Somebody needs to come up with a workplace Drama meter. I’m pretty sure there aren’t any assessments for this, but after working with a lot of small businesses over the last 14 years, I’m convinced that a high level of drama in the workplace is one of the best ways to tell that the business […]

If you want to see an employee or a team really come to life, help them figure out their purpose and set them loose! It is one thing to have a job, it is entirely another to have a purpose.  A job can be anything from owner/CEO of the business, to manager, or any one […]

  photo by hacky There are a bunch of unhappy people out there.  And the really scary part of that equation is that most of them are your employees (well maybe not your employees, but someone’s employees). Several recent studies have shown that over 50% of employees are unhappy with their job and would consider […]

A lot of people struggle with establishing processes for their businesses.  It feels bureaucratic, stifling and it can be some serious work up front to get things documented and figured out. However it’s not rocket science…by any stretch of the imagination. The trick, assuming that you’re a business that’s already up and running is that […]

photo by ed ludwick  The following is a guest post by Mike Vande Brake, partner at Vande Brake and Baker CPAs. It’s nearly time to begin making those New Year’s resolutions, the wishful thoughts borne out of our guilt for the things we typically let slip. Lose weight. Exercise more. Eat fewer sweets. You get […]

Back in the early 90’s, there was a series of computer games called ‘The Incredible Machine“.  The games were a series of intricate puzzles that required you to create complicated, off the wall Rube Goldberg machines to solve simple tasks.