Blog
The Reality of Branding
“While you control things such as your logo, colors, slogans, mission, vision and core values, at the end of the day your brand is what others say about you based on what they perceive it to be, or what they have experienced.”
Small Businesses: When It's Time to Hire
“Most of the work can be done by an employee with the right attitude, and a bit of “upscaling” of their skills, through training or education.”
Self-Image Impacts You and Your Business
“The image you hope to present of yourself impacts you as a person, and can impact your employees, your customers, and your entire business performance. Think about what your self-image will do for you as well as for the community you live in, and for your business.”
Leadership Positions vs. Being A Leader
“Someone may hold a position that entitles them to “lead” people, but that doesn’t mean that they are a leader within the community. They may have POWER over the community, but that’s not the same as being a true leader.”
Do's and Don'ts of Working From Home
“While some companies can attempt to force you to go into the office, many try to leverage the idea that you can work from anywhere. This allows you to expand to new areas, locations, and potentially to live the life you want to.”
Your Habits Make You Who You Are
“Working with entrepreneurs and leaders I understand that they don’t always want to wait for something to happen. They want to make things happen right now. But some things need persistence and repetition.” -Faris Alami
Sweat the Small Stuff
“The little things are what makes a company unique or different. From a high level, many companies might look identical or competitive with each other. But once you zoom in, what makes an entrepreneur, startup, or business owner stand out are the little things they are doing differently in the day-to-day operations.”
Recipe for a Successful Pitch Part 3
“My experience in repeated pitching taught me the importance of practice and arranging the ingredients, the pieces of your presentation, carefully. The order in which you mention details is key to the audience to which you are pitching.”
Recipe for a Successful Pitch Part 2
“Just like great meals, a successful pitch takes time, and a pitching situation is not the time to fly by the seat of your pants!”
Recipe for a Successful Pitch
“Every successful cook knows that the first step in creating a masterpiece is what the French call “mise en place” (essentially, everything in place), the steps of preparing to cook, which we will adapt to preparing a pitch.”
A Whole New Year
“Simply moving forward allows you to just keep going — because you aren’t really taking the time to think about what happened, when or why it happened, or at least having some understanding of what worked or didn’t.”
Take a Moment
“As we move into the new year, I encourage you to think about taking a moment to celebrate the successes.”
Supporting Entrepreneurs and Small Business Development Programs
“From Michigan to San Francisco, from Oman, Jordan, Belarus, and so many others countries, I’ve learned that individuals supporting small business owners and entrepreneurs also need a support system.”
Setting Goals
“We all know ideas are worthless unless you implement them. Implementation is where (as we say in Detroit) the rubber meets the road. When reality hits, you still have to adjust or adapt to make sure the product or service is meeting the customer demand or desire.”
Don't Look Back!
“What I have learned is that business owners and leaders who take the time to reflect on what went well, what they could do to improve, and what might have been missed opportunities are the ones who grow at a much faster rate.”
Being Thankful
“I’m also thankful for those who told me NO, they don’t want my service or business. As I reflect on the situations, I realized that in most cases, it would have been a disaster to move forward.”
Educate Yourself
“While you can and should get a formal education, it is good practice to continue to learn on your own. I could not initially take the traditional route due to my situation.”
The People You Need for Your Business
“People who are there when you need them to keep your business moving forward positively.”
Start-Up Toolbox: 3 Things You Need to Know
“A business without sales is a dying business unless you have enough money to keep going. Focus on the sales. Stop worrying about the big picture.”
Leaders Accepting Responsibility
“Accepting responsibility may seem something we all do, but the reality is that most people don’t actually do it.”