Sales is one of the most daunting aspects of entrepreneurship. It’s also one of the most important for your business.

Host Mary McCarthy talks to guest Amy Franko about how to overcome the fear of selling. Amy Franko is a speaker, corporate trainer, and the author of The Modern Seller: Sell More And Increase Your Impact In The New Sales Economy.

Mary and Amy talk about how push past your notions of selling, and focus on the value you bring.

“It is a mindset shift, to be selling yourself, selling your product, your service, whatever that happens to be. And I will say to this day, that I still have those moments where I have to kinda work myself through it and realize that selling myself, selling my expertise, that has value.” ~ Amy Franko

What You Will Learn In This Episode:

• How you should be thinking about sales
• Discussion on Sales Trends Amy sees now with her clients
• How you can be a fantastic ambassador for your clients and your company
• How to overcome the fear of “asking”

LISTEN NOW: 

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox

Thank you to our podcast sponsor Liberty National Bank Expect the Best®

Liberty National Bank has six locations to help you: Ada, Bellefontaine, Bellefontaine South, Kenton, Marysville, Westerville

shot-2018-02-04-at-3-02-30-pm.png?w=1024&h=511" alt="Logo for Liberty National Bank">

About our Guest Amy Franko

• Keynote Speaking/Author/Corporate Training
• Author, The Modern Seller: Sell More And Increase Your Impact In The New Sales Economy
• Contact Amy Franko

About our Host Mary McCarthy

• Host, The Successful Micropreneur Podcast
• CEO, YMT Consultants
• Co-Founder of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator, Inc.

Mary McCarthy is the President of YMT Consultants, an entrepreneurial consulting and training firm in the Columbus, Ohio area. It focuses on one-on-one work with microbusiness owners (businesses with 20 or fewer employees, including the solopreneur), assisting them to monetize and create systems for their small businesses.

Subscribe to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox 

Conflict at work may be unavoidable, but a leader can change the way he or she resolves the situation.

In this 15-minute episode, Co-Host Sharon DeLay of hr.biz/">GO-HR takes the mic to lead the discussion about productive conflict in the workplace. She’s joined by Host Mary McCarthy of YMT Consultants.

Sharon and Mary talk about conflicts early on in their working relationship when they were figuring out how to work together, adapting to the other’s different personalities, and their different approaches to working on things. Communication effectively and understanding how the other person communicates is key.

“If you don’t understand how the other person… where they are coming from, and it’s not just their cultural values or beliefs, but it’s also just their communication style. Maybe how they respond in very stressful situations. And I think you have to understand that and you have to adjust your way of approaching things, and hearing things in order for it to go from a potentially destructive situation to a productive situation.” ~ Sharon DeLay

What You Will Learn In This Episode:

• A better understanding of productive conflict and its role in the workplace
• The difference between conflict resolution and productive conflict
• The benefits of “owning” your part in a conflict

LISTEN NOW: 

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox

Join the discussion in our #MicrobizUS Twitter Chat Wednesday, December 5th at 2pm on Productive Conflict In The Workplace. Follow along on our Twitter page @microbizpodcast or follow the hashtag #MicrobizUS

twitter-microbizus-wednesday-2pm-productive-conflict.png?w=1024&h=513" alt="Graphic for #MicrobizUS Twitter Chat WEDNESDAY 2PM - Productive conflict">

Thank you to our podcast sponsor Liberty National Bank Expect the Best®

Liberty National Bank has six locations to help you: Ada, Bellefontaine, Bellefontaine South, Kenton, Marysville, Westerville

shot-2018-02-04-at-3-02-30-pm.png?w=1024&h=511" alt="Logo for Liberty National Bank">

About our Co-Host Sharon DeLay

• hr.biz/">GO-HR
• 4889 Sinclair Road, Suite 103
• Columbus, Ohio 43229
• (614) 473-0122
• sharon.delay@go-hr.biz">sharon.delay@go-hr.biz

Sharon DeLay is the Founder and President of hr.biz/">GO-HR, a full-service HR consulting business in Columbus. It works mainly with microbusinesses, doing everything from hiring to firing employees, and all Human Resource Management services that fall in between. You can’t “Go” without HR.

About our Host Mary McCarthy

• Host, The Successful Micropreneur Podcast
• CEO, YMT Consultants
• Co-Founder of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator, Inc.

Mary McCarthy is the President of YMT Consultants, an entrepreneurial consulting and training firm in the Columbus, Ohio area. It focuses on one-on-one work with microbusiness owners (businesses with 20 or fewer employees, including the solopreneur), assisting them to monetize and create systems for their small businesses.

