February 19, 2022 is the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 that authorized the forced relocation and incarceration of American citizens of Japanese descent. In the summer before I entered 11th grade, I attended summer school at Grant High School in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. During one lesson, my teacher, Robert Crain, …
Small Businesses Roar Back in the Year of the Tiger
February 1 is the first day of the lunar, or Chinese, new year. I’m excited because this year is a “Year of the Tiger.” And a tiger year should be a very good year for entrepreneurs, startups, and small business owners, whether or not you’re Chinese. Each year of the Chinese lunar calendar is associated …
Small Businesses Roar Back in the Year of the TigerRead More
Starting a One Person Business
Starting a new business? If you are, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, these past two years have been banner years for people launching a new company. Perhaps they were quitting jobs as part of the “Great Resignation.” Or, maybe since folks working from home had more time, or maybe it was just more people …
8 Resolutions for Small Business in 2022
Every year, I create a list of my small business new year’s resolutions. I think of these as a way to focus priorities for the coming year. I invite you to join me as you face 2022 in your small business. Before I drew up this year’s list, I went over some of the lists …
7 Things You Can Do to Support Small Business Right Now
Americans love small business. If you ask them which institution in the country they trust the most, “small business” comes out right on top. We small business people are more trusted than big business, labor, even the church and the military (*). But now, America, it’s time to put your money where your heart is. …
7 Things You Can Do to Support Small Business Right NowRead More
10 Tips to Ring In More Holiday Cash
If “location, location, location” are the first three rules of real estate, the first three rules of small business money management are “cash, cash, cash.” And if managing cash flow is important any time of year, it’s even more challenging during the critical holiday season. In every business, there’s a lag between money going out …
Nine Tips for Small Biz Holiday Success
If I have one message to send to small businesses about preparing for the holidays in 2021, it’s don’t wait. I’m not just talking to you retailers—though you’re the ones I’m sending this message to the loudest. Small businesses in every industry need to think through how they’ll make the most of #Holidays2021. Every year, …
Unsexy Marketing That Works
Hiring a celebrity to be a social influencer. Product placement on a popular TV show. Podcasts. Blogs. There are lots of sexy, fun ways to market your small business. They’ll cost a lot of money. And they probably won’t work. The reality is that for most small businesses, the best types of marketing are unsexy—they’re …
Find and Keep Your Best Small Biz Workers
I saw a shocking statistic the other day—one-third of millennials plan to quit their job once the Covid pandemic is no longer an issue. Whoa—that’s a lot of workers who’ll be job-hunting. Some may be employees in your small business. How can you retain your best employees? And, as importantly, is this an opportunity for …
