I try to write these about whatever keeps coming up in client conversations. This is a word cloud from the past week of client meetings - we have a topic winner. Pricing being front of mind is not a surprise though. Costs have climbed steadily during the 2020s, and as most owners didn’t reprice enough to keep pace, they’re feeling the pinch in the bottom line now. Rising costs still aren't the reason to raise your prices, but they are the reason you need to know what your costs actually are....
4 days ago • 3 min read
Imagine this scenario is yours: For years, you've been syncing your service with a popular platform through that platform's free, public access. You've sent that platform thousands of customers along the way. It's been a good relationship, or so it seemed. Then, last week, the platform tells you the free access is ending. Going forward, it will cost somewhere between $200k and $1.0m a year for the same thing you've been getting for nothing. From free to a million dollars. For access you...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
I'm a project-oriented person. I enjoy the work. I enjoy the completion, the sense of success, checking it off the to-do list, even if only metaphorically. But for the longest time, I struggled with what came after. A sense of emptiness. Confusion, sometimes. Even letdown. It took me a while to understand why (that's a topic for another day). What matters here is what I learned to do about it, because this past week alone, four different owners described some version of the same thing to me:...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
"Should I raise my prices? I haven't touched them in three years." Someone asked me this recently. Before I get to the answer, here's what else they told me in that conversation: Material costs are up. Their team has gotten faster and better. They're turning down work because they're at capacity. They were thinking 12 to 15% across the board. And they were worried about losing clients. This question comes up a lot, usually with some real anxiety attached. Nobody wants to rock the boat with...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Adding a new team member is one of the bigger investments you'll make as a business owner. The impact can be huge, in either direction. Because of that impact, this is one of the most common topics in client calls. And while it usually starts with "Can I afford the addition?" it rarely ends there. Whether the business can afford the person matters. But it's rarely what determines whether the hire actually works out. What does? I see the same three things drive it almost every time: Is this a...
2 months ago • 3 min read