SBDC
From startups to large corporations, when a business wants to expand – whether it be new products or markets or increasing the volume of business transactions – capital is needed to fund that expansion. Expansions always occur in advance of the increased revenues and profits used to pay for the expansions. This brings us to…
Read MoreHave you taken the time to think through the following questions? What makes a business good, and not just a mediocre economic performer? How are you going to address all of the changes you face as a business owner or manager and still remain profitable, especially when your staffing levels are light? Where do you…
Read MoreIf I was pressed to name the ONE item most difficult to manage in small businesses today, I believe I would settle on the people aspects of having a business. Without people involved, so many reasons for having a business vanish, such as having a market to sell to or having staff available to produce…
Read MoreSo much of the energy expended by businesses are centered around producing, labelling, shipping, buying, selling, recording, managing, identifying, cataloguing and quantifying…… every aspect of the business operation. The weighted emphasis placed on the ‘How of Things’ can shift management’s perception of what the business actually is and does. In some cases, your business becomes…
Read MoreWhen companies sell, the results are all over the board regarding what the selling price is for like-sized companies. Some of the factors in a business’s value can be attributed to the physical assets that transfer from seller to buyer. These can be counted, costed, discounted or other wise modified in order to arrive at…
Read MoreDuring the lifecycle of small businesses, the inevitable question is arrived at and asked at one time or another. This question is: As I need to grow my business to survive or to take advantage of growth opportunities, how am I going to find the people I need to have working with me? This question…
Read MoreIf you were to ask enough people to find out why new business failures are so high, you would probably end up with 100 reasons for the failures. To borrow an analogy from Benjamin Franklin concerning his experience developing the lightbulb: “I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.”― Benjamin…
Read MoreHave you ever experienced the feeling that you really love owning and running a business, regardless of what it does? I hope so, and this is one of the important aspects of business ownership that I wish remains top of mind with you in your daily work. If it has faded over time, stop and…
Read MoreIt can start with a stray thought or idea. Sometimes through observation it is realized that there must be a better way, or a faster way to accomplish an objective, or some other improvement becomes obvious. New technologies or materials may become available and through investigation, these may be used to come up with new…
Read MoreBusinesses are facing increasing pressures to maintain operational margins. Previous articles have looked into various ways to maintain margins through recording and measuring financial performance. These have all been related to cash flow, market acquisition, accounting and analyzing financial statements to determine specific areas where entrepreneurs can improve operations in order to regain healthy margins.…
Read MoreIn line with recent articles regarding various aspects of surviving inflationary and recessionary times, I’d like to discuss how a business can figure out how to react in these situations. Gaining intelligence and insights through reading articles or watching videos and acting on the advice, or initiating changes to your business operations based on ‘gut…
Read MoreBy Marshall Doak, Director of the Southern Oregon University Small Business Development Center It has been said that the ramp-up in inflation costs is quick, but the subsequent reduction in costs are slow to be realized once the inflation monster has been contained. The effects of this on a business owner is that all too…
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