Independent Contractors vs. Employees

I received a lot of feedback after our recent newsletter article on the rules for distinguishing between independent contractors and employees. In this podcast I'll expand on this topic and talk about the basic differences between the two, why both employers and workers tend to bend the rules in favor of contractors and the risks of being too agressive.

download the Independent Contractors vs. Employees podcast

Note: clicking on the link above should play the pod-cast using your browser software and associated plug-ins. If you would like to subscribe to the pod-cast using Apple's iTunes software see the post "Subscribe to Axiom's Podcast."

Benchmarking for Small Business

Benchmarking is the process of comparing your business to other best in class businesses. It is not uncommon to read of Fortune 500 companies studying each other to discover best practices. For instance, a hospital chain may study an airline and car rental agency to develop a better registration and admitting experience for patients. Since the hospital will never compete with the airline or the  rental agency there's a good chance they will all share information openly that can help one another. Small business owners can take advantage of a similar process if they scale it down and get to know the best in class companies in their own community. In this podcast we will give you some ideas for getting started.

download 060902-Benchmarking.mp3

Note: clicking on the link above should play the pod-cast using your browser software and associated plug-ins. If you would like to subscribe to the pod-cast using Apple's iTunes software see the post "Subscribe to Axiom's Podcast."

My Odeo Channel (odeo/8d7aa8f524df8b4f)

Understanding, Building and Using Comparative Financial Statements

Businesses are accustomed to using financial statements and some even use comparisons to last year to gauge improvements in sales or other big line items. But in-depth planning and strategic decision making require a much bigger picture. In this pod-cast I talk about comparative financial statements, what they are, how to create them and some of their uses.

download 060901-comparative.mp3

Note: clicking on the link above should play the pod-cast using your browser software and associated plug-ins. If you would like to subscribe to the pod-cast using Apple's iTunes software see the post "Subscribe to Axiom's Podcast."

My Odeo Channel (odeo/944e8c75044ca3e4)

Improve Your Hiring Process

People are the heart and soul of any business, but the hiring process is far from enjoyable for most business owners. It usually goes something like this...

Business is good. So good in fact that you need more help to get everything done. You place an ad, put out some feelers and collect some resumes. After one or two rounds of interviews you hire the person with the most experience, the best qualifications and someone you think can work well on your team. But after a week or a month the paperwork, the training time, the extra questions and hand holding start to dampen your initial enthusiasm.  It's not uncommon for new hires to add more stress to your life than value to your bottom line.

In our work with clients there is always room for improvement when it comes to adding people. In this podcast we'll cover some best practices and things we've seen work for small businesses when it comes to generating profits with extra manpower.

download 060825-NewHire.mp3

Note: clicking on the link above should play the podcast using your browser software and associated plug-ins. If you would like to subscribe to the podcast using Apple's iTunes software see the post "Subscribe to Axiom's Podcast."

Why Second Locations Fail

The vast majority of new businesses fail and an even greater percentage of expanding businesses fail to find success when opening a new location or branch office. While there may be many contributing factors for this three major shortcomings usually stand out above everything else.

1. A lack of defined roles in the organization.



2. A lack of defined processes.



3. A lack of management.

This podcast elaborates on each area and gives you ways to make sure your new location doesn't become another statistic.

Download 060818-Why2ndLocFail.mp3

Note: clicking on the link above should play the podcast using your browser software and associated plugins. If you would like to subscribe to the podcast using Apple's itunes software see the post "Subscribe to Axiom's Podcast."