So you’re all excited because that new employee you’ve been searching for has finally accepted your offer. Now all you need to do is finish up the paperwork and complete a background check and they will be on the job before the end of the month! And then the background check comes back with a black mark. What should you do?

Sometimes you need to slow down to speed up. We know it’s counterintuitive. The answer isn’t always to push harder or get more information. Believe it or not, it’s often best to do nothing. To sleep on it. For a small business owner this is easier said than done. Especially if you’re one of those very driven individuals who has trouble taking it easy and slowing down.

Most business owners can relate to what it feels like to have debt in your business. Unfortunately, not too many owners are aware of how to get all that debt paid off. In fact, it seems too many business owners have come to the conclusion that it’s just the way things are when it comes to having debt. Well, it doesn’t have to be that way.

We were recently involved with some mock interviews with local high school students. The goal is to give these 15 and 16 year olds some practice at interviewing for a job. They are asked to complete an application, dress in nicer clothes, and then sit down for a 10-minute interview with some volunteer adults to “interview” for a job in a retail store.

Communication is always a challenge, whether in business or in life. We often meet business owners who lament about the challenges of trying to get their team on the same page. It might sound something like, “How do I make sure everyone knows what is going on?” Or “Why isn’t everyone rowing in the same direction?”

We’ve heard from a lot of business owners over the years who are looking for a checklist to run their businesses. It’s often described as something like “do these 17 things in this order and you’re guaranteed to have success.” So is getting all these systems and procedures and SOPs in place really the answer for your business? Or should you focus on attracting and retaining the best people to be part of your Organization?

If you’ve listened to our show for a while of if you know us off the air, you likely know that we are big fans of Inc. Magazine. Not only do they usually have great articles related to entrepreneurs that are easily digestible, they also have many inspirational stories. We saw a recent article addressing something that is impacting every business (large or small), The Great Resignation. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, between April 2021 and September 2021 over 24 million American employees left their jobs.

Do you consider yourself successful? This is a question that’s easy to ask, but really takes some thought to answer. Too many small business owners wouldn’t use the word successful to describe themselves. You’re more likely to hear them use words with more negative connotations like overwhelmed, frustrated, or just simply worn out. I guess it’s a matter of what you focus on.

Today we were joined on the show by entrepreneur Pete White. Pete is the co-owner of Abstract Ocean along with his wife Christal. During the show Pete shared his journey from a full-time job in the IT world to a business owner by pursuing a hobby related to their new Tesla vehicle back in 2013.

When’s the last time you took a road trip? With the COVID restrictions lifted in most parts of the world combined with summer being upon us, we have seen a lot more cars on the road with folks traveling across the country. But even if you haven’t been on a road trip lately, I’m sure you can recall several you’ve been on over the years. And if you’re in your 40s or later, you might actually remember picking up your TripTik from AAA before leaving on your journey. These days, you likely will just punch the destination into your GPS enabled device to get you where you’re trying to go.