether it's Jan 1, or any other date. So get real. Takeaways: Have fun, and don't drink and drive. http://thesmallbusinesscoach.com/blog/2007/12/31/forget-new-years-resolutions/