To share financial information with your employees or not? Small business owners differ in their opinions.

I teach my employees how to read the income and profit and loss statement. I talk to them about how each line item relates to what they do. They are encouraged to provide feedback on how we can cut out unnecessary expenses and refine processes. By including them in the process I am building a strong team.

— Donna Reade, Car-Tech USA, www.car-techusa.com

Isabel Graf

Owners should share some information so employees know how they can impact the business’ success. They need to educate their employees about the numbers and how the employees’ role in the business. I am not suggesting that the owner has to share all information—just the measures that help employees understand the importance of their jobs. Any information that you share needs to include an educational piece.

—Isabel Graf, Owner, Insights2Talent, www.insights2talent.com

Small business owners should consider sharing selective financial information. Sharing key financial metrics can be used to shape behavior and to celebrate the success of individuals or the entire team. We hold quarterly meetings with our employees and like to be as transparent as we can with information. We also have annual incentive programs directly related to our overall financial performance.

—Diana Otwell, Spectrum Signs and Graphics

www.SpectrumSignsFL.com

In today’s economy it’s imperative to share key financial information with all employees. Employees need to know the budget is and how the company is doing. In this way they would be more productive so you can hire talented people  to play for your company. They will be protecting the secret for your business’ success, their talent.

—William G. Mora, president and CEO, GM Consulting-Gamma Brands,
http://www.gmconsulting-gammabrandsexport.us/

I believe you should share the theme of your financial information. In small companies, employees often feel they are taking a risk working with a small company over larger ones, so to keep them in the loop with how you are doing is smart. If handled correctly, you will inspire some to work harder and turn it around, and in good times, add to the momentum of your growth.

—David McGraw, founder, Oyova Software LLC, www.oyova.com

Information should be shared. However, most smaller businesses lack a way of presenting the numbers in a means which can make sense to everybody. Their accounting (bookkeeping) is poor and the applications have no dashboards so whatever is shared is lost on the employees!

—Graeme Nichol, president, Arcturus Advisors
www.arcturusadvisors.com/

A small business owner should consider sharing financial information with employees concerning if payroll will be made.

—Donald J. Flynn, Don Flynn Pictures, Inc., donflynnpictures.com

I believe financial information should be topical so your team can understand your concerns and how issues could be resolved.  Include them in the process so that they feel they are part of the solution. However, I do not believe that you should reveal financial statements to your team.  In my 32 year career, I have never seen this done.  

—Sheila Collins, Collins Capital Management, Inc.

www.collinscmi.com

I never shared my company’s financial information with employees, except to demonstrate broad growth trends and how to analyze them to determine if new positions should be added. Running the company is not a group project. You can share your vision without sharing a financial report.

—Linda Nottingham, president, JAX Realty Advisors, Inc.

Editor’s note: See more comments on this topic at the Jacksonville Small Business Advantage group site on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com.)

The recession has caused many companies to cut back on awarding increases in salary—a method many managers traditionally rely on as a motivator. Advantage asked its readers for suggestions on keeping employees motivated when budgets are tight. Here are their answers.

Use a personal touch

Isabel Graf

The most important thing is to know your employees and understand what is important to each of them. Then tailor your actions to fit the needs of the individual. A personal touch goes a long way! Here are some ways to do that:

• Hand write a thank you note or congratulations for a specific action an employee did. Use company note cards or blank cards. Be sure to acknowledge the effort the employee took.

• Celebrate birthdays—either individually or monthly. Send a card with a handwritten note, bring in bagels or a cake. Give the birthday person a hat or badge to wear on his/her special day.

• Create a ritual for celebrating goals or reaching milestones. At one company the manager called the group together, acknowledged each person who met goals, and asked them to ring a school bell. People looked forward to that five-minute celebration.

—Isabel Graft, principal
Insights 2 Talent, www.insights2talent.com.

Offer small perks

Tanya Guydos

Since large salary increases have not been an option for our institution, the bank and its branches offer smaller perks to reward and recognize our teams. These include giving time off on the person’s birthday, gift cards for meeting goals, and the opportunity to attend offsite networking events. We also like to have monthly breakfasts or lunches as a way to say “thank you.”

—Tanya Guydos, vice president and branch manager
Florida Bank, www.flbank.com

Give ad hoc awards

When raises are not an option, consider other ways to make employees feel good about themselves, which in turn will

Lucy Markert

motivate them to perform better. Some things to consider for rewarding individual performance include:

• Certificates for a job well done,

• Recognition on a wall-of-fame,

• High visibility work assignments,

• Gift cards and self-development books or training opportunities,

• Fun activities, such as a spa day, tickets to the symphony or a sporting event.

