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If you’re in business long enough, chances are very high that you’ll be faced with a big decision…To Sue or Not To Sue!  How do you know when the time is right to put up a fight vs. settle?

A couple of things to keep in mind: i) you will likely never see the inside of the court room as about 95% of the cases are settled before getting to court; ii) the only people guaranteed to make money are the attorneys; iii) size matters, some things just aren’t worth fighting.

During tonight’s show we shared several different examples of our personal experience as well as those of our clients when it comes to lawsuits or potential lawsuits.  Our guidance to our business coaching clients is to try everything else first before looking to file a lawsuit.  This all hinges on ensuring you have a reasonable party on the other side because you can’t fix or negotiate with crazy!

Filing a lawsuit should be the last thing you try after trying to negotiate, settle, or finding some other way to avoid getting attorneys involved.  If you’re dealing with someone who’s a bit nuts, you may have no other choice but to sue!

The post To Sue Or Not To Sue? How Do You Know When The Time Is Right To Put Up A Fight Or Settle? appeared first on Dirty Secrets of Small Business.

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In This Episode

If you’re looking to suck the oxygen out of the room, just tell people you’re looking to have more meetings.  Why do meetings get such a bad rap?  Our experience shows that most meetings in business are poorly run.  So what happens is most companies instead choose not to have regular meetings.  If a meeting does happen it creates a lot of buzz within the organization.

So how do you reverse this aversion to meetings in your business?  It starts with getting regularly scheduled meetings with set agendas.  Pick a meeting to start with.  There are two types of meetings: status/update OR working meetings.  Do your best not to mix these two.  Nothing will create more angst and frustration than sitting in a status meeting that devolves into a problem solving working meeting where two people have hijacked things while the rest of the people sit and watch.

We suggest starting with either a daily touch with your key people that lasts 5-10 minutes or a weekly meeting.  Both of these would be status/update meetings vs. working meetings.  Start with setting the time/date of the meeting.  If it’s a daily meeting, pick a time of the day and stick with it (e.g. 8am every day).  If it’s weekly, lock in the day and time (e.g. 2pm on Tuesdays).

One of the biggest benefits of regular meetings is it minimizes interruptions, especially from the owner!  Keep something else in mind as well, anyone who is in the meeting should have something to say as well.  Another often overlooked side benefit of regular meetings is the chance to have people present.  They will grow each time they present themselves and their thoughts and you as the business owner will gain more confidence in your key people as you get insights for how they think and present themselves.

Get those meetings started, either a daily or weekly one to kick things off!  Don’t tell us you don’t have time for it, make the time for important things.

People, Companies and Resources We Mentioned in the Show

Debbie Downer from Saturday Night Live (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Downer)

Mickey Goldmill from Rocky (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Goldmill)

The post How Come Meetings Get Such A Bad Rap? appeared first on Dirty Secrets of Small Business.

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Communication.  Keeping it simple and good is more difficult than it sounds.  No matter what type of business you’re in, there will always be communication challenges because you will be dealing with people.  Don’t confuse keeping it simple with communication being easy.  It’s difficult to keep it simple!

A common challenge we hear from business owners is they are tired of having to repeat themselves.  It might sound something like, “I’ve told him a hundred times before how to properly document that!”  Our response, so tell him for the 101st time because it still hasn’t sunk in.  Keep in mind there are three key ways people communicate and learn: Visual, Audio, and Kinesthetic.

The majority of people learn/communicate visually.  Nearly as many do it Kinesthetically (based on feel/tone).  The smallest amount (less than 10%) prefer to communicate and learn Auditory (hearing/listening).  Too many folks rely heavily on the Auditory portion of communication (i.e. they talk you to death).  Then it starts to sound like all of the adults in Charlie Brown!  Try some whiteboards and flip charts…put a little passion into what you’re saying!  How’s your handshake?

Another key is “active listening”, which is basically having someone play back to you what they heard to make sure you’re on the same page.  That’s why “Presenting” is one of our 7 Keys to Success.  Also, try having some regular meetings with your key people so you can make sure everyone is on the same page and you’ll know it by including the active listening component!

Here’s a list of the Top 10 Things to make you a good communicator:

1. Good listener
2. Non-verbal cues
3. Clarity/Brief/Don’t Ramble On
4. Friendly Tone
5. Confidence
6. Empathy
7. Open Mindedness/Be Curious
8. Respect
9. Feedback
10. Picking the Right Medium

People, Companies and Resources We Mentioned in the Show

Jimmy Stewart (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stewart)

It’s a Wonderful Life (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)

The post How Do You Stop All This Miscommunication in Your Business? appeared first on Dirty Secrets of Small Business.

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Many business owners struggle with something that most people think should be a no brainer…taking a vacation.  How come it can be so hard to enjoy the holidays with your family and friends without getting the shakes?  How do you find the switch to turn things off?  How do you not feel like Mr. Scrooge when you wish more people were working during the holidays?  It can be maddening!

We have a lot of clients who are going through a transition of the business from one generation to the next (parents to kids and other relatives).  There are lots of good advisors when it comes to structuring the transition to save taxes and do it properly.  But how do you transition the day-to-day management?  How do you as the boss step back?  How do you as the “owner in training” step up into a leadership role?

There are some key things to do at the start.  First you should get agreement that the time is right for a transition and how long should it take (e.g. 3, 5, 7 years).  Then the current generation should look at testing out what it’s like to back off a bit by doing something like reducing work time from 5 days per week to 4 days per week so they can start to figure out what they’re going to do after the transition is complete.  Will they be a man or woman of leisure or get into volunteering?

Don’t worry about “what’s fair” but instead “what’s best for the organization”?  Things like, “who should be in charge” if there will be more than one owner.  Don’t do a 50/50 ownership, someone should always have at least 51%.  What about compensation?  Not just salary and bonus, but what about other perks?  Also, who is going to do what so you can ensure that there is a relative equal dissemination of duties so one partner doesn’t feel like she is carrying more of the burden?  These and many other questions are key things to discover as part of the business transition process.

The post How Do You Transition the Ownership/Management of a Business? appeared first on Dirty Secrets of Small Business.

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