The beginning of a new year brings many of us to embrace setting goals and making plans with great gusto.…
As we step into a new year, many of us embrace traditions to welcome fresh beginnings. It’s a time to…
In the whirlwind of running a growing business, juggling personal commitments, and ensuring client satisfaction, time often feels like a…
As a small business owner, you’ve probably taken on multiple roles, juggling everything from marketing to customer service. But if…
For many, September feels like the start of a “New Year”. It’s the perfect time to refresh your goals and…
“Your diamonds are not in far distant mountains or in yonder seas; they are in your own backyard, if you…
I often hear business owners debate the value of planning. ⚖Some argue that it’s a waste of time, citing reasons…
Download our Ideal Client worksheet and get started now! Do you feel like you’re spinning your wheels, wasting your resources,…
Our work with hundreds of business owners has shown us that although every business and each business owner have their…
The start of a new year brings renewed energy and hope. It’s customary at this time of year for Business…
“I am so good at starting things … why do I suck at finishing everything?” This was the plaintive query…
Small business owners often wear the title ‘Chief Cook and Bottle Washer’. The tasks that rise to the top of…
As a business owner, it’s critical to stay focused and consistently make the effort to achieve the business results that…
There is an overwhelming array of marketing and sales tools and techniques available for business owners. Countless books promise to…
Do you feel like you’re getting nowhere quickly? Is your business stuck and you can’t seem to get through your…
I have been accused of being a bit of a Pollyanna, the one with great faith in possibility … but…
You may well ask yourself – What do tomato plants and your plans have in common? If you’ve ever gardened,…
This year has sped past. We blinked – and now we’re closing off 2022 and looking forward to 2023 and…
Sampling as an effective marketing strategy has been around for a very long time. A local story – In 1913,…
As the intensity of the pandemic lessens several business owners have commented to me about looking forward to “going back”…
What Is a Budget? A budget is a projection of your future income (Revenue) and expenses for a specific period,…
The world’s oldest form of business partnership is alive and well. In fact, it is thriving and growing. It is…
One consistent thing over the past two years has been the continued support and camaraderie within the small business community…
When you launched your business, you knew the start-up phase would be challenging. But here it is, several years later,…
Despite all the important things we must deal with as business owners, the one constant and most important responsibility we…
As I listened to a speaker at a prestigious business conference give advice on how to achieve small business success,…
We are currently working with our clients to think beyond 2021. We believe 2021 is going to be some rendition…
It has been a very different year, many of us are looking forward to some down time over the holidays…
Every November we embrace planning for the year ahead; for our own business and with our clients. Typically, a big…
The greatest responsibility you have as a business owner is to generate revenue for your business. However, you didn’t go into…
Published: May 14th, 2020; By: Judi Hughes It’s time to look past our current situation and set our focus on…
Published: March 11th, 2020; By: Judi Hughes Do you have a career path to achieve the growth you want for…
Published: December 3rd, 2019; By: Judi Hughes As Philip Orsini wrote, “Companies don’t fail because they grow. The fail because…
Published: October 22nd, 2019; By: Judi Hughes Through experience, we know being in business is not always all it’s cracked…
Published: September 10th, 2019; By: Judi Hughes Small Business Owners spend way too much time and money meeting new people…
Published: June 26th, 2019; By: Judi Hughes Hurray it’s summer! The days are longer, the sun is shining, patios are…
Published: May 28th 2019; By: Nick & Judi Hughes Are you sitting on a great idea? Have you been carrying…
Published: April 26th, 2019; By: Nick & Judi Hughes Along with April Showers and spring flowers; April also marks the…
Published: February 26th, 2019; By: Judi Hughes I was at a networking event recently when I overheard this conversation: “How…
Published: January 29th, 2019 As business owners, your most important responsibility is to develop and successfully execute the annual plan. Good news is,…
Published: September 28th, 2018; By: Judi Hughes When I first started in business, some colleagues gifted me a crystal ball…
Published: August 1st, 2018; By: Judi Hughes We love working with entrepreneurs. People who own their own business are some…
Published: March 29th, 2018; By: Judi Hughes There is actually a dictionary definition for Chief Cook & Bottle Washer –…