Although some of these recognitions have a cost associated with them, the ad hoc nature avoids developing an entitlement mentality, and giving these rewards is usually more effective in reinforcing a desired performance behavior—provided they are linked to the performance.

To reward team performance, consider pizza parities, barbeques, and end-of-day ice cream socials. These can provide a forum for you to send or reinforce company messages regarding performance, strategic business direction, and values.

—Lucy Markert, managing partner
The HR consulting Group, www.thehrconsultingroup.com

Offer good benefits

Joanne Parks

Child care has its high and low seasons, and budgets are always tight. During the high (holiday) season, I provide performance bonuses as a way to keep employees motivated. But I find that a better motivator is providing benefits to my employees. We offer free healthcare to our employees as well as a matching 401(k)—something that is highly unusual in this industry.

—Joanne T. Parks, owner/director
Parks’ Place Daycare & Learning Center LLC, www.parksplacelearningcenter.com

One of the toughest things about starting your own business is getting adequate financing to make it a go. We asked readers how they initially financed their businesses and what they learned from that experience: Would they do it differently if they had to do it again?

Work, and more work

Mark Parow

Ten years ago I financed my business by working an additional job in the evenings and another on weekends. I continued this during the first year of being in business. As I built a customer base, I gradually reduced the number of hours I worked part time until I was finally working on my business full time. I also used both personal credit cards and loans from family members.

Looking back, I would have first developed a business plan and worked with SBA and SCORE to look at all my financing options. I believe this would have propelled my business years ahead of where it is today.

—Mark Parow, owner of EnvisionNet, Onlinetoner.net

Client financing

Annie Branson

My business started with one client who, along with his family, encouraged me to go into business for myself. They saw in me what I didn’t see in myself.  The family mentored me and provided the finances to start my company, which provides nonmedical homecare services to individuals in their homes.

When I moved to Beaver Street Enterprise Center (BSEC) from my home office, I found additional support. When my business began to grow and I needed a loan, the BSEC staff assisted in that process.

—Annie W. Branson, Annie Wilson Homecare Services, Inc., www.anniewilsonhomecare.com

Every way possible

Brooke Morris

When I initially financed my Web-marketing business, it was through “every way possible”— from using my tax refund to financing computers.  I even mowed a woman’s grass to get a design system she no longer needed.   I started my company with about $76 in my bank account. 

This taught me to be extremely savvy with my spending and take advantage of every free resource I found.  When I began to look, I found numerous open-source business solutions including a customer relationship management program, search engine optimization tools, and workflow management programs.  These programs kept me working smoothly, and have aided in my very high Google rankings. 

—Brooke Morris, MPower Images, www.MPowerImages.com. 

Financing –

Family and friends

We raised our first round of funding last summer from an investor group of mainly friends and family of our team.  Some of our team members are in the investment banking industry, so their experience finding attractive investments opportunities certainly came into play.  When we approached possible investors, we made a simple but solid presentation; we understood our vision and were able to explain it in a way they understood it. And we explained the risks. We wanted them to invest with an open eye.

—Nathan Fabrick, 110PLAYHARDER.COM

Business consultants agree that marketing is something that needs to be done consistently, even in a poor economy. We asked our readers, “What kinds of marketing efforts work best for your small business?” Here is what they told us.

A variety of avenues

The Internet is an important marketing vehicle. I have joined as many directories as possible; I participate in social networking, and I have started a blog. I’m now having my Web site redesigned.

Another way I have secured work is through silent auctions. I donate a gift certificate to reach out to another group of customers who use my services and refer me to others. This also allows me to help local charities and give back to the community. Similarly, I have joined some volunteer groups.

I also network. After my last networking event, I e-mailed everyone I met within 24 hours. This resulted in connecting with two individuals who are referring me to others. (I reciprocate.) I’ve also placed ads in two different publications to specifically target certain populations. My philosophy is to have a lot of different marketing strategies in place.

— Mary Habres, owner, Encore Home Staging and Redesign, www.encorehomestagingandredesign.com/

Hosting events

We are hosting events and marketing them with social media, blogs and press releases. We have a monthly speaker series and a business to business coffee. We host weekly Webinars. It is a great way to network. The least effective marketing for us in the real estate industry has been print ads. It is very expensive and generates very few calls or visitors.