Subscribe to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox 

How much sleep do you get at night? Have you noticed how it affects you in your business?

Small business owners literally can’t afford to have an “off” day. If you are in a larger corporation and there are days where you don’t sleep as well, other people can pick up the slack. But what about if you’re in a small business, where so much relies on you?

Host Mary McCarthy of YMT Consultants and Co-Host Sharon DeLay of hr.biz/">GO-HR discuss the findings of an Inc Magazine’s article about lack-of-sleep-makes-you-a-lousy-leader.html">sleep and leadership, including how sleep influences you in terms of:

• Charisma
• Management Decisions
• Ethics

They also discuss Elon Musk and his notorious 120-hour work week.

“I wouldn’t want somebody to work 120 hours a week, because I actually don’t think that they are productive in the long run, if you are working a lot of hours. I believe in working smart and being efficient, but you have to take your time away in order to rest and kind of regroup, because I think you are more creative and more productive in the long run.” ~ Mary McCarthy

LISTEN NOW: 

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox

Related Article: lack-of-sleep-makes-you-a-lousy-leader.html">Why Sleep Deprivation Is Worse For You — And Your Business — Than You Think

Thank you to podcast sponsor Pathways Financial Credit Union. They offer business loans with a competitive interest rate and flexible terms. They have locations in Columbus, Delaware, and Marysville, Ohio.

About our Co-Host Sharon DeLay

• hr.biz/">GO-HR
• 4889 Sinclair Road, Suite 103
• Columbus, Ohio 43229
• (614) 473-0122
• sharon.delay@go-hr.biz">sharon.delay@go-hr.biz

Sharon DeLay is the Founder and President of hr.biz/">GO-HR, a full-service HR consulting business in Columbus. It works mainly with microbusinesses, doing everything from hiring to firing employees, and all Human Resource Management services that fall in between. You can’t “Go” without HR.

About our Host Mary McCarthy

• Host, The Successful Micropreneur Podcast
• CEO, YMT Consultants
• Co-Founder of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator, Inc.

Mary McCarthy is the President of YMT Consultants, an entrepreneurial consulting and training firm in the Columbus, Ohio area. It focuses on one-on-one work with microbusiness owners (businesses with 20 or fewer employees, including the solopreneur), assisting them to monetize and create systems for their small businesses.

Subscribe to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox 

Are you incredible? If you are good at what you do, why don’t you tell people about it?

“We have this bias that we shouldn’t: A) Be proud of ourselves and B) We shouldn’t talk about it. So, it makes me very sad.” ~ Peggy Klaus

Host Mary McCarthy talks to best-selling author, communication and leadership coach Peggy Klaus about the right way to brag about yourself and your business. Klaus is the author of “Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It” She says women in particular have the biggest fear of being terrible braggers.

In this week’s podcast, you’ll learn the behaviors of a bad bragger and how to avoid them, plus the three methods that work without sounding obnoxious.

Mary McCarthy: “Then it’s not so much about bragging, it’s about sharing what you’ve done for somebody else.”

Peggy Klaus: “It’s a great way to brag about yourself in a truly lovely framework.”

LISTEN NOW: 

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox

Thank you to podcast sponsor Pathways Financial Credit Union. They offer business loans with a competitive interest rate and flexible terms. They have locations in Columbus, Delaware, and Marysville, Ohio.

Related Podcast:

About our guest Peggy Klaus

• Best-Selling Author, “Brag! The Art Of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It“
• President, Klaus and Associates
• Contact Peggy

About our Host Mary McCarthy

• Host, The Successful Micropreneur Podcast
• CEO, YMT Consultants
• Co-Founder of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator, Inc.

Mary McCarthy is the President of YMT Consultants, an entrepreneurial consulting and training firm in the Columbus, Ohio area. It focuses on one-on-one work with microbusiness owners (businesses with 20 or fewer employees, including the solopreneur), assisting them to monetize and create systems for their small businesses.

Subscribe to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox 

Imagine eating at a quick-service restaurant chain that treats its chefs like entrepreneurs: Giving each chef control of the restaurant menu, operations, and culture. That’s what you’ll find at Tender Greens, a restaurant chain that is disrupting the food industry, not only with the way it does business, but also the upscale food that it serves.

Host Mary McCarthy and Co-host Sharon DeLay talk to Erik Oberholtzer, the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at Tender Greens, now with 27 locations in California, Massachusetts, and New York.

