For small businesses, a local customer base can be extremely lucrative. But to reach customers in your immediate area, you’ll have to develop a concrete strategy that addresses their specific wants, needs, and expectations. Try These 5 Local Marketing Tactics In a business world where large, sweeping marketing strategies dominate the landscape, there’s something to be said for adopting a simple, focused approach that prioritizes customers in your…
Relationship building and networking are important to entrepreneurs, but they may not come easy. No, it’s not just you: Americans across the board are becoming lonelier. According to a Cigna study released last May, 46 percent of American adults say they always or sometimes feel alone. Just 53 percent say they experience meaningful in-person interactions, like engaging in a deep conversation with a friend or family member, on…
Today’s tight labor market is flipping the script on recruiting. Rather than job seekers trying to impress employers, the opposite is happening. Apprenticeship opportunities, in which employees are paid to be trained rather than incur student debt, have grown by 42 percent since 2013. And they’re no longer limited to blue-collar fields: Most of the growth has been fueled by companies in science and technology. The global talent…
You thought “promposals,” undercooked cafeteria pizza, and hallway passes were things of the past. And hopefully, those unfortunate realities are indeed behind you. But to become a successful entrepreneur, it turns out you have to relive at least some of your high school experiences. Despite the challenges of being a teen, those years taught you valuable lessons that you can use as a corporate leader. From discovering and…
It doesn’t matter the industry, niche, size, or budget — all clients are ultimately looking to work with businesses they can trust. If you can find a way to cultivate trust with new clients consistently, you’ll be successful. 6 Ways to Establish Trust With New Clients Trust was once an expectation in the consumer-business relationship. But today, it sometimes seems like an optional bonus. Many businesses unwittingly adopt…
When you’re a business owner, the sale of your company can be one of the most bittersweet experiences of your professional career. But if you expect to enjoy more of the sweet and less of the bitter, it’s crucial to avoid committing certain all-too-common mistakes. The Three Mistakes You Want to Avoid Selling a business is a challenge. It doesn’t matter how big or small, successful or unsuccessful,…
When you hear the word “automation,” what do you picture? A self-driving car? A factory free of human workers? In reality, those applications represent an exceptionally small share of small business automation. The production and operation functions are actually the two least automated functions, according to a QuickBooks study released last April. So what are small business leaders automating? Among the 66 percent of those using automation tools, most…
If you’re overwhelmed by your list of duties, blaring music might help. It turns out that tunes can make you a more productive worker. To be sure, if you need to really concentrate, you’ll have to go light on the lyrics to get the full mental-boosting power of melodies. You might want to turn to songs between — rather than during — lengthy tasks. However, you can be…
Big businesses are big for a reason — they’re getting something right, usually when it counts the most. Moreover, they’ve already found their footing after making it through the early days of uncertainty and instability. That successful leadership journey alone counts as an invaluable lesson for smaller business owners. You can learn a lot by studying exactly what big businesses have done right, even if their circumstances might…
Sometimes, personal drive and education need a boost. If you’re struggling to achieve your goals, you may need a mentor. Mentorship programs are a great place to start looking. Even the most accomplished college graduates recognize that education rarely provides all the answers for the real world. According to recent research from Gallup, only 36 percent of college graduates strongly agreed that their degrees provided the knowledge and…