Mike Van Horn
Mike Van Horn’s motto is “Grow Your Business without Driving Yourself Crazy.” Mike’s company, The Business Group, helps business owners overcome their challenges to growth, so they grow to the size they want, put more money in their pocket, and don’t have to work so dang hard.
He has worked with way over a thousand business owners in 20-plus years. He leads peer advisory groups where savvy owners help each other, and he consults with owners throughout the U.S. and beyond. From this experience, he has written numerous books, workbooks, and ebooks full of practical lessons for business owners.
Mike has an MBA from UCLA, and has started and run several businesses besides The Business Group. “I’m sure I’ve made every mistake in the book, so I speak from experience.”
Mike’s wife B.J. is also a consultant for The Business Group, and they live in Marin County north of San Francisco.
BusinessOwnersToolbox.com Twitter LinkedIn Small Business Blog
He has worked with way over a thousand business owners in 20-plus years. He leads peer advisory groups where savvy owners help each other, and he consults with owners throughout the U.S. and beyond. From this experience, he has written numerous books, workbooks, and ebooks full of practical lessons for business owners.
Mike has an MBA from UCLA, and has started and run several businesses besides The Business Group. “I’m sure I’ve made every mistake in the book, so I speak from experience.”
Mike’s wife B.J. is also a consultant for The Business Group, and they live in Marin County north of San Francisco.
BusinessOwnersToolbox.com Twitter LinkedIn Small Business Blog
How to Thrive in Tough Times--Lessons from Successful Business Owners
non-fiction, small business
Successful small business owners reveal where to put your focus today, so that you are prepared to thrive a year from now.
Small businesses are in a tough period! But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Here’s what I’m hearing from business owner clients who have come through okay, and are poised for the recovery.
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Here are 12 lessons to help your business not just survive but to thrive as the recovery gains momentum. The owners I work with are doing these things right now in marketing and pricing, customer service, finances and cost control, staffing, operations, and more. You can apply many of these ideas to your business tomorrow.
To Survive Now
Banish doom and gloom
Keep your customers
Ask, Who’s buying??
Go for cash flow
Don’t take unprofitable work
Watch your money like a hawk. Collect money faster
Don’t keep unnecessary labor, but sustain your team
To Thrive Later
Take care of yourself. Don’t stop paying yourself
Focus on running your business
Envision your recovery
Seek new opportunities
Ready your recovery fund
Inspire your team
Snap up resources
Amazon.com
Successful small business owners reveal where to put your focus today, so that you are prepared to thrive a year from now.
Small businesses are in a tough period! But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Here’s what I’m hearing from business owner clients who have come through okay, and are poised for the recovery.
_
Here are 12 lessons to help your business not just survive but to thrive as the recovery gains momentum. The owners I work with are doing these things right now in marketing and pricing, customer service, finances and cost control, staffing, operations, and more. You can apply many of these ideas to your business tomorrow.
To Survive Now
Banish doom and gloom
Keep your customers
Ask, Who’s buying??
Go for cash flow
Don’t take unprofitable work
Watch your money like a hawk. Collect money faster
Don’t keep unnecessary labor, but sustain your team
To Thrive Later
Take care of yourself. Don’t stop paying yourself
Focus on running your business
Envision your recovery
Seek new opportunities
Ready your recovery fund
Inspire your team
Snap up resources
Amazon.com
Build a Culture of Growth--How You and Your People Interact Must Support Your Company's Growth
non-fiction, small business
Does your business culture support your desired growth? Or are you stuck in a “culture of smallness?”
In a culture of smallness, the way you—the owner—think and interact with your employees, and the way the work is done, limits growth and keeps the company small. Perhaps it worked previously, but it is not working now, and it is a big barrier to further growth.
In a culture of growth, the attitudes, work habits, and interactions of all the people support the growth of the company, and accelerate your progress toward your goals.
TOPICS COVERED IN THIS BOOK
How Big—and How Fast—Do You Want to Grow?
