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Fear can paralyze you, and for the business owner or entrepreneur, paralysis is perilous. To overcome the fears that grip you, you need to understand where they come from and how to cope with them.

Ultimately, you can turn many of those fears into positive, motivational, forces that push your business forward.

Want to sleep better at night and take control of your situation?

How is it possible that huge companies with smart, educated managers like Blockbuster, Radio Shack, and Sears can find themselves on the extinct or endangered species lists?

The answer is that their leaders suffer from a handicap we all have at times: Blind spots.

Left untreated, your blind spots can doom you as well. But don’t worry, we have the cure and it starts with reading and understanding this article.

The internet throws life hacks at us every day: How to fold a t-shirt in 10 seconds, how to use an old cassette case for a smartphone holder, and on, and on.

And, closely related to life hacks are the popular business “growth hacks.”

After all, we all want to find the magic key that unlocks the secret to success. Well, we took a deep dive into the world of business growth hacks, and here’s what we found…

Professional services firms face numerous challenges and threats to their growth, including increased competition, commoditization and a shortage of talent. That being said, Hinge Research Institute found that out of all the professional service firms that participated in its study [download page], 30% were considered high growth – and those firms are growing almost 5 times faster than those with average growth.

What are these high-growth firms doing differently than those not performing as well? If their marketing priorities are any indication, it’s that they are putting special emphasis on what?

Courtesy of Marketing Charts

Lowering overhead, attracting and retaining top talent, and boosting your competitive edge might be as simple as embracing remote work.

However, the road to adopting and implementing a remote work strategy must be carefully charted.

Here’s what you need to know to make remote work meet the aspirations of your company and your employees, and navigate the transition smoothly.

Remember The Great Recession? It wreaked havoc on sales throughout the economy, but surprisingly, some sales professionals skated through virtually untouched.

Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson, and their colleagues at CEB label this group of sales reps The Challenger, and Challengers achieve great success in both good times and bad.

In this review of their book – The Challenger Sale. Taking Control of the Customer Conversation – we share their critical insights and suggest the next steps you need to take to enjoy “Challenger” benefits at your company.