Tips for a Simple Business Plan

simple business plan feature

In most things, we like to follow Henry David Thoreau’s advice to simplify, simplify, simplify. His advice is perfect for creating a simple business plan.

We like simple.  You don’t have to have your MBA to write a compelling yet simple business plan. You need a vision, and you might need to do a little market research. But if you are starting or running a business, you likely already do these things. Get it down on paper, and your whole company will benefit.

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Put Your Brain to Work for You

brain efficiency at work

Your brain is a 3-pound organ inside your head that tells you what to do. It controls everything about your life: your movement, your memory, your moods, your senses, your speech, your sleep, and even involuntary functions like breathing, digesting, and circulation. It is a magnificent, complex bundle of wires that scientists have barely begun to understand.

When it comes to our work lives, we can either choose to work with our brain’s natural systems or in opposition to them. Ever feel like you’re falling asleep at your desk, or you just can’t focus on that project that’s been looming? It may be because your happy hour lasted a little too long the night before–or it may be because your work environment is in direct conflict with the way your brain is wired. If you’d like to unlock your potential for focus, motivation, problem-solving, and creativity on the job, you need to work with the brain in mind.Continue reading

Buy Local: 10 Ways to Win

buy local for small business week

Put your money where your heart is, the saying goes.  Buying local simply means choosing stores and brands that are locally owned and operated. Spending your money at small businesses instead of corporate and chain stores benefits a community more than most people realize. We see the small picture: $5 here, $10 there, but what does it matter?

In honor of National Small Business Week, (#DreamSmallBiz) let’s educate ourselves a little.

Where we choose to spend our money has an economic ripple-effect and most of us are unaware. Think about money as a life source for every city. Like blood and oxygen, you have to keep it flowing within the community, or the vitality diminishes. One way to pump life back into a town, whether big or small, is to buy local. Let’s talk about why!

HOT POINT: Keep money circulating in your community rather than bleeding out to chain stores and other communities. (Click to tweet)

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Consequences for Ignoring Mobile Web Design

Mobile Web Design

We knew it would come–the time when mobile web design would take over. At the beginning of the year we predicted mobile 1st to be a top 2015 website design trend, and with recent changes by Google, it is surpassing trend status and quickly becoming a necessity. If your business already has a mobile web design, you may be ahead of the competition and your search engine ranking may have just improved a smidge. If not, your google ranking probably just took a hit.

Here’s why you need a mobile web design, the consequences for not being mobile-friendly, and how to verify if you are.

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