Being persistent is a critical part of making your Small Business succeed. From the very start, you will face obstacles that you’ll have to break through and go around to create something from nothing. Some of these will be mental, some physical and some logistical. Join us today for episode 186 of the Small Business Show to hear how your co-hosts Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean have used their bull-headed persistence to overcome those obstacles during their careers.

We discuss the importance of confidence and believing in yourself with tips on how to use your Success List to remind yourself of your achievements to build up your confidence, as well as learning how to maximize your strengths and minimize weaknesses with strategic partners or employees. Shannon then reminds us that patience needs to be a part of your plan – as long as you are moving along the path you set for yourself and your Small Business. Success takes time.

You’ll hear about how immersing yourself in your Small Business is an important part of pushing through obstacles and achieving success and how creating habits out of things that work for your business will keep you moving forward on your quest. And while it’s important to have a clear vision of where you want your Small Business to go, we spend some time talking about adjusting and adapting when things don’t go exactly as planned (hint: they never do).

We wrap up our discussion with a reminder that commitment to your Small Business success is critical – everything has a cost, get ready to pay it in time and effort to create a successful business that can help you lead that Charmed Life we talk about often on the show.

Listin in and then share your story and comments on the Small Business Support Group!

The post Persistence is Key to Small Business Success – Small Business Show 186 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

What’s more important for your Small Business, profits or cashflow? If you’re a regular listener of the Small Business Show, you know what we think! Join us today as we dig deep into to the importance of managing your available cash and how to get through the inevitable cash-crunch when it hits you.

Your co-hosts Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton share their tips, strategies and stories about the why and how of using your accounting software correctly to help with cashflow reporting, why it’s important not to fall in love with your P&L and why you need to avoid the “shiny object” trap that can suck much needed cash out of your business.

We then jump into ways to raise cash when you need it quickly, how to use unconventional methods to raise short term cash and ways to manage longer term funding from banks and other lenders. The show wraps up with a discussion about the importance of measuring and different methods to measure all aspects of your business – including your cashflow.

Join us today and then share your comments on the Small Business Support Group!

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The post How To Manage Your Cashflow – Small Business Show 185 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Getting customers to spend their hard earned dollars at your Small Business is tough, right? How about if you had to convince them to eat insects to get those dollars into your bank account? Join us today as we visit with James Rolin of Cowboy Cricket Farms and hear how this Small Business has used education, creative marketing and stubborn persistence to succeed.

Listen in to learn about how feasibility studies can guide you to the right business model, how we’re all eating insects (we just don’t know it), how community outreach as a marketing tool can be powerful and some great tips for working with your spouse and teaching your kids about how to succeed. You’ll also hear about using the Score Mentoring program as a powerful and free tool to grow your business.

You’ll learn a lot, but your co-hosts Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton continue to think they are learning the most from our awesome guests. Join us today, then share your story at the Small Business Support Group!

The post Small Business Interview with James Rolin of Cowboy Cricket Farms – Small Business Show 184 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

A common misconception is that it’s the great idea that makes a Small Business successful. Join us today on the Small Business Show to hear us dispel that myth and discuss taking Action to propel your business to success.

Don’t wait. You’ll hear that message over and over again on this episode of the Small Business Show as Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton share tips to get yourself started – to help move you from Idea to Implementation.

Listen in and you’ll hear about the power of removing limits (most of them in your head) to get your business concept on paper, how to create and use an Action Plan to figure out what steps you need to take to make your idea a reality and why we believe creating an Org Chart (even if your name is in every box) is key to planning out the structure of your Small Business.

We wrap up the show with a discussion of the ever important Working Agreement and why sometimes you just need to throw structure out the window to just start….Start today.

Join us here, then get involved in the discussion at the Small Business Support Group!

The post Moving from Idea to Action – Get Started Today With Your Small Business – Small Business Show 183 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

If you own a Small Business, it’s bound to happen: a long-time employee drops a bomb by telling you they are leaving to take a position at another company. How you react can have a dramatic impact both inside and outside your business. Your actions will send a message to both your employees’ and your customers.

Join Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean for this episode of the Small Business Show where they discuss their methods for handling a surprise departure of a key employee.

Listen in for tips about not taking things personally, how to gauge the short and long-term impact, managing the timing of the employee’s departure, and why your customers are more concerned about who’s staying vs. who’s leaving.

After the show, stop by the Small Business Support Group to share your story and join the discussion!

The post Loyalty, Losing Key Employees, and Managing Change at your Small Business – Small Business Show 182 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Creating a lifestyle business that funds your Charmed Life is a goal for many Small Business owners. Today on the Small Business Show, we’re joined by Kimanzi Constable, business owner, author, consultant and coach who has created a lifestyle business that we can all learn from.

Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton learn how Kimanzi started out small and then built up his business as his credibility grew to the point where he typically travels to 25+ countries each year consulting for Fortune 500 corporations.

During our discussion we cover topics including how to power through being told no and being ignored, how the power of small earnings can propel you to larger profits, becoming a knowledge worker, using an email list as the core of your online business, self-marketing tips and much, much more.

Listen in and then join the discussion on the Small Business Support Group!

The post Interview with Kimanzi Constable: Corporate Consulting and Coaching – Small Business Show 181 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Keeping focused while dealing with multiple tasks can be a challenge for any Small Business owner. Join Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean as they discuss how they keep focused on the critical parts of their businesses each day.

You’ll also learn about the power of taking a break, how to measure productivity and how keeping simple lists can keep you on track each day. Shannon offers up a powerful question to ask yourself when trying to refocus you or your team on a task and we discuss the System vs. Goals approach to be sure you are focusing on the right tasks to fuel your success.

It’s then on to a discussion about how to get help to keep your focus with resources like the Small Business Support Group being a great place to get started.

Listen in for all this and more on this episode of the Small Business Show!

The post Are you Focusing on the Right Things for your Small Business? Small Business Show 180 for July 18, 2018 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Join us this week on the Small Business Show for a discussion about current news that could impact your Small Business.

Listen in and hear our thoughts about the new Supreme Court ruling regarding online sales tax rules, Amazon’s new Prime delivery business opportunity and our thoughts about mixing your politics with your business.

The post Small Business News Roundup for July 2018- Small Business Show episode 179 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Join us this week on the Small Business Show for an insightful interview with Winemaker Tony Biagi to hear his story of moving from being employed by wineries to starting his own consulting business and eventually creating his own wine label, Patria.

During this episode, you’ll learn about how Tony built his own brand equity with his consulting business and how Tony learned early on to “not chase money, let it chase you”. Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton discuss with Tony the challenges of stepping into situations where you are there to solve problems and how he works through the “because we’ve always done it this way” mentality.

Tony talks about how nature plays a huge role in his business and how he has adapted to take advantage of the good and downplay when things don’t go right. We ask Tony about his favorite mistake and we were not surprised to hear a common answer of “apprehension” and not taking the jump early enough to go out on his own.

Listen in for all this and more before you join us over on the Small Business Support Group with your questions and comments.

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Hiring the right person for your Small Business is critically important. Hire wrong and you could be making a very expensive mistake. Join us today on the Small Business Show as we discuss the where, when and how of hiring.

Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean have hired hundreds of employees for their businesses during their careers. Listen in to hear tips on where to find qualified candidates, how to make sure you actually need to hire in the first place and what steps to take during the hiring process to insure you get the right person for the job.

The post Hiring for your Small Business – Small Business Show episode 177 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.