Published: February 7th, 2018; By: Judi Hughes “I’ve come to believe that connecting is one of the most important business…
Published: November 30th, 2017; By: Judi Hughes “Always plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark”, wrote Richard Cushing.…
Published: November 17th, 2017; By: Judi Hughes In our experience growing a business without creating and using a plan is unpredictable and risky. …
Published: October 20th, 2017; By: Judi Hughes There is one factor that business owners seldom consider as part of the…
Published: June 29th, 2017; By: Judi Hughes Don’t get stuck in the “everything slows down in the summer” syndrome. Use…
Published: March 15th, 2017; Written by our guest blogger: Andy Bush www.bushmarketing.ca For a successful business to not have a…
Published: February 28th, 2017; By: Judi Hughes No matter the size of the company, there will be a time that…
Published: December 16th, 2016; By: Judi Hughes It isn’t too late! This year give yourself and your business the gift…
Published: August 17th, 2016; By Nick Hughes So, you want to grow your business? Great! There’s nothing more exciting than…
Published: July 13th, 2016; by Judi Hughes If your strategic plan maps out how you will achieve your business goals,…
To grow a successful business you must manage it holistically. You must focus on the complete business and not just…
Did you know that one of the biggest barriers to business growth is you, the business owner! There are four…
Published: March 23rd, 2016; by Judi Hughes A slower economy can be a great time to grow your business As…
Published: March 2nd, 2016; by Judi Hughes How much money are you leaving on the table because you don’t follow-up?…
Published: February 5th, 2016; by Judi Hughes Business owners are some of the most creative people I know. Small business…
Published: January 12th, 2016; by Judi Hughes As business owners we are in the business of change management. So much…
Published: December 2nd, 2015; by Judi Hughes “Always plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark”, wrote Richard Cushing.…
Published: November 20th 2015; by Judi Hughes According to a 2012 Canadian study conducted by profitguide.com, 76% of business owners…
Published: November 3rd, 2015; by Judi Hughes Do you have a business owner’s mindset? When you prepare for a day’s…
Published: October 7th, 2015; by Nick Hughes Advances in technology have been very beneficial for small businesses. Not only has…
Published: September 23rd, 2015; by Judi Hughes It’s been said that it takes between 7 to 12 “touches” to turn…
Published: August 12th, 2015; by Judi Hughes Steve Jobs, the founder and eventual saviour of Apple, was quoted as saying:…
Small Business – Marketing & Sales 101 We often hear the phrase “marketing and sales” used in small business as…
Pricing your products for profit is a mix of science, experience, knowledge and guesswork. The science part is the formula.…
By Guest Blogger, Marguerite Orane “But isn’t silence a sign of weakness?” my coachee asked. We were discussing a difficult…
Published: April 8th, 2015; By: Judi Hughes No one marketing initiative should be a stand-alone activity. One marketing activity must…
Is there an easy way to manage your business? No! There is no easy way but there is an effective…
One of the challenges faced by us business owners is being objective about our own business! We are too close…
Are your products or services profitable? Or, do you assume that you’re making sales so you must be making money? To…
I have always been puzzled by what an A-Team means. I know it is a term from the military for…
Published: January 9th, 2015; By: Judi Hughes Many business owners plan to grow; few plan for growth! By this I…
Our guest blogger this week is Sharone Bar-David, who shares her wonderful tool to help us take care of…
The previous blog was all about how to prepare to plan. A plan after all is only as good as…
Planning is not a quick fix; it is the first step in a journey. So like anything in life the…
Written by our guest blogger Susan Gregory www.susangregory.ca Creating a daily plan is my number one suggestion for better time…
In our previous blog we wrote about how important profits are to the growth and success of your business. To…
Profit is not a dirty word despite the fact the some people believe it is the result of unethical businesses…
The previous blog talked about the pitfalls to avoid when building your team. This blog focuses on how to build…
Building your team does have challenges but it also has huge rewards. You will be energized by your team’s successes.…
One motivation for many people starting their own business is the promise of more flexible time. Time to do the…
Attitude IS everything. Arrive at work feeling positive and upbeat and the day will be wonderful. Arrive with a dread…
As a business owner you are constantly faced with daunting tasks. You know the ones; they stretch out ahead of…
