Our Blog
A close-up headshot of David Mann, Owner of A Simple Message

Perfecting Your Message

Guest Author - David Mann - Nov 2019
Ultimately, what’s the goal we’re all chasing? Closing the sale. Plain and simple. That’s where everything we do in our businesses is aimed. We’d love it if everyone who heard about our products or services would simply see the greatness and sign on. But we know that doesn’t happen. You can have the most valuable and unique services imaginable but…
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Finish Strong in the 5th Quarter

Author - Terri Wilcox - Oct 2019
If you've ever attended a UW-Badger football home game, I hope you stayed for the 5th Quarter. It is legendary. The game just isn’t over until the Badger Band stops playing and the crowd stops dancing. Even the opposing team’s band members, cheer squads and alumni join in. It’s a blast and the band always puts on a great show.…
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A headshot of Jerry Olson

Accelerate Business with Solid Core Processes

Author - Jerry Olson - July 2019
A company's Core Processes can provide a competitive advantage in accelerating it beyond its competitors. Far too often, a business struggling to grow neglects this key aspect of business. We see this frequently in small businesses where the owner can see the scope of the business. He or she often assumes that their employees know what to do and how…
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5 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement

Author - Peter Beaumont - April 2019
Why is everyone talking about employee engagement? And what exactly is it? Well, simply put, employee engagement measures how passionate employees are about the work they do, how loyal they feel towards the company they work for and whether or not they're willing to go the extra mile. It is NOT the same as employee satisfaction, though it IS just…
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A Reason to Celebrate

Author - Jane Drigans - March 2019
Has March Madness taken hold of you yet? It’s been described as “one of the biggest, most exciting and most fun events in all of sports.”  With the NCAA Final Four men’s championship coming to Minneapolis, there's no doubt there will be great displays of teamwork and much cause for celebration around here. Whether or not you’re a sports fan,…
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Avoid Failure by Creating Focus

Author - Chad Haldeman - Feb 2019
Epic Fail “What happened?” Susan President asked, obviously upset at the team’s lack of performance. Just 90 days prior, her leadership team had devised a plan that included the key areas of focus needed to drive the company’s performance for the year ahead. They had picked 10 quarterly goals they felt would lead to successful performance. Now, reviewing their performance…
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Can You Get and Keep Joe?

Author - Jerry Olson - October 2018
In his article originally published on page 36 of the October issue of the BATC-MN Housing First Digest, Jerry Olson talks about an issue most of us can currently relate to, employee retention. In today's full employment economy, good employees have lots of options. So, what can you do to ensure they'll choose to work for you?
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The Entrepreneur’s Foundation

Author - Terri Wilcox - September 2018
The basic Merriam-Webster definition for entrepreneur is “one who organizes, manages and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise”. The Resultants tend to question that definition. If you take it at face value, then all owners would be considered an entrepreneur. However, from our perspective, that definition is too general. Our experience working with owners of small and medium-sized businesses…
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What to Do When You Hit the Ceiling

Author - Peter M. Beaumont - July 2018
We all have or will hit the ceiling at some point when we are not sure how to grow ourselves or our business. We just seem to lose momentum. This can make us feel frustrated and in some cases, ill-equipped to lead or push through. However, "maxing out" is a normal part of growth. It is not always on the…
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Why DIY with EOS: How Self-Implementing Companies Achieve Success

Author - Steve Wilcox - May 2018
The Entrepreneurial Operating System®, more commonly known as EOS or Traction, has helped thousands of business owners get what they want out of their business. While “what they want” may be unique to every owner, the process and system is the same - making the goal more achievable regardless of industry, geography and company size. The EOS model consists of…
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Why Set an Impossible Goal?

Author - Katie Pierce - April 2018
The 2018 Winter Olympics have been over for a few months now and though most of the excitement has died down, there’s one Olympian I keep thinking about, women’s half-pipe participant, Elizabeth Swaney. Swaney didn’t receive a medal. In fact, she placed dead last in her women’s half-pipe competition. Yet, when her run was over, she turned to smile and…
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What Can a Franchise Teach Us About Our Own Business Model?

Author - Chad Haldeman - March 2018
Franchise operations account for almost 10% of small business transactions in the U.S., which is no surprise knowing what an attractive acquisition target they can be. So what is it that makes a franchise such a target for buyers? RFB Business Advisor, Chad Haldeman, answers this question and more in his Irish Titan guest blog post.
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The Leadership Gap in the Green Industry

Author - Terri Wilcox - Feb 2018
Are you feeling the impact of an industry-wide leadership gap? In her article originally published in the February issue of the Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Association (MNLA) Scoop, Terri Wilcox identifies five leadership challenges that many business leaders are facing as over 3.6 million Baby Boomers set to retire in the next few years. Check out pages 18-23 for insights…
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5 Tips to Improve Team Issue Solving

Author - Terri Wilcox - Feb 2018
How good is your team at solving issues? Are they disciplined about going after a solution as quickly as possible? Problem solving is a required skill for any team and the recipe for success is made up of: the belief that “my team owns the problem”, the courage to make decisions amidst complexity and lack of information, and the openness…
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Adjusting Your Succession Planning Mindset

