America's SBDC Blog - Page 3 of 191

America’s SBDC Blog

A “Forbes 100 Best Websites for Entrepreneurs”

Got Goals? Congratulations! 7 Steps to Getting Traction in the Coming Year

February 6, 2024

By Barbara Nuss, CPA
Profit Soup

“Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important. The urgent pressures us daily, while the important waits patiently. ”

Charles Hummel, University President and Author, Tyranny of the Urgent Share on X

Congratulations! Your team just completed its first-ever strategic planning day. The creative ideas flowed freely. The team set challenging performance goals, created a plan to address two big structural issues and chose one exciting new opportunity to develop. Everybody exchanged high-fives at the end of the day.

It’s one thing to have a vision and another to create sustained change, especially when we find ourselves back in the familiar fray of life in a closely held business. It’s easy to slip into the old routines and let the tyranny of our urgent day-to-day problems crowd out our important long-term goals. Unless you change things up, before you know it the year will have passed, and your retreat goals will be a distant memory.

Here are 7 steps to build and maintain traction towards your big important goals.

Talking about KPI’s

January 9, 2024

Choose “Just the Right KPIs” and Make Reviewing them a Team Sport

Leadership teams that focus on the right KPIs perform better than those that don’t. Choosing and monitoring the right Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, keeps teams focused on the things that matter most so they can drive efficiently drive sales, customer satisfaction, operations and financial results.

Over the years we’ve coached top performing owners and conducted many financial benchmark studies examining how highly profitable companies manage to generate their high returns. One thing we learned from this: their success is not by accident!

Leaders who consistently use “just the right KPIs” to set goals and track improvement find themselves in the top 25% of their industry. Those KPIs help them find their way to higher profits. Here are some best practices to help you identify your “just the right KPIs” for your company.

From Big Box to Building Trust: Dr. Clark’s Journey to Personalized Pharmacy Care

December 26, 2023

Dr. Andrew Clark knew there had to be a better way to do pharmacy. Tired of the impersonal service at big-box stores, he dreamed of opening his own pharmacy where patients could come first. But starting a business is no walk in the park, especially for someone with no business background.

That’s where the Mississippi Small Business Development Center (SBDC) came in. The SBDC provided Dr. Clark with the free resources and expert advice he needed to turn his dream into reality. From writing a business plan to navigating the ins and outs of marketing and finance, the SBDC was there every step of the way.

“The SBDC was the secret weapon I never knew I needed,” says Dr. Clark. “They helped me with everything from choosing the right location to setting up my finances. I wouldn’t be where I am today without their help.”

Mobile Bartending Business ‘Accidentally’ Expands

December 19, 2023

Friends and business partners Misty Willbanks and Stacy Drilling started their entrepreneurial journey together in 2021 when they launched Southern Sippery Mobile Bar.

Previously, Willbanks worked with her local Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center on a different idea that didn’t materialize. But when the mobile bar idea came along, things fell into place.

College Student Grows A Unique Business In Vermont

December 12, 2023

By Amanda Kuhnert

Peter Miller started his first business when he was eight years old. He made duct tape wallets and sold them at school and craft fairs. In high school, he ran a clothing company that sold shirts, hoodies, and stickers. And in college, after discovering a passion for woodworking, Miller and a friend created a YouTube channel, FishOverChicksWoodworking, that now has over 10K followers. They make videos of woodworking tutorials and projects.

“I’ve always been entrepreneurial minded,” said Miller, who is now a junior at Champlain College, studying business administration with a focus on entrepreneurship. His latest business venture, The Portable Mini Golf Company, pairs his career aspirations and woodworking prowess. He rents out 9-, 18-, and 36-hole mini-golf courses for group events. Rentals include the course, clubs, balls, scorecards, and pencils. The course can be erected indoors or outdoors, and the price includes set up and take down.

‹1 234 5 ›»