Small Business Matters

Have you ever talked yourself out of something you really wanted? You have a dozen excuses as to why you don't deserve, shouldn't have or otherwise be denied that something. This is because your mind is doing its job - to protect us! But it doesn't work when you're building a business. You must change your story. For more small business resources, visit http://www.AlignedPerformance.com.

Is it possible from women to have it all? Business, family, romance, fitness, fun.... ? Cindy Mahlberg, of Women in the Mix, brings a new perspective to today's woman. She encourages women to stop thinking about "having it all" and to start focusing on "thriving through it all." For more small business articles and events, visit www.AlignedPerformance.com.

If you are a startup seeking private lending, looking for an angel investor or asking for capital funding, there are few details to get lined up first. This show lists the three things to have in place before you ask for small business loan. For more articles for small business owners, visit www.AlignedPerformance.com.

If you hate sales, that's good. That probably means you hate pressuring and manipulating. Not to worry - that's not sales anyway. That's pressuring and manipulating. This show gives you 5 Best Practices for your sales process so that you are focusing on the one who really matters - your customer. Find more articles and resources for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs at www.AlignedPerformance.com Thanks for listening! ~Leigh-Ann

Are you preparing to sell your business? There are three things you must do to have a salable business, that will sell quickly and for more money. This show shares those steps. A special thanks to Matt Williams of Acquisition Logistics for providing these tips. (www.AcquisitionLogistics.com) For more small business resources, please visit www.AlignedPerformance.com.

MasterMinds can be a great way to elevate your business to the next level IF you are in the right group. This episode lays out ideas for having a productive MasterMind that truly helps the small business owner catapult their business. For more small business resources visit www.AlignedPerformance.com.

Have you thought about trading products or services as part of your business model? There are definitely pros and cons to bartering. This show lays out ideas on when to barter and when to avoid it. For more small business resources visit www.AlignedPerformance.com.

Small Business Owners don't get much time off. While the holidays are a great time to rejuvenate, they are also a great time to do some business planning. This episode of Small Business Matters give you 5 tips for starting the year with a healthy business. For more small business resources visit www.AlignedPerformance.com.

What is the difference between venture capital and an angel investor? How should I plan my 5-minute pitch for funding? What do investors REALLY want to know? Do I need a business plan? These questions and more are answered in this show. Peter Adams from the Rockies Venture Club joins Leigh-Ann to tell business owners how to prepare for making their pitch. He explains the difference between VCs and angel investors and teaches the business owner how to speak the language of a potential investor. For more business tools, visit www.AlignedPerformance.com

If you've ever wondered about using assessment tools to make decisions about hiring, job placement or promotions, you will love this show. My guest is Kevin Stoffel of Synergetic Systems. Kevin helps move employees to their highest level of competency. His tools help the business business best match people's strengths to the needs of the business. Read more articles for small business owners and entrepreneurs at www.AlignedPerformance.com.

Let's admit it. There are days when even motivated people like us has days where we find ourselves just shuffling papers around. Yes? As a small business owner, we usually don't have the luxury of unproductive days. So what do we do about it? As with anything, the first step is awareness. This episode will help you determine why you're not being productive. Then, I'll show you 3 ways to get back in the groove. Find more helpful information for small business owners at www.AlignedPerformance.com

If you spend more than 20 seconds looking for something at your desk, you must listen to this show. As a small business owner, you often wear a lot of hats. And all those hats end up in a pile on your desk. That can get pretty messy. In just SEVEN MINUTES, you will learn the 6 things you need to know to get and stay organized. And it doesn't have to be a full project. It just a little discipline to spend a couple of minutes every day to get and stay organized. For more tips for small business owners, please see www.AlignedPerformance.com.

