Maria Palma at P2P wrote a few words on an article she found that talked about the ideal relationships that physicians have towards their patients.  She found particular value in Step 3, which emphasizes the importance of "Continuous, longitudinal, person-centered care."  Here's how she applies it to businesses:  

Many of us are focused on the one-time sale and once that sale is done, that's it. What I've learned in my experience is that nurturing relationships and thinking about the person and how you can be of service versus how much you can sell to them will get you far in business.

Here at AGi, we were drawn to the 5th and 7th Steps, which emphasized the importance of credibility and trust as well as the practices behind true cost effectiveness.  Effective communication, collaborative goal-setting & cost transparency are all concrete values that we think about daily in our relations with partners, government agencies and the public.

Related articles

• Why Transparency Is Your Biggest Untapped Competitive Advantage (fastcompany.com)
• Transparency = Competitive Advantage (protopartners.com.au)

A little late for today, but AGi has learned via BlackEnterprise that the SBA is launching an Affordable Care Act 101 Weekly Webinar Series, starting today at noon.  This free series will focus on both federal and state provisions to help small business owners understand how the law will affect them.

The Affordable Care Act 101 will take place every Thursday from now through the opening of the marketplaces in October. Below are the registration links for the next four presentations.  Registration for later webinars will be available shortly.

• Thursday, July 25 at 12:00 PM ET: Click to Register
• Thursday, August 1 at 2:00 PM ET: Click to Register
• Thursday, August 8 at 2:00 PM ET: Click to Register
• Thursday, August 15 at 2:00 PM ET: Click to Register

Related articles

• Obamacare Answers a Few Clicks Away (entrepreneur.com)
• Free Webinars Help Small Business Owners Make Sense of Obamacare (smallbizdaily.com)
• Small business and the affordable care act employer mandate delay (virginiabusiness.com)

The 10th Annual National Convention of Service Disabled Veteran and Small Businesses occurs this year in San Diego from August 21-23.  Their agenda is here and information on attending is here.

One breakout session in particular looks great: Teaming/Joint Venture – Key Rules & Practical Tips by Michelle Kantor, Esq., McDonald Hopkins, LLC.

AGi enjoyed a recent post at Intuit's Small Business Blog that provided some tips for working with business clients in other countries.  Many of the tips are also applicable to to business in new markets or different parts of the country you're in.  Our favorite:

Find a local contact. American expats are everywhere, and many of them are entrepreneurs. Why not find one who can give you a bicultural perspective on the place? Melinda Emerson, author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months, tells Wells Fargo’s Tegan Jones, “Anybody that’s going to do business in a foreign country should really consider employing individuals who are from that country who can give specialized insight and knowledge and make sure that things go smoothly.”

As part of their "Moving Forward" series, which offers advice to small business owners on technology, mentorship, productivity, and growth, Business Insider posted an article on small business and technology where a number of small business owners shared anecdotes of the ways that technology had impacted their work. They suggested that, "For the 23 million small businesses in America, technology is key to leveling the playing field with big corporations."

In their comments section, commenter TE had this poignant thought:

It could also be that technology disadvantages small business. Which is why small business has been suffering. Technology enables economies of scale - which is the forte of big business.

Small business may not want the playing field leveled. They may only thrive because of the bumps in the field that they can hide in. Same thing with US employees who don't need the competition with someone overseas who has a cost of living 1/10 as much and can take take lower wages.

Bottom line - technology enables efficiency. Efficiency gets more so with bigness or economies of scale. Hyper efficiency leads to inequality. That is what is really happening out there.

Like most things, the truth is likely somewhere in the middle, but something about both perspectives resonated with both us here at AGi.  We'd love to hear the thoughts of our readers if you'd like to share them.

Related articles

• 25 Apps Small Businesses Need to Succeed (rasmussen.edu)
• Are you using the right technology for your small business? (hiscoxusa.com)
• How Can The Cloud Level The Playing Field For Small Businesses? (business2community.com)
• Top Woman Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter (grasshopper.com)
• How Technology Actually Saved A Paper-Based Small Business (businessinsider.com)