Before and After—Examples of Changing Business Culture
Requirements for a Culture of Growth
What Is Your Company Culture Now?
Culture of Growth—Four Cornerstones
How You Can Change Your Business Culture
How to Overcome Resistance
How to Get the Support You Need
February 12
Does your business culture support your desired growth? Or are you stuck in a “culture of smallness?”
In a culture of smallness, the way you—the owner—think and interact with your employees, and the way the work is done, limits growth and keeps the company small. Perhaps it worked previously, but it is not working now, and it is a big barrier to further growth.
In a culture of growth, the attitudes, work habits, and interactions of all the people support the growth of the company, and accelerate your progress toward your goals.
TOPICS COVERED IN THIS BOOK
How Big—and How Fast—Do You Want to Grow?
Before and After—Examples of Changing Business Culture
Requirements for a Culture of Growth
What Is Your Company Culture Now?
Culture of Growth—Four Cornerstones
How You Can Change Your Business Culture
How to Overcome Resistance
How to Get the Support You Need
February 12
The Inner Game of Growth
non-fiction, small business Is the way you run your business a barrier to your growth, profitability, and ease of operation?
Why do some businesses grow rapidly while others struggle for growth and profitability?
The difference often lies within the noggin of the owner. You are the biggest asset of your business, and more than likely the biggest bottleneck as well.
Alas, all the clichés are true. The buck stops with you. You have to look in the mirror. To overcome your barriers to growth, ease, and profitability, you must work on yourself—that is, your own management practices, habits, attitudes, and beliefs.
This book describes a “mindset for growth” and gives you a bunch of exercises and other aids to help you explore some of these for yourself.
TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EBOOK
1. A mindset for growth, profitability, and ease
2. How to change your mindset
3. Can you change the work habits and attitudes of others?
4. How to get the help and support you need
February 12
Why do some businesses grow rapidly while others struggle for growth and profitability?
The difference often lies within the noggin of the owner. You are the biggest asset of your business, and more than likely the biggest bottleneck as well.
Alas, all the clichés are true. The buck stops with you. You have to look in the mirror. To overcome your barriers to growth, ease, and profitability, you must work on yourself—that is, your own management practices, habits, attitudes, and beliefs.
This book describes a “mindset for growth” and gives you a bunch of exercises and other aids to help you explore some of these for yourself.
TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EBOOK
1. A mindset for growth, profitability, and ease
2. How to change your mindset
3. Can you change the work habits and attitudes of others?
4. How to get the help and support you need
February 12
How to Introduce Change to Your Employees -- Thinking it through, building support, dealing with resistance
non-fiction, small business
How can you introduce change so that those who are going to be affected by it will be enthusiastic, rather than resistant?
In your ideal business, once you decide upon a needed change, you would just announce it . . . “Starting next Monday, we will all…” and all your people would willingly accept that new way of doing things. Alas, it rarely works this way! Instead, you find yourself exhorting, cajoling and threatening—and sometimes backing off and giving up on the change.
You can minimize this resistance and speed your progress by the way you introduce the change. Here are some general guidelines on how to bring about successful changes of the types you need to make to grow your business.
TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EBOOK
1. The 12 worst ways to introduce change
2. Twelve steps to successful change
3. How to get the support you need
February 12
How can you introduce change so that those who are going to be affected by it will be enthusiastic, rather than resistant?
In your ideal business, once you decide upon a needed change, you would just announce it . . . “Starting next Monday, we will all…” and all your people would willingly accept that new way of doing things. Alas, it rarely works this way! Instead, you find yourself exhorting, cajoling and threatening—and sometimes backing off and giving up on the change.
You can minimize this resistance and speed your progress by the way you introduce the change. Here are some general guidelines on how to bring about successful changes of the types you need to make to grow your business.
TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EBOOK
1. The 12 worst ways to introduce change
2. Twelve steps to successful change
3. How to get the support you need
February 12