As a small business owner, we often wear a lot of hats. In this episode, we follow an analogy of running a farm with different types of horses. It's just like running a business with different skill sets. We should recognize and celebrate our strengths, and also recognize when we need to bring others in to help us run a successful business. Learn more at www.AlignedPerformance.com

Whether you are a small business owner or in sales, this show will provide you with some words to use in your sales conversations. Often we don't ask for the sale because we're afraid of rejection, or we've been using sales pitches, not sales conversations. Liz Wendling is the Sales Coach for Women and share some insights on asking for the sale. For more tools for small business owners, visit www.AlignedPerformance.com

If you are someone who has knowledge that you need to transfer to other people, you may not have the skills yet to do so. This show gives you the key steps to create effective training. As a small business owner, you may need to train an assistant, or a new sales person. Or maybe you just got promoted and you need to train your replacement. Whatever the reason, this show is what you need to develop training as a subject matter expert. Of course if you need further help, you can always contact us at www.AlignedPerformance.com

Before you write your marketing plan, you need to know the answer to these 8 questions. As a small business owner, it's ever-important to clearly understand your niche and how to market it to them. This episode helps you. You can download a template to accompany this podcast at www.AlignedPerformance.com.

Ever wonder how small business owners get it all done? They know the secrets that I am about to share with you. If I could distill this episode down into a few words, they would be, "leverage your resources". Whether those resources are people, software or online tools, they are all necessary to support your business success. If you'd like to share your own success secrets, leave a comment or add a reply on my website at www.AlignedPerformance.com.

In the movie, A Beautiful Mind, John Nash says that the way to stop having nightmares is to stop paying attention to them. The same is true for dreams. As a small business owner, you need to stay focused on your dreams for your business and your life. As you plan for the coming months and year, keep that end goal in mind. This episode stresses the importance of planning for a small business. For other small business tools, visit www.AlignedPerformance.com.

With all the temptations of cookies and parties and champagne....how do you avoid that crash after enjoying the holidays? This show gives ideas to the small business owner on keeping their energy high through strategic eating, movement, sleep and purpose. These are excerpts from the work of Jim Loehr and Jack Groppel, developers of the program, The Corporate Athlete. This program shows business people how to train like professional athletes for the sport of business.

Business is a team sport - there's no doubt about that. Small business owners need to be constantly meeting people and adding people to their database. Do you want to be make the most out of the networking events you attend? This show lists 7 steps to make sure the time you spend at networking events is valuable for you and the people you meet. Whether you're planning to meet clients, a CPA or attorney, or strategic partners, this a "must listen" for entrepreneurs and small business owners. For other small business resources, visit www.AlignedPerformance.com.

If you've ever wondered if you should delegate or hire out daily work, then this episode is for you. Especially when first starting out, there's not a lot of cash in small businesses. So we are left to taking care of everything ourselves, from updating the website to bookkeeping to tweeting. It's exhausting. And it's not the way to grow a business. Listen to this show if you want to think about when to do and when to delegate. Learn more at www.AlignedPerformance.com

Small business owners should absolutely belong to a mastermind group. This is a team of people who support you and your business and are willing to ask you tough questions and give you constructive feedback in a supportive way. Entrepreneurs often try to figure things out on their own. The power of the group is extraordinary in taking your ideas to the light of day. This episode explores the benefits of a mastermind group. For other small business resources, visit www.AlignedPerformance.com.

As an entrepreneur or small business owner, we often get caught up in the busy-ness of the day. We work so hard IN our business that we forget to work ON our business. We also forget to pay attention to how we're doing or work and instead focus completely on what we're doing. For other small business resources, visit www.AlignedPerformance.com.

Are you one of those people who freak out when you think about someone else doing your work? If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner, delegation is the way to expand the reach of your business. As long as you are the only person wearing every hat in your business, growth is limited. This segment gives great strategies for selecting which tasks to delegate, to whom and to do it effectively.

What are the benefits of systems to entrepreneurs and small businesses? There are tons. Especially when we are fist starting out, it is tempting to wear every hat in the business. But when we create systems to run the business, we actually get to take a day off now and then. Listen to this show to learn where in your business it makes sense to use systems to save you time and money. For other small business resources, visit www.AlignedPerformance.com.