When we had our IT Consulting business our offices were in Cabbagetown; the beautifully refurbished old Victorian neighbourhood of Toronto. One…
Your business will not grow by magic! Its growth requires your dedication, your experience, your leadership, and most of all…
Are you stuck on the Fragmented Focus Treadmill? You know the feeling; running and running ever faster and getting absolutely…
by Guest Blogger Jeff Goldenberg If entrepreneurs focus on building a great culture with the same passion that they exude…
Business owners wear many hats and so it is often difficult to stay focused on the really important things. As…
If like many business owners you are starting to plan 2014 … STOP! Before you go any further make sure…
I was reading a Maclean’s article called “Really Bad Bosses”when I was stopped in my tracks by the following: “So…
Recently I had the pleasure of serving on a panel discussing the topic “Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast”. It was…
“How do projects fall behind schedule?”Answer: “One day at a time”. Projects must be managed closely at all times, every…
This is the third in a series of four blogs focused on the importance of successful projects in building a…
In the previous blog we introduced you to the idea that without projects the business will go nowhere. In fact…
What is the single most important ingredient for business success? Having enough clients? Building a great team? Profitable products and…
One motivation for many people starting their own business is the promise of more flexible time. Time to do the…
Accept the fact that you will never get everything done! When I tell this to business owners there is a…
“Everyone knows that too few sales are fatal. But very few owner-managers understand that too many sales, made too fast,…
There are a number of simple ways to get some movement into your desk bound day! These exercises are not…
Build Your Business By Building Relationships! You go to a networking event. You do all of the right things. You…
What makes some people successful over others? Why do some people persevere in the face of obstacles and others are…
Not only does time spent planning increase your productivity and save you money but it’s estimated that each minute spent…
Published: Mar 6th 2013; By: Judi Hughes Coaching small business owners, I’ve found a couple of metaphors that are very…
There are more opinions, more books, more articles and more blogs about selling than almost any other business topic. When…
Being a business owner means you are constantly excited about what you do, invigorated by what the future holds, confident…
If you google “meetings bloody meetings”you get over 11 million results and page after page of workshops, how to books,…
As the previous blogs point out, a good plan is: The key to business success Easy to do What is…
If you want your business to be successful then you need to plan for it. Planning the future of your…
As business owners we are in the change business. So much of what we do is initiating and managing change.…
It wasn’t a big change and so we didn’t expect anything to go wrong. How wrong we were! The change…
Do you know the purpose of your business? Do you clearly understand why you started your business? Have you communicated…
One of the common attributes of successful people, whether they are athletes, entertainers, or business leaders, is their ability to…
“The central element of a vibrant economy may be described in a short sentence: a business owner hires a worker.”…
Why is No so powerful? Because it gives you permission to stop doing what you shouldn’t be doing so you…
Why is why so powerful? Because it enables you to get to the root of a problem, rather that applying…
Why is information so powerful? Because it is the life blood of managing a business. Without information we have no…
For many business owners they wear it as a badge of honour; the inscription reads; “I haven’t had a real…
I have 2 great summer reads for you this time. But you won’t want to read them from front to…
Do you want your presentations to be more effective? Do you want your message to be heard and remembered by…
It is one of the great mysteries of the universe. There always comes a time when a business runs out…
What is your company worth? If you were to close the doors today how much money would you have left?…
Do you want to get rid of that nagging voice in the back of your head? You know the one.…
Most business owners would prefer to chew on cut glass rather than pay attention to the financial results of their…
Business ownership is a never ending chase after new revenue. If we don’t get new revenue we won’t get revenue…
You don’t build your business by “earning revenue”you build your business by “generating revenue”. And you generate revenue by getting…
We hear it all the time: “I just don’t have enough time to do everything”. And it’s true! So here…
When you plan to execute a large project or campaign it is very easy to become overwhelmed. Overwhelm leads to…
