CUSTOMERS DRIVING THEIR BUSINESS FORWARD

You only get one chance to make a great first impression, and in a lot of cases, you only get about 20 or 30 seconds to make that impression. A well-timed and thoughtful elevator pitch can be what you need to attract the interest and attention of investors and to land more clients. Whether you’re …

You know that the statistics are grim when it comes to successfully starting a new business. About 65% of companies fail within the first 10 years and 30% shut their doors within the first two years. Even businesses that survive for the long haul have some obstacles to overcome. Many companies that start out small …

If the going were to get tough for your business, what would happen? Some companies might end having to throw in the towel, going out of business when they face obstacles or challenges. Others can find a way to carry on or move beyond the challenge. Whether your company sinks or swims in a challenging …

Your company’s brand name and logo might have fit it perfectly when you launched. But, flash forward several years and possibly several mergers and your original name and logo don’t quite work. While there are some risks to rebranding, many companies that do it tend to see benefits from it. If you think it might …

The goal of negotiating is to ensure that both parties feel the outcome is fair and equitable. It’s one of the most important business skills to master but potentially also one of the most challenging skills to master. One way to develop your skills as a negotiator is to look for small, low-stakes opportunities to …

For many people, the demands of their jobs are among the leading causes of stress in their lives. Work-related stress creates a sort of feedback loop. Stressed-out employees become less productive, which produces more stress, which in turn affects productivity. The more stressed employees are, the less invested and engaged they are in their work. …

At the start of the pandemic, many companies struggled to keep employees employed. Loans like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) aimed to incentivize keeping employees on the payroll and off of unemployment.  Even with the PPP, unemployment ticked upwards in the first few months of the pandemic. Then, something interesting happened. As the world started to …

Employees in the U.S are notorious for not taking enough time off. In 2018, workers left 768 million vacations days unused, according to a study by the U.S. Travel Association. While having employees show up to work every day can seem like a benefit for a business, there are some ways in which a refusal …

Whether you’re hiring employees for the first time or are growing an existing team, offering the right perks, benefits, and salary is essential for ensuring you hire the right people and that the people you hire work with your company for as long as possible. It’s expensive to bring on new hires and to replace …

You have a new idea for a company and are in the process of getting it underway. Before you launch your business, though, one of the most important things you can do is conduct a competitive analysis. A competitive analysis lets you see what companies that might similar to yours are doing and how successful …

Whether you plan on taking your company public or want to sell it to another owner or business, you need to know how much your business is worth. Several factors can affect your company’s valuation. Some factors can be within your business’s control while others are largely dependent on market conditions around you. Take a …

When it launched in April 2020, demand for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans was high. After less than two weeks, the $349 billion initially allotted to the program was gone. The high demand led to an increase in the funding available, and later, a second draw period, during which companies that had received funds initially …