This week’s episode is about two things. First we talk about how meeting people for lunch or coffee is often a waste of time. Or at the very least, inefficient. And in the second part of the show we talk about how to help young people and early entrepreneurs get into the field through political action. […]
This week’s episode has two parts. First we talk about knowing your audience, demographics, and understanding when to change course. In the second part we talk about how your business shouldn’t be a secret. Your lack of accepting debit cards is a problem. Not sharing pricing is a problem. Not returning calls is a problem. […]
This week’s episode has me fired up. Hear about my experiences with a dishwasher repair from hell and trying to hire landscapers. It’s always a good reminder of how to improve a business when everyone else seems so bad. Available here and on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, too. Or follow Justin directly on Twitter.
This week’s episode follows up on the reading of “Mindset. The New Psychology of Success” by Dr. Carol S. Dweck. Dweck’s research at Stanford has led her to writing this approachable book on fixed vs. growth mindsets, what it means to be each, and how it can explain the successes people have in their life. […]
This week’s show has two parts. First we talk about what happens after you die. Does your business carry on? We talk about conversations with attorneys who have advised what to include and do before you might pass. Second, we talk about market research and what we commonly hear and what you might find once […]
This week’s episode comes with two parts. In part one we talk about keeping up with the Jones’. How copying your competitors can border on competitive analysis to blatant, childish, uninspiring copying that’s disrespectful to your company and customers. In part 2 we talk about iterative improvements and holding people responsive for continually developing your […]
Perhaps a darker episode this week, but it tugs at the root of why we do we what we do. How often do you ask your customers why they do what they do? This may not make much sense if they’re buying a toaster, but if they’re buying a service or other business product from you, […]
This week’s therapeutic session is about avoiding “bigness”, product envy, and questioning whether Wal-Mart is a service business. We talk about what nationwide-service businesses share, like H&R Block, and what makes them so hard to grow. We also talk about the opposite end of that, with photographers and photography businesses. Available here and on iTunes. Follow […]
This week’s episode has three parts. First we talk about knowing what customers are truly thinking. Second, we talk about we as designers look for in our customers. Third, it’s all about measuring things so you know how and when something can and should get fixed. Available here and on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, too. Or follow […]
Fresh off a little break last week, we talk about a secret method of getting people to help leave you alone while you’re unplugging. Plus, some thoughts from the book Coming Apart, by Charles Murray. Specifically about two of the four “founding virtues” of America: industry and honesty, and how they relate to small business owners […]