Posts by Katie Pierce
How Can You Stop Selling Your Time?
If your goal is to build a more valuable company, stop selling your time. Billing by the hour or day means customers are renting your time rather than buying a result, which means that your business model lacks leverage. To grow, you need to either work harder or hire more people. Since it can take…
Read MoreIs It Time to Start Saying No?
There are some who would disagree with what I’m about to say but I am a people-pleaser. I want to be liked and I want people to be able to depend on me. Both of those are pretty simple, right? So, what’s my point? Well, in an effort to be likable and dependable, I have…
Read MoreThis 5-minute Task Can Help You Achieve Your 2022 Goals
As we roll into the fourth quarter of the year, you may be starting to consider your business goals for next year. Given how 2020 went, maybe your primary ambition was to survive in 2021. But now that things have somewhat calmed down, perhaps you’re ready to create a recurring revenue stream or finally hire…
Read MoreThe Downside of Being a “One-Stop Shop”
Before Jeff Bezos & Co. blew up traditional distribution channels, there was some value in being the local guy or gal who was willing to go above and beyond to meet every single customer demand. Being the local product retailer was a good business and being a regional distributor of a popular line could make…
Read MoreHow to Turn Repeat Customers into Subscribers
Many people mix up re-occurring and recurring revenue, but one is much more valuable than the other. Re-occurring Revenue Re-occurring revenue comes from customers that have a re-occurring need for whatever you sell and buy from you on an unpredictable yet regular basis. Imagine a health food store. Customers come in to replenish their supply…
Read MoreProtecting Against the End Run
A football defensive coordinator needs to protect against an “end run,” a tactical play where your opponent sends the running back wide around the offensive line to try to evade the oncoming tackle. Just like in football, you have to defend against an end run coming from a supplier that chooses to go around you…
Read MoreBeing the Face Without Becoming a Prisoner
Think about when you started your business. Maybe it was just you or a few partners at the beginning. Since then, you’ve added to your team (a good thing) and have learned to delegate a lot of the customer-facing work to others (a great thing). Over time, you’ve retreated to the background. You no longer…
Read More3 Invisible Gates that Stop Most Companies Flat
How many people can one person manage? Harvard Business Review estimates the ideal range for an experienced manager is between five and nine direct reports. Inc. pegs the sweet spot at seven. The ratio of managers to direct reports matters because it explains why some companies grow and others plateau. Every business is different, but…
Read More10 Resolutions to Boost Company Value
If your goal is to build a more valuable company in 2022, here are some New Year’s resolutions to consider: Stop chasing revenue. A bigger company is not necessarily a more valuable one if the extra sales come from products and services that are too reliant on you to deliver them. Start surveying your customers…
Read MoreHarness the Power of Technology for Remote Work
Digital tools offer a powerful new way to accelerate the ability of an organization to work more effectively and collaboratively, from anywhere. However, resistance to change and disparate toolsets impede your business’s growth, slowing down collaboration and communication. And unstructured and ungoverned collaborative remote work technologies introduce additional business risk. So how do you provide…
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