Join TAB Fort Worth today!
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| TAB Fort Worth Anniversaries & New Members |
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July/August Anniv.
401 Board
Keith Dalton
402 Board
Donna Davis Mixon
Administrative
Cheryl Wurtzer-Zarrillo
New Members
Liane Janovsky (501)
Bedford Burgher (501)
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| Hear How We Help Our Members |
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| Event Details |
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Attend Business Bites Lunch 'N Learn on August 5, 2009
Keep More Money and More Employees at the Same Time! Presented by Jake Richter, Financial Advisor, Edward Jones, Downtown Fort Worth
The presentation will be covering the many different options a business owner has to defer money pre-tax. Included in the presentation are common types of plans, along with answers to common questions business owners face when contemplating starting a plan or reviewing their current plan.
This is a great way to get some ideas for increasing the value of your business and retaining key employees.
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Watch for Upcoming Events
9/25/09 - Business Online Networking Workshop at TCU
10/23/09 - Optimizing the Sale of a Business Workshop at TCU
11/20/09 - Email Marketing Workshop presented by Julie Niehoff, Development Director, Constant Contact
1/29/10 - Achieving Balance Creates Business Success Workshop at TCU
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| Schedule a TAB Speaker for your Organization |
| The Alternative Board (TAB) of Fort Worth possesses a Speakers Bureau comprised of individuals from various companies and industries. The range of topics is varied (finance, the environment, new technologies - such as LinkedIn business network, ethics, energy efficiency, and small business management, to name a few).
Click here for a list of topics.
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| Quick Tips |
Pay Attention to Details
Look at your operations from the person who answers the phone to whoever last touches your product or service. Take five minutes and jot down the progression of your customer through this chain. Are there any "broken links"?
John O'Brien
Central Coast Senior Services
Pacific Grove, CA
Keeping your Margins Up
When quoting a project, I always quote the price I want, not what I think the client is able to pay. If they object, I'm in a position to remove segments of my service and come down to the price level they're comfortable with and not reduce my margins.
Christopher Contois
Visual Content Solutions
Nesconset, NY
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| Connect with LinkedIn Business Network |
Register for LinkedIn classes
Read LinkedIn Testimonials
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| TAB in The News |
For a full listing of press hits, please visit our In the News page. |
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| Now Available: Click on the above book cover to order your copy of The Wall Street Journal business book best-seller the 9 Elements of Family Business Success by Allen E. Fishman, Founder and Chairman of The Alternative Board®. |
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Touted as the most valuable and beneficial business advisory organization in the world, The Alternative Board® (TAB) has been featured in leading business news sources from the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, the Washington Post, CNN and many others.
The essential and critical counsel and value The Alternative Board® consistently delivers to small and medium size businesses, and the immediate impact it brings to its client organizations is an essential element for any organization that intends to thrive. | |
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MBA Program at TCU's
Neeley School of Business
Continue your Business Education |
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The following workshops will be attended by small business owners and professionals AND full-time MBAs from the Neeley School of Business at TCU.
If your firm is looking for either interns or full-time hires, the workshops will be a great place for prospective hires. There will be interactive activities, so you will have an opportunity to interact with the students and hear what our next generations of business leaders are thinking. They, likewise, have an opportunity to hear what you, our current leaders, think about the topic.
It has proven to be a rewarding mix in past programs for both students and business leaders.
Friday, September 25
Business Online Networking -- Are you confused about all you are hearing about online marketing using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc.? Corporate representatives from the major business online networking platforms, as well as aggregators like HubSpot, have been invited to TCU's Neeley School of Business to share with the audience their organization's vision for the online networking market, and their space within it. The corporate representatives will also be asked to share some of the newest features that are planned.
Friday, October 23
Optimizing the Sale of a Business - Three speakers representing various aspects of the business sales cycle will individually share their perspective on optimizing the sale of a business. Fred Herbert, CEO of PE3, will speak to what you can do today to increase the sale of your business three to five years from now. Tony Ford, Principle, Kasper & Associates, will speak on: the Third party sale process and how value is established, what business owners can expect in using a broker, and deal killers that mess things up for everyone. Last, Dave Diesslin, Diesslin & Associates, will speak on the importance of "ROL" (Return on Life) and how tax and estate planning fits with the Exit Planning process.
Friday, January 29
Achieving Balance Creates Business Success - In this session three expert speakers will help you identify the path to workplace excellence by achieving balance in all functional areas. The first speaker is Dr. John King. Dr. King's NEXT Foundation helps businesses' bottom line through productivity and longevity of their staff by creating a culture of trust through leadership, and teaches them how to create leaders - at every level in the organization. Next, author Dr. Connie Sitterly, "The Workplace Doctor," will discuss the top human resource management areas that an organization's leaders must rigorously follow, and practical ways through their human resources function of keeping the organization "in balance". Finally, Attorney Liane Janovsky, Board Certified in Labor and Employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, will discuss specific legal cases that because of lack of leadership and balance, an environment lacking in trust is created and the unhappy legal consequences that followed.
