If there’s one sentiment most people (including business owners) share about natural or man-made disasters, it’s this: I can’t imagine it happening to me. Unfortunately, disasters of all kinds strike every day and someone—often, large groups of individuals or...

Regardless of past experience and knowledge, starting a business can be challenging and, at times, feel overwhelming. There’s so much to learn—not only about how best to make and market a new product or service, but all the terminology that goes into the planning...

Businesses can rarely predict a crisis before it happens. But companies can and should prepare for as many scenarios as possible, in order to minimise damage if and when a disaster—or even a minor disruption to business—occurs. Those companies that fail to prepare are...

Every business has a target audience—a specific grouping of individuals who will respond most enthusiastically to its marketing message. This grouping encompasses both existing and prospective customers who share certain fundamental traits and behaviours. In the...

Running a successful business comes down to the quality and effectiveness of the decisions that you make. Whether you’re just starting out and coming up with a plan, or already have an established business that you want to grow, seeking business advice on various...

Business coaches generally agree that a company must grow to survive, and that growth requires a coherent and persuasive plan to move forward. “If you don’t have a tangible plan, you’re actually losing business,” notes Entrepreneur, “or you’re increasing the chances...

Evolving Online As in so many areas of our lives, recruiting employees has largely gone digital. Although finding the perfect fit is key to your company’s success, the recruiting process can be expensive, time consuming and—let’s face it—downright frustrating! That is...

No one can predict where the economy is headed, but business owners and CEOs are smart to pay close attention to warning signs. Turbulence in the stock market and proposed massive layoffs certainly suggest a recession is possible. That’s why now is the best time to...

Article written by Nirav Shastri It is not enough to develop a mobile app; you need to check if it really works and measure the success rate. Most mobile app startups believe that their work ends with getting the mobile app to the app store. They don’t really focus...

These days, the problem with compiling and analysing sales-related information isn’t a lack of data. It’s an abundance of data. Sales performance software and other tracking tools can unlock a wealth of details about a company’s overall performance, but without the...

Doesn’t every entrepreneur and/or business owner start and maintain a business in order to see it grow? The answer seems obvious. But as many top business coaches will tell you, some business leaders who attain a certain level of success are content to stay at this...

Article written by Phil Spensieri, TAB York Region With most business owners in the Baby Boomer or Gen X generations, it’s no wonder I am often asked about how to handle millennial employees. Millennials are the largest generation in the workforce and fastest-growing...

Getting honest input from employees on workplace culture and conditions can be a valuable practice. But time and again, companies sending out employee surveys are frustrated by a mediocre response rate—and stymied as to what actions they should take on their...

In business, what can be measured must be measured. There’s no excuse for neglecting metrics that inform you and your team how the business has performed in the past, and where it might be headed in the future. The data available to compile can say a lot about what...

An executive dashboard is a tool that gives an easy-to-absorb indicator of the important business metrics - also known as Key Performance Indicators (KPI) - for your business. A good dashboard should convey important information at a glance. The business term derives...

As any seasoned business coach will tell you, starting a business depends on a wide range of factors. These include having the right personality traits (such as passion, persistence, and the ability to overcome hurdles) to engage in such an ambitious undertaking....

What skills should every CEO and business owner have? Is it more important to possess a wealth of hard skills or soft skills? What about the ability to coach others in strengthening their own skill sets? For executive business coaches—not to mention business leaders...

Article written by Phil Spensieri As a business owner, there must've been a time when you were convinced that you had to grow your business in order to be successful. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Through my experience working with other business owners,...

Article by Jodie Shaw. Some days, it feels like we marketers live in a frenzy of numbers – from data analytics software that tracks every click on our websites to the colour ­coded charts embedded in every social media platform we’re on. Even our personal lives are...

In many companies, managers and other leaders assign goals to employees, then sit back and wait for results. This passive approach sometimes ends up with missed deadlines, incomplete work on projects, and a generalised disappointment in the employee’s lack of...

One report after another confirms what many employers already know: the men and women who work for them aren’t always engaged with their jobs, and many are looking elsewhere for different employment. Keeping employees engaged has always been a challenge, but today—in...

Among the many skills a CEO or business owner should possess is the ability to provide constructive, meaningful feedback. Employees at every level of an organisation want to do the best job possible, a goal that can’t be fully achieved without input from those in...

Article written by Phil Spensieri, TAB York Region You know how it is when you’re a business owner; so many things to do, so little time. As an owner, your focus is to build your business, but in building your business, there are so many things to be done. If you...

Nearly every business has them—difficult-to-classify, hard-to-fill positions within the organisation that are always challenging to fill. Typically, these positions involve a need for highly technical skills or other specialised requirements that the “average”...

No one can say with certainty what the future of work will look like. But many elements are already in place, and employers should think long and hard about how their workplace will evolve as the “future” becomes the present. Of course, technological advances will...

Employers describe the experience of firing someone as “horrible” or “miserable” or just “an agony to go through.” It’s true, there’s nothing pleasant about terminating an employee. But it doesn’t have to be a terrible ordeal for all involved. Termination can take...

Article by Phil Spensieri, TAB York Region If there’s ever an emergency, and you need to take a leave of absence, your business must continue to be “business as usual”. In order to delegate your responsibilities to available team members, it can be helpful to have a...