If It Were You…

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IF IT WERE YOU THAT WAS REPLACED IN YOUR COMPANY, WHAT WOULD THE NEW CEO CHANGE? 

We’ve all seen it. A new leader comes into an organization and starts making changes. Very few leaders are brought in to keep things running the way they have been. They’re brought in because something must change. Continue reading

A Cash Mob?

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What are Cash Mobs?

Cash Mobs are flash mobs, but instead of singing and dancing, people spend money as a group!  They target the small, local businesses that make each community special in order to give the business owners an economic stimulus.  They help businesses grow, they make people happy, buyers find something to buy, people have a great time and get together to celebrate afterward! Continue reading

CBI Crash Course MBA Accelerator Participants

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Congratulations to the Roane State Community College Cumberland Business Incubator Crash Course MBA Accelerator participants that will be working on their business skills and business growth over the next few months.  Mark your calendars for Pitch Night – May 3rd when all are welcome to hear the business presentations and the outcome of the accelerator process. The Accelerator participants include: Continue reading

Change Your Life…

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Change your life… by the books you read.  The list below is from Stephen Heiner, “an American in Paris” who sold his business in Kansas City to move to Paris and start several more.  I have read many of the books that Stephen lists, and although I may not have considered it before, I do believe that many of them have had an influence on my life.  I thought you might enjoy reading what Stephen and I have read.  From Stephen:   What follows is a brief list for those interested in the life of travel and entrepreneurship you can create for yourself through deliberate and personal lifestyle design. Continue reading

Who’s Who at the CBI

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The Cumberland Business Incubator reached a major milestone in December of 2015. Every single area was utilized within the 10,000 square foot incubator.

A quick introduction to our newest tenants and a review of those that have been with us a while seems appropriate. Continue reading

6 Keys to Growing Your Business in 2016

If your child, young pet or garden wasn’t growing…what would you do?

A. Nothing

B. Hope they started to thrive without YOU making any changes

C. Ask yourself, “Am I adequately feeding and hydrating?”

D. Consult a pediatrician, veterinarian or expert gardener?

I bet you’d go with C & D yet many business owners choose A & B hoping for a miracle.  Don’t be one of them. Continue reading

Tips for Getting Meaningful Customer Feedback

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Michael Sippey is currently the VP of Product for Twitter and shared the following tips in an article I read recently. According to Sippey there is one important rule and three steps for gathering powerful customer feedback that can make all the difference for your product roadmap. Continue reading

2016 CBI MBA Crash Course Accelerator

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Make 2016 the year to learn more about the business of being in business. Even if you’ve owned a business or directed a non-profit organization for years, join us for the CBI MBA (Master of Business Administration) Crash Course Accelerator. Continue reading

Bulls-Eye Employee Engagement

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One of the ‘secrets’ to a successful small business is having employees who are engaged, aligned with what you’re doing and enjoy working with you and your team. We’ve all experienced interactions with businesses where the employees are clearly just showing up for the paycheck and don’t care at all about what they’re doing. That’s a business on life support. It’s equally easy to see when employees genuinely like and believe in what they’re doing…and that makes all the difference to a customer and ultimately the business. Continue reading

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Numbers…

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The season where we all start to look at our numbers will quickly be upon us. The end of the year. The context that those numbers are in matters, so take a deeper look this year until you understand what your numbers are really telling you.

Let’s say you brought in $200,000 of revenue this month. Is that good or bad? It depends. If you brought in $100,000 last month, it’s good. If your expenses were $400,000 this month, it’s bad. Everything in context. Continue reading