Tag Archives: business advisor

A Jamaican Business Owner’s Fight To Survive: It’s the System, Stupid

Business Success, , , , , , ,

We rejoin the saga of business owner David, whose trucking company was facing serious challenges. On the verge of giving up on his entrepreneurial dream, David found a glimmer of hope for the way forward in a book about business success and resolved to keep on fighting.

“Ping!” The familiar notification sound roused David from his reverie. Absent-mindedly, he glanced over at the phone message, his finger poised above the delete button. He expected it to be another annoying advertisement from the mobile provider which constantly interrupted his train of thought.

Seeing the words ‘Free business workshop’, David snapped to full attention and put down the receivables report which he had been reviewing. The holidays were coming and he had to get some of this outstanding money into the bank if he were to pay Christmas bonuses this year.

The seminar looked intriguing, as it promised to reveal steps that a business could take to improve its results. Looking in his calendar, David noted that he had an important meeting with a potential client on the same date. “I can’t afford to lose money sitting down in a training session,” he thought. Continue reading A Jamaican Business Owner’s Fight To Survive: It’s the System, Stupid →

A Jamaican Business Owner’s Fight to Survive: The Longest Night

Business Success, , , , , , ,

Last week we introduced business owner David, whose trucking company was facing serious challenges. After losing a major client, David was tempted to give up on his entrepreneurial dream. In his darkest moment, however, he was encouraged by some business advice on the television.

“Business success is about the three P’s: People, Process and Product.” Billionaire investor Marcus Lemonis had reiterated this advice several times on his hit reality television show, The Profit, but it never meant much to David until he watched the programme that evening.

Like the embattled entrepreneur on the TV screen, David contemplated the future of his enterprise in an environment that was getting increasingly hostile. He understood that reduced sales and rising costs produced meagre margins, which were a recipe for disaster for anyone’s business.

Self-help brought little assistance

David had never been one to wallow in self-pity. He thought people who complained about their problems were wimps who lacked the strength of mind to find solutions. Despite his bravado, David was now forced to admit that he just didn’t have the expertise to solve his business challenges. Continue reading A Jamaican Business Owner’s Fight to Survive: The Longest Night →

A Day in the Life of a Jamaican Business Owner

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David’s head jerked at the insistent sound of the telephone ringing in his office. He hadn’t realised that he had fallen asleep at his desk until the call interrupted his late afternoon nap. For several months, sleep had eluded him during the night, and his body was trying to regain well-needed rest.

Despite being bone-tired when he finally crawled home after 10:00 pm most nights, David found it difficult to wind down and relax. Concerns about his business swirled around in his mind and he spent many more hours contemplating strategies that could help him fix the serious problems that he faced.

As the proprietor of a small trucking operation, David enjoyed the freedom that business ownership brought to his life. Twelve years ago when he made the courageous step to start his own venture, David had big plans to turn his fledgling delivery service into a multimillion-dollar enterprise.

The business had enjoyed initial success, as he was the only operator in the eastern parish where he lived with the type of equipment that could meet the needs of the local businesses. Eventually other entities had joined the market and fierce competition now made it a cut-throat environment. Continue reading A Day in the Life of a Jamaican Business Owner →

How To Create A Goal Traffic Light

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“When faced with failure, many persons are not sure if they should continue in their current direction or choose a different path. They may end up persevering with the wrong thing or quitting a good idea too early. How do you know when to stop and when to keep working on a goal?”  – Reader

Last week we looked at how to use failures to help you achieve your goals, by learning valuable lessons that can point you to the right pathway. However, sometimes failure can actually be a sign to stop. How can you tell if your goal is worthwhile pursuing, or if you are chasing a futile dream?

Goal accomplishment would be much simpler if we had internal signals that would indicate green when it was time to go, yellow when it was appropriate to wait, and red when we should hit the brakes. This would remove confusion and doubt, and prevent us from wasting time and money.

Since you were not designed with this decision-making feature, you have to find strategies that can help you to decipher the results that you experience when you start working on your goals. Here’s how you can create a ‘traffic light’ for your goals that will indicate the right steps you need to take. Continue reading How To Create A Goal Traffic Light →