Small Business Show

    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. 00:00:00 Small Business Show #177 for Wednesday, June 27, 2018 00:02:41 Cory asks: Where, When, and How to Hire? Hire slowly, fire quickly 00:03:53 Where to hire? Craigslist Monster Indeed Beeya LinkedIn Jobs 00:09:09 Communicate your culture to attract the right people 00:10:26 What’s the value add? 00:13:19 Do you need to hire? 00:15:02 SPONSOR: Simple Contacts – Get $30 off at https://simplecontacts.com/sbs or enter SBS at checkout 00:16

As Small Business owners, building and keeping trust with potential and existing customers is critical to our success. Join us today on the Small Business Show for an interview with Bjorn Burnett, a Small Business owner in the insurance and financial planning field. Bjorn has transitioned to a 2nd career in the insurance and finance field and shares how he came up with a system to add value to clients to gain referrals and then convert those referrals to future clients. Listen into the show, then ask questions and comment in the Small Business Support Group. We look forward to seeing you there! Chapters/Timestamps 00:00:00 Small Business Show #176 for Wednesday, June 20, 2018 00:00:42 Second (or third!) career 00:01:17 Interview: Bjorn Burnett 00:02:30 Putting out fires… and not the business kind! 00:03:00 What else can I do with my life? 00:05:06 Made my own stupid financial decisions… and then took a class 00:06:12 What does it take to be an advisor? 00:06:37 The reality of not making any money right awa

Getting started with your Small Business can be challenging. Finding the initiative to power through obstacles is a critically important step on your path towards Small Business world domination. Join us today to hear our tips on startup initiative as well as steps to keep initiative going when you get in a slump and how to keep the fire of initiative lit with your employees’ and partners. We have talked about creating your own reality and “tricking” your brain to turn it into a machine that will propel you to success when you’re just getting started, but what about when you hit the inevitable “rut” of running your Small Business? We can help you with that, as well. And then there’s the people around you, your employees’ and partners that you may have to re-charge their initiative from time to time. Listen in and hear how your hosts Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean have kept that fire lit over the years. How about you? Share your experience, your tips and ask ques

What happens if your Small Business partnership fails? What is the best way to handle ending a partnership to avoid a major battle and to keep your focus on the continued success of your company? Join us today on the Small Business Show to hear how Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton have ended partnerships without destroying friendships, finances and entire businesses. So, you’re a regular listener to the Small Business Show, followed our advice and created your own reality with a thriving business and have started to live a Charmed Life when out nowhere, your business partner begins to lose interest and stops managing their part of the business. Despite your best attempts to fix the problem, you’ve come to the conclusion that ending the partnership is the only way to save your Small Business. How do you proceed? On this episode of the Small Business Show, we discuss some creative ways to end a partnership while respecting all parties involved. Listen in and then visit the Small Business Support Grou

small business systems and gdpr compliance       Why are systems more important for your Small Business than goals? Join us today for episode 173 of the Small Business Show to learn more about this awesome technique to accelerate your success. After the systems discussion, we jump into details of the recently enacted GDPR privacy and data management laws enacted by the EU. Does your Small Business need to worry about the GDPR? You’ll want to listen in to find out if you do and how to comply. Listen in for all this and more, then join us on the Small Business Support Group to share your thoughts! 00:00:00 Small Business Show #173 for Wednesday, May 30, 2018 00:01:30 Goals vs. Systems 00:07:12 Breakthroughs come from Systems 00:07:58 Treat the carrot as the byproduct 00:12:00 Your business is not THAT business, it’s YOUR business 00:13:40 Contact Shannon and Dave: [email protected] or Small Business Support Group 00:13:52 The GDPR Talk 00:18:38 The burden of GDPR Xero.com GDPR Smal

What essential Small Business Tools can you not live without? Join us today on the Small Business Show to hear from Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton about the hardware, software and more they use to make their businesses run smoothly each day. Check the show notes below for a list of tools we discuss and join us to hear in detail why we believe these are essential for our success. Chapters/Timestamps 00:00:00 Small Business Show #172 for Wednesday, May 23, 2018 00:01:36 Small Business Support Group 00:02:30 Freedom vs. Flexibility 00:03:19 FileMaker 00:09:00 MacBook Pro and iPhone 00:11:01 Mail Act-On 00:13:29 SaneBox 00:16:31 SPONSOR: Visit TextExpander.com/podcast for 20% off your first year. 00:20:17 Synology DiskStation Synology Drive Synology Office 00:23:38 Slack Fastmail AOL Instant Messenger (RIP) 00:28:56 Trello Trello-Slack Integration 00:31:04 Microsoft Excel (or any Spreadsheet) Google Sheets Apple’s Numbers 00:33:25 Pixelmator ImageOptim 00:35:49 Music while you work! iTunes 00:3

