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  • There is no end to articles, webinars, blog posts, podcasts (even our own), that talk about accountability, what it consists of, how to make it work, etc. But, at the end of the day, who holds you, the owner, accountable?   

    Probably just the person looking back at you in the mirror. And how honest are you with that person? But we’re talking not just about “other people,” but about following methods and systems… that you may have created, but don’t necessarily follow.

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will explore what roadblocks, both internal and external, hold owners back from “being accountable” and to overcome those roadblocks by truly assessing the root cause and creating solutions that address them.

    They’ll show you examples of owners not listening to their own management advice and almost being blind to various situations where they are the root cause of negative situations.

    They’ll provide ways to use peer advisory groups to help you talk to other business owners who have “walked in your shoes,” and will objectively listen and provide another viewpoint that may help you solve a knotty problem that emanates from your office.

    We invite you to enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:    www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:    www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:     www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:  www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:    www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • Small business culture isn’t a sign on the wall or slogans. It’s framed by the beliefs and values of the founders and key people and their work history, where they worked, who they worked for, etc. Add to this is how they grew up, family, personal experience framing their value system.

    But how do you do it? How do you create a culture that embraces employees, customers and suppliers, while at the same time drives success?

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will give you some insights on how to create and foster a culture that is built on trust and respect for employees, that engages and motivates employees and emphasizes teamwork and risk-taking.

    They’ll talk about how this starts with not only how you hire, but who you hire.  You always hire for the specs of the position. But it’s hiring for culture and for the best people you can find that makes the company better. 

    They’ll show you how to create an environment of accountability, by not only defining roles and responsibilities of a position, but defining and extending the authority to carry those roles and responsibilities out. And making screw-ups (because there will be some) teachable moments.

    We invite you to enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

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  • “Show me the money,” is one of the most classic lines, from a movie favorite - Jerry Maguire. One of the most challenging duties in operating a small business is establishing an effective compensation program. That goes beyond just calculating competitive hourly rates and salary packages. But creating a happy team, that in turn create happy customers.

    Compensation is always an issue.  But that challenge pales in comparison to doing the same thing for family members who work in the business.

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will give you some guidance about when compensation can be an incendiary issue often driven by long-simmering family feuds or non-family members earning more than long-standing family members. 

    They’ll explore how a fair compensation strategy (for both family and non-family members) can help keep and professionally grow family members and attract non-family members, helping increase the overall value of the company.

    They’ll show you how an objective outside advisor can guide this  process and help you develop your own compensation strategy that fits your business and is more than just dollars transferred from employer to employee.

    We invite you to enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • Business owners face a lot of tough decisions, and sometimes, even tougher ones implementing them. One of the trickier ones occurs after the company is sailing along, and it has to take the big step of replacing the owner (in that role) with an experienced sales manager.

    Usually, the owner serves as the sales manager, hiring and managing a small sales force of sales people.  But in order to reach its full growth potential it becomes necessary to hire a professional sales manager to manage sales and your team.

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will give you some indicators about when and how to make the transition during the process of hiring the right individual who fits your business, your culture and how to manage and compensate this individual.

    They’ll give you some guidance on how to find the right person and how to manage the screening and hiring process so that you reduce the odds of making a bad hire.

    They’ll show you that a compensation plan for a more experienced sales person is different than for regular sales people.  They’ll also give you some tips about how to manage that individual so that the relationship, which is a huge step for an owner, can really drive growth.

    We invite you to enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • Every business owner faces it, the dreaded duty that they, especially, and even their managers, share… namely, saying Sayonara, Adios, Auf Wiedersehen, Ciao, or simply “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”

    However you say it and no matter what the conditions, even the most tough-minded of owners dread dealing with it… even when it’s way overdue and 300% justified.

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about not the whole process of terminating an employee, but the ripple effect it has on the “terminator” and the surrounding staff. 

    They’ll show you that as ugly as terminations can be, most of the time they can be avoided by having a solid recruiting, evaluation and selection process.  But too often, even if the processes are in place, in the interest of filling a position, short cuts are taken.

    They’ll give you some guidance on how to make sure you address their behavioral and performance issues early in the game, or if they suddenly arise, how to address why and what you can do to help the employee get back on the right path.

