If you want your company to operate at the highest levels, your team members must be taught it’s acceptable — then continually encouraged — to think their way through situations rather than guessing at a solution or relying on you and others for answers. There’s an all-too-common tendency among business owners and managers to simply […]
Ernest Hemingway wrote: “The way to make people trustworthy is to trust them.” The sentiment is simple, but true — especially in the workplace. When managers trust employees, employees tend to rise to the level of those expectations. According to the results of research conducted by Paul J. Zak, founding director of the Center for […]
Elections and football games have a way of making me think about winning and losing — along with bad winners and good losers. In a world of wearying ambiguity, what could be more refreshingly decisive than what happens after ballots are counted and the game clock winds down? What could be more telling than the […]
If you want a more enjoyable and rewarding experience as a business owner — along with a more successful business — it’s imperative you consistently work toward building and maintaining a dynamic and powerful team. Do you want to reduce costly turnover? Would you like your business to operate with fewer errors and less interruptions […]
President Donald Trump demonstrated the importance of veteran entrepreneurs in donating his second quarter salary to the U.S. Small Business Administration. The funding will help the SBA create a seven-month intensive training program for veterans transitioning from military service to small business ownership. Veteran entrepreneurs remain a driving force in our economy. Nearly 10 percent […]
How many vacation days have you used this year? If you’re like most Americans, chances are you haven’t used enough. In 2017, 52 percent of American employees reported unused vacation days at the end of the year. The U.S. Travel Association Project: Time Off began conducting an annual survey, the State of the American Vacation, […]
Human resource professionals play rewarding and vital roles in fostering positive outcomes for employees by promoting wellness and providing platforms for support, including mental health resources. The process can take a toll, though. HR professionals not only help employees deal with their troubles, but also deliver the bad news of terminations, layoffs and benefit cutbacks. […]
Those who work and live in the Grand Valley are familiar with the booms and busts, the ups and downs and good times and bad that occur here. Just a couple years ago, we were still dealing with the lingering effects of the recession. But in a fairly short time, things have turned around. A […]
What makes a property challenged? A property might be challenged if it’s been left in disrepair, has a weak or non-conforming tenant or is located in a less-than-desirable area. A property also could be challenged if it’s physically obsolete, making it difficult to lease for a good return or sell. Perhaps a property has sustained […]
The Section 199A deduction constitutes one of the most scrutinized and technically challenging elements of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Created as a means for businesses other than C corporations to keep pace with the corporate tax cut from 35 percent to 21 percent, Section 199A provides a 20 percent deduction for […]