Tag Archives: sparta

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 →

Getting Ready to Sell?

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More than 60% of U.S. business owners are over 50 years of age (Baby Boomers), and many of them are looking forward to retirement and the process of attracting and vetting potential buyers to take over the reins of their business. The problem for those that have built these companies is that the businesses may not be attractive to a new generation of business buyers. There are three major trends that impact the salability of a business. Understanding these trends can help owners transition successfully in a challenging market, and help identify the buyer who will lead their company into the future. Continue reading →

It’s Global Entrepreneurship Week

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Welcome! This week all around the globe people are celebrating innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare. Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) launched in 2008 and has since grown to 150 countries with over 24,000 partner organizations planning over 34,000 activities that directly engage millions of participants during the week. Continue reading →

5 Behaviors That Make You a Co-Working Space Pro

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The CBI recently developed Co-Working spaces. I found an article by Cassidy North-Reist that helps define some of the behaviors that will help you succeed in a Co-Working space.

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The nature of the American workforce is rapidly changing, with more of us telecommuting or starting businesses out of our homes than ever before. It’s no surprise then that there’s been a recent surge in people taking up residency in Co-Working spaces. Continue reading →

Guerrilla Marketing – 5 Unorthodox Ways to Market Your Brand

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Before a million pails of cold water brought amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) global attention, many people had never heard of the disease. After a summer of ice bucket challenges, the devastating motor neuron disorder has an astonishing level of awareness. Although the campaign didn’t originate as a deliberate marketing strategy, it’s a great case of the power of guerrilla marketing in the social-media age.

Inexpensive, small scale and non-traditional marketing tactics can be extremely effective ways to promoting your brand if the idea catches the public imagination and goes viral. Guerrilla marketing covers a huge variety of activities. Continue reading →

Guerrilla Marketing – 5 Basics

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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 →

So You Want to Start a Business or Buy an Existing One?

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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…

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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 →

What’s Your Fair Share?

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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 →

5 Quotes That Can Profoundly Change Your Business

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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 →