What if you change your mind halfway through a negotiation?
Inconsistent decision making sometimes leads to a crummy result. Here’s a thought-provoking, quantifiable example from real life. Two of us were preparing to drive from Boston to New York City. We both wanted to go there, and if we didn’t drive together we would have gone separately. We could take his car, a mid-size sedan […]
Financial Figuring for Landlords: What’s the Most Important Thing In Rental Real Estate?
People usually say there are three important things: “Location, location, location!” But in rental real estate, it’s mostly just price. The Economics of Real Estate In any decision to purchase — any decision to invest — you always look at “what you get and when you get it” vs. “what you pay.” But there are a […]
Where does all your time go?
It’s winter in Boston and it’s dark by 5p. When it’s night already and you didn’t get much done, you can feel like the day just escaped you. Here’s a trick to keep a sharper look-out on your time: keep a time log. All you need is a small, reporter-style notebook and a pen. Here’s […]
Hiring Employees, Bosses, and Customers: Part Two of Three, Bosses
Previously I talked about hiring employees and gave an overview of a process that I’ve used to good effect in the past. The perspective there was straightforward: you’re a supervisor or a hiring supervisor and you’re bringing on someone to be a direct report, either for yourself or someone else. Hiring bosses involves two perspectives, and […]
Due Diligence Comes Before Joining a Startup
This week a friend of mine was offered a chance to work for an exciting startup in the consumer packaged goods industry (think food and beverages). He wanted to know what he should ask before accepting the offer, which was a below-market salary in exchange for equity ownership in the company. Oftentimes this equity ownership […]
Financial Figuring for Landlords: Working Capital
What will you do if that old roof floods your top floor apartment, or if a cast iron drain pipe cracks just as you’re paying for bedbug extermination? What if the jobs cost $10,000? Do you call up your regular contractor and cut a check without batting an eyelash, or is this is a crisis […]
Hiring Employees, Bosses, and Customers: Part One of Three, Employees
A wise person once said, “You must judge people, because the wrong man can kill you.” Hyperbole aside, the meaning is well met. You really want to get to know someone before you enter a relationship with them, be it as their supervisor, their subordinate, or sometimes even their provider. In each of these scenarios […]
Miracle on 1st Street SE
Imagine that you are the proud manager of the only company that provides food to the people who live in a large area around your plant. Your CFO comes to you for the quarterly update and for the first time in a long time it’s good news. He shows you the graph below: “We haven’t […]
Positivity
Today I was at a management meeting to solve some specific problems, and at the end of the meeting, as often happens, we allowed for some off-topic suggestions and comments. (People should have a chance to say what’s on their mind.) One of the managers recommended that we devote some time during our “all hands” […]