Planning to Sell Your Business?

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This article appeared in Forbes Magazine 8/28/2015 – by Bob House

Selling a business can be a challenging process. However, like many challenges in life, business owners who take the time to properly prepare will fare much better than those that jump right in.

This is the real life lesson learned by one couple that successfully sold their North Carolina cafe after 18 years of devoted ownership. Their story is an example of how a little prep work can ease the selling process and perhaps more importantly, lead to a higher sales price. For every small business owner, whether planning to sell now or much farther down the road, these lessons apply. Continue reading

Do Something!

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Attracting a prospect’s attention does not help if they disappear: if you want to make a sale, you need to direct your prospects to take some kind of action.

Your prospects can’t read your mind. If you want your prospects to take the next step you’re encouraging, you need to tell them exactly what to do. The most effective marketing messages give the recipient or prospect a single, very clear, very short action to take next. Continue reading

DECISION

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At the moment of every day I must decide what I am going to do the next moment; and no one can make this decision for me, or take my place in this.

                Jose Ortega Y Gasset, Philosopher and Essayist

Given options, sometimes clients have a hard time deciding what to do. I found the following essay on making decisions in Josh Kaufman’s The Personal MBA – Master the Art of Business. Continue reading

Change!

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Is there change going on in your world? Is there a major change pending in your organization or non-profit you volunteer with? Many of us face change everywhere we look. We’ve always heard change is hard. Sometimes it is harder than other times. What if there was a formula to approach change that would help get people aligned to work together toward the needed change? Continue reading

What Do We Do?

Logo resaved Have you ever been so busy with the work of your business that you felt like it was time to stop and take stock of what it is you do?

Bonnie reminded me that it’s probably time we do just that. I thought I would share with you what I came up with. Continue reading

MAKE Camp 2015 – What an Amazing Week!

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The week started with each of the 14 Roane State Community College’s Cumberland Business Incubator Make Camp 2015 campers aged 8 through 18 customizing their personal safety glasses so they could easily be identified if left behind. The amazing result? Not one camper lost their safety glasses during the 5 days of camp! IMG_1276More safety rules for use of the Maker Space followed as well as an overview of the options for Monday making; video documentary, tile art work, rockets or woodworking followed by all campers attending a Karate session taught by a third degree black belt. By the end of the first day campers were talking about production runs of some of their projects to sell. Entrepreneurs in the making! Continue reading

5 Quotes on Business… from Signers of the Declaration of Independence

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This 4th of July, the United States celebrated its 239th birthday.  Hopefully you’re reading this with memories of a holiday weekend filled with fun and relaxation with family and friends.

In honor of our founding fathers, I share a few quotes that apply to business, from some of the more notable men who signed one of the greatest documents ever drafted.  It’s amazing that these concepts hold as true today as they did over 200 years ago. Continue reading

Marketing

Marketing business sales Offering value is not enough. If no one knows (or cares) about what you have to offer, it doesn’t matter how much value you create. Without Marketing, no business can survive – people who don’t know you exist can’t purchase what you have to offer, and people who aren’t interested in what you have to offer won’t become paying customers. Continue reading

5 Reasons You Should Pay Someone to do Your Accounting

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Many small business owners start out thinking they will do everything they possibly can in their business to keep costs low, including doing their own accounting.  Some have learned the hard way that small errors can add up to a big mess. Continue reading

$1,423,400 and Counting!

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We just filed a report with the Economic Development Administration (EDA) on the impact the Cumberland Business Incubator has had since February, 2013. Our number for Private Investment Generated came to $1,423,400! This is money that our clients have spent in their businesses on real estate, building expansion, equipment, rent and build out. Continue reading