Archive By Section - Business Columns
Ken Keller: Learning from the Pumpkin Patch
Last week I provided the Pyramid of Business Success, a nine layered structure. Layer seven was the Growth Plan.
Bob Khalsa: State’s pending sales at four-year high, share of distressed sales drops
The recent rise of pending home sales to the highest level in nearly four years supports experts who believe California's home resale market will achieve full bloom this spring.
Ken Keller: The Pyramid of Business Success
I've long admired Coach John Wooden's "Pyramid of Success." In business, whatever blueprint, instructional manual or paint by number kit being used before the enterprise launches is quickly tossed aside once the doors open. After that, it becomes a freelance-thing or a free for all, for those lacking mentors, a Sherpa or the time to figure it out.
Peter Bellas: Now that we’ve been forecasted
Once again we are upon the season of forecasts. A quick perusal of any investment website will turn up some very rosy and optimistic forecasts for the coming year and a least a few doom and gloom predictions.
Ken Keller: Keeping yourself motivated
One challenge of being a business owner or holding a position of leadership is keeping motivated.
Bob Khalsa: Real Estate Talk
January is typically a dormant time of year for the residential real estate market in the Santa Clarita Valley, yet this market recovery is so unusual that no one was surprised when statistics showed January posted the highest sales total for the month in six years.
Buying distressed properties
Real estate development during the Great Recession has proven to be a very challenging endeavor. Even seasoned professionals have found themselves struggling to service debt on projects that are producing monthly net negative cash flows.
Ken Keller: Do the right thing, quickly
Last week I wrote about the 2012 Gallup Poll where only 21 percent of U.S. adults rated business executives with high or very high in honesty and ethics.
Ken Keller: What is it that you believe in?
In the course of working with business owners and leaders, I have observed that the organizations that are the most successful over the long run are the ones that have a strong focus.
Bob Khalsa: Open letter to lawmakers regarding mortgage deduction
Fiddling with the mortgage interest deduction to balance the nation's books would impact much of the nation, yet eliminating it or even limiting it would have a particularly destructive impact on California's high-cost housing market and the state's budding economic recovery.
Ken Keller: It’s very easy for a business to make trust disappear
A Gallup research study conducted and released in late 2012 found that only 21 percent of American adults surveyed found business executives high or very high in honesty and ethics.
John Milburn: Management by agreement: the other ‘MBA’
It is generally agreed that being an effective manager involves taking calculated risks. As in most things, the rewards or outcomes of any actions tend to be proportional to the risks involved. Generally, the greater the risks, the more positive the potential results can be. Thus, managers who take few risks may not fail as often, but they also limit their success. If you have an aversion to risk-taking, I am not advocating that you ...
Ken Keller: Real labor shortage stems from problem employees
There are many people out of work that want a job. The government says that the unemployment rate is falling as the economy grows and organizations add to payrolls.
There are new rules for home mortgage borrowers
In an attempt to put the "service" back in mortgage servicing, new rules have been devised that are intended to make it easier for borrowers facing financial stress to quickly learn about alternatives to foreclosure, speak directly to the loan servicer, and get errors fixed when there's been a mistake.
Ken Keller: Weeding out the disengaged
These individuals show up every day, are present physically but not always mentally for the required period of time, and leave at the end of the day, not having accomplished much at all.
Articles by Section - Business Columns
Hey dude, where’s my revenue?
It is the middle of June, mid-year; and it is likely past time to take a hard look at those things that are standing in the way of increased revenue in 2013.
Keri Aaver: Where are all the potential employees?
magine two individuals standing back to back in the middle of a large crowd looking for each other. This is the current scenario of employer and jobseeker. They are closer than they realize but can't find each other. The distance between them is just a simple connection away. So, how can they connect? Networking and training.
The Company Without Consequences
In junior high I was late to school exactly once. Every student knew that if you were late to class you had the dreaded "seventh period." Sitting motionless, in total silence for an hour, on the day the infraction occurred, was the consequence for arriving late to class.
Janice France-Pettit: Funding a company’s philanthropic causes
You don't have to be a large, multi-national company to support a cause or charity, and many small business owners are finding that incorporating philanthropy strategically into their business plans can result in customer loyalty, happy employees and tax advantages.
Bob Khalsa: Santa Clarita Valley home sales and prices jump higher
After multiple years of gloomy to dismal news, it sure is fantastic to report that the local home resale market is taking giant strides forward.
Your employees and processes are the brand
I have had the pleasure of spending time with Rick McPartlin, the CEO of The Revenue Game. Rick gets companies focused on revenue growth and helps to get rid of what stands in the way of profitable sales.
Your employees and processes are the brand
I have had the pleasure of spending time with Rick McPartlin, the CEO of The Revenue Game. Rick gets companies focused on revenue growth and helps to get rid of what stands in the way of profitable sales.
Janice France-Pettit: Financial planning for small business growth
Owning a small business can be challenging at times, but the appeal of being your own boss and reaping the rewards of your creativity and hard work can be a powerful motivator to strike out on your own.
Peter Bellas: The Power of Collaboration
We all know that collaboration is a powerful tool. We know that synergies make the partner organizations capable of accomplishing more than the sum of our individual efforts.
Ken Keller: Looking for blame: try the mirror
When I first joined the company, I wasn't sure what to make of what I saw.
Bob Khalsa: Rising Home Sales Boost Economy
With the return of traditional homebuyers in ever-greater numbers, the powerful impact of an improved housing market on the local, state, and national economies is, quite frankly, palpable.
Ken Keller: Here are ten mistakes that business owners make
A former leader of a large Fortune 500 company was quoted in an interview that "People who do things make mistakes. The biggest mistake is doing nothing."
Ken Keller: Front line makes bottom line
Once a month, like clockwork, a gentleman comes to my house in the early morning and sprays for insects and bugs. We've spoken a few times and he always hands me his card, telling me to let him know if he needs to come back between visits. I think I have called him once in the last decade.
Bob Khalsa: Rising prices lift sinking homeowners
Local home resale prices last month hit the highest level in five years, with each leap up in prices rescuing legions of underwater owners, in effect, throwing them a life preserver and pulling them to dry land.
Ken Keller: Lessons learned in college apply to business
Thirty-six years ago this month I graduated from college. I didn't study a major that paid immediate dividends, meaning a job, and I wasn't ready for graduate school.
