A strong culture within a small business doesn’t come naturally. Disney, a company often lauded for its company culture, says culture needs to be by design and not by default. In a recent GrowBiz post, we talked to small business owners about how they built a strong culture in their […]
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How to nurture a winning small business culture
There’s nothing like hearing from the small business trenches about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to creating a strong company culture. Drawing on several interviews with owners of businesses known as great places to work, learn and grow professionally, I’ve compiled a list of things to think […]
Surveys say: Small businesses are growing revenues, hiring – and adding perks too
Last year, about 57% of small businesses saw revenues grow while 43% added employees to their payrolls, according to the Small Business Credit Survey produced by the Federal Reserve Bank. Both of these metrics increased over 2017 levels. More findings: Credit demand held steady in 2018, with 43% of firms […]
Acquiring customers too fast could be hazardous to your business
It’s easy to get caught up in the thinking that acquiring lots and lots of customers is the fast pass to success, but many small businesses and startups try to do that too quickly and that may be a mistake. Even fast-growing technology companies like Amazon, Airbnb and Uber acquired […]
Need to finance real estate or equipment? Don’t overlook the SBA 504
Are you a looking to finance a commercial real estate or industrial equipment purchase for your growing small business? If so, an SBA 504 loan may be right for you. Jacqueline Sousa, regional director of Florida SBDC at FIU, says many small businesses don’t know about – or don’t understand […]
A strategic growth plan is not that thing you look at once a year. Here’s how to get started.
Goals, goals, goals – we all have them, but did your company hit them last year? How about for the first quarter of 2019? What are your growth goals for Q2 for all of your function areas and does everyone in your company know what they are? If your company […]
Good Management is a Delicate Balancing Act
To allow failure but disallow incompetence To cherish creativity but shun lack of discipline To value team collaboration but not at the cost of individual accountability To cultivate an environment that is safe but also brutally honest To create non-hierarchical organizations full of strong leaders Inspired by The Hard Truth […]
Is there conflict in your family business? It can be good for the business.
We all may know of a family business torn apart by conflict. But a Columbia Business School professor writes in a Harvard Business Review article that, in fact, not enough conflict is also bad for business. Whether it is too much or two little conflict, “the business can suffer from […]
For family business success, follow these best practices
Even with the best intentions for a lasting legacy, family businesses find the odds stacked against them. Only about 30% of family businesses survive into the second generation, about 12% make it to the third generation, and only about 3% of all family businesses operate into the fourth generation or […]
Growth sprouts at this family business
For Olivia Wong, being a key player in the family agriculture business wasn’t always part of the plan – well, her plan anyway. When she chose her double majors at the University of Miami – motion picture production and history – it was about as far away from produce and […]