Louis “Mike” Stoffel picked me to help him hand out cookies to our kindergarten class. We’ve been buddies ever since. He and I have a lot in common: we’re both farm boys from big families who struck out on our own to start businesses in 1994. His endeavor was a landscaping company. He’s been running it ever since. Lou joins me to discuss the lessons from his early years. He discovered getting customers wasn’t the problem but getting the right customers — and more importantly the right employees — was. He provides insights on hiring employees as well as hiring contractors. Lou also explains the problem with the old saying “The customer is always right.” This conversation between two friends and seasoned veterans of self made business promises several tidbits you can apply to your own business.

A couple weeks ago, and a full month and a half into coronavirus-induced stay at home orders, my friend declared every day “Blursday.” He, like all of us, is having a hard time keeping the days straight. The past two months have been a struggle for all of us. I know now why Grandpa Mason had to look at the newspaper to verify the current day, date, and year! But it’s time to regain your focus and brace for the relaunch. In this episode, we layout 5 areas to apply your focus to successfully rebound from the economic shutdown.

If you operate your own enterprise, you’re a leader. Whether you have one employee or a hundred, you can learn how to be a better boss and a more effective leader from this episode. Likewise, we all deal with self doubt as we pilot our own enterprise. The important less is to not allow your self talk to hold you back. That’s where your network can help you weather storms and celebrate successes.

Michael O’Brien is an executive coach, author, and speaker. He joins me to discuss what terrible bosses teach us, breaking the cycle of negative self talk, and what 5 things your network need to provide you.

Economics, at its very basics, is about human decision making. Our choices are almost always based on seeking benefit or avoiding pain. In other words, humans do what they’re incentivized to do, whether the incentive is a carrot (benefit) or a stick (pain). So it goes with opinions on reopening the economy — your support for, or opposition to, reopening depends entirely on your incentive. Small businesspeople are more incentivized to get back to work. Whereas those with secure jobs and incomes have discovered “working” from home is a decent gig — less hours, no commute, no annoying cubicle mates, and their income remains the same. In this episode we discuss the very real presence of personal economic bias. Humans generally do what they’re incentivized to do, even if it’s to be unemployed.

Angie Carel is the founder, president, and creative director of IBA Marketing and Design. She joins me to discuss the biggest mistakes businesses make when it comes to their branding and outreach efforts. She knows because she’s been working with companies — big, small, and start ups — for over 13 years. Regardless of your businesses size or success, you’ll get value from this episode. Angie offers real life examples and solutions you can use.

One of many things a career in comedy taught me is the value of what I call “crowd feel.” With the world careening into a COVID-19 caused crisis, your comprehension of crowd feel is more important than ever. Your audience isn’t ready just yet to receive your message. But they will be soon. If you mis-time your approach, you’ll die on stage like a bad comedy act. In this episode I define crowd feel, tell you why it matters, and give you my three tips to properly gauging the mood of the marketplace.

Rubber Products Distributors is an Indianapolis-based company that does pretty much what you’d expect a company named Rubber Products Distributors to do. Their manufacturing customers depend on them for rubber and plastic fittings, grommets, gaskets, tips, and other items found in everyday items like cars, hospital equipment, and semi-trailers. But what do you do when the factories are closed due to a government-imposed economic shutdown? You get innovative, that’s what. Brock James and Matt Campbell join me to explain how RPD moved quickly to become a distributor of personal protective equipment in this time of dire need for masks and gowns. The company, and these two entrepreneurial minded gents, are better for it. They now know they can reinvent as required and do so in less than a month’s time. The bonus: they’re satisfying a need and keeping people healthy.

Brad McDonald is the owner and president of FreightCo, a trucking, transport, and logistics company. He joins me to discuss the coronavirus shutdown’s impact on his business and the economy at large. He explains what the recovery might look like from a supply standpoint. Brad talks about the ramp up and distribution of goods and what to watch for as our economy continues to spiral downward and (hopefully) rebounds. Most of us never thought we’d see barren shelves on America’s store shelves. Then we saw empty toilet paper aisles. Brad discusses the economy from the vantage point of a business owner in the supply chain.

Why Main Street will look like a ghost town and other devastating outcomes of the government's shutdown and "help" of small business. I explain why small businesses matter (they employ half the private sector in America) and why the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program is a failure. It's grossly underfunded, favors large businesses, and shows a complete misunderstanding of how small businesses work and the money they spin off for the good of the economy. And don't tell me about the unemployment option for gig workers — it'll take months for states to ramp that up.

Businesses large and small find themselves suddenly dislocated due to coronavirus. Employees are working from home (well, sort of!). Vendors can’t make personal sales calls. The office is shuttered. And the manager trying to keep the business running amidst “corona chaos,” is losing her mind! Business as usual is not an option. Business failure isn’t either. That’s why you must streamline your methods to manage remotely. Here then are my rules for results when nobody’s in the same room.