Small Business State of the State

Small-BizThe state of small business, in my opinion, is pretty fascinating.  Here are some stats from a Business Insider infographic:

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  • The U.S. government defines small business as less than 500 employees and 50% of workers work for small businesses
  • 65% of new jobs since ’95 are in small businesses
  • Only 7 out of 10 new employers last two years, half last five years, a third make it 10 years, and only one out of four makes it 15 years
standardApril 28Tom SalonekSmall Business

The Four Fundamentals for Success in Life

The-Number-4Dan Sullivan, the person behind Strategic Coach, many years ago stated the four fundamentals for success in life:

  1. Show up on time
  2. Do what you say
  3. Finish what you start
  4. Say please and thank you

He goes on to say, and I agree, that while many other pieces are required for success, continually skip one of the above and success in life will be hard.

 

standardApril 23Tom SalonekLeadership

Being a Leader: Telling Time or Clock Building?

Clock-SmallIn Built to Last, Jim Collins says “…being a charismatic visionary leader is ‘time telling’; building a company that can prosper far beyond the presence of any single leader…. is ‘clock building.’”

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Clock building leaders:

  • Focus on organizational design
  • Stay out of day-to-day details
  • Focus on the long term vision
  • Reinforce values
  • Builds a team of leaders
standardApril 16Tom SalonekLeadership

Microsoft Turns 40

Microsoft-LogoMicrosoft turned 40 last week.

In a letter to employees, Bill Gates said, “I believe computing will evolve faster in the next 10 years than it ever has before”

Wow… quite a statement about what’s coming ahead from the founder of a firm with one of the largest market caps in the world on par with Google and ExxonMobile.

standardApril 14Tom SalonekIT