Tag Archives: business success

CBI Maker Space Is Moving Along

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The Cumberland Business Incubator Maker Space is almost ready! The laser cutter is vented to the outside, mirrors are aligned, and the cutting has begun! The vinyl cutter has been cutting symbols and signs and will be cutting out our newly developed Maker Space logo next! The 3D printer is working on parts almost every day. Hand tools are in place as are the embroidery sewing machine, miter saw, router, band saw, electronics station…….and more! Don’t miss the information contained below about our Maker Space Grand Opening and Cumberland Business Incubator Open House on April 8th. Continue reading →

What is The Grommet?

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As we continue to work on developing the CBI Maker Space, I discovered The Grommet www.thegrommet.com . It will be a great resource for some of our makers. From the website:

“A Grommet is an innovative, unique product that is created by a Maker with a story to tell. Often a Grommet is new to market or has not yet been broadly discovered. When we choose Grommets, they are ready to find a wider audience and our product launch platform gives them the amplification and attention they deserve. Continue reading →

Leadership – Starbucks Style

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I’m enjoying learning from The Starbucks Experience by Joseph A Michelli.

Starbucks has found a way to move from one small store in Seattle Washington to over 11,000 stores worldwide with 5 new stores opening every day and annual sales topping $600 million. Can we learn a thing or two about management and leadership from them? I think so! Starbucks has 5 principles that set it apart. The first one is:

Principle 1: Make It Your Own Continue reading →

Do You Measure Twice and Cut Once?

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One of the more difficult tasks our clients encounter is how to accurately measure the impact of a change in their business. Change is hard. Measuring and quantifying the full impact of the change can be even more challenging. Continue reading →

CBI 2014 Annual Report

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  • Who have you told about the CBI?
  • Who have you sent to the CBI?

Biz Life Cycle

The Cumberland Business Incubator (CBI) serves all types and sizes of businesses including for profit and non-profit; small, medium and large; start-up, mature and those transitioning to new ownership. Continue reading →

Not Just Another Year

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The Way Forward sign in the sky

It’s January 13th – yes, almost half of January is gone. What have you decided to do differently this year so that 2015 is not just a repeat of 2014? Hint: Some people have been in business for 10 years, but they have repeated their first year in business 9 more times because they didn’t decide to do anything differently. Don’t let this happen to you! Continue reading →

Starting 2015 off Right

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I hope 2014 was a great year for you and that 2015 is all that you hope it will be.  There are a few things to put on your To Do list before 2015 starts rolling too fast.

Meet with your Accountant.  Have a meeting to review 2014.   Review the due dates of time sensitive forms that need to be filed.  Make sure you understand the financials and can explain them to a banker.  If fact, it’s not a bad idea to have a face to face meeting with your banking professional – whether you have a loan out or not – and let them know how 2014 went for you.  You never know when you may be back asking for a line of credit or financing for your growth. Continue reading →

Why Build a Tinker Space?

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 Grassroots Manufacturing Renaissance Spurs Entrepreneurship

Why is Roane State Community College building a Tinker Space inside the Cumberland Business Incubator?  This article from The Kauffman Foundation by Jonathan Ortmans provides a few answers.  Hint:  A Tinker Space, like the one being developed inside the CBI, is a smaller version of a Makerspace. Continue reading →

CBI Tinker Space

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tinker space
Tinker Space. It is a community workspace designed to allow those who tinker, program, invent, build, code, problem solve, and so much more, have the space and equipment needed to dream big and then turn those dreams into reality. Soon we’ll have one here in Crossville.

An open, well-lit space ready to welcome Upper Cumberland tinkers in 2015! The vision for the space is that of a co-working space/tinker space/artists’ studio where woodworkers can build, sculptors can sculpt, inventors can invent, programmers can code, quilters can quilt, and so much more. Located on the Roane State Community College campus in Crossville, the Cumberland Business Incubator (CBI) will be the home of the Tinker Space. Continue reading →

4 Focus Areas to Increase Your Business Value

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When you think about the big picture of your business (thinking strategically rather than tactically) are you focusing on growth (most business owners do) when you should be focusing on increasing value instead?

We spend a lot of time talking about Business Growth – and for good reason. Growth is the most obvious, visible sign that your business is doing well. Given a choice, almost everyone would choose to grow versus choosing to get smaller. Business owners and clients bring up the topic of growth a lot – usually in the context of money. I need to make more money so I need to grow (i.e. grow revenue). Unfortunately more revenue doesn’t always mean more money to the business owner. Continue reading →