    We invite you to enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • Business can be very serious stuff. Often a small business owner has much at risk, personally; and often, may feel the responsibility for the livelihoods of employees, and have deep concern that the customers are being served effectively. But, at the end of the day, if it isn't fun, for the small business owner, the employees, and yes, even the customers, the chances of success are limited.

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about not only are you allowed to have fun in business, but they’re going to show how you can make that happen, continuously, without losing focus on growing your business.

    They’ll show you how small victories are what it takes to drive success.  And part of the fun in small business is to celebrate those victories, helping you to provide recognition for the hard work that brought that victory home.

    They’ll give you a sense of how having every employee feeling respected, valued and challenged to grow, while having fun doing provides the foundation for business growth.

    They’ll describe how to solidify the bond between your company and your customers by showing you that recognizing some of THEIR achievements (whether or not you had a part in them) is critical to a long-term customer relationship.

    We invite you to enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • Every small business owner needs a sounding board and somebody (or somebodies) to hold them accountable, beside the person staring back at them in the mirror.

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about three potential alternatives to do just that.

    They’ll describe the alternatives - a board directors, an advisory board and a peer-to-peer advisory board - and explain the pluses and the minuses of each depending on where a business is on their growth curve.

    They’ll show that there is no “one size fits all” solution and give you some guidance to help you find the solution that best fits your business and industry sector.

    We invite you to enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • Your ”end game” is about growing your business and building value that provides a return on your investment of capital, time and energy, when you are ready to exit the business and realize that value.  That’s your exit plan… helping you to achieve that end game.

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about how to best exit your business with the right partner, the right valuation and the right transaction.

    They’ll take you through the selling process and how professional advisors play a role in helping you develop and execute on your exit plan, saving you time and money to say nothing of the effect on your quality of life during and after the transaction.

    They’ll discuss how to create a profile for potential candidates, review them, and then find your perfect partner or partners to get the best proposal from them in the shortest time.

    They’ll show you how the negotiation process is not unlike courtship and how you let the professionals drive this to conclusion with the right buyer.

    We invite you to enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • A plan is worthless without execution. Yet it seems it gets far less attention than planning. Action and follow up is what gets things done, so we have to be able to answer the question “how are going to make this happen? And include it in the planning process. 

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about how you can best keep to your plan and execute on it, instead of just having a series of good intentions.

    They’ll share with you how commitment to the plan has to start and end with the business owner and how the owner has to get their team to “own the plan,” by understanding what’s necessary from them for its execution. 

    They’ll explain how it should be  “a battle plan,” where battlefield conditions (the market,  competition, etc.) can change it.  And how an assessment of business’ strengths, weaknesses, roadblocks and opportunities and the resources available, will drive how effectively the plan can be executed.

    We invite you to enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc,” bring on the first guest to their podcast, Mr. Karl Kringle.  He introduces them to his family-run toy manufacturing and distribution business and how he and his brother, Kris, don’t quite see eye to eye on how the business should be run.

    He talks about the interpersonal issues that come, a great deal, in family businesses that are often based on family interactions rather than business rationale and how some of the younger siblings aren’t taken as seriously as the more senior ones.

    He talks about “things slipping through the cracks because of the lack of good systems and procedures.  And how, without good management, prima donnas and “favorites” can evolve among the employee base, especially key ones.

    And finally, he covers “supply chain issues” that are plaguing even the North Pole this holiday season…and lots more!

    As we touched on in a previous episode, family business is fraught with emotion and the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi will reinforce that emotion with this new session with your personal tour guides to business freedom. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.  And of course, the best of the holiday season to all of you and best wishes for a prosperous and safe new year.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • Do you know that two out of three family businesses fail to make it past the second generation? Worse yet, six out of seven don’t make it past the third generation.

    Surveys show 75% do not have a written succession plan and only 54% have chosen a successor.  And only 42% have written business plans or hold regular board meetings - and that’s probably an overestimate!

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about family business and what it takes to continue a successful family past the early generations.. 

    They’ll talk about how business succession planning often creates more problems than it solves because of the emotions not just generated by the business issues, but by interpersonal family issues.

