Positioning Systems Library

Browse our library of business articles and advice.  These specially chosen resources will provide insight into your business and help you learn how it can operate more efficiently -- with less oversight.

If you need assistance turning these ideas into measurable results, contact Positioning Systems for a free needs analysis.  We have helped hundreds of business owners take control of their business (rather than having their business control them).

• Question: Seems like everyone is talking about or looking at getting a business coach. Does a coach really help and why should I consider getting one for myself or my business?
• Question: I want to make sure next year is productive. Where should I look or what should I do to make sure 2008 is successful?
• Question: Managing multiple priorities seems to be something that my manager’s and I face all the time. How do I decide which areas to work on and get everything moving forward collectively to accomplish what needs to get done?
• Question: I find myself getting down on myself and the prospects for the business. It seems like I’m always searching for what’s wrong. Doesn’t a coach and consultant do this as well, and won’t that negative approach affect me further and my employees? What can I do to prevent that?
• Question: I’ve got several employees that aren’t performing at the standards I expect. Can you provide any evidence that their performance is affecting more than just the specific area they work in? Can you give me a more encompassing reason to release them?
• Question: What must I do to effectively market my company? How do I determine what differentiates my business from the mass of competitors I have and effectively communicate that position to my prospects?
• Question: Is it possible to cure the workaholic in me? I'm convinced I'm a doing it, doing it, doing it person, and I'm not sure there's a cure for it. Can coaching help with this?
• Question: How do my beliefs affect my staff? What must I be mindful of as the leader of my organization?
• Question: How do I manage my staff effectively and not be too critical? It seems so many times my first reaction is to get angry at them. How can I respond to them constructively when I see their response or reaction to a situation is improper?
• Question: What is the appropriate amount of time for the owner of the business to take off annually? It seems like I can never make time to take a vacation.
• Question: I’m I the only one having difficulty getting results from my people? No matter if it’s a floor employee or manager it seems I’m always having difficulty getting my team to get the work done the way I expect it to be and on time.
• Article: How frequently are you interrupted during the day? Does it seem impossible to get things done in your office because you or the people how work for yo...
• Article: You probably aren’t old enough to remember, but years ago Volkswagen had an advertising campaign that had the slogan "Think Small." At...
• Article: I recently had the opportunity to watch “Superman Returns,” the latest cinematic release on the feats of my boyhood idol. I can recall the...
• Article: The attraction to business development and E-Myth Mastery almost always centers around systems. Business people have an "aha!" moment when i...
• Article: Halloween seems to be an appropriate time to ask this question: Does anything scare you? For most of the business owners, and frankly even myself, I b...
• Article: I’m going to depart from the normal format of these letters for one week due to the loss of my brother on Tuesday, Sept. 5. Forgive me for shari...
• Question: I’m torn between disciplining myself to make changes in my life and just allowing things to happen. ON the one hand I feel I deserve to be able to do what I want when I want since I’m the owner. ON the other I’m afraid without discipline they’ll be consequences. Give me the value for having discipline in my life as a business owner?
• Question: Every day I’m busy doing it, doing it. It seems like if I’m not doing something I don’t feel like I’m accomplishing anything. Is there any way out of this frustrating mode, or am I doomed to continually repeat it and never gain the freedom I want?
• Question: I can’t get my employees to do the work that’s right in front of them. How can I expect to get free from my business if I can’t even get my employees to do what they’re suppose to be doing?
• Question: I never find time to do strategic work. It seems I’m always busy doing the necessary things that need to get done in my business. Every time I turn around there’s more work to be done. How do I get out of this never ending, spiral of things to do?
• Question: Are there any common characteristics that seem to be shared by clients who do well with the business development process? Is there anything I can learn from those clients in the business development program that do well?
• Question: I spend a lot of money on advertising each year. I’d like to really know how much of it is providing results and what isn’t. What can I do to determine this?
• Question: I hate to admit this, but the areas I know the least about are the areas I never work on. I don’t like working on them, in addition I’m afraid to discover what’s going wrong because it will only give me more work. What can I do about this?
• Question: I just got done reviewing my income statement for 2005. I thought I was doing pretty well until I really looked at the numbers. Why wasn’t I more profitable and where does profit come from? How can I make sure I’m more profitable in 2006?
• Question: It seems like there’s a multitude of areas I can and should be spending my time on. Where should I be spending my time in developing my business? How does one really know what they should be spending their time on?
• Question: What do you find is the most common obstacle that trips most owners up in operating their business effectively?