Author - Chad Haldeman - December 2017
Succession: Learning a Painful Lesson As a young division leader of a large media organization, I had assembled a strong team of managers who had performed together at a very high level for some time. We were making it happen! However, there was one manager, a fairly recent hire, who had strong technical knowledge but was out of step with…
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The Passion for Traction

Author - Steve Wilcox - October 2017
In this article originally published in the October issue of Minnesota Business Magazine,  Steve Wilcox discusses why the Entrepreneurial Operating System has captured the interest of more than 28,000 businesses.
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Leading People: The Foundation of Business Strategy

Author - Jerry Olson - October 2017
In his article originally published in the October issue of the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC) Digest, Jerry Olson explains how business success is built on a foundation of people working together as a great team toward a common goal. Unfortunately, only about 20% of employees feel they are part of a great team. Great teams require strong…
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Next Stage Growth – Shouldering vs. Harvesting Risk

Author - Steve Wilcox - October 2017
Starting a business can be risky, but unless you invest a significant amount of start-up cash in your venture, you’re not really risking much other than your time. That changes if you’re lucky enough to get your business off the ground. As your company grows, you risk more of your personal wealth because the business you’ve built is actually worth…
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Is it Time to Sell?

Author - Jerry Olson - June 2017
How do you know the right time to sell your company? One answer to this age-old question is when someone else is willing to invest more in your business than you are. When you start a business, nobody is willing to invest in its success more than you. You’ve already worked a 40-hour week by Wednesday and, if you’re like…
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The Danger of Re-Selling Another Company’s Product

Author - Colette Belisle - April 2017
On the surface, it seems like a great idea to become a distributor of a popular product. After all, if it’s already proven to be a popular product elsewhere, why not bring it in as another offering? As the case study below demonstrates, the danger is that in the long-term, re-selling may not increase your company’s value. In fact, it…
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Is 2017 Your Company’s Defining Year?

Author - Chad Haldeman - March 2017
What changes have you made to make your company more valuable in 2017? Our suggestion, you may want to think hard about how your customers pay. If you've been following our blog, you'll know recurring revenue is a topic we cover time and time again. It's not that we have no other methods for improving your company's value. We push…
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How Three Moves Quadrupled the Value of this Business

Author - Jerry Olson - Feb 2017
Are you stuck trying to figure out how to create recurring revenue for your business? Automatic sales will make your business more valuable and predictable. However, the secret to transforming your company is to think less about what’s in it for you and more about convincing customers to agree to a monthly bill. Consider the transformation of Laura Steward’s IT consulting…
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How Much Goodwill Does Your Business Have?

Author - Terri Wilcox - Jan 2017
Goodwill: the difference between what someone is willing to pay for your company minus the value of your hard assets The term “goodwill” is often thrown around in conversation as a subjective description of how much your customers like your business. However, when it comes to valuing your business, there is nothing subjective about it. Let’s imagine the main physical assets…
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Prep and Plan to Sell

Author - Bill Wermager - Oct 2016
Why bother doing it the hard way? Whether you want to sell your business next year or a decade from now, you will have two basic options for an external sale: the financial or the strategic buyer. The Financial Buyer The financial buyer is buying the rights to your future profit stream, so the more profitable your business is expected to…
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You-Proofing Your Business

Author - Jerry Olson - Sept 2016
Making your business less dependent on you as the owner has a number of benefits. First, you can scale your company more quickly if you’re not acting as a bottleneck. Second, you get more time to enjoy life outside of your business. Lastly, a business less dependent on its owner is much more valuable to a potential buyer. However, pulling yourself out of…
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A female executive smiles and stands in front of a group of three other business executives

Thinking vs. Doing: The Owner’s Dilemma

Author - Steve Wilcox - Aug 2016
I remember the trip my wife and I took in 2015 to the BVC (British Virgin Islands) to present our Visioning Program to a Rotary International Conference. As we island hopped one gorgeous, sunny day, we looked over the bow of our boat to an island with a white sand beach, only to be informed by our local guide that…
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Six Power Ratios to Start Tracking Now

Author - Jerry Olson - Aug 2016
Doctors in the developing world measure their progress not by the aggregate number of children who die in childbirth, but by the infant mortality rate – a ratio of the number of births to deaths. Similarly, baseball’s lead off batters measure their “on-base percentage” – the number of times they get on base – as a percentage of the number…
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Developing and Maintaining a Talent Pipeline

Author - Chad Haldeman - Aug 2016
Step Two in Creating a High Performing Sales Organization The old sports metaphor, “the best defense is a good offense,” refers to the conditions created by a proficient offense who controls the ball, game clock, and pace of the game. They are successfully executing their game plan, which quite often leads to a win. When creating and leading a high…
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How Your Age Shapes Your Exit Plan

Author - Bill Wermager - Aug 2016
Your age has a big impact on your attitude toward your business, and your feelings about one day getting out of it. For example, one person who runs a boutique mergers and acquisitions business refuses to take assignments from business owners over the age of 70. He has found that septuagenarians are so personally invested that they can rarely bring…
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NEW Service Offering: Launching RFB® Value Acceleration

Author: Steve Wilcox - Apr 2016
We are excited to introduce a new RFB® service offering. Last year, we began looking for ways to prove and improve in the area of ROI. Based on feedback received from our wonderful clients and their leadership teams, we realized we must all better define “Building Value” so that everyone stays on the same page and moves their long-term strategy…
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