The How of Business - How to start, run, grow and exit a small business.

David Begin, a co-host and business expert, shares insights on the transformative 1-3-1 Problem Solving Method, designed to empower teams in small businesses. He emphasizes how this method encourages critical thinking and autonomy, allowing employees to independently tackle challenges. Discussion centers on fostering a culture of independent problem-solving, enhancing team dynamics, and navigating complex decisions. Real-world examples illustrate the benefits of delegating decision-making, which ultimately boosts accountability and free up owners for strategic tasks.

The 6 Stages of Successful Employee On-Boarding for small businesses. How to create an effective on-boarding process that sets new hires and contractors up for long-term success. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/542-employee-on-boarding/ Go to the Show Notes to download the free Employee On-Boarding Guide. In this episode of The How of Business podcast, Henry Lopez dives deep into the essential strategies for creating a robust employee onboarding process tailored for small business owners. Employee onboarding is not just about the first day - it’s about setting new hires, including contractors, up for long-term success. From pre-hire preparation to ongoing support, Henry breaks down the six key stages of effective onboarding, offering practical tips to ensure new team members feel welcomed, engaged, and productive from the start. Some of the critical benefits discussed include improved employee retention, enhanced productivity, and clarity in role expectations. Henry highlights the importance of a well-prepared first day, structured training, regular performance check-ins, and continuous feedback. He also shares insights on avoiding common pitfalls, such as overwhelming new hires, and emphasizes how a smooth onboarding process can strengthen the culture of a small business. Listeners will learn how to develop a structured approach that fosters clear communication, effective training, and consistent feedback. Whether you’re looking to enhance your existing program or build one from scratch, this episode is packed with actionable advice to help you create a seamless onboarding experience that boosts productivity and retention for your small business. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Navigating growth while minimizing chaos in your small business, with entrepreneur Garrett Delph. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/541-garrett-delph-navigating-growth/ In this episode of The How of Business, Henry Lopez chats with serial entrepreneur Garrett Delph about how to navigate growth while minimizing chaos in your small business. Garrett shares his insights on streamlining operations, defining roles, and building a culture that fosters employee retention and sustainable growth. Learn how to scale your business without letting chaos take over! Garrett Delph advises that minimizing chaos in a small business requires mindful planning, clear role definitions, and effective delegation. He stresses that chaos often results from disorganization, reactive decision-making, and the lack of proper operational structures. To combat this, business owners should create clear job descriptions, define values that guide decision-making, and establish processes that support growth without overloading employees. He highlights the importance of hiring the right talent, creating growth paths for employees, and ensuring responsibilities are balanced. Garrett also emphasizes that chaos is not inevitable and can be managed with the right frameworks and proactive leadership. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Explore the essence of competitiveness in small business! Discover how to build robust business models that drive profitability and growth. Learn about the importance of recognizing your competitors and the potential to outmaneuver them. Delve into strategic concepts like Blue Ocean Strategy and how identifying niche markets can keep you ahead. Find out the signs that indicate your business might be falling behind and why innovating and understanding your unique strengths are crucial for customer satisfaction and long-term success.

Achieving small business success requires personal sacrifice. What are you willing to sacrifice to launch and grow your small business? Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/r239-personal-sacrifice/ This is a re-release of Episode 239 of The How of Business podcast with additional new content and edits. Outline of this episode on the personal sacrifices required to achieve small business success: Definition and Meaning of Sacrifice: Henry Lopez, host of The How of Business podcast, defines "sacrifice" in the context of small business success: Sacrifice is defined as the destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else. Henry Lopez emphasizes that sacrifice is essential for small business success, particularly when launching a new business. Willingness to Make Sacrifices: A major obstacle to business success is the lack of willingness to make necessary sacrifices. Aspiring small business owners often struggle with giving up their current lifestyle, free time, or comfort in pursuit of their business dreams. Examples of Sacrifices: Sacrifices might include giving up hobbies, free time, sleep, and even time with friends and family. Henry explains that launching and growing a business often requires significant dedication and effort, sometimes at the expense of personal life. Financial Sacrifices: Aspiring business owners must have their personal finances in order to start and sustain a business. Henry highlights the importance of reducing debt, improving credit scores, and being financially prepared to go without a paycheck during the early stages of business start-up. Actionable Advice: Henry encourages listeners to list 2-5 specific things they are willing to sacrifice and allocate the time saved toward starting or building their business. He stresses the importance of being honest with oneself and remaining focused on these sacrifices to achieve long-term business goals. Sacrifice - what are you willing to personally sacrifice to become your own boss and start your first business? If you are already in business, what are you willing to sacrifice further to grow it? On this episode of the top-rated podcast for small business, Henry Lopez shares his thoughts on the kind of sacrifices that, based on his entrepreneurship experience, you must be willing to make in order to succeed as a small business owner - particularly when launching your first business. The questions to ask yourself include: What are you willing to sacrifice to realize your dreams of becoming your own boss? Are you willing to sacrifice your quality of life today for something more in the future? Are you willing to give up hobbies, free time, family time and friend time all to devote to your business? Are you willing to work harder than you ever have at something? This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Is your small business Scalable? How do you know if you are ready to scale, and how do you grow your business to the next level? Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/539-is-your-business-scalable/ How and when do you plan to scale? Particularly, when will you be able to scale past just yourself? On a previous episode of The How of Business podcast, episode 532, Henry Lopez addressed the higher-level question: Is Your Business Model Broken? How can you tell, and how do you fix it? A strong and healthy business model supports a business that is consistently profitable, can scale and remains competitive. Then on episode 537 Henry Lopez focused on Profitability. This episode help you determine if Your Small Business is Scalable. Topics include: What is Scaling? Signs Your Business is Ready to Scale. Why Should You Scale Your Small Business? Common Fears or Concerns. How Do You Scale Your Small Business? It’s fine if you simply want to be a solopreneur. But if you want to grow a business that is completely or somewhat owner-independent, if you want to be an entrepreneur, and perhaps be able to exit your business, then you need to scale to the next level. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

