Intrapreneurship is the act of behaving like an entrepreneur while working within a large organization. Intrapreneurship is known as the practice of a corporate management style that integrates risk-taking and innovation approaches, as well as the reward and motivational techniques, that are more traditionally thought of as being the province of entrepreneurship. …
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I often talk to people about retiring and starting a business. A famous example is Colonel Sanders who started his finger-licking chicken business at the age of sixty five. Retirement is a great time to start a business, you have a wealth of knowledge drawn from a lifetime of experience, networks of people who can…
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Jack and Jill had returned to my office to talk about insurance and they had brought their spouses, Jane and Dick. Our discussion a couple of weeks ago had triggered questions about what insurance they should have and I had suggested that this was a discussion that should involve their spouses. “As you know” I…
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We hear a lot about wealth; it’s the devotion to wealth that keeps our banks and money managers.…wealthy; wealth management, growing wealth, protecting wealth. Prosperity on the other hand is an overlooked concept. Very few business owners want wealth for the sake of wealth. Most, when they have time to think about it, are more…
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Many (many) years ago I started my own business, a public accounting practice in Niagara. My wife and I had spent some months traveling – winter in the South Pacific, spring and summer in Europe and upon returning home I decided that instead of getting a job, I would try to run my own business.…
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I have found myself wondering, in recent weeks, what my thought process would be if I was an executive in the sports complex at Penn State University, when emails about Jerry Sandusky’s activities arrived in my inbox. Would “winning” be the only thing? Our society seems to easily confuse winning and losing with right and…
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Shortly before my father died, at the age of 80, I asked him why he and my mother had decided to up-root the family and move with their four sons to Canada from Edinburgh. His response was immediate, if he didn’t do it two sons would make the move and he didn’t want the family…
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My father told me you can’t have progress without friction. When I go to the trusty Thesaurus (that is only a click away when I am writing my blog) there are many synonyms for “friction” including: resistance, abrasion, hostility, antagonism, conflict, strife. If you’re leading a family business these words would seem to be terms…
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Judith watched in disbelief as the paramedics wheeled the stretcher carrying Fred’s body past her office. A distraught Emily, Fred’s wife, followed, supported by Al, Fred’s partner in the business. Emily had come in for a lunch date and found Fred face down on his desk. It was too late. Judith sat there, her attention…
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Authority and control exercised by a leader can serve to constrain the team members or provide guidance and direction through what I call strategic leadership. Family business management operates at two levels, operational and strategic. New businesses, still in the “survival” stage function largely in the operations level, living day-to-day, chasing customers and staying ahead…
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At Copper Beech Company, we believe that planning for the future helps create the future you want. We help clients identify goals and we care about the results our clients achieve. Whether the goals are improving financial position, growing the business, transitioning management and ownership. Helping Clarify goals, plan the route and holding the client accountable for achieving the milestones along the way is how we bring value to the engagement.