    They’ll also talk about “fairness” regarding compensation and equity for siblings in the business that can be clouded by historical family issues and intra-family competition within and between generations.

    Family business is fraught with emotion and the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi will touch on that emotion with this new session with your personal tour guides to business freedom. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • Your natural personality and the associated traits with it, impact how you function.  They can be your friend (your positive traits) or your foe (your negative traits). Everybody has both positive and negative traits in their personality makeup. The real key is knowing what they are and how to best leverage your positive traits to overcome or minimize your negative ones. 

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about, you, our small business listener, and YOUR personality as a leader, coupled with the many personalities among your team and what they mean to your business. 

    They’ll introduce some of the key common traits and how they can be positive or limiting influencers to your behavior and show you how you can judge where you fit into those categories. But in addition, they’ll show you how you can judge where key members of your team fit into those categories to help you better manage them and the results they drive.

    They’ll show you what the various personality types are and the associated key traits, both positive and negative, that they exhibit.  Knowing that goes a long way to driving your business’ success and their professional and personal success and development.

    Please enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • Customer service is more than a good voice answering the phone. It's more than a couple accolades from some satisfied customers. It has to be part of the culture of the company. But for many small business owners, beyond the "party line," it's barely given lip service, let alone being a vital part of how the company does business. To some owners and their employees, customer service refers to how you handle complaints, i.e. it’s REACTIVE rather than PROACTIVE.

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about customer service and whether you are just talking a good game or are actually “walking the talk.”

    They’ll give you some ideas about better dealing with the overall customer relationship rather than simply individual customer situations, keeping your finger on the customer pulse, through their own war stories.

    They’ll show you how to be sure that it’s easy to do busy with you through getting direct customer feedback and making references, referrals and case studies part of your sales process.

    They’ll give you some insights about, when necessary, how to say “no” to your customer, because the relationship has to be a “two-way street.”

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • Entrepreneurs start businesses for various reasons. Some because of their belief in a concept or product they have developed. Others because they have a desire to make an impact on society or the world. Still others because they just want to escape the corporate world or ‘having a boss’, or lastly, just be able to control their own destiny… or some combination of all these reasons.

    But few small business owners give much thought to where their business might, or should, lead them in their life’s journey - their ultimate motivation and expected outcomes from having a small business, i.e., their "end game."  Do you have an "end game" for your business?

    In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about your “end game,” its importance in describing “why” you are in business and when and how you exit that business. 

    They’ll show how for many small business owners, it either simply evolves, or worse, they wake up one day and realize they've spent five or ten or more years with no real objective in mind, zigging and zagging from thing to thing, making some progress but toward no particular purpose. But at the end of the day, it’s all about creating and realizing value. 

    They’ll talk about how the exit from a business you started is the second most important exit you’ll ever have.  And would you think about the important one without having a will? An exit plan is just that...it’s the will for your business!

    Please enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • Workplace drama costs time and money; it kills morale and increases turnover…not to speak of the human toll it takes. In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about how not to allow your business to become a soap opera by taking the drama out of it. 

    They’ll talk about conflict being a natural part of running a business, but with a family business it can take on new dimensions with emotions and history, playing a role that they don’t, normally, in privately-held small businesses. Things like unresolved conflicts with parents, siblings and other relatives regarding how the business “should be run.” 

    Separation of family and business often is as controversial as separation of church and state.  TAnd they’ll discuss how a culture of growing the business is a good litmus test to keep your business healthy, whether it’s a family business or a privately-held one, and keeping the management team engaged and committed.

    Please enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • A great line from a great movie, "Cool Hand Luke" that is, often, the essence of what causes negative customer relationships. In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about  communications...with customers, employees and suppliers. So, it's not just with the obvious direct communication with the customer or supplier, but, as likely, with the internal communication (or lack thereof) within a company, that affects that customer or supplier. 

    They’ll give you some examples about whether you are listening to your customers.  Showing how you could be like many small business owners who think that no complaints mean things are good. Or worse, if there are complaints, the customers don’t appreciate your product or service’s true capability?  In short, it’s the customer who’s wrong, not the company.  They’ll give you some examples about how sometimes your ego or your inattentiveness just make you “tone deaf” when it comes to listening to what your customers or employees are really saying to you.

