Small Business Conversations

Joseph Michelli, PhD is known for observing and reporting on businesses that have developed great cultures of customer service and team work. His books include: Driven to Delight - Delivering World Class Customer Experience the Mercedes-Benz Way; Leading the Starbucks Way; The Zappos Experience; as well as books detailing Ritz Carlton, UCLA medical center, and the Pike Place Fish Market. Join us as Dr. Michelli details how they do it, and how you can have the same in your business.

Steve Drake owned a management company for many years. One of their accounts was the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA). Under his direction the NCTA created one of the greatest marketing events; Trees for Troops. Enlisting additional organizations they have delivered to the families of deployed military, hundreds of thousands of Christmas trees. They create a big event as the FedEx truck arrives. In this program, Steve details how your business can create cause marketing to build your name and reputation in your community.

Troy Patton is an expert in business valuation and determining the particulars in selling your business. He has earned the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) and ABV (Accredited Business Valuation) designations. For many small business owners, the business represents your nest egg as you retire. There are a lot of details to determining the amount you sell your business for as well as preparing your business for sale - be it to an outsider, family member, or employee. Troy shares a lot of information to help you prepare.

Larry Pfarr spent 24 years as the merchandiser for Bachman's; the most extraordinary stores in the upper midwest. Larry's visit included his five easy changes you can make in your business in preparation for the fourth quarter. Larry also spoke about the current trends he was seeing in merchandising and how even the smallest of stores can make these changes to their business easily and inexpensively. We discussed how the shopping technique of one generation varies from another generation.

Mac Fulfer's previous career was being an attorney. Looking for an edge in jury selection he began to notice there were traits in a person's face that spoke to how that person would think and act. Having written the book, Amazing Face Reading, Mac now shares the techniques he has learned. This can help you understand your customers; do a better job of closing the sale; and be more on target to your customer with the information they want and need.

Independent We Stand! is a nationwide movement of independent small business owners whose mission is to inspire other small business owners to better understand and celebrate their locally-owned status while educating consumers about the importance and strong economic benefits of supporting them. Bill shared multiple studies showing how much a locally-owned small business actually contributes to a community and how much it costs a community to have a mass merchant.

Mike McCormick, CPA is one of our most popular guests on Small Business Conversations. In the February 15, 2018 edition of the program we take an initial look at how the 2018 tax code changes will affect your small business.