Does your partner view the business as “our baby” or do they see it as “your mistress”? The answer helps to show how a spouse feels about your business, including the level of commitment they have. “In this context, I think that a ’mistress’ separates you—it becomes more important to you than your relationship with each other. And when [ Read More ]
"Why should I do business with you?" That’s one of the toughest questions for business owners to answer. Customer service, quality, or the ability to partner with other companies are all important factors, but those are factors that just allow you to be in business, says Tony Collins, Aileron Business Coach and owner of TurningPoint Strategy. In order to [ Read More ]
We sat down with Wes Gipe, a business owner who is now a Business Coach at Aileron, to talk about how fear shows up in an organization. Wes gave us insight into how leaders can deal with uncertainty in order to be more productive, effective, and resilient throughout their lives. How Does Fear Show Itself In An Organization? Within [ Read More ]
In an ever-changing world, we’re tasked with staying relevant and profitable. Often, leaders turn to books, lectures, and workshops to stay current. This is the traditional approach. But what if I actually told you, for you to have a more abundant personal and professional life, you actually have to adopt the philosophy of continuous unlearning? This might strike you [ Read More ]
In looking to create great results, we have to balance getting results in the near-term with building our organization’s capability to maximize results in the long-term.But what are the methods and ways in which we can help encourage this kind of continual improvement within our organization? And how can anyone, no matter their role or authority level, create value and [ Read More ]
The hardest resource to give is your time. As a leader, when we're giving our time to people, we're giving them love and we're encouraging them,” says Scott McGohan, CEO at McGohan Brabender. We sat down with both Scott and John Meredith, President and Owner of SaverSystems, to talk about the power of giving back, including how part of taking [ Read More ]
While it is not as easy as it once was before the Great Recession, all banks and other lenders still need to loan money to small business. The key is to know how to do it and get the best terms. Here is a simple 7 step process: Step 1: Start before the loan is needed. It is critical [ Read More ]
One of the last things that may be on a business owner's mind when starting a company are legal issues. Unfortunately, many unforeseen issues can be a result of what business owners didn't think about when starting out. Here are the top 9 legal mistakes made by small business owners, including what can be done about them (in addition to [ Read More ]
Sharing self-doubts with your leadership team may not seem like a way to make your business stronger, but for Dave Dunaway, it helped him turnaround his company and create a great company culture in the process. Every Company Has Setbacks Since 1993, after taking the reigns of the company from his father, Dave has been Owner and President of [ Read More ]
When thinking about an organization, many people think of a hierarchical, “org chart” view—a visual view that is top down or bottom up. Often, that picture of an organization has the leader at the top, with the management layers underneath. But does this traditional view of an organization tell us anything about the factors driving quality, customer loyalty, employee [ Read More ]
Gary Grefer, President and CEO of Atlantic Foods Corp., had just successfully reinvented his company. After losing a large account that represented the majority of the company’s business, Gary had led the company during its quick and successful turnaround. “With the help of Aileron, we redefined the company, we recreated the culture, and we restructured the organization. We went [ Read More ]
It’s hard to accomplish anything without a plan. Whether you’re coaching a football team, cooking Thanksgiving dinner, or running a small business, you need a strategic plan. A strategic plan looks at all the things your small business could do and narrows it down to the things it is actually good at doing. A strategic plan also helps business [ Read More ]
