The Productivity of Simplicity

The Productivity of Simplicity

We’ve all read some sort of personal productivity system during our business lives. The problem is finding one that really works for you. The secret is definitely to minimize the number of touches. Here is a little system that is working well for me. Basically 3...

Scaling A Business – A Chat with Joe Alsop

Joe Alsop founded Progress Software in 1981. The first year of sales was 1984 at a few hundred thousand dollars. This is the graph of profitable sales that followed that first year, covering 25 years until he resigned in 2009 when sales were $515m and the market...
As an SMB Owner – How Do You Measure Your Week?

As an SMB Owner – How Do You Measure Your Week?

As the owner of a private company how do you measure a good week? What are your jugular metrics when measured at 5pm on a Friday night that give you the essential picture?  I know there are literally 100 Key Performance Indicators you can measure but if I gave you the...
The Odds Game

The Odds Game

In the US the odds of selling a business for $10m or more in 2011 were 1 in 4627 or 0.022%. (5900 out of 27.3m US businesses) In the UK the odds of would be pop stars being signed by a record label in 2011 were 1 in 3428 or 0.029%. (175 out of 600,000) The odds of...
Questions that Scaling needs to solve

Questions that Scaling needs to solve

Questions Have you positioned your business in the best medium term market? Are you remarkable or invisible in the market? Are you clear on your Product Road Map? Is your business outgrowing your staff? Are you waiting too long to hire new people? Have you formalized...
5 Ideas to Help Scale at 25.9% Growth

5 Ideas to Help Scale at 25.9% Growth

You are a key shareholder in a private company with  sales in the $2m to $30m range. What % do you need to grow Sales to build a business that is 10 times bigger in 10 years – 25.9%. That’s the math. That’s 10x thinking. Or if you are in a hurry to do it in 5...
Problem Solving for CEOs

Problem Solving for CEOs

As you drive your business forward, scaling towards success, one thing is clear. You will always encounter problems. You can walk around opportunities but problems need to met head on. Here are 10 simple rules for effective problem-solving in business: Ten Simple...
10 Benefits of Acquisitions (especially for SMBs)

10 Benefits of Acquisitions (especially for SMBs)

It may seem to you as an owner of an SMB (sales $5m to $100m)  that acquisitions are a big boy game. Nonsense. Parking money and post acquisition integration expertise, here are the benefits to SMB owners: An acquirer knows that doing a small deal is as painful as...