Resources to run a better business.

There are only a handful of topics I hit with this newsletter every year, and Annual Planning is at the top of the list (although our holiday Elf Yourself videos are up there as well).

All a management consultant really gets hired to do is get people in a room together, talking openly about their stuff with each other, and guide them toward the direction of their goals. The hardest thing in the world is to get people in a room together, talking openly about their stuff with each other, and guide them toward the direction of their goals.

After working with hundreds of entrepreneurs, I’ve realized one of the biggest misconceptions about running a business is that entrepreneurs don’t care all that much about hiring; and that employees are just interchangeable cogs in a wheel. You and I know this couldn’t be further from the truth.

There’s a reckoning that often happens when you get real with your finances. The numbers don’t lie, and once you open Pandora’s box, there’s no way to put the genie back in the bottle. Or something.

Clean financials are the foundation for better business decisions. Learn why monthly reporting, accurate data, and finance meetings are critical to growth.

There are many ways we can get people to buy from us. We can rely on charm, charisma, or sex appeal. We can lowball our offers. We can focus on volume and ignore terrible conversion rates. We can play on our customer’s impulsivity, FOMO, and general anxieties. But that’s not how you probably want to sell

Modern business thought has a clear hierarchy: strategy over tactics. If you are not strategic in your approach, you don’t know where you’re headed or what you’re trying to achieve. As a result, tactics leave you aimless, or spinning your wheels, or working much, much harder than you need to.

I love concerts. The energy in the crowd, the songs I’ve heard thousands of times before, and the musicians. These incredible artists, many of whom I’ve been watching and listening to for decades. And every time I see some of my favorite bands, I think, “They still sound amazing. How is that possible?”

Crews & co. and clients land a spot on the Inc. 5000. Find out where we landed.