Troy Hazard

Long Haul or Long Gone

Five lessons to survive the first five years in business. It's true, so many small businesses fail in their first years of operation. And it's also true that so many small business operators blame external influences on their demise. I know, I was almo... Read >

Franchise Fact or Fiction

How to tell which franchise is for you. So you've decided to join a franchise group, but you're not sure which one is for you? You've looked at so many that you're starting to go crazy trying to decide. Black is now white and grey is now the only color... Read >

Chinese Takeaway

How to navigate the meeting of east and west. It's new, exciting, captivating, somewhat intriguing and even a little sexy. It's taken the world's attention and firmly positioned itself as the new frontier in business. It is China. For over ten y... Read >

Techno EEEKKKK!

How not to buy a business. It's a bit of a drug I suppose. Technology just seems to suck you in, you resist from time to time but eventually it gets you and you end up with that gadget or thing or new faster gismo, or cool software 'cos all your mates ... Read >

Tell Me, Don't Sell Me

How to talk your way into a sale. The world is changing. People are changing. It's the law of evolution really, it's how the universe works. So why is it then that so many sales people just don't get that? Every day you see salespeople who are st... Read >

The End of the Marketing Line

If they can see it, they can sell it. Every year small and medium enterprise spends thousands of dollars on advertising and marketing their companies all over the world. And every year the same companies sit down for hours sifting through data as they... Read >

What recession?

Is it really all in our mind? What an amazing event, the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States and the first African American in the White House. So monumental was this moment that over 2 million Americans huddled in The National Mall... Read >

If a Tree Falls in the Forest

I wonder if anyone has stopped to take a look at the relationship between how much time the individual average small - medium enterprise owner (or employee for that matter) places thinking about carbon emissions / footprint / global warming versus the fin... Read >

Economic Obstacle or Opportunity?

In these changing times in business, I find it somewhat disturbing how so many small - medium businesses act surprised when there is an economic shift. It totally baffles me when I sit in business meetings or functions and listen to some of our business l... Read >

2 Degrees of Separation - The Net-effect of Net-works.

You've all heard about it, some of you have done it, many have looked at doing it, and others just don't know how to start doing it. And some of you have done it so much that it just doesn't do it for you anymore! It's called networking. It's one of... Read >

Well, that's not my fault...!

For 20 years, as a business consultant, I have been hearing those words. Time after time I have business people bark these sorts of responses when talking about their business experiences. When asked about the past: 1. Yeah, I hear ya, but it's diff... Read >

The Power Of Now

A few weeks back, while the world waited for a new President to appear in the United States, I was on radio saying business people across the country needed to simply claim some personal responsibility for their destiny, put their head down and the tails ... Read >

First What, then HOW

Well, here it is again, that time of year when we all seem to panic for some reason. The time when we all start running around the office screaming, 'QUICK, HURRY, IT'S ALMOST END OF MONTH, DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT MONTH THIS IS? ... IT'S THE END OF FINANCIAL... Read >

Ready - Aim - Hire; Recruitment and Retention of Staff

For many business owners and leaders that headline should read, Ready, Aim FIRE! It's the age-old business dilemma: 'How do I hire and retain good people to work with me?' For two decades I have heard small business owners and leaders scream the fol... Read >

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A while back I had the privilege of being one of the judges in a small business competition. Over the course of the event we had the chance to see some great businesses in action, hear their stories, and how they were going to develop their business shoul... Read >