—Sherry Davidson, president, Davidson Realty, www.davidsonrealtyinc.com/

Targeted direct mail tops

We have had major success with targeted direct mail advertising. We have also seen a dramatic increase of potential clients finding us on the Internet due to our increased efforts on search engine optimization. We have also started using social networking to educate and provide helpful tips on our services to our clients. Our hopes are to write articles that will get them to forward to their friends for free.

—Kevin J. Carroll. Swimcraft Pools,www.swimcraftpools.com

Word of mouth

The key to our new client development success has been through word of mouth marketing. In 2009, we found that 60% of all our new business came from existing client relationships, 35% came from our involvement with BNI (Business Network Int’l.), and 5% from our continued community involvement and deepening relationships with our centers of influence. We have found that our closing ratios are much higher on these forms of marketing compared to others we have done such as phonebook listings, trade show booths, and our company Web site. 

—Amy Malerba, COO, Calibrate CPAs, www.calibratecpas.com

Marketing is challenging for small service-related businesses such as ours, where the value of the service has both qualitative and quantitative measures.  We have found that word-of-mouth works the best.  Networking groups and sponsoring local seminars have also yielded some new business.  Mass marketing efforts has not been fruitful.  I think the reason for this is that qualitative value requires explanation beyond that which can be described and or captured in a print ad or with a tag line.

—Sarah Gronvold, NestEggs, Inc., www.nesteggs.cc 

What do you consider the most important leadership trait a small business owner must possess? We asked several Jacksonville business owners and asked them to describe how they develop that trait in their business operations.

Vision: Key to growth

Joe Murphy

Great small businesses are led by visionary leaders. Employees of visionary leaders have a clear picture of where the company is going, and what the rewards will be for them if those goals are achieved. I strive  to be a visionary leader by creating a collaborative work environment in which communication is clear; successes are celebrated; and mistakes are not repeated. Only when all team members feel that their work is meaningful and important can any company reach its peak performance.

—Joseph Murphy, Lifeware TEK, www.lifeware.com

Ann Sabaag

Small business leaders need have a clear and compelling vision about their company and what it contributes. They need to pursue that vision with passion and share it with their people in a way that captivates and inspires them to want to be a part of it.  A well defined vision provides unity and energy keeps everyone focused .  It’s particularly powerful when a leader stays true to their vision through periods of adversity.

—Ann Sabbag, Health Designs, www.healthdesigns.net

Consistency: Important for everyone

Many factors determine the success of a small business, but most successful small business leaders share

Mary Ann Magers

a common trait— consistency. Customers often leave because they are surprised about something, such as a price change that was not communicated properly or a customer-service experience that did not meet their expectations. Inconsistent operations also place a great amount of stress on employees. This results in high turnover, high training costs, and poor customer experiences.

I strive to maintain consistent operations by having a clear mission statement and a written plan that clearly communicate the vision and purpose of the company. I find that written policies and procedures empower employees, and ensure that every client has an excellent experience with no surprises.

—MaryAnn Magers, CPA, Magers & Associates, LLC, www.magerscpa.com

Sincerity: Secret to long-term relationships

Curtis Osmond

I believe that the single most important leadership trait for  small business leaders is sincerity. You have to truly care about your customers and your team — and about building long-term relationships. That means being accessible and taking the time to really listen to what people are saying.

I work on showing I care by sitting down for a “family”meal with my staff before each shift. We talk about past successes and opportunities for improvement. It’s a time to celebrate and a time to plan— and we do it every day. We try never to take things for granted. Sharing good food and conversation helps create a tight-knit team with a genuine desire to provide memorable dining experiences for our guests.

—Curtis Osmond, III Forks Steaks and Seafood, www.IIIforks.com

Jacksonville Small Business Advantage asked a number of small business executives about the top challenges they will face and deal with in their businesses in 2010. Here is what they told us.

Filling available capacity

We have been lucky. Our business—Internet strategy—remained steady throughout 2009. The main difference, however, is that normally we have a backlog of work extending two or three months. That was not the case in 2009. We have available capacity we would like to fill. We do expect, however, that business will loosen up in the first quarter of 2010.

—Joe Lemire, ELYK Innovation Inc., www.elykinnovation.com

Reducing costs

The biggest issue facing my business is reducing costs without impacting the ability to attract and retain a quality workforce. Keeping a team comprised of highly skilled professionals who approach their careers with integrity, a strong work ethic, and a desire to grow with the firm is critical to our success. Our survival is a testament to their unwavering dedication to our valued clients, to this firm and to each other. 

