Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs’ Podcast

How many tasks are you “managing” at one time? How effective are you while doing those things and how does multitasking impact your creativity? Join us this week on episode 106 of the Small Business Show and find out how your hosts deal with the urge to instantly respond to Slack posts and Messages. Dave brings up the concept of Spotlighting vs. Multitasking after Shannon explains his typical method of quickly jumping in and out of many different tasks during the day. We also discuss ways to push back on distractions and how to bring back some of that missing downtime in your life. Finally, since the guys love “Spotlighting” from one topic to another, you’ll here about the concept of allocating as much time to the news as it impacts your life. This proportional allocation can help to put things in perspective. So, turn off all those distractions and listen in to this episode of the Small Business Show! Chapters/Timestamps: 00:00:00 Small Business Show #106 February 15, 2017 00:02:16 The power of powering through 00:04:20 Why You Shouldn’t Multitask 00:07:48 Don’t multitask, Spotlight instead 00:12:45 Implied urgency 00:15:33 Internal vs. External distractions 00:16:22 Downtime is when good ideas come 00:19:13 Allocating proportional time to the news 00:23:08 Understanding your own mental bandwidth… and living within it. 00:27:33 Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Messaging 00:29:48 SBS Outtro The post Evil Multitasking or Powerful Spotlighting to Manage Your Time – Small Business Show 106 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

The thought of even pretending to fail is anathema to your hosts on the Small Business Show. However, Dave came across the concept of the Pre-Mortem and the guys go all-in today to see how it works. “A pre-mortem — also known as a premortem — is a managerial strategy in which a manager imagines that a project or organization has failed, and then works backward to determine what potentially could lead to the failure of the project or organization.” Can you see why this kind of freaks us out? Your Purveyor’s of Positivity, your Champions of the Charmed Life don’t like to let the concept of failure get in the way of their ideas. This has worked for both Dave and Shannon for decades, launching new businesses and letting new ideas develop before they get squashed by negativity. But, we think this Pre-Mortem idea has some real value and on this episode of the Small Business Show, we turn the tables and tear into our own show using the pre-mortem technique. So, how did we do? Listen in to find out and then jump over to our Support Group to share your thoughts on using a pre-mortem on your own business. Podcast Chapters & Timestamps 00:00:00 Small Business Show #105 February 8, 2017 00:03:40 A pre-mortem Apple’s Pre-Mortem Inc. 00:05:14 Is it a good idea? 00:06:18 Balancing optimism and pessimism 00:07:26 Pre-mortem of the Small Business Show 00:09:35 Danger: no financial gain Grow listeners to grow sponsors 00:12:27 Direct vs. Indirect revenue 00:15:17 1,000 True Fans 00:18:25 Danger: Not seeing the numbers 00:22:52 Voicing doubts without being a naysayer 00:28:07 Outtro Articles mentioned: Harvard Business Review: Performing a Project Premortem Riskology: The Pre-Mortem: A Simple Technique to Save Any Project From Failure 1000 True Fans The post Planning for failure? Use the Pre-Mortem technique to test your project or business concept– Small Business Show 105 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