Tender Greens says it’s starting a “food revolution.” Oberholtzer talks about the company’s unique structure with its chefs, how it’s gone cashless in restaurants, and the innovative approach the chain takes to working with the farmers who grow their ingredients.

“We are an industry that is formed around relationships. Relationships with our guests, relationships with our team and really important relationships with our farmers and artisans. And we form personal… lifelong friendships with a lot of these farmers. And in many ways, a handshake is more powerful than a contract.” ~ Erik Oberholtzer

LISTEN NOW: 

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox

Thank you to podcast sponsor Pathways Financial Credit Union. They offer business loans with a competitive interest rate and flexible terms. They have locations in Columbus, Delaware, and Marysville, Ohio.

Related Podcast:

About our guest Erik Oberholtzer

• Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at Tender Greens
• Locations in California, Massachusetts, New York
• Champion for the Food Forever organization, promoting food sustainability

About our Co-Host Sharon DeLay

• hr.biz/">GO-HR
• 4889 Sinclair Road, Suite 103
• Columbus, Ohio 43229
• (614) 473-0122
• sharon.delay@go-hr.biz">sharon.delay@go-hr.biz

Sharon DeLay is the Founder and President of hr.biz/">GO-HR, a full-service HR consulting business in Columbus. It works mainly with microbusinesses, doing everything from hiring to firing employees, and all Human Resource Management services that fall in between. You can’t “Go” without HR.

About our Host Mary McCarthy

• Host, The Successful Micropreneur Podcast
• CEO, YMT Consultants
• Co-Founder of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator, Inc.

Mary McCarthy is the President of YMT Consultants, an entrepreneurial consulting and training firm in the Columbus, Ohio area. It focuses on one-on-one work with microbusiness owners (businesses with 20 or fewer employees, including the solopreneur), assisting them to monetize and create systems for their small businesses.

Subscribe to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox 

It’s hard to admit that you don’t always have the answers. But should you really know everything in your business?

This week, Host and Microbusiness Consultant Mary McCarthy and Co-Host Sharon DeLay discuss how entrepreneurs can benefit from finding and opening up to a good mentor.

 ‘Shouldn’t I be an expert and have everything figured out?’

“Because I’m a business consultant, because my role is to help others work through their issues, and their challenges, and move ahead, I find that for people to trust me, I have to really present myself as the expert, which means that I know what I’m doing. So if I have issues and struggling, I don’t tend to share very often.” ~ Mary McCarthy

“We get our set answers down to deflect people so we can continue on our path, continue in our loneliness.. and I think we just get those pat answers down to get people away from us, so we can continue moving on, because if we stop and reflect sometimes, it’s extremely uncomfortable.” ~ Sharon DeLay

What You Will Learn In This Episode:

• The two types of mentors
• How imposter syndrome affects what we share with others
• Mary and Sharon’s experiences with mentors and what she is looking for now
• Steps for a successful mentorship

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox

Thank you to The Successful Micropreneur podcast sponsor Liberty National Bank Expect the Best®

Liberty National Bank has six locations to help you: Ada, Bellefontaine, Bellefontaine South, Kenton, Marysville, Westerville

shot-2018-02-04-at-3-02-30-pm.png?w=300&h=150" alt="Logo for Liberty National Bank" width="300" height="150">

Join this week’s #MicrobizUS Twitter Chat Wednesday, October 3rd at 2pm EST on this topic!

About our Co-Host Sharon DeLay

• hr.biz/">GO-HR
• 4889 Sinclair Road, Suite 103
• Columbus, Ohio 43229
• (614) 473-0122
• sharon.delay@go-hr.biz">sharon.delay@go-hr.biz

Sharon DeLay is the Founder and President of hr.biz/">GO-HR, a full-service HR consulting business in Columbus. It works mainly with microbusinesses, doing everything from hiring to firing employees, and all Human Resource Management services that fall in between. You can’t “Go” without HR.

About our Host Mary McCarthy

• Host, The Successful Micropreneur Podcast
• CEO, YMT Consultants
• Co-Founder of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator, Inc.

Mary McCarthy is the President of YMT Consultants, an entrepreneurial consulting and training firm in the Columbus, Ohio area. It focuses on one-on-one work with microbusiness owners (businesses with 20 or fewer employees, including the solopreneur), assisting them to monetize and create systems for their small businesses.

Subscribe to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox

How often do you step out of the day-to-day of your small business and take a deeper look at the challenges you are facing?