    They’ll give some ideas of ways you can counter the lack of communication by being more proactive with both customers and employees.

    Please enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about “things slipping through the cracks,” which is a symptom… not a root cause.

    They’ll talk about how systems and procedures need as much review, periodically, as any focus on the workforce team members. They’ll show you how communication is often the issue, and why it has to start from the top and you need to drill down deeper and define it in more detail.

    They’ll explain the importance of good controls and for ensuring follow through on a consistent, timely basis to be effective. They’ll provide examples of 

    “confirmation” questions to ensure clarity of understanding of “goal posts,” check-in’s, and responsibilities/accountability. How you might assign tasks, and defining what measures are in place to ensure compliance should all be integral parts of your work procedure process along with effective and consistently applied systems for that.

    Please enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about reigniting your team…or at least part of it.  Every business has them. People on your team that are “just there.” Do you have people and processes that have passed their expiration date?  But you know, it’s a two-way street.  You reap what you sow.  You might very well be the cause of what you have with some of your team.

    Like, not understanding that except for wet babies, few people like change. Or paying submarket wages and paying for that twice over with high turnover and re-hiring and re-training costs. Or being the major bottleneck in your own operation.  

    Employees need to feel valued and they need to grow…if you want to keep them. When they feel that their talents are being well utilized and challenged, they are being trained or cross-trained to do additional functions, they are growing, professionally, and often, personally.And this helps the company as well, making employees more versatile. 

    When employees feel stuck in “a "dead-end" position or in “a sweat shop" environment,  it ends up costing the small business way more in the long run, with disenchanted employees becoming less productive (our “walking dead”) and, ultimately leaving, requiring the company to have to go out and hire and re-train new staff, often at added cost. 

    Please enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi. And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about using a unique form of communication to motivate your team. It’s called “financial data” that both of them have used to help guide the clients they’ve had and companies they’ve owned and managed. And like all previous episodes they’ll use war stories, situations they’ve faced, that will bring their points to life.  

    They’ll talk about how not having the right data in the hands of the right people, at the right time, within a business, can really be detrimental to the success of that business. They’ll introduce the concept of KPIs and what they mean to how the business is managed, and how compensation could and should be tied to productivity and productivity to profitability. And, they will show, by example, and with the aforementioned war stories, that sharing financial data with employees can really be the key to employees better understanding of how the business really operates.

    They’ll show you how functions like purchasing can, sometimes, be the driver for short-term profitability...or long-term losses, if not managed correctly.  And how a department like customer service can, actually, be a function that protects and grows the business, as opposed to just a place for complaints.

    And, as always, they’ll regale you with war stories, that both carry a solid message, lesson or may bring a chuckle or two.

    Please enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629

  • In this episode, our hosts, Lonnie Sciambi and Stan Simkins, also known, respectively, as “The Entrepreneur’s Yoda” and “The Family Biz Doc” will talk about the various challenges you face in your family business, dealing with family members, on an entirely different level. And like all previous episodes they’ll use war stories, situations they’ve faced that will bring their points to life.  

    They’ll talk about conflicts that can so easily spill over from personal ones to business ones or vice versa. And, they will show by example and their war stories, that successful family businesses have to navigate three dimensions - ownership, management and the family itself.

    They’ll give you some guidance around the very incendiary topics of compensation and performance measurement for family members, and who can and should work in the business, including in-laws.

    And then they’ll talk about valuation and exit, probably as volatile, if not more so, as the situations noted they previously highlighted.  Hopefully, they will provide guidance and ideas you can bring back to the family business. 

    Please enjoy this session with your personal tour guides to business freedom, the dynamic duo of Stan Simkins and Lonnie Sciambi.

    Find more resources and learn more about their monthly, 90-minute VIRTUAL roundtables at SBVirtualRoundtables.com

    And feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, recommendations, or ideas for future topics of conversation.

    Connect With Lonnie Sciambi

    Website:        www.thevalueforce.com 

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/lonniesciambisprofile

    Twitter:           www.twitter.com/yodacanhelp

    Connect with Stan Simkins

    Website:     www.CapitalFamilyBusiness.com

    LinkedIn:        www.linkedin.com/in/stanley-simkins-79399629