If you had the choice, would you continue the traditions of a multi-generational business that provided decades of support for those that came before you? Or would you turn things upside down and commit to growing the business and challenging yourself (and your company) to embrace new technology, new customers and a new workforce? If you are a Small Business Show listener, we think we know what your answer is. Join us today as we spend some time with David Oliva of RD Appliance Service as he describes the journey from a self-employed entity founded over 50 years ago to a fast growing company that embraces change and challenges traditional methods to become the very best they can be. During our interview, we covered a ton of great Small Business topics such as working with your spouse, expansion with new employees, raising your prices and finding a new high-end service niche and much more. Listen in to episode 104 of the Small Business Show, then jump over to the SBS Support Group on Facebook to share your comments! Chapters/Timestamps: 00:00:00 Small Business Show #104 February 1, 2017 00:01:28 Interview: David Oliva from RD Appliance Service 00:02:47 The multi-generational transition 00:03:42 Changing the vision 00:04:38 Working with your spouse 00:05:54 Expansion via hiring and partnerships 00:07:08 The challenge of employees – keeping your “edge” and challenging yourself 00:09:24 It’s time to raise prices … a lot! Being a great Tech does not make you a great business owner. 00:11:58 Making changes with your parent as a partner 00:13:22 Going upscale! Finding your niche – 00:21:02 Best mistake: Worker’s Comp is a variable cost! 00:23:14 Stock parts: arrive prepared for each client 00:24:08 Service providers: watch out for aftermarket warranties 00:25:51 Scheduling time to work on your business 00:26:35 Being the best is the best success 00:28:04 Learn from other Small Business Owners 00:28:31 Don’t underestimate the value of your skills The post Small Business Interview with David Oliva of RD Appliance Service – Small Business Show 104 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Jay Gentile has a passion for saving time, his clients as well as his own! What began as a mobile product repair business, led to SEO and web design and finally into application development and the BoosterBots family of marketing apps. Join us today on the Small Business Show and learn how Jay made the transition from his first two businesses to ultimately creating a company that gives him the reward of helping people succeed along with the freedom and flexibility to lead his own Charmed Life. During the interview, we discussed leaving the corporate world to begin a new business, learning about SEO and PPC advertising to help clients and then using it to grow his own company and why following his interests has been so important. We then jump into discussing the importance of telling your personal story when marketing your company, how to offer long term support on products sold with a one-time fee and sticking to niche markets where you can have a big impact. Listen in to learn about BoosterBots success and more on this episode of the Small Business Show, then come over to the SBS Support Group to continue the discussion! Chapters/timestamps: 00:00:00 Small Business Show #103 January 25, 2017 00:01:18 Interview: Jay Gentile from BoosterBots  00:02:11 Another story of an HP employee branching off 00:05:04 The “problem” was, I didn’t own my own business 00:05:42 Led to SEO, PPC, Affiliate and online marketing 00:06:49 Transition from one business to another 00:08:39 Following your interests 00:10:23 Making your small business about you -telling your story 00:11:47 Supporting a one-time-fee product 00:15:13 Identifying and using your talent stack 00:16:24 Always be marketing! 00:17:25 Intentional marketing with private software 00:19:00 Niche specific software markets 00:20:36 Success is doing the things you want to do when you want to do them! 00:23:02 Best mistake: not delegating quickly enough 00:24:12 Stressed-out people do bad customer service 00:26:34 Don’t fear change! Evolving your business requires it. 00:28:10 Split test your ass off! 00:29:39 SBS 103 Outtro The post Small Business Interview with Jay Gentile of BoosterBots – Small Business Show Episode 103 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

When Tyler Merritt noticed that his good friend was running a growing appliance repair business with no software to track accounting, schedules or workers, he did what good friends do: he offered to help build a customized application for the business. The guys spent about a year putting together the app and since they figured that most small service businesses had the same problems, they decided to launch Field Harmony to help service companies manage all aspects of their operations.  The goal was to help their own business, contribute to the success of others and then use the revenue from Field Harmony to “purchase our time back from the world”. On this episode of the Small Business Show, Dave and Shannon spend time learning about Tyler’s journey and what it took to get Field Harmony from an idea to an actual product that could be sold. We discuss partnerships, marketing, trusting your employees, the importance of asking potential customers if they would actually use your solution and much more. Listen in and then share your thoughts on our Small Business Facebook group! Chapters/Timestamps 00:00:00 Small Business Show #102 January 18, 2017 00:01:11 Interview: Tyler Merritt from Field Harmony 00:01:25 smallbusiness Subreddit 00:02:00 Solving a problem – managing service people in the field 00:05:20 Taking your internal solution and selling it to others 00:07:23 The perfect partnership: one has the industry connections, other with technology 00:08:38 Separating yourself from the solution 00:12:30 “We want to purchase our time back from the world” – with the business revenue 00:13:48 Making the leap: when can we quit our day jobs and focus 100% on this business. 00:15:29 Marketing focus – pay per click, word of mouth, email marketing 00:16:43 Running your business on a spiral notebook 00:18:40 Trust people to do what you hired them to do… and only that! 00:19:37 Ask potential customers “Does anybody want this?”   00:21:25 “Your time is the only thing you can’t print more of!” 00:23:32 Best mistake: forgetting that other people – even your business partners – are not you, don’t think like you and don’t know what you’re thinking. 00:26:38 Measuring success: Positive feedback from our customers & contributing to the success of others. 00:28:59 Let the good stuff in … and out! 00:31:54 Field Harmony 00:32:54 SBS Outtro   The post Small Business Interview with Tyler Merritt from Field Harmony – Small Business Show Episode 102 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

