Are You Building a Leadership Team?

If you’re actively growing your business, it’s never too soon to start thinking about your leadership team.

Successfully scaling a business isn’t quite rocket science, but there are quite a few moving parts that you have to get right in order to make it all work. Continue reading

Open House & More!

The Cumberland Business Incubator Open House was yesterday.  Thank you to all who attended and had the chance to network with our tenants and clients who are always happy to share information about their businesses.  There are great things happening in our tenant and client businesses. All are growing. Some of the connections are organic and occurring right within the building.  Continue reading

Summer Camp Time at RSCC

It’s that time of year.  Students are counting the days before school ends and summer begins.  That means camp season is almost here on the Roane State Community College campus. Continue reading

RSCC’s Center for Lifelong Learning Selected

The Roane State Community College (RSCC) Center for Lifelong Learning has been selected as a Screening Site for Hospice Foundation of America’s Being Mortal project funded by the John and Wauna Harman Foundation. Continue reading

EMT Classes in Crossville!

Roane State Community College is accepting applications for Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) classes that will be offered on the Crossville campus this fall.  They have not been offered in Cumberland County for quite some time.  The EMT certificate program is a one semester program.  Applicants to the EMT program will be selected in a cohort of 24 students.  Continue reading

4 Questions to Answer

Developing a marketing strategy for your business can be tough, especially if you don’t know where to start or what to focus on. Referring to the four questions below to help guide you. Continue reading

Hang on to Your Employees

If entrepreneurs have mixed feelings about selling, that’s nothing compared to what the employees go through during a change of ownership.  If you are selling, the new buyer expects the knowledge and expertise of your employees to come in the purchase.  If you are the buyer, you based the purchase price on a going concern.  Losing trained employees costs money. Continue reading

TN Promise Community Service Hours – Please Take Note!

All TN Promise students must have their 8 hours of community service for Fall Semester 2017 completed and submitted by July 1st.  If the hours are not completed and submitted, there will be no TN Promise funds for the student. Continue reading

$9 Million Business Sells for $55 Million

Stephanie Breedlove started a payroll company in 1992 to solve the problem that families had in paying for their nannies.  She began small and self-funded the business growth which averaged 20% per year.

In 2012 annual sales were at $9 million when she received a call from a company that wanted to buy her business and offered almost $40 million – more than 4 times annual revenue.  Breedlove turned down the offer.  She wanted more and settled on a price of $55 million.

Breedlove’s story illustrates the importance of having a unique point of differentiation, called the Monopoly Control by John Warrilow, author of Built to Sell.  She had created a special niche in paying caregivers.  The company that bought the business could not easily replicate what Breedlove had developed, which is why they paid such a high premium for Breedlove’s company.

To find out how you’re doing on The Monopoly Control business value driver, complete the Value Builder questionnaire now.

What did your score look like?  Call for an appointment to go over your score and discuss ways to improve it.  931-456-4910

5S for Offices

5S is a system to organize a workplace and execute tasks that provides the highest levels of convenience. Typically it involves identifying, storing, maintaining and arranging tools and materials to create a more organized and productive workplace.

5S is the nickname for a series of 5 Japanese words that all begin with S along with their English close translations: Continue reading