Our guest blogger, who wants to remain anonymous, writes: I am a master procrastinator, so well-practiced that the date of…
Not doing something that should be done is called procrastination. While procrastination can be good, for example we end up…
The blog theme for March is procrastination, which probably means it will never happen! Procrastination is putting off doing something…
As we end our February theme of focus focus focus we introduce you to a powerful tool to help you…
Business owners are extremely creative people. They build something from nothing; they create new and wonderful products; they constantly think…
A recent MacLean’s special feature about Canada’s Small Business World starts out saying “more than a million small businesses operate…
We believe every Canadian business owner should have the opportunity to build the Perfect Business. But what is a Perfect…
The end of one calendar year and the beginning of another brings many of us to embrace setting goals and…
The book Good to Great by Jim Collins was the result of a research study Jim and a team of…
Do you have something in your business or our life you want to change … some situation you want to…
It is the Circle of Life of an entrepreneur. We start a business because we have a passion for something.…
Alex was bored with his business but that was okay because it gave him plenty of time to pursue his…
Published: October 27th, 2011: By: Nick Hughes Ed Mirvish was 15 when his father died. As a result, he had…
Last week we celebrated two Canadian companies that have a significant impact in Canada; Lee Valley Tools and Dufflet Pastries.…
For some obscure reason it has been decided (by whom I do not know) that October is small business month.…
Cholesterol is often described as the silent killer. High cholesterol is bad for us and yet there are no symptoms.…
One of the challenges faced by us business owners is being objective about our own business! We are too close…
This month’s blogs have been all about customers. How to care for them. How to deliver excellent customer service that…
We all want to give our customers the very best service. Unfortunately, Murphy is lurking in the shadows to ensure…
“Do you provide good customer service?” We ask every business owner who crosses our path that question. Not surprisingly, they…
The statistics are startling. Of the customers who leave you: 3% do so because they move away 12% are lured…
Do you like your customers? Yes you heard me. Do you like your customers? Of course, you say. After all…
Building your team does have challenges but it also has huge rewards. You will be energized by the team’s successes.…
If you want to build your business you can only do it by building your team. So say after me:…
I was recently reading an article about the differences between Canadian and Indian business manners. Interesting topic but what really…
David was an ambitious and proud man who was desperate to be very rich. To this end he traveled the…
Not everyone shops at Wal-Mart. Not everyone buys a Mini Cooper; despite the fact that I think it is the…
Business owners are exciting, creative people who have taken the huge step of being masters of their own financial future.…
A business exists for two reasons and two reasons only: To pay its owners a decent income. To increase its…
You went into business because you wanted to do what you love and you wanted to make a good living…
No matter how successful you are in business, it is a fact that you will have cash flow problems at…
I recently went to see “The Kings Speech”. I thought it was brilliant. I believe it deserved to win Best…
We all have something we fear. Fear of flying; fear of heights; fear of public speaking; fear of spiders ……
One of the biggest challenges faced by all business owners is balancing the Money Now with Money Later. Money Now…
Growing a business is a risky business. In fact there are more risks associated with growing a business than there…
David was a very ambitious and proud man and was desperate to be very rich. To this end he traveled…
When we had our IT Consulting business our offices were in Cabbagetown; the beautifully refurbished old Victorian neighbourhood of Toronto.…
Your vision is your unique dream. It is the image of what you want your business to become. It provides…
If you are creating a job you are probably feeling frustrated because your hard work isn’t being reflected in growing,…
I was leaving the Gladstone Hotel recently when the title on a flyer caught my eye ~ Don’t Get Good…
Rob MacGregor, owner of Koyana Inc (“We Save Software Projects In Crisis!” www.koyanainc.com) selected the Books n Brew book and…
In the previous post I wrote about the seven barriers to business success and how one of them is us…
Books n Brew is an opportunity for Your Planning Partners’ community to get together and discuss business books …. and…
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