The strength of your relationships with vendors and suppliers is critically important for the success of your Small Business. What’s the best method and when is the right time for you to start these relationships? Join us on episode 171 of the Small Business Show to hear our tips about this topic and more! Listen in and you’ll hear why timing is important and ways to make a human connection with all your vendors. Learn why Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton believe that a good personality fit is important and why you should not be looking for professional help when you really need it (like in an emergency). Taking the time to find the right vendors and support partners for your Small Business can make all the difference. You’ll also hear how good communication can keep vendor relationships strong, how to leverage one good vendor to find another and the story behind why Shannon’s accountant fired him as a client! Join us today for the Small Business Show and then share your comments on the

Should you cut corners to speed up starting a new business? If so, what corners can you safely cut that won’t create problems for you in the future? Join us today on the Small Business Show to get our take on what you should cut and what you should not! We start this episode off with a rant from Dave about unreconciled accounts and leaving cash on your suppliers books (hint: don’t do this). Shannon discusses his experience with business people that didn’t think refunds should actually be, well refunded, and why the stuff you least enjoy doing (accounting, for example) might be just the stuff you need to pay the most attention to. Our focus on this show is all about moving things forward. Not letting problems, delays or other peoples obstacles get in the way of your Small Business. Listen in and then join us at the Small Business Support Group to share your thoughts! Chapters/Timestamps 00:00:00 Small Business Show #170 for Wednesday, May 9, 2018 00:01:02 Whine: Not catching an unreconciled

Longtime listeners know that we believe that saying Yes more can help your personal brand and your business, but is there a point where saying No becomes more important? We think there is, and that part of your own Success Cycle is knowing when to say No and how it impacts your Small Business. Join us today as Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton share their experiences using No to manage projects and take on just the tasks that will fuel your own achievement system. We discuss the differences between saying no in your personal life and in your Small Business and how you can easily fool yourself into thinking you’ve being productive, rather than just filling up your schedule. You’ll also hear about ways to say no to the request, not to the person making it, how to use a “conditional yes” to manage situations and we’ll help you stand strong against prioritizing other people’s emergencies. Join us today for all this and more on this episode of the Small Business Show. Then, visit t

Running your Small Business is not always glamorous and full of inspiration. There’s going to be days (weeks, months) that you have to resign yourself to slogging through the muck, solving what may seem like insurmountable problems, all the while keeping yourself and your team motivated to make it through the day. On this episode of the Small Business Show, Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean discuss adversity, sharing their own stories and offering some tips on how to endeavor to persevere. On a recent episode, we focused on the Charmed Life that can be created by owning one or more Small Businesses. We got called out a bit in the Small Business Support Group from a business owner that was frustrated that we were forgetting about the struggle that many Small Business owners face each day, that living a “Charmed Life” just wasn’t an option for these folks. Based on that feedback, this episode focuses on the struggle, grinding it out each day when you need to and how to power through tough

What’s the secret to living a Charmed Life and using your Small Businesses as fuel to create it? Join us today on the Small Business Show to learn how Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean have founded a multitude of Small Businesses over their lifetimes to bring them much more than profits. We’ve mentioned the Charmed Life on our show many times, in fact, it’s usually a sign-off message at the end of each show, encouraging you to “Keep living that Charmed Life!” It’s such an important part of our experience that we thought it was time to dig deep into the details and explain just what we mean with that phrase and how you can join us on this awesome journey. You’ll learn about creating a Success Cycle that keeps you moving forward, enriching your life along the way, how to create simple Working Agreements that not only keep things clear between prospective business partners, but act as a “test” when you are just at the beginning of a potential partnership. We the

Is all business risk bad? Searching for “small business risk” online and you’ll find most articles and resources are focused on minimizing or avoiding risk. Listen in to today’s episode of the Small Business Show to hear why we believe that taking risks is part of the “secret sauce” of business success. Without risk, you’re no different than the person working in the cubicle who never starts their business in the first place. Your hosts, Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean have some strong ideas about risk and why you should be embracing it, turning risk into opportunity for your Small Business. During the show, you’ll hear about how taking risks can create an advantage over your competitors and how the anxiety associated with taking risks can fuel your motivation. You’ll also learn about minimizing risks and how to use successes of any size to create a Success Cycle that will propel you to even more awesomeness. Join us today on the Small Business Show for all this and much more. Then, vis

Ever been frustrated when you’re waiting for a service provider to show up or a product to arrive and they/it are late? Today we turn the tables and discuss this problem as it relates to your Small Business performance and the importance of setting, then meeting (ideally exceeding!) your customers expectations. It’s time for episode 165 of the Small Business Show! Both Dave and Shannon have experiences they want to share with you about not having their expectations met when working with other businesses and how that impacted them, as well as the disruption is can cause at the company performing the work. The discussion focuses on how to set the customer expectation and how to manage communication during the process, so even if you can’t fulfill that expectation, your customers will still be happy. We then jump into ways to insure that your customer feels valued and why breaking bad news early and transparently can earn you customer loyalty. Then it’s on to talk and tips about empowerin

