About Laurie Taylor, President, FlashPoint! LLC Laurie Taylor is a business growth specialist. Her extensive experience in all aspects of running a $12 million company is brought into play when working with solopreneurs as well as companies with hundreds of employees. In her presentations and programs she shares a well-stocked arsenal of tools. Properly used, these tools are capable of igniting a business, propelling it to profitability, productivity and exceptional performance. Her core belief, that every single person brings value to this world is evident in her enthusiasm in helping business owners succeed. Laurie utilizes her hands-on experiences to share her ideas and concepts on growing a successful business with business owners across the country. Her company, FlashPoint! offers solutions to ignite your business. Laurie focuses on: 1) Speaking to business audiences all over North America on how to predict and manage growth 2) Training other business consultants on a unique model called the 7 Stages of Growth 3) Developing products and services that bring her business knowledge into the offices and homes of business owners all over the world Laurie’s recently developed online program, Destination, Greatness: Your Financial Success System is designed to help small business owners get excited about the financial side of their business. According to Laurie, the concepts and principals in Destination, Greatness are not ‘nice to haves’ they are ‘must haves’ in order for a business to sustain profitability. “My goal with Destination, Greatness is to put the fun into financials and teach business owners how to work smarter not harder.” Laurie thrives on the challenge of new opportunities to educate business owners. “I enjoy giving people the information they need and opening their minds to their true potential.” Laurie works with CEOs and their management teams as well as solopreneurs in all aspects of running a successful business. She pays attention to the details and makes sure other business leaders do the same. When she is not on a speaking tour, Laurie takes advantage of the outdoors, playing golf or riding motorcycles with her husband. Indoors, she never turns down a good read. Visit her online at destination-greatness.com or at igniteyourbiz.com.

3 Mistakes to Avoid When Running Your Own Business

By New CopsAlive.com Contributor Laurie Taylor

Editors Note:
Laurie has been a good friend of CopsAlive.com for many years and in fact we interviewed her in July 2009 about the “5 Critical Concepts You Must Know to Start a Business” and her interview was met with such an outstanding response that we have asked her to become a regular contributor on CopsAlive.com for issues related to the successful operation of a business. Why is that important to me as a police officer you ask? We believe that one way to successfully navigate this very toxic career in law enforcement is to always have a back-up plan. One very effective back-up plan for cops is to start your own business while you are still working and grow it into an successful money maker so that if you ever need to, or want to, retire it will be there to protect you.

If you are a law enforcement professional and are running your own business and you think you need to spend more money on marketing, or to hire a sales person, or to buy the latest and greatness gadget for your business, I have some advice for you. STOP!

As a police officer or other law enforcement officer I know that having a financial back-up plan is important to you and starting or… Continue reading