— Greg Clary, Clary & Associates, Inc. Professional Surveyors & Mappers, www.claryassoc.com

Location

I have issues with scheduling, weather, and getting my phones answered. But my biggest challenge is to find a place where we can provide swimming lessons throughout the year. My goal is to make to help more people learn to swim so that senseless drownings do not occur. Drowning deaths in Florida of children less than five years old are more than double the national average. We need to change this!

—Joani Maskell, Swimming Safari Swim School, www.swimmingsafari.com

Keeping positive

Keeping a positive attitude in the wake of recent and significant downturns in revenue is challenging. I do not accept the “new normal.” The right prescription is getting back to work—working on those fundamentals that made us successful.

—Ron Autrey, Miller Electric Company

Surviving the housing slump

In our business, the biggest challenge is the housing slump. When the new home buyers’ tax credit runs out a low point will follow, just as it was in the cash for clunkers program for auto sales.

—Craig Page, Magnolia Blind and Shutter, www.magnoliablinds.com

Positive thinking

I believe we attract what we focus on and think about all the time.  We can spend time evaluating the loss of revenue and all the things we don’t have now, or we can wake up in the morning and decide to make the most out of our current situation.  My challenge is to spread my enthusiasm for life to my entire team and keep them motivated and positive.

— Lynn Lamoureux, owner Pet World, www.petworldpets.com

Creative business building

To assist in continually building my clients’ overall revenue in a recession is a real challenge. Keeping positive and always working a whole lot harder than the average, which used to be able to cut it. It takes partnering and reaching out for help if you need it nowadays!

—Camille Clement Gregg, Outside the Box Consulting LLC

Take a look around the table when you go to your next business luncheon. You’ll catch people sneaking a peak at their smart phones to text, twitter, check e-mail, or catch up on news. Cell phones are becoming as indispensable to business people today as the PDA was just a few years ago. But, what kinds of applications turn cell phones into micro-computers? Jacksonville Advantage asked readers to tell us about their favorite “apps” that make their lives easier.

Easy listening

I have an iPhone, and my favorite is Pandora Radio, a free personalized radio (www.pandora.com/on-the-iphone). It is nice to have the radio and the variety when I’m at the gym without having to carry a separate radio with me.

—Terrell Holman
Executive Director and Co-founder at NetWorth

Real GPS

I have the Samsung Instinct cell phone, and I love its GPS feature. It’s a real GPS, not just an online map. I used it when I visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The GPS search feature helped me find coffee (Starbucks and others), breakfast cafes, and restaurants around the city. Since we decided to walk everywhere and it was cold, it was nice to be able to choose from a search list and get specific directions.

— David Sturgis
Bank of America

Keeping up-to-date

There are a lot of iPhone apps, but I like two especially: I’m addicted to news apps for the iPhone and the maps app when I travel, of course.

— Paul Giroux
Owner at Snob Hollow Designs

BlackBerry business apps

Some of my favorite apps include Pandora Radio, ScoreMobile (everything sports-related), and Facebook. I’m a bit biased since I work for a BlackBerry app development company, but I love the following four BlackBerry (BB) apps:

• IntelliLaunch. This app quickly allows you to launch any file, contact, or app on your BB. The smart technology remembers what you use most often, which helps you sort through all of your contacts and other apps with incredible efficiency. I couldn’t live without it; it is a major time-saver.

• Google Maps. It helps me find my way easily.

• QuickPull. Have you ever rebooted your phone by actually pulling the battery out? This is really good for your phone to help it run optimally, but it’s a pain to do. QuickPull simulates a battery pull for you and allows you to schedule reboots each night of the week when you aren’t using it.

• Edocrab. Edocrab is “barcode” spelled backwards. This app can scan a product UPC barcode for the purpose of finding competitive prices at hundreds of stores online. It also gives you product reviews and other pertinent product information such as images, videos, and music, etc. Edocrab helps you to avoid buying overpriced products as well as others that have not received good reviews.

— Brian Baggs
Steelthorn Software

 Easy e-mail

My favorite application is checking and responding to my e-mail. I’m looking forward to the day I can check my client files too.

— Robert Roldan
The Holmes Org. of Florida, Inc.

