Each year, National Small Business Day recognizes the contributions of small businesses, highlighting entrepreneurship, local impact, and economic resilience. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses account for 99.9% of all U.S. businesses and drive nearly half of private-sector employment, underscoring their critical role in America’s economy.
Innovation isn’t just about launching external products or services—it often starts from within. Intrapreneurship, the practice of fostering entrepreneurial thinking and innovation within a company, empowers employees to develop new ideas, improve processes, and drive business growth. When organizations support intrapreneurial initiatives, they create a dynamic culture where innovation flourishes, operational efficiency improves, and teams become more engaged in problem-solving.
Employee engagement is one of the most crucial drivers of organizational success. For the first time in a decade, employee engagement saw a decline in 2020. It hasn’t stopped dropping since, according to a survey by Gallup. The survey measured employee engagement by asking about specific workplace elements as they link to organizational outcomes. These elements included profitability, productivity, customer service, retention, safety and overall wellbeing.
Now more than ever, it is essential for companies to focus on corporate social responsibility, or their effort to improve their communities, environment and societies in which they operate. Customers, employees, vendors and other stakeholders have a growing expectation that their values align with the businesses they work with. In fact, 70 percent of consumers are interested in hearing about the social, health, environmental and safety impacts of the products they buy and the company that makes them.
The United States has 12.3 million women-owned businesses that generate $1.8 trillion a year and employ nearly nine million people. These numbers continue to grow. In fact, there are 114 percent more female entrepreneurs in America today than there were 20 years ago. Despite those staggering numbers, there is still no simple framework or guidebook for women interested in navigating the business world.
When we think of Labor Day, the anticipation of a three-day weekend filled with rest, relaxation and fun is often first and foremost in our minds. But the initial intent of the holiday, scheduled for the first Monday of September, was different. Labor Day was originally a celebration to recognize the social and economic achievements of American
For many years, Baby Boomers were the dominant generation in the workplace. Millennials and Gen X followed, but now the water cooler talk is about Generation Z (Gen Z). Born after 1996, most members of Gen Z are not yet old enough to vote. At the same time, their sheer numbers still leave roughly 24 million Gen Zers of age—the oldest of whom are in their mid-20s and entering the workforce.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic first took hold in early 2020, the need for greater business agility has been on the rise. In fact, 92 percent of C-level executives believe organizational agility is critical to business success. Yet only 27 percent consider themselves highly agile. The discrepancy creates a mandate to abandon business as usual and transform business operations for the new normal.
Launched in 2003, LinkedIn is the oldest of the major social networks that is still widely used today. The site has evolved from its origins as an online job and career board. LinkedIn is now a business-oriented social networking platform with 722 million members strong. Usage of the platform continues to grow.
An overarching diversity and inclusion strategy goes beyond social ethics and has implications for performance improvement as well. When people of different genders, ages, races, cultural backgrounds, languages, experiences, abilities and perspectives come together, they are more creative, productive and engaged, and are more loyal to their companies. Also, research shows that decision-making by diverse
An excellent service or product is a huge accomplishment. Yet, this isn’t enough to make sure your business will grow and thrive. There are many moving parts to any business, but the fuel that keeps it all moving is your customers. A company culture that values customers, cares about their experience and focuses on building
The foundation of successful marketing requires a complete understanding of the audiences and industry sectors companies serve. By developing deep insight and knowledge, marketers address pain points, propose solutions and communicate effectively with prospects and customers. Accomplishing this goal, however, can be a daunting task. Where do you begin? One place to start is with a stakeholder analysis.
Everyone works differently. Some individuals like to work on multiple projects simultaneously, while others prefer to focus on one goal at a time. Some work best alone, while others excel in a more collaborative environment.
In the ongoing COVID-19 environment, many companies have recognized the need to pivot. Whether that means creating new products or services or changing the business model, very few companies are doing business the same way now as they did a year ago. Budgets were cut. Revenue and profits have shrunk.
Decision-making exists at every level of a corporation. The effects of one decision can cause a chain reaction throughout the organization. This includes, but is not limited to, purchase decisions, strategic planning, talent acquisition or daily activities. According to Dr. Kenneth Brousseau, CEO of Decision Dynamics, there are four common decision styles.
Most business development professionals are growing weary of hearing “things are on hold” or “our budgets have been frozen.” Those positions don’t bode well for meeting sales and revenue goals. COVID-19 took all of us by surprise and companies are still struggling to understand how to recover. One thing is clear: we cannot simply wait it out.
If someone asked you to define your company’s culture in a few words, how would you answer? Employees’ answers to this question reveal a lot about how a company operates and how they feel about working there. Despite sounding like a corporate buzzword, a company’s culture can make or break the productivity, collaboration, loyalty and overall contentment of your team members.
Regardless of the industry you’re in, it’s essential to have your finger on the pulse of the market. At a minimum, an annual review of the competition (competitive analysis) is one of the most important methods you can use to gain direct insights into your customers’ and prospects’ world.
Most states are beginning to emerge from the COVID-19 shutdown. For many, it’s a relief to reopen, yet there are challenges that still lie ahead as companies and individuals learn to navigate this new normal. Whenever a major change occurs, whether it’s on a small scale or a global one like COVID-19, it’s the perfect opportunity to assess the relevancy and sustainability of a company’s vision and mission.
In business, we tend to obsess over the bottom line. As a result, we focus on strategies and tactics to improve skills, generate more revenue, expand marketing outreach, and boost performance and productivity. While those actions are vital to business success, what’s lacking is a discussion about how optimizing our values and the resulting ethical business practices contributes to success as well. The reality is these verbal and non-verbal cultural principles are important to employees, customers and other stakeholders.
The end of the year is a good time to look back on the last 12 months and contemplate strategies and priorities for the year ahead. But as we come to a close of this decade, it’s even more powerful to reflect on the last 10 years and evaluate the amazing ways in which business has changed. Let’s look at some of those shifts and see what implications there are for business growth as we enter the third decade of the 21st century.
It’s hard to believe that 2019 is rapidly coming to a close. While many of us are still busy in our quest to achieve our growth goals, it’s not too soon to look ahead and plan for next year. A good place to start is to research the industries that are projected to experience significant growth next year and see if any of them are a fit for your products and services. You might be surprised at what you discover.
Reputation management used to be a word-of-mouth strategy, but today’s digital marketplace takes reputation marketing to a whole new level. Users talk about your company and brand via numerous digital avenues, and balancing all of them can be a full-time job. A good reputation can seal the deal, while a single bad review can turn off potential leads.
If you search the word “mission” in Trade Press Service’s website search tool, you’ll find that the word appears in nearly every blog we’ve posted. That isn’t a coincidence. A company’s mission is one of the essential foundations of business success. Whether you’re a new entrepreneur in the business start-up phase or you’re polishing or rethinking your mission after years in business, we’ve compiled a short guide to help evaluate the strength of your mission statements.
