Feature Article: Invest in Your Number One Asset

Business Owner in the Spotlight
Mark Berkowitz
Empower Consulting

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After celebrating Christmas with our children and grandchildren early this year, we enjoyed a peaceful day together on the 25th. Sitting together, watching the snow fall (it was truly a white Christmas) and talking about all that we’re grateful for in 200—very special!

We loved spending time over the holiday season visiting and catching up with friends we see all too rarely.

When one of our Alumni Board members and a dear friend unexpectedly passed away last week, it brought home to us the preciousness of life. We should cherish each moment and take nothing for granted. It reminded us again to treasure friendships and to let others know how much they mean to us, tell them what we appreciate about them. We think we know what is important in life, until something like this happens and it makes us re-evaluate our priorities.

New Year is a time to review and learn from last year’s successes and challenges, a time for new beginnings, to set new goals, and perhaps realign how we live life.

We wish you a year that’s healthy, happy and prosperous in every way!

Dave and Victoria

Mark Berkowitz
Empower Consulting

Mark Berkowitz was a clinical psychologist for 25 years before starting his business, Empower Consulting. “I’ve worked in a variety of settings that were both fascinating and challenging,” he says. “I shifted my focus to work with businesses ten years ago.”

Empower Consulting helps companies hire and develop great leaders. “Hiring the right person extends far beyond the specific skill set required to perform a job,” Mark says. “We work with business owners to identify the best candidate fit for the job and company culture. Many owners appreciate that maximizing their own leadership skills is critical to raising the performance level of all employees, and we provide guidance to help them achieve their leadership potential.”

Q: What do you find most fulfilling about running your business?
MB: I love working with motivated individuals in diverse industries who also teach me about different business environments and challenges. I find playing an important role in helping managers and owners create great teams while becoming more effective leaders to be very exciting and rewarding..

Q: What motivated you to start this business?
MB: As a psychologist, I worked with individuals struggling with a wide variety of internal and interpersonal psychological issues. These issues are universal and also create obstacles to successfully growing a business. I grew up in a family business and always struggled with a desire to create my business. I feel very fortunate that I have been able to utilize my psychology background to create a business that helps people successfully grow their businesses. It is an ideal match for me. I love to utilize creativity and humor to get through to people, and working in a business environment allows me a bit more freedom than a traditional private practice model sometimes allows.

Q: What book has been most helpful to you in your business?
MB: There are too many books to single out just one. However, one book that speaks to a topic close to home for me is Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. Learning to utilize yourself as a tool to pick up on subtle cues to address issues and make decisions is, in my opinion, the greatest asset of any leader. Most of the “real work” happens just below the surface, and he does a nice job illustrating this principle through a variety of examples.

Q: Who has influenced you most in your life?
MB: I feel we are all the result of everyone we come in contact with so I can’t really identify one individual. I do come from a close-knit family who is not afraid to speak up, and I have learned many valuable, sometimes difficult, lessons from them.

Q: What has proved to be your most successful marketing strategy?
MB: For me, it’s mostly about personal contact and word of mouth. I stay involved to some degree with virtually every company I work with, and I am grateful for the opportunity to develop both new and long term relationships.

Q: What have been the greatest challenges you have had to overcome, or are currently facing, in your business?
MB: Most business owners don’t appreciate that the cost of hiring the wrong employee is anywhere from 30 to 300 percent of that employee’s yearly salary. Helping them view me as an investment rather than a cost is often my biggest challenge.

Q: How did you benefit/are you benefiting from participating in a Make-it-Fly® program?
MB: The culture of Make-it-Fly® is genuinely one of unselfish giving. The energy of the leaders and members is contagious, and it’s extremely rewarding to do business with friends who are excited about introducing you to others who can benefit from your services and vice versa. Make-it-Fly® is not just a business group, it really is a lifestyle.

Q: What would you say to other business owners who are contemplating getting involved in a Make-it-Fly® program?
MB: It is much more than you can imagine it will be, so get involved and reap the benefits. It will be life changing in ways you can’t imagine. I owe much of the growth of my business to the relationships I have developed through Make-it-Fly®.

Mark Berkowitz can be reached by phone at: 720-489-7247, or visit his web site at: www.empowerleaders.com.

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Invest in Your Number One Asset
By Victoria Munro

Entrepreneurs are famous for working long hours, often sacrificing time with family or time to take care of themselves. The thrill of getting a dream business off the ground and growing it into a profitable enterprise can be addictive. But in the process, small business owners often fail to take good care of the business’s number one asset: themselves.

A healthy, rested, energetic you will accomplish more in less time. If you’re in top shape, you’ll be better able to take care of your clients and your business. So resolve this year to take excellent care of you—your business’s most valuable resource. What you invest in yourself will yield a great return.

Ten Easy Self Care Tips:

In addition, find ways to inject fun and laughter into everyday life.

Resolve to invest wisely in your number one asset this year, take good care of yourself, and you’ll be well rewarded with an excellent return.

Click here for the printable version.

Click here to give us your feedback and ideas. Answering and discussing the above questions works well for us. What kind of planning have you found helpful? We’ll share your ideas with our readers.

Click here to read more articles like this one.

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The Make-it-Fly® Advisory Board 101

Each Make-it-Fly® Advisory Board 101 program consists of 12 non-competing business owners who meet once a month for three consecutive months. In the spirit of giving, they offer each other solutions, ideas, resources and encouragement. Dave and Victoria facilitate each group and share powerful tools to assist business owners in reaching their goals and living more balanced lives.

If you have experienced a Make-it-Fly® program, please share the following openings with other business owners who need support. Call Dave for more information at 720-962-8888.

Programs are held from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Current program openings in Denver:

• Fridays - January 4, February 1, March 7, 2008 (Full)
• Thursdays - January 31, February 28, March 27, 2008 Apply now
• Mondays - March 3, April 7, May 5, 2008

Click here to sign up for Advisory Boards.
Or call Dave at 720-962-8888.

Alumni Boards are groups of 12-14 small business owners who have participated in at least one Make-it-Fly® Advisory Board 101 and wish to continue the support and accountability with a group of like-minded, giving business associates. Members meet once a month for a three-hour meeting. If you completed the initial Make-it-Fly® Advisory Board 101 and are interested in more information on Alumni Boards, call Dave at 720-962-8888.

Make-it-Fly® Café
High altitude networking, where exceptional people help each other.

Next Café is scheduled for

Date: Thursday, February 28, 2008

Time: 4:30 to 7 p.m.

Location: Maloney's Tavern, 1432 Market Street, Denver.
Click here for details and special parking arrangements.

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Contact Make-it-Fly® - Dave and Victoria:

email: info@make-it-fly.com
voice: 720-962-8888
web: www.Make-it-Fly.com

Reprint Permission:
Please email or call Victoria if you'd like to reprint any information contained in this newsletter. Thanks! © Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

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Make-it-Fly® LLC
720-962-8888
355 South Teller Street, Suite 200, Lakewood, CO 80235, USA
http://www.make-it-fly.com