No matter where we live we’ve all been in a traffic jam or at a light that just won’t change in our favor and glanced at the advertising billboards around us.
This “wait marketing” that capitalizes on immobility, or forced attention, maximizes potential exposure for businesses. However, unless the motorist has some special connection to the advertiser, the odds are that he or she will forget about the ad as soon as the traffic starts moving again. Continue reading
We have a number of people who come to the CBI for help in buying a business or to start their own business. Sometimes it’s a short conversation when they come looking for the grant money they believe we have. We don’t have grant funds or grant applications to buy a business or start a business. We don’t have access to a pool of investors who loan money without a sound business plan, or know of any that will loan 100% of the cost of a business even with a great plan. Continue reading
The next time you use your computer to read an email or download a movie on Netflix, or use an app on your phone, think of the technology behind it and the geeks who developed it.
Being called a Geek today is a compliment, a high compliment, not like when I was in school. Tech companies are in heavy competition to develop the newest most advanced products. As the world becomes more and more dependent on technology, those that understand and develop it are in high demand. Continue reading
This October’s issue of INC. magazine has an interesting article about splitting founder’s equity.
15 years ago Atlanta-based Ockham Technologies had three founders. One founder had part of the original idea and was putting in sweat equity and cash. A second founder was putting in sweat equity and cash but wasn’t part of the original idea. A third founder was part of the idea and put in cash but no sweat equity. What type of split of the equity would have been “fair?” Continue reading
Technically The International Hour of Code week is later this year in December, but why wait? See video below:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC5FbmsH4fw] Continue reading
As a business owner, it’s way too easy to get bogged down in the day to day challenges. Sure it’s important to put out fires but it’s equally (or more) important to think about the big picture and where you’re taking things.
One way to get inspired and to challenge your thinking – or at least get a different perspective, is to find a quote that resonates with you. Often someone else can put into words those ideas that are bouncing around in your head.
These 5 quotes that get to the heart of business success: Continue reading
Cumberland Business Incubator receives $50,000 prize to create Tinker Space
The Cumberland Business Incubator, located on Roane State Community College’s Cumberland County campus, has received a $50,000 prize to create a space where entrepreneurs can turn their ideas into working prototypes.
The incubator was one of 50 organizations nationwide to receive a prize through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Growth Accelerator Fund competition. Continue reading
You are in a group called “big, small business” if you employ at least five people (other than yourself), do over $500,000 per year in annual sales, and have been in business for at least two years. That’s the smallest of the “big, small businesses”. The “large, small businesses” employ 15 or more people (all the way to 500), with annual sales between $2 million and $25 million. That’s a huge range, but according to the Small Business Administration anything under 500 employees is a small business. Continue reading
Nearly everything today is based on computers and computer processing. My car has computers in it. My washing machine has computer chips in it. My phone is based on a computer and code, called apps.
Code.org says that by 2020 there will be 1 million more computer jobs than computer science students in the United States. Experts fear U.S. society will be dominated by users of computers and programs that they don’t understand and haven’t created. Continue reading
Do you have good ideas that would take your business to the next level but don’t know where to find help to implement them? How can you minimize the risks and increase the probability of success in your business? Do you have dreams of starting your own business but don’t know where to begin? Continue reading