“Serving fine concessions since 2008” That’s the branding statement for the Homerun Hut. It’s the concession stand at a local athletic club. After some years of inconsistent operations, a young couple took on the operation for the summer. Her dad is the club president and opened the door. They are a good pair. They’ve been…
Lynn sold her business. She had to. Her husband? Lung cancer, early retirement, no more insurance. So she needed a real job with real benefits. It’s not that she didn’t have a real job. She taught dance. For fifteen years she ran Lynn’s Academie of Dance. But that’s not enough of a real job to…
They were giving us furniture. For our church. Beautiful furniture. The kind of furniture you find in hospitals or coffee stores or waiting areas in malls. It wasn’t because we are a church, really, but because five days out of seven they use part of our parking lot. And they have meetings in our building…
The advertising is already starting. It’s Olympics time. During the next two months we’ll get tired of all the advertising. Everyone will be doing an athletics theme, a rings theme, a Chinese theme, a five-interlocking coffee stains theme. I know that sounds a little cynical, but I don’t mean it that way. In fact, all…
Just (adverb): merely, only.Usage: a way to acknowledge insignificance.Example: I’m just a small business owner. I’ve just got one employee. It’s just a small town. We all use it. We use it all the time. We are in the middle of a conference, listening to the speaker, hearing great wisdom and success. We think, “But…
I don’t need to introduce Jon because you’ve already met him. He’s been a regular reader and occasional contributor around here since 2006. Now he’s contributing regularly, so I thought I’d tell you a bit more about him. Jon works as a pastor, but he understands business better than many so-called business people. He may…
By Jon Swanson I rented a car on Hotwire. They gave me Avis as the best price. We got to the airport and the counter person said, “would you like a free upgrade to a convertible?” I was still flying and so I hesitated. “The weather will be much nicer this weekend,” she said. I…
By Jon Swanson You wonder about your customers, whey they don’t come back, why they choose others. But look at how you function… as a customer. Not for your business, but for your personal life (and I know, small business owners have no personal life. But just pretend with me for a moment). When you…
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