Your Biz : Work/life balance

Don’t forget to remember your customers

JJ Ramberg — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:29:00 GMT

I'm terrible at remembering names.

I was never great. After having my children, my pregnancy brain did not completely go away (for those of you who have never been pregnant, when you are, your memory is shot!).

So I've gotten used to writing a person's name down after meeting them.

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‘Hire slowly, fire quickly’

JJ Ramberg — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:04:00 GMT

One of my regular guests, Phil Town, author of the book "Rule #1" has offered us the following advice many times on the show:

"Hire slowly, fire quickly."

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The economy -- just another challenge

JJ Ramberg — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:19:00 GMT

Earlier this week I hosted a panel for NJ Entrepreneur about turning hurdles into opportunities.

The room was filled with entrepreneurs, many of whom said that although the economy is a worry, as business owners they're used to dealing with challenges.

Paul Lewis, a serial entrepreneur who founded four companies (two of which he took public, and two of which were acquired by Fortune 500 companies) is working on his fifth company. He had some heartbreaking but wonderfully inspiring (and quite funny in the way he told them) stories about the many challenges his companies have had to overcome.

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Entrepreneurship -- it’s in your blood

Roland Jones — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:34:00 GMT

This week my father came to the taping of the show. He's an entrepreneur and an investor. My mother was an entrepreneur. Both of their fathers were entrepreneurs. My brother is one too. And so am I.

Clearly, there's something in our blood.

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Obama bobble head anyone?

Eve Tahmincioglu — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:29:00 GMT

Many years ago, my mom and dad took us to see the circus at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, and much to their disappointment all my two sisters and I did was beg for souvenirs. It drove my father Yani crazy.

He'd yell at us in a Turkish accent: "I brought you to da cirkis and all you want is dis junk?"

Yesterday, I realized why he was so mad. As my husband and I dragged our six- and nine-year-old kids to the nation's Capitol to watch history unfold, all they wanted was an Obama bobble head.

I was frustrated that my kids didn't quite grasp the importance of the day, and I was pretty upset -- until I met Roderik Williams from Gary, Ind.

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Some surprisingly thoughtful comments

Eve Tahmincioglu — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:09:00 GMT

I’ve been a blogger for a few years now and there are times I wonder what the heck I’m doing.

These moments occur when I read stupid, vitriolic, comments that add nothing to the conversation. In fact, some comments seem to send us all back to the dark ages.

When a comment is particularly bigoted or obscene, I have chosen to hit the delete button. But for the most part, I publish most every one of my readers’ comments because I don’t want to censor the discussion.

Today, however, I want to focus on the positive. I’ve decided to republish some of the best, most thoughtful comments in a blog post looking back at 2008.

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Bad economy = better job applicants

Eve Tahmincioglu — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:03:00 GMT

Mickey Donatello, a co-owner of two restaurants in Wilmington, Del., has noticed a "bizarre" phenomenon -- the job candidates he's been interviewing recently are actually qualified.

"Up until about four months ago, whenever we interviewed people it was like you were just replacing one standard employee with the next, but never stepping up, especially with skilled labor, like sous chefs or chefs," said Donatello, who owns Lucky's Coffee Shop and the Corner Bistro. "But now we're seeing guys that are qualified, almost over-qualified."

This is the positive side to a pretty grim jobs picture. With so many companies scaling back, or shutting their doors, there is a growing pool of talented people who are looking for work.

And entrepreneurs like Donatello are benefiting.

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Who bails out small businesses?

Eve Tahmincioglu — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:18:00 GMT

First it was Bear Stearns, then Fannie and Freddie. The government seems to have bailout boogie fever these days, but no one is asking small businesses to dance.

When a small business owner screws up and their business tanks you know who typically bails them out? The small business owner.

Take Maureen Borzacchiello, who owns trade show products company Creative Display Solutions along with her husband Frank.

Borzachiello's brother-in-law died suddenly in the winter of 2005 when he was 47 years old. The shock of the loss had an impact on her entire family and the business ended up at the brink of failure.

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Why overcoming a tragedy really matters

Eve Tahmincioglu — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:33:00 GMT

Ever since Barack Obama announced Joe Biden would be his running mate, almost all of the news stories about the U.S. Senator from Delaware have mentioned the personal tragedy he experienced early on in his political career.

In 1972, shortly after he was first elected to the Senate, Biden lost his wife and infant daughter in a horrific car crash that also seriously injured his two young sons.

That's the sort of tragedy that would likely derail anyone's career ambitions, but somehow Biden persevered. I've always wondered why some people allow tragedy to destroy them, and others don't.

When I interviewed entrepreneurs and CEOs for my book I devoted a whole chapter to how successful men and women in business overcome adversities.

How did they do it?

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Hitting workers over the head with a piggybank

Eve Tahmincioglu — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:01:00 GMT

I'm not big on employers forcing employees to do anything other than their jobs. But forcing workers to be better stewards of their finances -- why not?

Spiratex, a Michigan-based plastics maker, forces its 127 employees to get one-on-one financial planning help with an advisor whether they like it or not.

The company mandates up to an hour of money education as a way to help its workers become more knowledgeable about the firm's 401(k) plan, and also learn about debt management, college savings, and other personal finance topics.

Why did this small firm decide to make the sessions mandatory?

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