On the Street: Readers assess the importance of customer service today

The sagging economy caused many businesses to cut back on staffing. Reduced manpower, however, often sacrifices customer service. Jacksonville Advantage tapped into the resources of LinkedIn and asked in discussion groups about the value of customer service compared to price in a down economy. The consensus was that good customer service is possibly more important today than ever before. Several business owners gave their opinion:

Out-service your competition

I have never been afraid to re-evaluate my convictions, one of which is to be successful in business you must out-value and out-service your competition. My father ingrained in my brother and me that a solid work ethic pays off in the end. He would also say, “If you’re not going to do the job right, then don’t do it at all.” He was also a fan of the famous Lee Iacocca statement, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”

I believe these philosophies and practice them the best I can. I probably always will.

— Howard Stockdale

Jacksonville IT Services

Persistence pays

Hard work and good customer service are critical to success. I would also add persistence. The simple truth is that there will be tough days, weeks, and months in which these types of philosophies will seem to have no positive affect. Be persistent and stay the course. Very few companies stay true to their mission, vision, or values over the years, and they suffer and at worst go out of business.

— Shaun Ginter

Solantic Walk-in Urgent Care

Go the extra mile

Going the extra mile with customer service is valid in today’s business environment, even though we are getting mixed signals because our clients (and their clients) are cutting costs, which forces us to lower prices and drives our attention to delivering our service cheaper.

Staying true to your mission, vision, and values in the current climate will ultimately lead to long-term success. That’s the beauty of having a clear vision and mission: When things get foggy, it focuses you on why you exist and what you do better than your competitors. This, of course, is easier said than done at a time when a lot of companies are in survival mode and looking at just their numbers. But it is the best time to separate from your competitors.

— Brian Quinn

Aerotek

More than ever

Hard work and good customer service are more important today than ever. Customers and prospective customers have so many choices that you must find a way to differentiate your product or service from the rest of the pack. Now is the time to hire the best and brightest and shop around for any technological edge that could help serve customers better. You will receive better service from your vendors, have more time to make a more informed decision, be in a better negotiating position on price, and help your vendors—something they will not forget in the future.

— Doug Apelian, consultant

Flexibility is key

My company’s success through this recession is due to flexibility and outstanding customer service with my clients/customers. I have had to modify some of my pricing, but it allowed me to continue to generate business.

—Thea Jeffers
T-works Interior Decorating

Balance is important

A company does not have to choose to quality over customer service over price. Success is dependent upon a company’s ability to balance all three. Choosing one over another is a recipe for failure.

—Brian Smith
Th(Inc), LLC

Value from the customer’s perspective

Value should be described from the customer’s perspective—looking at a benefit received instead of price paid to obtain full satisfaction. I believe achieving a customer’s perception of value has a huge significance in customer retention.

—William G. Mora
GM Consulting/Gamma Brands

Value is key

Value seems to be the key for my business, which appears recession-resistant (if not recession-proof). I actually raised prices in January 2009, and business is increasing. People always want a good price, but demand value.

—Mark Goldwich
Gold Star Adjusters, LLC

By Amy Mitchell        

In recent months several companies, large and small, have reported profits related to their use of social networking Web sites. News stories and business magazine articles indicate that this new medium has promise for promoting and developing small businesses. Jacksonville Advantage asked five small business owners their impressions of online networks such as Facebook or LinkedIn as a way to publicize and build their business.

Targeting their market

Kimberly Deppe

We do some advertising on Facebook because it allows us to pinpoint our messaging to specific groups of individuals. We don’t have an active Facebook page, but we are in the process of studying that to see how it might make sense and how it would best serve our members. We are piloting a small social networking project with Twitter and are eager to see the results.

— Kimberly Deppe, vice president of marketing,
Community First Credit Union,
 www.communityfirstfl.org

Choosing the appropriate site

I just recently heard about LinkedIn. I like the concept and am willing to try it out. I’m not convinced Facebook is going to promote business. It seems more appropriate for personal socializing. However, I do think Facebook has staying power. It will be interesting to see if the novelty of some of these sites fades. I still like the idea of picking up a telephone and actually talking to someone.

— Tim Blin, president,

Premier Garage,

www.premiergarage.com

A necessity, along with traditional methods

Brent L. Paris

Online networking is a must in today’s environment. However, one must do so with caution and purpose. Though Facebook may be an appropriate marketing method for some types of businesses such as retailers, I prefer to categorize it as an informal venue of communication. It is a means of personal expression and a way to stay connected with friends. As such, the information shared is not within one’s control, and can, at times, not be appropriate for business relationships. Therefore, Facebook is not a business networking tool for me. On the other hand, LinkedIn is a powerful and required business networking tool. My favorite attributes are the weekly update on my contacts and the “People You May Know” section.

