Best Lemonade Stand Ever! August 16, 2025 The Jones Family Lemonade Stand One weekend recently my wife and I were leaving to go shopping when we noticed a lemonade stand on the way out of our neighborhood. Whenever kids in our neighborhood have a stand selling things we always try to stop and buy something. We enjoy encouraging entrepreneurship in kids. But this one was different. This was the Jones family lemonade stand and it was the best lemonade stand we’ve ever seen. It was well planned,...
14 days ago • 1 min read
The Leader Mindset August 9, 2025 If you’re a business owner you’ve probably struggled with letting go. We all have at one point or another. We tend to think we are the only ones who can do the important tasks that need to be done in the company. We don’t trust anyone else to do the work so we end up doing everything ourselves. You would think in a company with 10 or 12 employees there would be someone who can handle the bookkeeping. There would be someone who can do the marketing. Someone...
21 days ago • 1 min read
The Bold Tractor Entrepreneurs August 2, 2025 We can always find amazing inspiring stories and lessons by studying the entrepreneurs who were the first to market with their inventions. I’m always fascinated to hear how new inventions were inspired. Take farm tractors. Farm Tractors Benjamin Holt built a steam engine tractor in 1890 (his company later became Caterpillar). It was a great idea destined to revolutionize farming. But his tractor had a problem. It was extremely heavy and had a...
28 days ago • 2 min read
Communities And Business July 26, 2025 Whether we realize it or not, communities are all around us. They have always been here and we have always either actively or passively participated. But why are communities such a big deal for businesses? Because humans are drawn to communities. We want to belong to a group of people who share our interests or our situations. It’s human nature. And people will pay money to belong to a community. Think back to high school. You’re sitting in the cafeteria...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Timing Is... July 19, 2025 Timing Is… How would you finish that statement? Most would say “Timing Is Everything.” After twenty years in real estate, 15 years as a commercial real estate broker and investor, I can confidently say that timing can create millionaires and bankruptcies. Isn’t that reassuring! Where Do You Get It? Timing is crucial in real estate and all business. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to teach. Mostly, timing comes from experience. Some people get it, and some don’t....
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Feedback Builds Real Trust July 12, 2025 This week I thought I would do something a little different. This week's article was written by a guest writer- my wife Ericka. This is an article she published this week in her newsletter Leadership Mastermind. Ericka does leadership coaching and training and provides live workshops for businesses. I hope you enjoy the article! Feedback Builds Real Trust Leadership takes courage. Not just the big, bold, stand-on-a-stage kind. But the quieter, everyday...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
The Story That Life Creates July 5, 2025 In the US this is a very important weekend. Friday was July 4th – Independence Day. It’s also the weekend we chose to move across the state. Again. About a year ago we left the central Texas area to make a temporary move to Abilene. Now that our reason for moving there has ended we are headed back to the Austin area. Back home. This is also the weekend that the weather decided to create one of the area’s worst disasters in decades. And we were moving...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Opportunities In West Texas June 28, 2025 This week I’m writing from west Texas. I’m in the Permian Basin meeting with a friend and real estate investor client to look at properties. Why go to west Texas to look for real estate investments? Opportunity. First, I believe Texas is probably the best state for real estate investing. The tax situation, the political climate, the incredible growth, and the pro-business attitudes all combine to create a an amazing investment atmosphere. This is not...
2 months ago • 3 min read
People Friction June 21, 2025 We recently took a survey of business owners at a business expo in the Dallas area. We asked what the biggest challenges were for their business. The top two answers were: Owner Reliance: The owner did so much of the work that the business could not run without the owner. Read my earlier article on that topic here. People Friction: There was always some kind of problem between the employees, with the employees, or between the employees and the owner, etc. The...
2 months ago • 3 min read