Partnerships—whether formalized in 3to5 Clubs or informal intentional business relationships—require a few key building blocks for their foundation. According to researchers at the University of Tennessee, there are five essential components needed to build a healthy framework for negotiating agreements. These components are also essential to creating healthy business advisory... read more →
Jan
27
Jan
26
Our last feature article addressed the importance of getting the right people in the right places in your organization. While it is critical that job descriptions are clearly defined and assigned to the appropriate individuals in order to achieve maximum efficiency, it is also useful to look at your team... read more →
Jan
25
Transparency—we give lip service to how important it is in building relationships. But let’s take a quick assessment of how much lip service we provide and how much is actual transparency. If we think we’re being transparent when beginning to build a collaborative relationship of any kind, we might consider... read more →
Jan
24
Human bodies are microcosmic shadows of the middle market business. Sometimes the veil of liminal spaces—the divide between what is and what might be—lifts in the most unexpected places—like in a doctor’s office. Business advising alone is only part of the prescription for sustainable business growth. After taking an embarrassing... read more →
Jan
23
New Belgium Brewery (NBB) discovered in 2006 that its customers didn’t recognize that NBB was the brewery that created not only Fat Tire Amber Ale but also a number of other popular brews. Consequently, NBB changed its logo to reflect its product. Like many Fat Tire aficionados, I was surprised... read more →
Jan
22
The Ultimate Perpetual Motion Business “If you spend a dollar, do you intend to get more than a dollar?” “If you spend an hour, do you intend to get more than an hour?” A member of my 3to5 Club got me thinking of how to distinguish an expense from an... read more →