5 Key Components to Tick Off Your Checklist When Starting A Business

Starting a business is no uncharted territory – almost every inch of it has already been conquered. But not everyone was able to write a successful conquest; most of those who tried failed. For there is a universal truth behind the stories of those who were fortunate: success doesn’t come easy. There are a ton of things businesspeople considered before they laid the first brick of their empire. But there are some things most people tend to overlook that can actually become cornerstones for success. What are the key components you must consider when starting a business? 1. Overcoming Fears… Continue Reading

8 Things Entrepreneurs Need to Know About Running a Business and Landing Customers

We live in the most entrepreneurial era since the inception of humankind. Starting a new business endeavor gets more prominent thanks to mass media, startup accelerators, venture funds, and digital opportunities to launch quickly. But as a business advisor having consulted over 400 businesses, I constantly deal with the disconnect between reality and expectations. The dynamics of the global economy require strong leadership and pivoting quickly - between the hiring waves of strong investment environments and hardcore recessions bringing millions of businesses on their knees. The premise of "being your own boss" is a tempting solution to giving entrepreneurship a… Continue Reading

How to Establish and Solidify the Technical Leadership in Your Company

I receive a good chunk of emails and messages from people in my network asking for general technical advice (infrastructure, architecture, picking the right platform or vendor, etc.) And many of them openly disclose they have spoken with 5–10 people and brainstormed over the different answers they get. Asking for a hundred different opinions may get confusing, though. I wouldn’t advise you to ask an open-ended question on Quora, Stack Overflow, social media, email blasts, personal networks, friends, and recommendations. Prepare that into multiple phases – half a dozen generic, high-end answers, sift through them, narrow down your options, iterate… Continue Reading

How Remote Teams Work Together

Working remotely is about mutual trust. It’s the same as assessing the security of your home, the reliability of your office job, or the viability of your relationship. It's about creating an ecosystem where both parties can operate securely, reliably, and respectfully. Employers and employees must mutually invest in this ecosystem, recognizing that their actions or inactions can significantly impact each other. If you don’t care, you’ll lose. If you stress over it too much, something seems fishy and you may get burned again. I am a proponent of remote working in theory. And I’ve managed to build a team… Continue Reading

How to Handle a Resignation by a Key Player on Your Team

Handling resignations can be a tough process especially when it’s the top employees who are leaving. Searching for the best replacement for that soon-to-be-vacant role is the most challenging part of the process. So, as much as possible, you want to prevent them from leaving and ensure that employee turnover remains acceptably low for your company. There is a very common fallacy stating that people don't quit jobs, they quit managers. That's definitely the case in many corporations and large organizations with tens of thousands of people and tons of different management layers. Managers are important. But in large organizations,… Continue Reading

9 Important Lessons About Burnout In The Workplace

While I’m not a medical professional, I’ve been through several burnouts and some of my team members have blanked out for a few weeks before getting back on track. Here are several observations and thoughts of mine regarding burnouts. 1. Burnouts Are Often Not Directly Related to Work All of my burnouts and most of the cases I’ve observed were not directly related to work. Sure, work overload is a contributing factor. But more often than not, there are family troubles, sick family members, additional responsibilities or duties (looking for a new house, car troubles), or an uncomfortable office environment… Continue Reading

Micromanagement – The Good, Bad, and Ugly

It's not just about hovering over an employee's shoulder or obsessing over details. It's a reflection of a company's growth stage, the maturity of its staff, and the very essence of its operational culture. Micromanagement has nothing to do with caring about an employee. However, it’s important to review the different phases of a business and the professional experience of an employee, and the work environment. What is Micromanagement? According to Wikipedia’s sources : In business management, micromanagement is a management style whereby a manager closely observes and/or controls the work of his/her subordinates or employees. Micromanagement is generally considered… Continue Reading

How to Stop Procrastinating: 15 Effective Leadership Strategies

The prevalence of procrastination is horrid—affecting almost single individual worldwide. A sample survey led by Micro Biz Mag discloses that more than 84% of the population is prone to procrastinating on a regular basis - with 20.5% of the respondents postponing activities on a daily basis and 22.1% doing it "often". When it comes to leadership, efficiency and consistency are integral to success. https://www.instagram.com/p/CSHJ5BFlGqa/?utm_medium=copy_link Fighting procrastination is one of the key goals while undergoing different training courses in relation to motivation, building discipline, productivity, or time management. Let's dive deeper into the problem and uncover the possible steps to getting… Continue Reading

Employee Motivation Strategies For Managers And Executives

What determines “progress” in terms of employment? Progress is defined by focusing on a higher goal without having to constantly worry about day-to-day needs (food, water, shelter, clothing). Those are the basic survival needs. Until you are sure that those are taken care of, your mind constantly switches back to the urgent needs at hand which are the absolute minimums for survival. A business organization employs that same process, but on steroids. Considering that the paycheck covers the basic needs and then some, employees must feel safe, comfortable, and motivated at the workplace. However, the reality is that employees may… Continue Reading

5 Business Process Challenges For Project Managers

Management and ownership are different. But are these truly incompatible? Successful business owners and entrepreneurs have simply struggled for a continuous period of time, juggling with anything and everything from legal and accounting through sales and marketing, IT, operations, recruitment, branding, management, negotiations, to name A FEW. This isn't necessarily a great thing if the vast majority of your time goes into dreadful stuff. I always cringe when I need to handle accounting or legal cases for over an hour! Experienced managers, however, are paramount to the future (and the growth cycles) of an organization. Yet, these are rare to… Continue Reading