The Ten Clauses That Cost Small Businesses the Most
A working checklist of the contract clauses most likely to silently transfer risk from the larger party to the smaller party - and what to do about each.
Coming soon - excerpt from Chapter 10.
Field Notes
Insights for operators.
Working chapter excerpts, scripts, checklists, and operator-facing essays. Updated as the book moves toward release.
Featured insights
The Six Hidden Levers of the Smaller Operator
Speed, access, specialization, switching costs, optionality, relationship capital - the six sources of leverage that are actually available to small business operators at the table.
Coming soon - excerpt from Chapter 2.
Three Scripts for the Opening Move
What to say when a long contract you have not seen lands in your inbox, when a supplier announces a price increase, and when an employee brings you an outside offer.
Coming soon - excerpt from Chapter 1.
Why "Getting to Yes" Wasn't Written for You
The Harvard tradition, the tactical tradition, and the entrepreneurial tradition each leave the owner-operator behind. A short essay on why small business negotiation is its own discipline.
Coming soon.
The One-Page Pre-Negotiation Worksheet
A printable tool to prepare for any negotiation in under thirty minutes: your perspective, their perspective, the joint problem, BATNA, ZOPA, reservation point, and triage.
Coming soon - tool from Chapter 4.
The Lansdale HVAC Contract
How a twenty-two-person trade contractor read, redlined, and re-negotiated a forty-seven-page master service agreement with a regional hospital system - and what the operator changed about how he runs the business afterward.
Coming soon - case from Chapter 1.
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