Blog

Business ideas worth sharing

Accountability, Inspiration, Passion, and Feedback: Learning About Leadership with Chaim Berkovic

By Meny Hoffman // Let's Talk Business, Podcast // 5 min read

Growing up in Williamsburg, Chaim Berkovic learned the importance of having a vision; years later, as the president and founder of Skyscraper Insurance, he was able to actualize that vision, even though the ways to achieve it were sometimes unclear. In this fascinating conversation, Meny asks Chaim about some of the methods he used to create and grow his business, as well as his strategies for being an effective leader. Listen in as they talk about transmitting passion to employees, how to maintain “brutal accountability” while also creating a positive company culture, the role of inspiration in leadership, what can be learned from failure, why feedback is indispensable, and more.

Learn the Magic Words, Become a Sales Master: A Conversation with Phil M. Jones

By Meny Hoffman // Let's Talk Business, Podcast // 5 min read

So many people simply can’t break through and find success in sales; is there any way to help them get better at it? What if there are words, patterns of speech, questions, and phrases that can immediately help anyone become not just adept at sales, but a master? Join Meny as he speaks with Phil M. Jones, author of the bestselling Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact and one of the world’s most accomplished sales coaches, for an enlightening conversation about the magic words that can change your life and quickstart your sales success.

You’ll learn why sales is the art of making a recommendation, and the process you must follow in order to earn the right to make that recommendation; what are some of the most important questions you can ask in order to move the conversation in the direction you want, and to guarantee a positive response; how to stick to your process when your potential buyer keeps interrupting; methods of instilling curiosity in your client; the importance of slowing the sales process down to get fast results; ways that potential leaders can use communication to actualize their leadership potential; and much more.

HR Takeaways That Your Business Needs Today With Izzy Friedman

By Meny Hoffman // Let's Talk Business, Podcast // 5 min read

Unless your business is growing fast, you probably haven’t thought seriously about Human Resources. But Izzy Friedman, an expert in HR and Senior Director of Human Resources for MEDRITE Urgent Care, thinks that you’re making a big mistake – and he’s ready to tell you all about the Human Resources issues you need to consider right away, no matter how big or small your business is. Check out Izzy’s conversation with Meny, which addresses HR issues including processes that will help you avoid liability, the correct and incorrect way to interview a potential hire, the difference between company culture and perks, how to encourage employees to become engaged in the company’s success, what to look for when hiring an employee (and the high cost of making the wrong decision), the right and wrong way to do performance reviews, what makes a good HR department tick, and more.

The Six Essential Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur—with Gino Wickman

By Meny Hoffman // Let's Talk Business, Podcast // 5 min read

Do you want to start an entrepreneurial journey, but you’re doubtful about having the skill set to build a successful business?

In this week’s episode, our guest is Gino Wickman, an entrepreneur since the age of 21 who has had an obsession with learning what makes businesses and entrepreneurs thrive. At 25 he took over the family business, which was deeply in debt and in need of help. After turning the company around and running it for seven years, he and his partners successfully sold the company. Gino then set out to help entrepreneurs and leaders get what they want from their businesses. Based on his years of real-world experience, he created the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a practical method for helping companies achieve greatness. Gino is devoting time and energy toward helping entrepreneurs-in-the-making get a huge jump-start on taking their entrepreneurial leap, which is why he created Entrepreneurial Leap. The mission of Entrepreneurial Leap is to find all of the entrepreneurs-in-the-making, at any age, wherever they are—to help them realize their purpose and live the life they were born to live.

In our interview, Gino discloses how he identified in their family-owned business that systems were needed, which eventually became the EOS system. He also shares how he could identify the real core focus that will drive him to success. He went into detail about the six essential traits of every entrepreneur and what happens if you’re missing any of those traits. Most importantly, he provides us with practical tips on how to actually find a mentor and touches on why being patient, but still taking action is key for an entrepreneur. If you think you’re an entrepreneur in the making, this episode is definitely for you!

The Leadership Principles that Make Amazon Unique with Chaim Landau – Part II

By Meny Hoffman // Let's Talk Business, Podcast // 5 min read

How can you implement Amazon’s leadership principles so that your business can become more efficient, more effective, more profitable, and more enjoyable? Chaim Landau, Principal Cloud Delivery Architect at Amazon Web Services in Tel Aviv, has become an expert in these principles – and in this episode of Let’s Talk Business, he shares some of them, along with practical examples of how you can make them work for you. Join Meny and Chaim as they discuss how to make meetings more efficient, the real meaning of frugality, the importance of taking additional risks (even if you might lose big), the difference between one-way-door decisions and two-way-door decisions, what customer obsession means and what it doesn’t mean, why you need to have a mentor as well as why you should be a mentor, the place of personal development outside the office, and more.

The Secret Genius of Amazon with Chaim Landau – Part I

By Meny Hoffman // Let's Talk Business, Podcast // 5 min read

Amazon is a behemoth that dominates the world, yet in some ways, it runs like a startup company. How did founder Jeff Bezos manage to pull that off, while allowing it to continue to grow ever bigger? Join Meny and his guest Chaim Landau, Principal Cloud Delivery Architect at Amazon Web Services in Tel Aviv, as they talk about the reasons that Amazon has been so successful, their insightful and helpful leadership principles, the importance of noticing and grabbing the opportunities that life offers you, the actual meaning of company culture (and why it matters), the way to start working in I.T., and more.

Bootstrapping, Delegating and Leadership with David Pilchik

By Meny Hoffman // Let's Talk Business, Podcast // 5 min read

A business owner in this day and age should be someone who’s accessible to the team, empathetic to the employees’ struggles, and a catalyst to their personal and professional growth.

This week our guest is David Pilchick, the founder and owner of Brooklyn Low Voltage Supply. He drops by to talk about the most important qualities of a modern-day leader. He also discusses his journey to becoming a successful business owner, years after dropping out of high school.

In our interview, we discuss the leadership skills that are difficult to master, yet absolutely crucial, and how exactly anyone can attain them. Leadership in any industry can be an intimidating field, however, if we can tap into our unique selves, gain confidence, and overcome certain fears, anything is possible. Tune in now and learn how to be a modern-day business owner from David.

Confronting the Conflict Between Creativity and Business with Jeff Akerman

By Meny Hoffman // Let's Talk Business, Podcast // 5 min read

Jeff Akerman is a visionary, creative force, architect, and designer – and as the founder of RISE Architecture and numerous other design firms, he knows as well as anyone the conflict between the creative and business sides of a company. In this episode of Let’s Talk Business, Meny, and Jeff dig deeply into the question of how to bridge the inevitable gap between the number crunchers and the creative dreamers. They discuss the importance of giving your employees room to do things for themselves even as they work within your creative vision, the most important factors to consider when choosing a partner, how to engender loyalty among your staff, the benefits of profit sharing (and, perhaps even more, giving your workers a piece of the company), the ways that business and improving the world can go hand-in-hand, and much more.