As I write this post, noon on 11 June 2008, it is 27 degrees outside and snowing so hard I can hardly see the end of my driveway. I went to the lumber yard for some painting supplies (inside painting, of course) and asked how snow in the middle of June affected their business. “Oh, [...]
I was shocked a few months ago when a man I know well announced he was selling his business and going into real estate. Now, if ever there was an industry whose window of opportunity was closing at that time (and even more so now) it was real estate. Prices were in a free fall [...]
I listened last week to a CD about how companies are shaping their culture by re-phrasing how they talk about things. For example, employees are not employees, they’re associates. Students are future professionals. Assistants / apprentices are rising stars. Etc., Etc., Etc. Personally, I think that’s a crock. Wal-Mart calls their employees “associates” so they [...]
I’ve been thinking today of a small business owner I know who, by almost any standard of measure, would be considered successful. He knows little about marketing, advertising, finance and most of the other disciplines you would associate with being successful in business. What he is, is a good, honest, likable person who is an [...]
Yesterday I commented that I’d rather hire a person who’s a hard worker over a person who’s very talented and less hard working. I still stand by that remark, but it set me thinking about what it is I really want when I hire a new employee. Then I came across this post by Seth [...]
My son had a very interesting conversation with a purveyor of wind turbines yesterday. Terry Galyon is the founder and CEO of TLG Wind power. Now this company produces the absolute best value in wind turbines available today, hands down. One of his comments to my son was, “You go search the internet for one [...]
With the price of gasoline going through the proverbial roof, I’ve been following the energy blogs pretty closely. I personally believe the opportunities that exist in alternative energy today are very similar to the opportunities in oil in the early nineteen hundreds. In fact, if I were going to start a new business (and I [...]
Wow! After nearly 10 days of sun (and a little rain and wind, if we’re going to be honest,) fun, fishing, four-wheeling, and generally taking it easy, I’m back where I belong. While out on the river, I encountered a good friend who’s a fishing guide on the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. He’s [...]