Join us as host Mary McCarthy talks to Christian Billman, Senior Incubation Manager for Business Strategy with Alliance Data about Innovation and how Alliance Data takes the concept for a new product or service from the idea phase to launch. In his role, Christian works with many startup businesses and sees many small and micro businesses as great disruptors in the marketplace.

“And we just talk about what is keeping you awake at night. What are the things that, man, if there was a challenge you could fix, what would that be… It’s really stepping out of the day-to-day, stepping out of the way that you are focused on delivering to your customer and just saying, what are other things that we could be doing to making things work better for you?” ~ Christian Billman

What You Will Learn:

• The differences between Innovation and Incubation
• The advantage small businesses have over bigger businesses to learn from their customers
• The steps to take before adding a new product or service to your business

LISTEN NOW: 

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox

Thank you to The Successful Micropreneur podcast sponsor Liberty National Bank Expect the Best®

Liberty National Bank has six locations to help you: Ada, Bellefontaine, Bellefontaine South, Kenton, Marysville, Westerville

shot-2018-02-04-at-3-02-30-pm.png?w=300&h=150" alt="Logo for Liberty National Bank" width="300" height="150">

About our Guest Christian Billman:

• Senior Incubation Manager for Business Strategy
• Alliance Data
• Contact Alliance Data: (214) 494-3000

About our Host Mary McCarthy

• Host, The Successful Micropreneur Podcast
• CEO, YMT Consultants
• Co-Founder of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator, Inc.

Mary McCarthy is the President of YMT Consultants, an entrepreneurial consulting and training firm in the Columbus, Ohio area. It focuses on one-on-one work with microbusiness owners (businesses with 20 or fewer employees, including the solopreneur), assisting them to monetize and create systems for their small businesses.

Subscribe to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox 

Chances are, you’ve noticed that higher education isn’t as “simple” as it used to be. Tuition costs have skyrocketed, and it’s no longer a “guarantee” that students will graduate in four years, or that they’ll actually get a job with the degree they chose.

This week, Host Mary McCarthy talks to Beth Probst, an entrepreneur who has developed a service to help solve that problem. Beth is the Founder and Owner of At The Core, a business that helps high school students uncover what they should do next for their future. It helps them explore different careers that could be a good fit for them, helping them identify their strengths and interests, before spending money on college.

“I think on some level, we know things are different, we know things have changed, we know college costs a lot more. We remember our own experiences as we made our way through high school to what came next. And we look at our children and a lot of times, I think on some level, we expect them to put their head down through high school, do what it is that they’re supposed to do, and magically lift their head up, and tell us, I would like to do this for a living and I would like to study this… but it does not work that way.” ~ Beth Probst

Find out how At The Core determines a student is best suited for, a list of potential careers, and tips on how you can help teenagers make good decisions for their future in our 15-minute podcast.

LISTEN NOW: 

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox

Thank you to The Successful Micropreneur podcast sponsor Liberty National Bank Expect the Best®

Liberty National Bank has six locations to help you: Ada, Bellefontaine, Bellefontaine South, Kenton, Marysville, Westerville

shot-2018-02-04-at-3-02-30-pm.png?w=300&h=150" alt="Logo for Liberty National Bank" width="300" height="150">

About our Guest Beth Probst:

• Founder and Owner, At The Core
• Contact At The Core
• 614-404-0646

About our Host Mary McCarthy

• Host, The Successful Micropreneur Podcast
• CEO, YMT Consultants
• Co-Founder of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator, Inc.

Mary McCarthy is the President of YMT Consultants, an entrepreneurial consulting and training firm in the Columbus, Ohio area. It focuses on one-on-one work with microbusiness owners (businesses with 20 or fewer employees, including the solopreneur), assisting them to monetize and create systems for their small businesses.

Subscribe to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox 

Are you working in a corporate career, but dreaming about owning your own business? Purchasing a franchise may be the right option for you.

This week, Host Mary McCarthy talks to Leslie Kuban, an Atlanta-area franchise consultant with FranNet. Leslie describes FranNet as a franchise matchmaker that helps people make the jump from employee to first-time business owner.

“We are a matchmaking service for people who usually have never owned their own business before. They’ve been working in a corporate career. They’d love to have independence, more control, more flexibility in their own business, but they don’t have their own entrepreneurial idea so to speak, and they are not in a spot usually to take a big risk.” ~ Leslie Kuban

Leslie talks about why more women are entering into franchising, how entrepreneurs can minimize their risk, and maximize their chances for success with operating a franchise.

LISTEN NOW: 

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox

Episode Bookmarks:

:57 What is FranNET?

