Stay In Your Lane
When people ask me what my niche is I have a hard time answering. In a way, I don’t believe niching is necessary. In another way, I get it. I think what the issue is for me is the way niche is defined. Generally, when people ask about my niche, they mean an industry. I…
Read MoreBest Boss Ever
When I have the chance to talk to my clients about their company culture, we often talk about what kind of a boss they want to be. In a client meeting recently, with my Team Captain present, I said: “I try to be the kind of boss I would want to work for.” She stopped…
Read MoreUgly Stepchild
I’ve found most business owners, especially new ones, treat accounting like the ugly stepchild. It’s something that must be dealt with, but the less attention they give it the better. Most business owners usually start with pushing aside the numbers and focusing on bringing in sales. However, that is a self-limiting attitude. The ugly stepchild…
Read MoreFinancial Empowerment
California is now requiring all small businesses with 5 or more employees to offer their employees some kind of retirement plan. If the business doesn’t want to provide one, then the state has a new plan call CalSavers* that they will automatically enroll your employees in. I won’t deep dive into the plan (as I’m…
Read MoreRemember Your Dreams
All entrepreneurs are dreamers. All businesses start with a dream. Have you lost touch with yours? After many years in business, it is easy to have lost touch with why you started your business. Maybe it’s time to revisit that dream. Having a driving force that helps you keep going when things get tough is…
Read MoreKick to the Finish
By Sherry Lutz Herrington I ran cross country in high school, and like most things in high school you don’t really imagine it will be of any use later in life. However, I’ve found some of my most important life lessons have come from my high school experiences. In cross country you race for several…
Read MoreThe Tipping Point
By Sherry Lutz Herrington Whether you are just starting a business or you’ve been running yours for a while, it’s critical to understand how your business is doing financially at any given point. Having solid business accounting will help you accomplish this and keep you on track. It will also give you other critical information.…
Read MoreStatistically Speaking
I read an interesting article recently in the CPA Practice Advisor and felt compelled to address some of the frightening statistics quoted. I keep saying, where have all these people who have resigned during the great resignation gone? How are they making a living? As I suspected, they are opening their own businesses. “During 2021,…
Read MoreSystems Failures
By Sherry Lutz Herrington Every business needs systems as well as procedures. The procedures are the “how-tos”: the step-by-step guide on how to get anything done. But the systems are the “what.” They are the programs and apps you use to keep track of everything you are doing. There are many different systems and every…
Read MoreIt’s Not About the Numbers
By Sherry Lutz Herrington It’s not about the numbers, it’s about the story the numbers tell. I say that all the time and I believe it. Of course, the numbers matter, but by themselves they don’t mean much. You have to put them into the context of what they mean to have them be useful. Tracking your…
Read MoreIncentivizing Employees
By Sherry Lutz Herrington It’s no secret that finding good employees right now is a challenge and keeping the ones you have is a must. The question is, how do we do that? In today’s labor market, following “the great resignation” as it’s been dubbed, there is high demand for job satisfaction. You can no…
Read MoreThe Real CEO
By Sherry Lutz Herrington Many small business owners consider themselves to be the CEO, affectionately known as the Chief Everything Officer (thank you USP Store for that hilarious tagline). In reality, we often are the chief bottle washer and cook, as the saying goes. We have no choice (especially when we first get started) but…
Read MoreTransparency
By Sherry Lutz Herrington When a topic surfaces repeatedly in my life, I always feel like it’s trying to tell me something. It’s time to examine it further and share the concept with all of you. Lately, it’s been about transparency in companies. What is transparency and why is it important? Let’s unpack that a bit.…
Read MoreImpacting the Bottom Line – Part II of II
By Sherry Lutz Herrington Now that we’ve examined how to find the “true bottom line,” let’s take a look at ways to improve it. “Impacting the Bottom Line There are two basic pieces to the Profit and Loss. These pieces are income and expenses (including cost of goods sold). Changes in either of these variables…
Read MoreThe True Bottom Line – Part I of II
By Sherry Lutz Herrington When you own your own business, you tend to be obsessed with the bottom line. You actually need to be in order to know what’s happening and to drive the success of the business. Unfortunately, most business owners don’t understand what the “true bottom line” means or how to figure it…
Read MoreThe Final Stretch
By Sherry Lutz Herrington I can’t believe it’s October already. This year has gone twice as fast as 2020 did. Although I am grateful that life has improved in a myriad of ways, I know we are not really out of the pandemic yet. We may not have achieved a stable new normal yet. Many…
Read MoreOutsourcing and Delegating
Running a small business means wearing a lot of hats.
Do you remember the UPS Store commercial that says “if you’re CEO, you’re Chief Everything Officer”? I met a small business owner last week who has that title on her business card.
It’s so true and yet it’s a bit of a trap.
Read MoreDefining Purpose: Your Vision and Mission
By Sherry Lutz Herrington As a business owner, it’s important to know where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. But it’s also important to know your why. Why are you in business? Defining the purpose of your business is paramount to setting the right course and staying true to your direction. This…
Read MoreCelebrating Milestones
By Sherry Lutz Herrington When you’re running a business, it’s good to not only set goals, but to celebrate milestones. Stopping to look at where you’ve come from is a good reminder of all that you’ve accomplished. It’s easy to stay so focused on where you’re going and the day-to-day operations that you forget to…
Read MoreHow to Build Company Culture with a Remote Team
By Sherry Lutz Herrington I love studying company culture. I believe it is paramount to the success of any company to build their company culture with intention. Although we were a remote team before the pandemic, we were still able to get together in person occasionally. We actually had our last team event the week…
Read MoreOvercoming Money Blocks
By Sherry Lutz Herrington Time and again I watch as my clients struggle with their money blocks, and I struggle with how to help them. I believe we all have them from time to time. The hard part is recognizing why we are having financial difficulties and figuring out how to overcome them. Since my…
Read MoreGrowth Mindset
Is your company growing? Most are either growing or dying, so it is probably growing. And that’s great. But if you are growing in sales and net profit, you should also be growing in how you run your business and how your business runs. Growth mindset isn’t just about money, it’s about performance. How is…
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