Living Simplified - The Essence of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

/ Prior Business Consulting/
Living Simplified - The Essence of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

Success generates choices - both for people and societies. As Greg McKeown describes in his 2014 New York Times bestseller, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, any individual that becomes successful will have access to increasing choices as others come to recognize them as being capable of managing greater responsibility. Yet, even for the average person, technology and the success of modern American society as a whole has made a greater volume of choices accessible than ever before. Virtually limitless access to information, dozens of software-driven shortcuts to managing everyday tasks, high-speed travel, constant connectivity and more has left us with a dizzying array of options for how to invest our time and energies.

This article distills Essentialism into three core paradigm shifts proposed in his book that can help you understand the essence of what it means to be “an Essentialist,” and to live a more focused and meaningful life.

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Business Planning: Navigating the Early Stages of Business Growth

/ Prior Business Consulting/
Business Planning: Navigating the Early Stages of Business Growth

Small-businesses and start-ups range widely in their problems, patterns, and journey, and categorizing those experiences in a meaningful and useful way can be challenging. Yet, despite the uniqueness of their process, almost all entrepreneurs share a similar set of responsibilities. While timeframes, product complexity, organizational structures, and strategic goals vary, every entrepreneur faces at least three core responsibilities for their business: Survival, growth, and direction. These shared responsibilities occur continuously, simultaneously, and yet sequentially, since only if/once successfully managing one can the others be effectively addressed. Therefore, these ongoing activities might also might be considered as three cyclical stages of progress that all small-business owners face.

This article will discuss three core questions that any business owner should be able to answer clearly, concisely, and specifically at any stage if they want to navigate the difficult cycles of growth.

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Business Basics: Professional Business Plans & Why Every Small Business Needs One

/ Prior Business Consulting/
Business Basics: Professional Business Plans & Why Every Small Business Needs One

Who is your ideal/target audience? What are the best channels and strategies to market your product? How will you differentiate your product or service from your competitors? How do you plan to scale six months, twelve months, twenty-four months from now? If you cannot answer these questions clearly, succinctly, and effectively enough, it’s very likely that your business is suffering for it. These are questions that must be answered not just at the outset of building a business, but repeatedly and consistently as your organization and understanding evolves with markets, technology, and the times. An actionable, thorough, and detailed business plan provides the answer to these questions and many more - and is critical to providing clarity and direction for yourself and others who invest their time, energy, or dollars in your business.

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Financial Literacy for Small Business Owners

/ Prior Business Consulting /
Financial Literacy for Small Business Owners

Running a business takes a plethora of knowledge. When running a small business, it’s easy to get lost in daily operational woes. Novice small business owners will frequently embark on their new venture without having a full grasp of the financial aspects of the business—how will seasonality affect growth, how to avoid stagnation and how can market fluctuations impact revenue? In many instances, the small business owner may even make his or her personal financial security a secondary objective in their day-to-day activities. It’s absolutely critical for a small business owner to understand his or her grasp on financial literacy.

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