What’s more difficult? Starting up a new company or taking over and changing the culture of a 4th generation small business? Join us today on the Small Business Show with our guest Rick Stuart from Listo, a company founded in 1921! How would you handle taking over and managing employees that have known you since you were a kid? What about “updating” the culture of a company almost a century old? Would you rush in and be in a hurry to make changes to take advantage of current market opportunities, or would you take your time before you started making changes? Dave and Shannon explore these questions and more on today’s show. During the conversation with Rick, we learn about the importance of pivoting into new markets (sound familiar?), going “low-tech” and getting smaller to grow. Listen in to learn about how Rick adapted himself and his small business to keep it moving beyond the first 100 years. Chapters/Timestamps/Stuff Mentioned 00:00:00 Small Business Show #101 January 11, 2017 00:01:18 Interview: Rick Stuart from Listo Pencil Company <http://www.listo.com/pencil.htm> 00:02:01 Multigenerational (4x!) business 00:04:22 Low-tech is a quandary… or is it? <http://www.listo.com/pencil.htm> 00:06:21 Pivot, pivot, pivot! It’s (still) all about customer service 00:07:46 Started with… and returned to the family business 00:09:56 Running a company – and people – older than you are! 00:11:23 Changing (updating?) the company culture 00:15:07 “Go have fun with it, kiddo!” 00:16:33 Real estate as a hedge 00:17:56 Estate planning as part of a business plan 00:19:54 Looking at things from a different perspective – split out manufacturing 00:22:35 Shrinking to grow 00:25:33 Evolve: don’t hang on too long! 00:28:17 Let the brand live its own life “Be a steward of the brand” It’s OK to let a small business be small 00:31:09 Take time to Earn (trust) and Learn (the business) The post Managing and Stewarding a 4th Generation Small Business – Rick Stuart from Listo Corp – Small Business Show 101 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Welcome to the 100th episode of the Small Business Show! As they begin 2017, Dave and Shannon take a look back at some of the highlights from last year in the advice and how-to categories. Your hosts revisit tips and tricks from 8 of their favorite episodes and wrap up the show with a reminder about finding ways for your business to enrich your personal life. Join us today and then share your story on the Small Business Support Group! Chapters/Timestamps 00:00:00 Small Business Show #100 January 4, 2017 2016 Year in Review: Advice/How-to 00:01:13 Small Business Support Group 00:02:32 Ep52 – Executive Summary – Get ready to do yours. Then share with us! 00:07:15 Ep55 – The Sammy Hagar show! – Learning from Sammy to make your customer feel like they are the most important to you. 00:09:25 Ep57 – Slack – you need to be using it if you are not already. 00:12:35 Ep65 – Scott Adams’ “How to Fail at Almost Everything & Still Win Big” – Definitely the most mentioned book of 2016 for us. 00:15:16 Ep68 – Tax/IRS Advice – Hang up and call back to get the person you want. Talk to them. 00:18:53 Ep87 – Starting our Small Business Support Group 00:20:09 Ep73 – Build Your Success List! – Don’t forget just what a bad ass you really are. Shannon’s article can help! 00:21:01 Ep49 –  Credit card tips and naming your business – Worth mentioning again the important of CC programs as part of your Charmed Life System (CLS) 00:24:25 Finding ways for your business to enrich your life The post Small Business Show Advice and How-to Year in Review – Small Business Show 100 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

