(Here’s how to use Big Data like the big boys) If you own or manage a small business, you are David in this analogy. And as David, you are likely fighting at least one Goliath in your industry. In this day and age, with the internet shrinking the world and the...
Jonathan Elkins
4 Ways to Manage Your Business More Effectively
For this blog entry I’d like to focus on the management side of your business. This is not only for all you managers, but also business owners, as you are managers too. Improving your management skills is a great way to enhance your business. One way to do that would...
Banking 101: How Banking Works
(Relax, there won’t be a test.) When I help clients, I first have to learn about their businesses – how they work, operate, and ultimately how they make money and succeed. So it only seems logical that clients should be given some insight into our business – how banks...
Are your clients engaged? 5 great ways to create meaningful client engagement.
(To find out, don’t look at their ring fingers. Look at your sales figures.) We talk a lot about the efficiency and operations of your company in this blog, but when you boil everything down, there’s only one thing that matters - YOUR CLIENTS. Because without them,...
A hire calling – Tips for improving your hiring process
One of the most frequent topics that comes up in my conversations with business owners and managers is the challenge of finding the right employee. Landing a great employee is tough, but for a lot of people I talk to they’re even struggling to find employees who will...
Dude, where’s my bank? Are traditional banks going away?
It’s a good question. And for business owners it’s an important question as banks can be a very important partner. My short answer is – I don’t see the traditional “bank on the corner” going away any time soon. But I do think that the banking industry will continue to...
5 Ways to Ask Better Questions
Someone once told me that you’ll accomplish more by asking the right questions than having the right answers. Wait… what? It sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? So I thought about it. It’s true that nobody has all the answers; and many times when you think you have...
Leading Edge or Bleeding Edge of Technology?
I try to read as much as possible to keep up with the latest trends affecting banking, small business, and commercial real estate. One of the most prevalent themes in the articles, blog posts, books, and other headlines I run across is technology. Technology has...
A Tip of the Cap. Cap Rates, That Is.
Commercial real estate is pretty hot right now with significant development and construction going on all around us. As more businesses have been opening and expanding, commercial real estate prices have increased – due in large part to the cap rates. (If your...
Free Kisses!
No, this is not an offer, it’s an example. Of people behaving in a way that is contrary to how you might think they would normally behave. It’s also an example of people behaving predictably – because you likely reacted favorably to one or both of the words in the...

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