It comes as no surprise that an essential element of planning for the New Year includes goal setting. And there’s a good chance that two of your business’s top financial metrics include revenue and profit goals. When these goals are set, company leadership creates them and they’re passed down through the rest of the organization.... View Article
Although we are often distracted at this time of year by fun family gatherings, vacation time, and holiday cheer and events, businesses often take this time to ensure they are ready to start the new year strong. Below are several areas we suggest businesses evaluate as they plan for a successful year: Financial goals. Your... View Article
Beginning January 1, 2019, Washington state will join the small group of states mandating paid family and medical leave (“PFML”) for Washington state employees. Here are some of the key questions our clients are asking: What is the purpose of the law? Is our business required to collect the employer and employee premiums and implement... View Article
We seem to value “lifelong learners” in business – you see this as a desired characteristic in job postings and those who are “successful” are typically called out as such. What is a lifelong learner, though? We all learn every day from our experiences, both personal and professional, in our interactions with clients, employees and... View Article
September has arrived and those with kids are getting back into the school routine. Your employee’s schedules and mindsets may have shifted to new schedules and priorities. For many, these shifts are subtle – maybe a day off or a slightly later start time – while for others the preparation for back to school creates... View Article
In 2014, my family had a once in a lifetime opportunity to live abroad for a couple of years. When my husband first presented this idea, my immediate response was, “Yes!”. Following that first reaction, we had numerous discussions of how this change would impact Equinox. At that time, I felt I had a good... View Article
As we wrap up the year, I’m trying to stay focused on the important planning tasks for 2018. I’ve been learning about and have begun implementing a program over the past year based on the book “Scaling Up” by Verne Harnish. The program’s core pillars are People, Strategy, Execution and Cash with each pillar leading... View Article
I would say most companies I come across have one or more core values focused on high levels of customer service. It’s one of those “must have” elements in how a company continues to exist. Yet we know that “high quality” customer service is subjective, both from the company’s perspective and the customer’s perspective. On... View Article
As small business owners, we often wear many hats, including head of finance, customer service and HR. As CEOs, we are tasked with strategy and leading the execution plan. The “doing” work of a business owner can get separated from the “strategy” work of the CEO. In my experience, when this happens, we get lost. ... View Article