The Best Business Advice I Ever Got: Don't Panic!

There was a recent major national publication that discussed how stress, if channeled correctly, can be a very positive and productive force OR be destructive.

I am a small business expert and I fix companies.

The theme struck a chord for me as that adrenalin surge can sometimes be just as addictive as any other controlled substance.  Think fireman running into a burning building, swooning damsels, squalling babes, etc.  Situations with an element of risk yield reward, fame and more opportunities - if that risk is handled correctly.

Panic and stress can't be disabling; if they are, the waves will wash over your head and it's game over.  Practically speaking, the way to tackle that wave of nausea, that puckering of certain body parts, that fill-in-the-blank-feeling that accompanies crises is straightforward:

1. Put a name on the problem(s);
2. Figure out which one goes first;
3. Attack!

As mind-numbingly simple as this sounds, it's this inability to focus and execute that gets people all the time.  Countless times, I have encountered such basic things like "This person no longer fits in the organization - what do I do?" or "We keep hiring the wrong people; what do we do?" or "We need more sales!".  Each of those (and many other) similar seemingly insurmountable situations are not monolithic - they all tend to be big balls of intermingled issues that need to be (patiently!) unraveled.

Follow the best business advice I ever got, take a deep breath...and start.

Is it okay if I (ever) take time off????

I was recently asked the above question and I thought I'd share my answer with you.

I am a small business expert and I fix companies.

The best way to go into something is with the right set of expectations.

Know that having your own business is going to be a lot of work and also (hopefully!) very rewarding; having said that, realize that some of the perquisites that come from living the life of an employee will go away.

Stress-free vacation time: I’m looking at you.

However, once you have developed a rhythm for your business, getting away and being in a different environment is key; it enables one to “sharpen the saw”, “drink the grape” and any other phrase that makes sense to place in quotes.

My secret? 

For my business (I am a small business expert and turn companies around and/or help them grow) I am just about to hit my 10 year anniversary. 

What works for me is to know that once a day while I am on vacation, I am going to re-connect and see if there are any emergencies.

Maybe that will change over time, but this gives me peace of mind, is fair to my family (as they know that work time has a beginning and an end) and my clients like that I care about them.

Do you like what you do?

I do.


I am a small business expert and I fix companies.


I'm not sure why, but I have increasingly been encountering small business owners who decided to start their own companies because they believed that they had something special, "mojo", that was sufficiently special that the whole world needed to know about it.


I am blessed to be able to work my mojo across multiple industries.  I used to feel really awkward when I would be asked (at the upteenth cocktail party or networking session) upon which industry I focused; reciting the litany of different fields, my answer soon became "everything but...".  Not very engaging.  What I have realized is that I work my magic on situations versus industries.


For example, my company has recently "struck a vein" of smaller companies that all have a great visionary at the helm who either isn't good at or just plain hates many of the aspects of management and leadership.  Almost pleading, many of them will ask for an opportunity to be able to do that which they originally had in mind to do (e.g., provide environmentally robust products, interface with media clients and parlay connections, be a presence and thought leader in the social media space, provide excellent and environmentally sensitive earth solutions, etc.) when they embarked on their journey instead of being bogged down by the day to day minutiae that now absorbs and drains their energy.

I like encountering these geniuses and unleashing them to "be"; letting them run wild and free as I take out an obstacle for them, hold the door open for them and any other cliché you can think of.  Like a parent at their kids recital or sports game, I really get my kicks off of seeing someone be able to execute and deliver on the giftedness that is at their disposal.