As the April 15 personal tax deadline looms, you’re likely overwhelmed with short-term concerns about your business budget and your personal finances. You should also be considering two crucial longer-term questions: What are you saving for retirement, and where are you saving it? Continue reading
Many of the CBI clients ask for help with their marketing message. Some of the things we cover during business coaching sessions are summarized below:
A successful marketing plan is built on consistent messages. When you’re building your business it’s tempting to want to try to be all things to all people. Your marketing messages can end up being all over the map. The result: It confuses your customers, and can get confusing for you as well. Continue reading
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
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
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… 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
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
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
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
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