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Q/A The Workplace Doctor™ Office Dating/Office Romance
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Dear Workplace Doctor,
As a small business owner, one of my supervisors is dating an employee; should I be worried?
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About 40 percent of U.S. employees have dated a co-worker, and another 40 percent would consider doing so, according to a 2007 survey. (Source: Spherion)
While relationships between coworkers often do not pose a threat to employers, relationships between supervisors and employees do create risky problems. For example, if a relationship between a supervisor and a direct report ends on a bad note, one of the employees may claim that it was not consensual, sexual harassment may be claimed, or a claim of retaliation if the former supervisor provides a poor performance review.
Romantic involvement can affect decisions about the employee's hours, assignments, days off, promotions, or other job conditions or benefits. Rumors and gossip can tarnish images and reputations. When a supervisor and a direct report employee date, real or perceived favoritism or discrimination may result. Even consensual dating can have its pitfalls, but then, it hasn't stopped about 40% of U.S. employees.
Copyright 2009, Dr. Connie Sitterly, "The Workplace Doctor™" President, Sittcom, Inc., Management Training Specialists. Connie is an international speaker, trainer, executive coach, author, management consultant, You may reach her by phone 817.737.2893 , Connie's email
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| Put a Smile on their Face |
Everyone's mood has been less than happy during the recent economic times. Our business is starting to see an increase in requests for proposals and work awarded, and we are hopeful things are starting to turn around. We decided to do something fun to cheer everyone up a little bit. Since everyone loves our promotional pens, we decided to have a contest to see who would submit a picture of one of our pens in a unique or fun location.
For one month, we are having our employees submit photos and for the next month we will accept photos from clients, vendors, friends and others. I sent the first photos received from employees to our e-mail distribution list and invited everyone to take a look and encouraged them to submit their own photo. Within 30 minutes of sending the e-mail, we had 72 opens and 31 people had clicked through to our Web site to check out the photos. At least 20 people have e-mailed me to say how much they enjoyed it!
It's very easy to do and we're accomplishing our goal while having a little fun as well as casting our company in a uniquely favorable light and keeping our brand in the minds of both our employees and the public.prospects.
James McCulley IV, JCM Environmental, Newark, DE |
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| Financial
Developing your Company Culture |
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Developing a unique culture depends on cultivating and articulating shared perspectives of expected behaviors. Most business organizations recognize, develop and promote certain values to assure client/customer satisfaction.
We have assembled a list of ten core values that, while they sound simple, are beautiful in action. The first four generally relate to any firm:
1. Show up on time.
2. Say what you will do.
3. Do what you said you will do.
4. Thank your client/customer for their business.
Now, unique to your firm, develop the next six points of shared values for your firm. Here is what we have listed for our firm as the next six expectations we have of each other:
5. Be accessible.
6. Be pro-active.
7. Be accountable.
8. Return phone calls as soon as possible; be timely with responses.
9. Be candid, but tactful, in all situations.
10. Be respectful, co-operative and professional at all times.
Initially, we found it wise to use a facilitator and spent several hours at an annual retreat developing this; we review it yearly. Shared expectations allow us to gain confidence in our fellow team members and grow both the firm and the expectations.
Have a great summer!
David H. Diesslin, MBA, CFP® Diesslin & Associates, Inc. |
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| Taking Care of your Employees |
Given the current economic climate, it is important to take care of your existing employees. Train employees on other areas of the business and allow them to do things like Web-based training. Keep communications going with your staff-team meetings, one-on-one meetings, lunch-whatever it takes. Mix it up. Build the bonds and let your staff know how much you really appreciate all of their efforts. Most likely they are stepping up to the plate to enable you to succeed.
Thomas Flaherty, Restoration Floorworks and Pro Cabinet Solutions, Morrison, CO
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| Hiring a New Bookkeeper |
When hiring a new part- or full-time bookkeeper, contact your accountant to see if they have a bookkeeper they would recommend. Your accounting firm knows what accounting program you use and the level of assistance your firm will need. If they do not have someone to recommend ask if-for a fee-their firm will run an ad and screen candidates for you. They will have your interests in mind as they will work closely with your bookkeeper and will not want to lose you as a client. However, your accounting firm should NOT be giving you lower value bookkeeping services-as in most cases that will be the most expensive option for your business.
TAB Winnipeg Board, Winnipeg, MB |
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| "Cans" Only |
When I'm leading a group discussion of any new initiative, I stick to the following rule. The group only discusses the "cans" (i.e., the things we "can" do and how we "can" accomplish this) at the front end of the meeting. Only after all the "cans" have been stated will I allow any critiquing and statements regarding what we cannot do.
Carol Holt, C&L Bradford & Associates, Wilmington, DE |
ABOUT THE ALTERNATIVE BOARD®
The Alternative Board® is comprised of members who are business owners, CEOs or presidents who run businesses in non-competing fields. During a TAB Board meeting, you receive the benefit of the collective experience of the board members, who offer practical solutions to your problems-not theories.
You can learn more about TAB, which has been helping business owners succeed since 1990, by visiting TheAlternativeBoard.com |
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