Category: Work-Life Balance

5 Things to Consider Before Hiring Your First Employee

5 Things to Consider Before Hiring Your First Employee

So you’ve started your business and things are going great! Well, mostly great. You’re working too many hours every day, you might have a project or two running behind, and your spouse has to schedule date night on your calendar to make sure you have time together. But these are all good problems, right? Inevitably, you’ll start asking yourself if it’s the right time to hire your first employee. After all, if you’re working 80 hours a week, you figure… Read More
Get Some Sleep! Entrepreneurs’ Strategies for Coping With Newborns

Get Some Sleep! Entrepreneurs’ Strategies for Coping With Newborns

I was a self-employed consultant when I became pregnant years ago, and had visions of working from my home office with my daughter napping or playing contentedly nearby. Then reality struck. For the first three years I struggled to get her to sleep on a regular schedule, and it often seemed like naps were out of the question unless I was holding her, which of course made it impossible to work. For many entrepreneurs, their first baby—their business—already makes sleep… Read More
Two Stars on a Snowy Night, and Finding Common Ground

Two Stars on a Snowy Night, and Finding Common Ground

Many Christmases ago, my sister and brother-in-law were taking a nighttime drive from Boise to Salt Lake City. My sister saw a Texaco star as they passed through a sleepy town, and made a random comment about it. A few seconds later, my brother-in-law said, “That was a Christmas star. It was somebody’s decoration.” My sister responded with something like, “You’re an idiot. I know a Texaco star when I see one.” My brother-in-law came back in kind: “You’re the… Read More
Happening this Week: Loan Prices and the Problem with Learning

Happening this Week: Loan Prices and the Problem with Learning

Online Small-Business Lenders Display Loan Prices The Innovative Lending Platform Association, whose members are small business lenders, have agreed on a “disclosure box” that will allow those considering a small business loan from these lenders to see the annual percentage rates, total dollars being repaid, and other metrics. The products offered, however, will not be affected by the disclosure box. There is no mention of where these rates and costs will be displayed. There is a common belief that regulation… Read More
How a Mom of 3 Grew a Successful Cake Business on Instagram

How a Mom of 3 Grew a Successful Cake Business on Instagram

Rachel Dunston of Rachel Makes It is having a good year. In just under 12 short months, this full-time mother of three has built a thriving cake business solely through Instagram, where she’s followed by nearly 6,000 loyal fans and frequently shuts down orders a month in advance. She told us how she did it. Let Them Eat Cake “When I started building Instagram a year ago, I didn’t exactly know what I was going to use it for,” Dunston… Read More
This Week’s Happenings: Food Trucks, Revitalizing Your Mornings, and Maintaining a Customer-First Business

This Week’s Happenings: Food Trucks, Revitalizing Your Mornings, and Maintaining a Customer-First Business

Maintaining Your Focus on the Front Lines as Your Company Grows No company will reach its full growth potential by focusing on the red tape associated with an expanding organization and letting the focus on customers fall to the wayside. Here are four practices great leaders employ to keep company managers focused on the front line of their business. My favorite: a company that went from near-bankruptcy to one of the best-performing stocks for over a decade after their leadership… Read More