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" Influential cognitive processes are at play as people stumble through life ." This, my friends, is a geek-speak pun inside a conclusion from a serious study of how the shoes consumers wear while shopping effect their buying behavior.  There conclusion? "When shopping for a big ticket item, such as a television, there is a checklist of things you should always do: Read reviews. Compare prices. Wear high heels." Other ways to curb your urge to spend? Ride up and down the escalator, play a few games using the Wii Fit, or go shopping immediately following your yoga class. Here's the gist of the report ~ A new BYU study finds that consumers experiencing a heightened sense of balance (i.e. wearing high heels) are more likely to weigh the options and go with a product that falls in the middle of the high-end, low-end scale. "If you're someone who tends to overspend, or you're kind of an extreme person, then maybe you ought to consider shopping in high he...

The "Engaged Employee" is the backbone of the success of your business.  By engaged, we mean an employee who actively works toward the goals you set, who cooperates with your programs. Unfortunately, engaged employees make up only 30% of the American work force, with 70% either just putting in time at your expense or, worst of all, actively engaged in defeating you. For a further discussion of  the engaged employee, visit our post:  Creating Corporate Culture II: Employee Engagement One generally accepted technique to keeping your engaged employees engaged is to grant them a degree of autonomy in how they organize their work.  A book published in January, 2011 concludes that, "Workers who feel they have autonomy -- that they are free to make choices in the workplace and be accountable for them -- are happier and more productive according to an extensive research literature review. And by definition, a happy, productive employee is an engaged employee. This is o...

" We're more influenced by attractiveness than we are willing to admit ." High school.  Both the high point and low point experience of growing up. Why?  Because every school has an in-crowd and an out-crowd, with the outs often the butt of jokes, teasing and downright mean treatment.  Do we grow out of it? Apparently not, according to new research by Timothy Judge, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, and Brent Scott of Michigan State University. In the article "Beauty, Personality, and Affect as Antecedents of Counterproductive Work Behavior Receipt," recently published in the scientific journal, Human Performance, the researchers examine how physical attractiveness plays as much of a role as personality in how a person is treated in the workplace. According to Judge, "Unattractive individuals are more likely the subject of rude, uncivil and even cruel treatment by their coworkers. And, not only do we,...

Back thirty years ago when I first wrote about small business, a hoary and horrible statistic was bandied about, even by some of the most experienced entrepreneurial pros: "80% of new businesses fail in their first five years."  This "statistic" has appeared in more places than you can imagine, from the leading small business magazines, books, presentations by employees of SBDCs, the SBA, SCORE, Chambers of Commerce, even professors on the college level - who should know better than to quote un-sourced numbers.  It still shows up in small-business blogs today. For some years, I searched for a source of that statisitic.  Never found where that number came from, leading me to believe that some self-appointed expert made it up.  To quote a character from the popular television show, M*A*S*H, "Horsepucky."  Here is the truth about the survival rate of new start up businesses in the U.S. economy from two unimpeachable sources, The Marion Ewin...

Source:  DMH Design LLC Dana Henrickson's sketch of his family home in the Palouse of Washington. According to statistics released by the IRS, 72% of all the businesses in the U.S. are self-employed entrepreneurs running full or part time businesses.  The types of businesses run from buskers and shoe shine stand operators to writers and authors, attorneys, and other professionals, including architects and designers. Meet Dana Henrickson, a self-employed residential designer who started his business, DMH Design, LL.C., in Seattle, Washington in 2002.  Dana focuses on the niche need for accessibility in new and existing homes, for either older home owners who wish to stay in a home and neighborhood they know rather than moving to an assisted living center away from their home, family and a lifetime of roots.  With our country’s rapidly aging population, Dana’s skills and experience put him in an exciting niche.  The other need is for retrofitted homes for returni...