My advice: Don’t lose site of the impact of face-to-face networking. Shaking a hand, enjoying a meal, or sharing a laugh can build memorable relationships.

— Brent L. Paris, president,

PVB Capital LLC,

www.pvbcapital.com

Translating into ROI

Myron Pincomb

We have plans to implement a small-scale social network campaign in August. My concern with this has been determining how to track the ROI out of the investment in time and resources required. The common answer from people involved in this space is “It will drive Web traffic” or “It’s not about ROI.” In today’s economy, that is not the answer most business owners are looking for. I am very intrigued by this medium and I think if someone can show how it directly contributes to the bottom line it will become a major advertising medium.

— Myron Pincomb, president/CEO,

Educational Tools,

www.educationaltools.com

For now, traditional methods

Aaron Marston

We currently do not use social networking to promote and build our business. However, we do a great deal of more traditional social networking. Since the inception of our business, we have made a concerted effort to attend events that our clients are involved in. Whether it is a triathlon, a weight-loss support group, athletic events, high school graduations, or even weddings, we like to be there to encourage and support the clients that are supporting us. We are looking at ways we can better use technology to build those relationships.

— Aaron Marston, executive director,

The HIT Center of Jacksonville,

www.thehitcenters.com

By Amy Mitchell 

With the challenges the economy has presented, many small business owners find themselves working longer hours, trying to do more with fewer resources. This can lead to burnout. Advantage Magazine asked five small business owners how they personally avoid burnout and establish a good balance between work and the rest of their lives.

Cultivate support

Natalie Edmonton

I have learned to surround myself with other business owners I can lean on and trust; then I have a built-in support network that understands my challenges. Do not be afraid to ask for help. If you need help meeting your next client, ask for it. If you need help cleaning the shop because you can’t afford the cleaning company anymore, ask your friends or family to help. Engage your support system and utilize their talents and resources. For me, work becomes less of a burden and it helps to free up my time to enjoy the little things like dinner with the family or a mini-vacation.

— Natalie C. Edmondson,
president/managing partner,
Sign Depot LLC,
www.shopsigndepot.com

Mind, body, and spirit

Michael Hodges

I start my day with prayer and exercise in the morning. As I go through the day I stop to meditate and pray periodically, during breaks or when I get in the car. Affirmation cards with Bible verses or words from positive authors are helpful. I relax my body as much as possible, especially my shoulders, where I hold a lot of stress. Finally, I try to eat a healthy and balanced diet.

— Michael Hodges, president,
First Place Management, Inc.,
www.rentalsinjax.com

 Schedule the balance

Lori Wishard

The current economy has increased business for our marketing and Web development company, since more people are turning to the cost efficiency of promoting their business online. We are keeping up the demand, but have struggled with the balance of work and general life. I try to schedule time each week to regroup and catch my breath, helping me to maintain creativity for my clients and sanity for my family. Having a commitment to this time is hard, but critical in keeping all balanced.

— Lori Wishard, vice president of sales,
Media Rapids, www.mediarapids.com

A purpose-driven life

Steve Goranson

What is the real cause of burnout? It’s the feeling you get when you put in the effort but don’t feel you are progressing; you’re just spinning your wheels. To avoid burnout you must have clarity, focus, and purpose.

By working with burnt-out business owners to clarify their vision and purpose, and at the same time create worthwhile, meaningful goals, I help them become motivated and re-energized doing the same activities that made them feel burnt out in the first place. If you stay focused on your goals, you will maintain your motivation and avoid burnout.

— Steve Goranson, president,
ActionCOACH, www.actioncoach.com

Revitalization three ways

Lewis Hunter

People ask me how my business is doing and I just say, “I am working harder for less.” Here is how I avoid burnout:

1. Intellectually I know that “this too shall pass.” Knowing this makes short-term sacrifices less burdensome.

2. Exercise, five or six times per week, keeps the endorphins flowing. Even if it is for just a half-hour, never skip two days.

3. Hanging out with a 2-year-old and an 80-year-old. I have a granddaughter, age 2, and parents and in-laws in their 80s. Just being with either requires that I downshift and slow way down.

— Lewis Hunter, CPA,
Hunter & Associates, PA,
www.huntercpa.com

Amy Mitchell is a contributing editor. She can be reached at amyjmitchell@comcast.net.