2:00 Leslie talks about her history working in several different franchises

3:32 Talks about joining FranNet and the process they use to help entrepreneurs

4:17 Some people don’t consider franchises to be small businesses, but they are.

5:24 Why the number of women is growing as franchise owners

7:25 Who makes a great franchisee?

9:00 How innovation plays a part in franchises

10:00 What are some of the top franchises?

11:16 What is a Semi-Passive Investment?

12:33 How much of an investment is a franchise?

13:00 One last piece of advice from Leslie… don’t rush yourself.

Thank you to The Successful Micropreneur podcast sponsor Liberty National Bank Expect the Best®

Liberty National Bank has six locations to help you: Ada, Bellefontaine, Bellefontaine South, Kenton, Marysville, Westerville

shot-2018-02-04-at-3-02-30-pm.png?w=300&h=150" alt="Logo for Liberty National Bank" width="300" height="150">

About our Guest Leslie Kuban:

• FranNET, Atlanta Franchise Consultant – Atlanta Franchise Experts
• atlanta@frannet.com
• 770-579-3726

About our Host Mary McCarthy

• Host, The Successful Micropreneur Podcast
• CEO, YMT Consultants
• Co-Founder of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator, Inc.

Mary McCarthy is the President of YMT Consultants, an entrepreneurial consulting and training firm in the Columbus, Ohio area. It focuses on one-on-one work with microbusiness owners (businesses with 20 or fewer employees, including the solopreneur), assisting them to monetize and create systems for their small businesses.

Subscribe to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox 

Are these dirty words holding you back in your business?

This week, Host and Microbusiness Consultant Mary McCarthy and Co-Host Sharon DeLay of GO-HR talk about the Top 5 Dirty Words for Microbusiness Owners:

• Profit
• Sales
• Brag
• Credit
• Debt

The word Mary thinks is the worst is “brag.” Sharon chose “sales” as the word she thinks small business owners fear and hate the most. They are words that entrepreneurs need to get over, to get ahead in their business.

“Call it business development if sales is not the word for you. But what you are doing, is you’re bringing business in the door… Call it courting clients. Whatever works for you. It is a tough word, it does have a lot of negativity surrounding it, but it’s a necessary part of your business.” ~ Sharon DeLay

“It’s easier to sell somebody else than sell yourself. You are wanting to get people to say yes to you, to like you, to want you. It’s not about you, it’s about your product or service.” ~ Mary McCarthy

LISTEN NOW: 

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox

Episode Bookmarks:

:44 Sharon talks about GO-HR, full-service, outsourced HR for small businesses

1:15 Mary and Sharon list the Top 5 dirty words for microbusiness owners

1:57 Sales – why entrepreneurs struggle with it and how to get over it and do it well

3:37 Brag – Mary talks about why it’s her favorite dirty word and the power of talking about what you and your business does best

6:56 – Profit – The stigma of “for profit” businesses versus “non profit” businesses. Why do people think a not for profit business is more helpful to people?

8:43 Credit – Why people see it unfavorably, knowing your credit score and why a loan may be necessary for business growth

10:21 – Bad Credit and Debt

11:26 – Talk to an account and business consultant to see what’s right for you

11:53 – Final thoughts on the Top 5 Dirty Words and why they really are positive for entrepreneurs

Non-profit organization mentioned in the podcast: Women’s Small Business Accelerator (WSBA)

Join this week’s #MicrobizUS Twitter Chat Wednesday, September 5th at 2pm EST on Top 5 Dirty Words For Microbusiness Owners

Related Podcast: Biggest Challenges Facing Microbusiness

About our Co-Host Sharon DeLay

• hr.biz/">GO-HR
• 4889 Sinclair Road, Suite 103
• Columbus, Ohio 43229
• (614) 473-0122
• sharon.delay@go-hr.biz">sharon.delay@go-hr.biz

Sharon DeLay is the Founder and President of hr.biz/">GO-HR, a full-service HR consulting business in Columbus. It works mainly with microbusinesses, doing everything from hiring to firing employees, and all Human Resource Management services that fall in between. You can’t “Go” without HR.

About our Host Mary McCarthy

• Host, The Successful Micropreneur Podcast
• CEO, YMT Consultants
• Co-Founder of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator, Inc.

Mary McCarthy is the President of YMT Consultants, an entrepreneurial consulting and training firm in the Columbus, Ohio area. It focuses on one-on-one work with microbusiness owners (businesses with 20 or fewer employees, including the solopreneur), assisting them to monetize and create systems for their small businesses.

Subscribe to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Overcast FM | Castbox