When there’s a disagreement with a customer, supplier or someone else, what is the best way to resolve the problem while keeping your Small Business running strong? Have you been sued or are you contemplating suing someone? Join us today on the Small Business Show where we discuss Alternative Dispute Resolution methods like Arbitration and Mediation. If you are a party to a lawsuit, either plaintiff or defendant, chances are you’ll be pushed into mediation by a judge in an attempt to keep you out of court. Dave and Shannon have both been parties to mediation and as you can imagine, they have much to talk about when it comes to making the most out of your mediation experience. Listen in to episode 164 of the Small Business Show to hear their stories and pickup some tips, including how to keep everyone’s ego out of the process, including your attorney’s, how to pick the right attorney to represent you, how the process works and why timing is so important for success. After the show, keep

If your business includes shipping products, having a strong relationship with a packaging and logistics company is critically important – In our experience, you can “leak” a tremendous amount of your cash out through your packaging and shipping costs. To talk more about the importance of this topic, we’re thrilled to have Caitlin Corkill with us today. Caitlin is the founder of Paq-Source, a company that provides packaging and equipment, as well as logistics consulting to help you manage your shipping, packaging and warehousing.  There’s a lot to learn on this episode, join us, then visit the Small Business Support Group to ask questions and share your own story. Chapters/Timestamps: 00:00:00 Small Business Show #163 for Wednesday, March 21, 2018 00:00:56 Caitlin Corkill – Paq-Source 00:02:01 Worked for a family friend and then time to leave. 00:02:27 Eight months notice led to … not leaving! 00:03:37 Finding an overlooked city 00:04:10 Consolidating two offices Finding reliability ins

What does it take for your Small Business to rank high on search engines when customers are looking for your products or services? Should you be allocating most of your ad budget to search, or are there better methods for your particular business to connect with customers? Join us on this episode of the Small Business Show for these topics and much more! Don’t miss the episode where your co-host Shannon Jean admits: “I hate search, it makes me feel stupid.” Hear his story and either laugh at or commiserate with him as he shares his frustration about ranking high on page one of search results. You’ll also learn why he feels that search engines are just another marketplace, like eBay or Amazon, only focused on selling your business information and how that changed his focus and approach to success with search. Dave Hamilton shares his story of battling scraper sites that market his own content, while blocking the original posts on search engines and how he is working to solve the problem

With just about a week to go before tax filings are due for LLC and S-Corp Small Businesses, it’s time to discuss what to do when your NOT ready to file and the repercussions of missing a tax filing deadline. Join us for episode 161 of the Small Business Show as we dive back into the world of Small Business taxes! On this episode, Dave and Shannon spend time discussing tax extensions, how they work, why you would want to use one and what do in the event that you don’t have the cash to pay your tax bill. We share our thoughts on relationships with Accountants and why a few weeks before taxes are due is not the time to be searching for a new one. You’ll also find out why keeping your Accountant involved in both your personal and business life can help you save money when filing your taxes. If you’re already having IRS problems, we’ve got some tips and tricks for changing the relationship you have with the them and what to do if you are not getting the kind of help you think you sho

Does your Small Business rank high for “Near Me” searches on Google, Siri and Bing? Join us on this episode of the Small Business Show for tips and tricks to be sure you are optimizing your website, your address and your business map records to steer more customers to your location. Local search is a critical part of Small Business success. Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean focus on getting your company name to come up when potential customers are using the terms “near me” when searching for a product or service that you may be offering. You’ll learn about setting up local resource pages, how to hack your address, phone verification tricks, using reviews to show activity and much more. Join us for episode 160 of the Small Business Show, then tell your story, comment and ask questions in the Small Business Support Group! Chapters/Timestamps 00:00:00 Small Business Show #160 for Wednesday, February 28, 2018 00:01:20 Optimizing your business for “Near Me” searches 00:02:39 Create or E

Does your website communicate in ways that potential customers can quickly grasp your story, what your services or your product line are? How do you simplify your message to capture the short attention span and should you rely on your Terms and Conditions to “protect” you from your customers? If your Small Business is getting interest from a larger company that wants to acquire you, who should you focus your energy on? The Deal Sponsor concept can help you narrow down your focus on which person you need to work closely with to make your merger or acquisition a success. Join us today on episode 159 of the Small Business Show for these topics and more! Shannon and Dave also revisit the “Beer Test” to insure that you have a cultural fit before entering into a partnership, joint venture or acquisition and why you need to have all office doors open during a crisis. We spend some time discussing Mihir Shah’s 5 C’s of a Turnaround and why these points surely apply to all businesse

Are you ready to be acquired? Is your Small Business in a position to deal with a larger company that is interested in buying you for your products, your technology or your service revenue? Join us today on the Small Business Show to hear from an expert in mergers and acquisitions, Mihir Shah, CEO of Drobo. Mihir has had years of experience helping companies to analyze possible acquisitions and mergers, working to implement policies and procedures to insure a successful combining of two entities. You’ll learn about the two most important aspects of creating a successful acquisition and how your work on the front-end of the deal can help to insure things go right after the paperwork is signed. We also dig deep into supply chain management and how embracing change and understanding that a crisis is just another problem to solve can propel your business success. Listen in for this and much more on this episode of the Small Business Show, then visit the Small Business Support Group to ask your questions or