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
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
“If you sold your business today what would it be worth?“.
Chances are the number you have in your head and the number a buyer is willing to pay for your business are not the same. The means to bringing those two numbers closer together isn’t magic…it’s in long-term planning. Continue reading
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
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
L to R: Holly Hanson-Director CBI, Justin Sidwell, Peter Bilodeau, Marie Fey, Diane Morey-Owner A to Z Printing and Facilitator of CO.STARTERS, Dave Clark-A to Z Printing and CO.STARTERS Mentor
Community supporters joined family and friends of the graduates of the Cumberland Business Incubator’s inaugural CO.STARTERS program to celebrate their work and hear them pitch their business ideas. The CO.STARTERS group met once a week for 9 weeks as they validated their business concepts.
Graduates of the program that participated in the pitch presentation were: Continue reading
Why is it that we put so much emphasis on a business plan? The goal is to be able to determine if you have a viable business. What is a viable business? A business that is freestanding, self-sustaining, capable of making it without outside financial support. That means no credit card debt, no loans, just the business itself, standing alone, able to meet all the expenses from the transactions of the business. Continue reading
We had the Small Business Marketing Analyst for a major package moving organization in recently to conduct a workshop. We were reminded that sometimes it is the relationship that counts when doing business. A representative from a company in our area attended the workshop. The company had a critical shipment that had to arrive at the destination by a specified time or they would not be considered for the project they were hoping to get. They sent the materials to arrive in time. Continue reading
You’ve got to think about the big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction….Alvin Toffler
Not all tasks are created equal. Some are more important than others. Continue reading
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