From Forbes by Ryan Frankel
Technology, access to capital and tremendous desire to start a business has made launching a new venture easier than ever. The growth in new businesses has been met by a proliferation in business accelerator programs designed to help entrepreneurs launch and scale their pursuits through carefully designed programs and access to mentors, talent and capital. Continue reading
Ask almost any business owner or professional how they are and the most likely answer you’ll get is “Busy”. The problem with ‘busy’ is that it doesn’t equate to productive (as in getting the most important things done) – it generally just translates to busy.
Busy makes you feel like you’re getting a lot done. Busy makes it look like you’re getting a lot done. Busy makes you work longer hours…according to a recent Gallup study the average work week is now 47 hours and almost 40% of workers are working more than 50 hours a week (despite the fact that the data clearly shows that longer hours don’t equate to more productivity). Continue reading
Pictured left to right: Holly Hanson (Director Cumberland Business Incubator), Kimberly Williams (Spa Escapes), Ben Ford (Dendrophilia Landscapes), Cathy Kimmerly (OH Fudge!), Stuart Sitton (Select Auto Sales), Allison Crawford (Momentum Behavior Analysis), Jody Franks (Franksarousa Farms), and Facilitator Diane Morey (A to Z Printing)
Congratulations to the entrepreneurs who made their Pitch to the standing-room-only assembled crowd at the Cumberland Business Incubator (CBI) on Monday May 4th. Seven business owners worked on their business concepts for nine weeks utilizing a business model canvas approach called CO.STARTERS in preparation for Pitch Night. Five of the entrepreneurs were intent on growing existing businesses while two were developing brand new businesses. Continue reading
Architects: What makes a creator an architect? These creators identify openings and as blank-sheet-of-paper builders, they construct solutions from the bottom up. They have the unique ability to see vacancies and envision how separate parts can fit together to form new logical designs. Continue reading
The Creator’s Code by Amy Wilkinson is based on interviews with 200 entrepreneurs who have started companies that individually generate more than $100 million in annual revenue or social enterprises that serve more than 100,000 people. What the author found was 6 common threads in how they achieved entrepreneurial success.
In each case, the entrepreneurs describe the reason for their work as more than money – their goals were to make a mark on the world. In the 5 years of work the six skills that make creators successful came to light. Creators are not born with an innate ability to conceive and build $100 million enterprises. They work at it. They all share certain fundamental approaches to the act of creation. The skills that make them successful can be learned, practiced, and passed on. Continue reading
The need to protect the inventions and creative work of individuals has been recognized for centuries. The first modern patent was granted in 1421 to Filippo Bruneslleschi by the Republic of Florence for a barge with hoisting gear. Hundreds of years later, the United States Constitution affirmed the importance of protecting “writings and discoveries” in order to “promote the progress of science and the useful arts.” Continue reading
The overall theme of the Peter Thiel book, Zero to One is a study of what successful innovation looks like, primarily in tech start-ups. One of the main concepts in the book is that most of the really successful businesses have started by dominating a very specific and limited niche market.
Examples: Continue reading
A to Z Printing has completed their move to the CBI! Diane Morey celebrated her 5th anniversary of owning A to Z Printing in January. She bought the printing business when it was located on Miller Avenue in Crossville. Three years ago Diane relocated the business to the Woodmere Shopping Center. Now they are resident within the CBI! Continue reading
If you have employees, at the heart of your business is knowing what motivates people to do great work. It turns out that over the last 50 years a group of Social Scientists all over the world have taken a very systematic look at this question. Continue reading
I attended a webinar yesterday where the presenter spoke my language! It was with John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing. Here are three questions that we should all be asking before we spend money on marketing. Once you are clear on your responses to these questions, your marketing strategy will be much more effective.
1. Why do we do what we do? Continue reading