The Five Pillars of Leadership to help you lead a high-performing small business, with Brian Gottlieb. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/538-brian-gottlieb-5-leadership-pillars/ Brian shares his entrepreneurial journey and introduces the five foundational pillars of leadership. Executing on these five leadership pillars allows you to develop a high-performing organization. And help your managers get out of crisis mode so they can effectively lead their teams. Brian Gottlieb is an inspirational business leader who in 2009, founded Tundraland Home Improvements on a plastic folding table with $3,000. Twelve years later, when he sold the family of businesses he created, they had diversified products, expanded across multiple states, grown to 600 employees, and neared $1 billion in lifetime sales. The company was recognized by INC 5000 as one of the fastest-growing companies in America. Brian’s leadership principles are simple: Have a well-defined strategy, empower your teams, provide world-class training, and execute with consistency. He believes that if you want to build a business, you must commit to building people. This clarity of focus created a meaningful culture, making his company the best place to work in his home state. Brian’s book “Beyond the Hammer: A Fresh Approach to Leadership, Culture, and Building High Performance Teams” is being published by Forbes and will be available September 10, 2024. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Is your small business profitable, and is the business consistently and sufficiently profitable? Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/537-profitable-small-business/ And if you’ve not started your business yet, when do you plan to be profitable? On a previous episode of The How of Business podcast, episode 532, Henry Lopez addresses higher-level question: Is Your Business Model Broken? How can you tell, and how do you fix it? A strong and healthy business model supports a business that is consistently profitable, can scale and remains competitive. On this episode Henry Lopez shares additional thoughts on Profitability. Because generating a consistent and sufficient profit is the primary reason we are in a for-profit business! This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Creating Exceptional Customer Experiences in your small business with customer service expert Samantha Irwin. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/536-samantha-irwin-customer-expereinces/ On this episode we discuss how to create consistently exceptional experiences for our customers. Samantha Irwin is an entrepreneur, speaker, and the founder of Kaizen Small Business Solutions. She is inspiring and educating teams to create exceptional Customer Experiences that foster loyalty and advocacy, driving both financial success and heartfelt service for brick-and-mortar businesses. With over 25 years of experience in leadership, Samantha's dual background in middle school teaching and boutique hotel ownership has uniquely positioned her to empower and educate business leaders and their front-line customer service staff. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Accounting and tax considerations for small business with Jessica Zoraida, the Founder and CEO of Big Picture Results. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/535-jessica-zoraida-accounting-tax/ Jessica shares her inspirational journey and tax and accounting tips and guidance for small business owners. Jessica Zoraida is an entrepreneur, speaker investor in women and person-of-color owned companies, and the CEO of Big Picture Results Inc., an Accounting and Tax company that helps small to mid-sized businesses bring more to the bottom line. Over the past 25 years, Jessica has learned hands-on best practices across Corporate Banking, Government and Small Business. Question topics addressed in this episode include: What are your recommendations for small business owners as to when and how to leverage the knowledge and expertise of a Bookkeeper and CPA? When should I hire a bookkeeper or CPA for my small business? What should I expect from a good CPA firm? How do I find a CPA for my small business? When should a small business owner consider engaging a Fractional CFO? What are one or two common mistakes small business owners make that keep them from being able to potentially realize tax savings? What’s a common mistake small business owners make that could potentially result in getting in trouble with the IRS? If my small business financials are a mess, where should I start? This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com