mind your business: Trial by Fire
Read on for advice on how to keep your business blazes to a minimum and how to make the most of them when they do flare up:
Determine the cause of the fire. As a small business owner, you can spend your entire day running around, fire extinguisher in hand, putting out fires.
You can't afford to put out the same fire over and over again. A customer might give you a second chance, but disappoint them again and it will be very difficult to win them back. It's also bad for your high-performing employees' morale. They don't like being slowed down by these fires either, and when they feel that solutions are never put in place, it exhausts them as much as it exhausts you. When you take the time to really examine why a fire started, it's much easier to fix. Furthermore, it allows you to put the right fire extinguisher in place to make sure the fire can be quickly put out if it reoccurs.
- People:
- Dave Lindsey
- Edward D. Hess
- Places:
- Indianapolis