As we wrap up 2016 with our last Small Business Show episode of the year, Dave and Shannon take a look back at some of the highlights of their favorite interviews from the past 12-months. Join us today we we revisit some of these moments that stuck with us! Chapters/Timestamps: 00:00:00 Small Business Show #99 December 28, 2016 00:02:06 Year in Review Interviews 00:03:06 Ep79 – Greg Mercer of JungleScout – Still one of my favorite interviews of the year. 00:08:25 Ep89 – Harald Sinow – Still impressed by his victory lap 00:10:09 Ep56 – Paul Goodman/PuraVida – The Beer Test in action! 00:14:07 Ep61 – Bob Grewal of Seapoint Business Advisors – selling your business. 00:16:10 Ep83 – Paul Downs & “Boss Life” 00:18:42 Ep63 – Bryan O’Connell from Meras Engineering – managing growth and finding and advisory group 00:21:10 Ep77 – Tim Cote – Commonwealth Foreign Exchange. – Another beer test success story – killer execution. 00:24:34 Ep58 – Jason Snell – Resiliency – adjusting to changing conditions to succeed – eventually realizing he needed to control his own destiny and start Six Colors Personal stuff 00:27:27 Ep54 – Dave & Shannon Interview Each other 00:28:45 Ep75 – Shannon’s Closet Begins! 00:30:58 Ep64 – Dave’s Expert Witness business, and… 00:34:04 Ep66 – Talk about a crappy week… The post The Best Small Business Owner Interviews of 2016 –  Small Business Show 99 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

What would happen if a favorite business that you visit often suddenly began introducing political comments in the mix of their marketing or posting political signs in their store. Would you respect their right to do so, even if you disagreed with their politics? Join Dave and Shannon on episode 98 of the Small Business Show as they discuss the pros and cons of mixing politics with your Small Business. The discussion begins with Shannon discussing one of his favorite, daily news sites that has recently begun introducing political links and commentary into their daily content. Can you successfully mix your political beliefs and your business? Maybe that attracts customers to you or maybe it’s a disaster? Your hosts try to look at all angles of this topic as well as throwing in a few tips about creating your Charmed Life along with your Small Business. Listen in and then share your thoughts on our Facebook Small Business Support page! Chapters/Timestamps: 00:00:00 Small Business Show #98 December 21, 2016 00:01:05 Should politics be mixed with your business? 00:03:37 Daring Fireball … adds politics? 00:05:30 Curating your business’s audience 00:10:22 Politically agnostic or simply politically quiet 00:13:01 Contract of Respect 00:14:15 Priorities and Respect 00:18:43 Don’t be distracted from creating your OWN reality – your Charmed Life 00:21:05 When lodging a complaint, know your audience 00:24:12 What’s your business do with politics? Is it part of your niche? The post Politics and Your Small Business – Should you mix them? – Small Business Show episode 98 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

As Small Business owners, we have a duty to uphold. That duty, to our employees, partners, suppliers and service providers is to communicate in a timely manner and pay our bills on time, among other things. What happens when we fail at this? Well, that depends on how you handle the situation. Join Dave and Shannon on episode 97 of the Small Business Show to discuss a real world example of how NOT to handle things when they go wrong. We also discuss the impact of employees, suppliers and customers having their own audiences to share their experiences with – are you OK with word getting out about how you treat your employees? We hope you are, because that is just a few clicks away for every Small Business. Listen in to the show and then join the conversation on the Small Business Support Group! Chapters/Timestamps: 00:00:00 Small Business Show #97 December 14th, 2016 00:02:44 What happens when the boss goes sideways? 00:08:18 Communication and Transparency is key 00:11:52 What to do when you can’t pay 00:16:11 Creating your own reality #charmedlife 00:17:36 The Dark-Side of being overly optimistic 00:20:53 Running a business when employees/vendors/customers have their own audiences 00:24:57 It comes back to transparency The post What happens when a small business owner doesn’t solve problems and lets employees down? – Small Business Show 97 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.