I speak with existing business owners every day and one of the things I hear often is that they have a “people problem” and it’s hurting their business…but there are always at least 2 sides to every story. Continue reading
Tag Archives: business community
What Are CBI Bucks??
CBI Bucks are your voting power at Fast Pitch.
CBI Bucks are only good on Friday November 22 from 5:30pm until the close of
voting at Fast Pitch.
Fast Pitch is part Shark Tank (but only the very best parts of the show) and
part American Idol. As in Shark Tank, there will be businesses or
would-be businesses making their business pitch. As in American Idol, your vote
counts! You vote with CBI Bucks. Continue reading
There’s Nothing We Can Do…
Just because you can’t do exactly what a customer asks doesn’t mean you can’t do something.
Let’s say someone was going to ride a 105 mile endurance bike race and the day before the ride their bike broke. First they would freak out with the thought of four mountains and over 11,000 feet of climbing ahead of them and the months of training behind them. Then they would hustle down to the local bike shop – your bike shop. Continue reading
5 Tips for a Successful Fast Pitch Presentation
Are you considering making your business idea pitch at the Cumberland Business Incubator Fast Pitch during Global Entrepreneur Week? You know it’s a great opportunity to share your amazing, world-changing business idea with your community. You’re excited and a little nervous. You might not have ever done a pitch session before, so you may not know quite what to expect. What follows should help you prepare. Continue reading
Global Entrepreneurship Week
It’s all about getting everyone and everything ready for Global Entrepreneurship Week, or so it seems, at the Cumberland Business Incubator. Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is the world’s largest celebration of innovators, inventors, entrepreneurs, business owners and job creators who bring ideas to life, driving economic growth and expanding human welfare. Continue reading
Hate Employee Performance Reviews? You’re in luck…!
There are few things that business owners and managers hate more than employee performance reviews. With the exception of a very few companies that do it right, the process is generally considered to be a huge waste of time by employees and managers alike while generating a lot of ill will. Continue reading
CBI Open House – What a Success!
What a great day it was at the CBI on Thursday September 12th starting in the early morning when our clients and friends started bringing in their materials and setting up their marketing areas throughout the building. There was a lot of activity and a lot of friends sharing ideas and networking. Continue reading
Striking e-Commerce Gold
I visited Arkansas over the holiday weekend recently and picked up some interesting information from small business owners there. As we all know, new businesses face daunting odds: only half of all businesses launched annually will survive five years, and only one-third will survive past 10 years, according to the SBA. Arkansas has more than 241,000 small businesses, some quite successful. Business owners everywhere who succeed do more than build it and hope buyers will come. They stick to a written business plan vetted by a professional. They spend judiciously and reinvest in their business, and many effectively use the power of social media. Continue reading
The Power of Accountability
Personally as the entrepreneur in residence and business coach at the CBI, and our volunteer CBI business mentors, our job is to help business owners develop bigger better businesses. If you are actively trying to build your company, then you could benefit by looking for an advisor/coach/mentor to help you.
What can an advisor/coach/mentor help you do? Continue reading
Focus on the Benefits
You’ve heard it before I’m sure: focus on the benefits to your clients, not the features. When you are writing copy, talking about what you do, or in a sales presentation, it’s the benefits and results of the service or product you provide that people are interested in, rather than its features or how it works. A lot of people struggle to get this right. Continue reading