• Question: “I’ve made the commitment to do strategic work. What happens? The next thing I know everything blows up around me and I’m swamped by emergencies that I can’t seem to wade through. What do you tell someone who constantly faces this challenge?”
• Question: “I don’t understand what this E-Myth Coaching process is all about? How can you and this program help me with my business? What can I expect to gain from this? What kind of commitment does it take and how long before I see results?”
• Question: "I’m a small business. I don’t have much time for strategic work and yet I want to make sure I get systems in place. What do I need to do to make sure my investment in E-Myth Mastery delivers the results so many others have achieved? Is there some formula that produces better results?"
• Question: I'm beginning the recruiting and hiring process. What are the most important factors to consider in a candidate so I make the right hiring decision?
• Question: “I’m writing a system, documenting it, and I’m wondering how much detail do I provide? How will I know if I’ve provided too much detail or not enough?”
• Question: “If I begin to create systems for my business, won’t I have an endless amount of systems to build, evaluate and innovate? How will I ever get more time if I’m busy creating systems? Even if this is strategic work, there seems no end to it. How will I get more life if I’m spending all my time creating systems?”
• Question: Why do people quit E-Myth Mastery?
• Question: “I can’t find time to do strategic work. Everytime I turn around someone is interrupting me or there’s a thousand things for me to do that demand my attention. How do I make time for this strategic work ON my business?”
• Question: “I’m having difficulty with generating leads for my business. What advice can you give for developing a message for getting more leads?”
• Question: “What things can I do to increase my businesses productivity? In a mature business is it possible to make measurable gains and will my people be willing to respond to my efforts?”
• Question: Up until this year it seemed like it was harder than ever to find qualified employees. With the economy leaving more people without work is this a good time to find better people? Why or why isn’t this good strategy?
• Question: How do I know when it’s time to make a change with my current employees? Do I risk cutting someone on my team to hire someone from the outside or do I stay the course?
• Question: People are always saying I’d like to get everyone on the same page in my company. Is it really possible to do that?
• Question: How do I get my staff to focus on the right priorities? Is there a formula or tool to get everyone focused and heading in the same direction so the company can achieve its highest priorities?
• Question: I read your blog, Waterline Principle - How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In. Would you please let us know what the decision was that you faced in your business, so that we can see a real-life, perhaps smaller scale way that this principle was lived out?
• Question: What can I do to spark my team and get them more excited to perform to the higher standard they have the potential to attain?
• Question: As we apply the Rockefeller Habits and make our people more accountable, many of our employees reject or protest our demands for metrics to measure their job performance. How can we get them to accept these measures?
• Question: One thing that I’ve noticed is there doesn’t seem to be a place in the meeting formats for passing on information. Like on Friday I spent 5+ minutes talking about 2 phone conversations I had with Toro and MIC. It was information that I thought all the managers needed to know about and sometimes other managers have similar information. So, when & how do we pass on information?
• Question: You suggest meetings are important to growing your business. I abhor meetings! How are meetings going to help me to grow my business and how do I get my people on board with something they believe will be a waste of time?
• Question: When choosing a business coach, what would you suggest are the most important characteristics to look for?
• Question: I can’t get my people to follow the systems I’ve designed. I think they are just plain lazy. How can I tell whether or not they’re lazy or if there’s something wrong with the system I’m asking them to follow?
• Question: I’ve worked for good managers and bad managers. Is there a way to help a bad manager become a good manager?
• Question: How do I create an effective strategy for my business?
• Question: What is the cost of making a mistake in hiring?
• Question: When choosing a business coach, what would you suggest are the most important characteristics to look for?
• Question: Why is it so important to create a plan, budget, and strategy for next year now?
• Question: My Company just completed our Annual Planning. While we have a solid plan for the year, we didn’t seem to spend much time strategizing. Is strategy and planning two different activities?
• Question: How can I get my employees to be more accountable?
• Question: Is there a blueprint for the type of leader it takes to run a successful business? I’m not sure I have what it takes and would like to learn how to become a better leader.
• Question: If you had one lesson for a business to learn and implement what would it be?
• Question: What is the major difference separating businesses that succeed from those that don’t?
• Question: Why is it important to get customer feedback? How do you go about collecting this data in a way that is consistent and that provides impactful information?
• Question: We’ve made the decision to set quarterly priorities. What should I make sure to be aware of when setting goals for the fourth quarter and 2012?
• Question: Is there something small that my company can focus on to begin impacting our business?
• Question: Can you give me an example of a successful company's One Thing?
• Question: Can you give me an example of how one of your clients overcome extraordinary challenges to achieve his priorities?
• Question: Can you provide an example of a company using Collective Intelligence?