Pitching Your Business

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Charlie Brock wrote an article for the Tennessean recently about pitching your startup business to investors. There is good information in his article for anyone who has the opportunity to pitch their business, whether to investors or others. My summary of Charlie’s article follows. Continue reading

Making Sales but not Making Money? Watch Your Margins when Pricing –

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I find business owners have a hard time keeping the gross profit margins on their product or service in mind when establishing pricing. To be able to maintain your gross profit margin, you need to know what your costs are. Continue reading

Lean Principles are Good for Business

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Lean is a problem-solving approach for continuous improvement. Most organizations are under pressure to reduce costs while improving service and minimizing errors. Implementing Lean principles and using Lean tools can lead to an immediate positive impact. These benefits include improved quality, increased operational flexibility, reduced cycle time within processes, more efficient use of space, consistent service delivery, reduced lead times and reduced operating costs. Continue reading

Sometimes the Answer is in the Question

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INC magazine compiled a list of questions across management thinkers, blogs and business books.  Here are 35 of those questions.  There are 65 more questions available on the Inc.com website.

Questions ignite imagination, avert catastrophes and reveal unexpected paths to growth.  Pose these questions to yourself and your team members.  The right questions require reflection followed by action. Continue reading

Is It Time to Move Your Business Out of the Spare Bedroom?

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I found this article from Doug and Polly White to be right on target.

Moving from a home office, where occupancy costs are effectively zero, to rented space is a big decision.

Obviously, monthly expenses will increase. You’ll have to pay rent. If it’s not included in the rent, you’ll have to cover utility costs. In some circumstances, there may be other monthly fees for services such as cleaning and grounds maintenance. There will also be one-time costs. You may need to hire movers or purchase furniture, office equipment, or phone systems. Continue reading

A Good Ending is Key –

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According to Kevin Daum (Inc columnist) how you end your day is just as important as how you begin it.  Kevin shares the following tips to help you finish your day right, leaving you well prepared for tomorrow. Continue reading

CBI Networking Night Creates a Buzz

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The April 8th Networking Night at the CBI was a hit.  The food was great.  The room was full and the energy was contagious.  The goal to complete the CBI Business Bingo card keep the conversations and the networking moving.  Participants had to meet and talk with others to get signatures from a Home-Based Business, Storefront Business, Outdoor Business, New Business, Bookkeeping Business, Technology Business, Marketing Business, Mature Business, Male and Female Owned Businesses, Health Business, Real Estate/Mortgage Business and others. Continue reading

5+ Reasons to Keep Reading…

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Clients ask if there is something they should read to be a better leader or to learn more about business.  The answer is YES!  There is a lot to be gained from reading.  Check out HBR’s For those who want to lead, read for reasons to keep reading.

Continue reading

Making the Most of Trade Shows

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It’s trade show season – home and garden shows, health and wellness shows, industry shows.Dave Lavinsky of Guiding Metrics Executive Dashboard recently had his organization’s first booth at the Traffic & Conversion Summit. His six biggest takeaways from his experience and other things to keep in mind are summarized below.

1. Location, location, location Continue reading

7 Habits of Highly Wealthy Entrepreneurs

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Thomas C Corley studied the daily habits of hundreds of wealthy people in preparation for his book Rich Habits – The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals.

Corley’s definition of wealthy people is those earning at least $160,000 annually and owning assets of at least $3.2 million.

Some of the characteristics Corley identified of the wealthy include: Continue reading