Insane Business Advice That Sounds Interesting—Part One

By MJ Plaster

In our crazy world where up is down and down is up, big risks can net monstrous results—but not always to the up side. It’s easy to confuse novel with insane and disruptive with destructive. I was tipped off to an article a few weeks ago that led to several nights of burning the midnight oil to bring you this menu of insane business advice. By the end of this article, you will look at everything through the risk vs. reward lens and make decisions based on facts, not stale clichés.
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5 Ways You Can Start Saving More Money Today

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No matter how much money you make, there can be times when you wish that you had more money in the bank or were able to save more for retirement. The good news is that there are many easy steps that you can take to save money today. Let’s take a look at some of the specific actions that can reduce your expenses right now.

Get Rid of Anything That You Don’t Use

If you find that you only watch television on Sundays when your favorite football team is playing or only watch the nightly news, you may not need the digital cable package. Replacing the $150 a month cable bundle with an antenna can save thousands of dollars a year without compromising your quality of life. Getting rid of your smartphone for a prepaid standard phone is another great way to save hundreds or thousands a year without altering your lifestyle. Continue reading →

5 Areas Where Businesses Typically Spend Too Much

Small business owners are the backbone of the United States. They started with a vision, worked harder than they ever have before to make it happen, and they should be taking pride in their drive and determination. Unfortunately, a staggering number of small businesses fail and, with them, the dreams of their owners.

Most small business failures are due to money management mistakes. Understanding some fairly simple ways that small businesses waste money can help entrepreneurs avoid these pitfalls and increase the likelihood of their own success. Continue reading →

Does the Big 40 Mean “You’re Fired”?

According to Bloomberg TV, the median age of the U.S. worker is 42. In the established tech industries, the median age is around 31 and, in tech startup companies, it drops to around 22.
Many of us who have passed our 40th birthday feel it was a watershed moment when we came into our own. We will tell you, “At 20, we knew it all; at 30, we realized we didn’t; and, at 40, we had gained enough maturity to know that the more we thought we knew, the more we had to learn.” Yet today, 40 can signal the approaching end of a career. What’s wrong with this picture?
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5 Things Football Can Teach You About Running An Office

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They say that sports have a lot of life lessons to offer. There is a lot of truth to that. This is particularly true for team sports like football. Football is the biggest of the team sports as far as the number of players that are needed to form a team.

With so many components to manage in a football team, football coaches are a lot like office managers. They have to find a way to mesh many individuals together to form a cohesive team that gets things done. With that in mind, here are five lessons football can teach you about running an office. Continue reading →

Five Personal Finance Lessons To Pass On To Your Kids

Most parents know that they should talk to their child about drugs and alcohol, and many adults are willing to sit down and have a conversation about the birds and the bees. However, when it comes to money, many parents are lacking. About twenty percent of parents have never really spoken with their kids about the importance of managing finances. Continue reading →

How to Regain Your Team’s Mojo

By MJ Plaster

Remember the pizzazz your team had when it first began to come together and click? It was electrifying, like Fourth of July fireworks set to the 1812 Overture. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but just like all relationships, teams go through stages. What started out with a bang is bound to go stale unless you reinvigorate it from time to time. Team players who lose their mojo are detrimental to your business, so let’s look at symptoms of complacency followed by prescriptions for regaining the spark.

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Who You Gonna Call When Your Brand Fails? BrandBusters?

By MJ Plaster

When your brand turns on a dime and loses its luster, who you gonna call? BrandBusters? There are firms that make a fortune restoring a damaged brand. However, the object is to maintain your hard-earned brand rather than restoring it. First, we’ll look at a few brand failures. Then, we’ll look at the single best way to avoid busting your brand so you don’t have to restore it.
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Does Your Small Business Need To Hire An HR Director?

When you have a great idea for a product or service, you might want to build up your company’s workforce gradually. Of course, you don’t want to increase your head count before it is financially feasible to do so.

At a certain point, you might need to hire a Human Resources (HR) Director. When do you know that it is the right time to hire an HR Director?

Human Resources by Industry

Are there any industries that should add an HR Director sooner? The service industries – contractors, landscaping and beauty – might be able to handle more workers without adding someone to oversee a department. Many of these jobs are on-site, so there is less time spent in any formal office environment. Continue reading →

Five Personal Finance Lessons You Didn’t Learn In School

The typical education curriculum generally leaves a disappointingly large amount to be desired when it comes to financial education.

The following things are some of the most important financial lessons that just aren’t taught in school, but should always be taken to heart.

Saving is more important than earning

Plenty of people love the idea of making lots of money, but one of the biggest financial lessons to learn is that it’s more important to focus on not losing money. Unnecessary spending is one of the biggest personal obstacles for people of all income levels, and so it is essential to learn how to set up a budget a precisely as possible. Continue reading →