“You are never strong enough that you don’t need help.” – Cesar Chavez We work almost exclusively with small- to mid-size businesses. One of the things I consistently see leaders in those businesses struggle with isn’t innovation or efficiency or sales. It’s isolation. It’s the fact that in terms of leadership they’re on an island. … Read more
“If you learn something from defeat it isn’t a loss.” – Unknown There are a hundred things that impact whether or not your organization is successful. Some of them – change, innovation, people – get a lot of attention, and rightly so. Some of them get less attention, but that doesn’t mean they don’t matter. … Read more
“It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky Most people who lead businesses are extremely gifted, great learners, willing to try new things, open to new ideas, etc. Yet so many people who lead businesses make what seem to be horrendous decisions. Or, in some cases, they seem to make no … Read more
“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee I spend my time helping businesses and business leaders be successful. It’s an extraordinarily challenging and rewarding career. Every situation, every individual, every organization is different. No two days are every alike. When I first started doing this for a living, I … Read more
“We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” – Marie Curie By now most of you have probably seem Simon Sinek’s talk about Why. It’s one of my favorites, but it’s not a “feel good” kind of talk. I don’t mean that it makes … Read more
“Vision without action is dreaming, action without vision is passing the time, while visions with action can change the world.” – Joel Barker As each year winds down, we always hear about New Year’s Resolutions and predictions for the coming year and top 10 lists of every topic imaginable – all built around the idea … Read more
“We are either progressing or retrograding all the while; there is no such thing as remaining stationary in this life.” – James Freeman Clarke Every year about this time we see published one list after another of predictions about the coming year. People will predict technological advances, weather, sports – anything you can imagine. It’s … Read more
“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” – Confucius Last week in this space I wrote about the reality that as leaders we can’t sit around feeling sorry for ourselves (no more “learned helplessness”). The obvious follow up to that is that as leaders, … Read more
“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.” – Theodore Roosevelt There is no end to the list of things that business owners have to deal with. Customers, products, employees, competitors, vendors, the government, the weather, technology, etc. – the list goes … Read more
“If your vision is for a year, plant wheat. If your vision is for ten years, plant trees. If your vision is for a lifetime, plant people.” – Chinese Proverb Every time I read that quote I like it a little more. Partly that’s because I really do think the most impactful and longest lasting … Read more
Get to know our proven, forward-thinking accounting, planning and business consulting experts.
1008 Third Avenue Sheldon, Iowa 51201 • (712) 324-4614 & 5130 E. 57th Street, Sioux Falls, SD 57108 • (605) 610-4611
© 2025 Cain Ellsworth & Company, LLP
Sheldon:
1008 Third Avenue Sheldon, Iowa 51201 • (712) 324-4614
Sioux Falls:
5130 E. 57th Street, Sioux Falls, SD 57108 • (605) 610-4611
© 2017 Cain Ellsworth & Company, LLP
