I live in rural Oregon. No buses, no crowds, and honestly… getting hit by a bus seems unlikely. But here’s the thing: it doesn’t take a bus to disrupt a business. Illness, accidents, family emergencies, power outages, tech crashes—a thousand things could happen. And if they do, who’s going toContinue Reading

Navigating Change, when other people change

Recently, I had the opportunity (or maybe the adventure) of staying with a friend while they recovered from surgery. In a bold burst of pre-op determination, my friend decided to make a series of major life changes—about two days before surgery. Step one: quit smoking cold turkey after 40 years.Continue Reading

Recently, I had a client who had a typo on their website. They were trying to run a promotion for a special day, but instead of offering a 20% discount, the computer program defaulted to $20 off. As a result, the ad correctly stated that it was 20% off, butContinue Reading

I have had my fair share of days spent struggling for hours, resorting to the ‘as seen on YouTube’ tech support method, investing a significant amount of time and effort. The resulting frustration often exacerbates the malfunctioning of components or systems, ultimately leading to higher expenses compared to what IContinue Reading

Let’s be honest — running a small business in a rural community often means your first hires are people you already know. Your cousin runs the cash register. Your old high school bestie helps with marketing. Grandma bakes the muffins. And at first… it feels kind of cozy. Until theContinue Reading

As more and more people dream of working from home — and business owners look at the potential cost savings of remote work — the home office has become a defining feature of modern work life. But while it may sound like freedom and flexibility, working from home isn’t forContinue Reading