Small Business News

1. How 'business design thinking' can drive greater ROI

   Editor's note: Design thinking is a big idea throughout Silicon Valley. Hear from some its evangelists at a special event on Tuesday at the Four Seasons Silicon Valley in East Palo Alto, sponsored by Faegre Baker Daniels. Click here for more information and to get tickets. Much has been written lately about design thinking. For some, its description sounds like the “soft side” of business, meant for experiential learning, team-building and HR activities. But a growing body of evidence demonstrates…

2. City reveals $1 million campaign to promote ABQ nationally

   A little less than a year into a $1 million national marketing campaign to promote Albuquerque as a hub for entrepreneurship, the city wants the rest of the nation to know it can stand out here. "You can be heard in Albuquerque,” said Mayor Richard Berry during a lively reveal party Tuesday at the Keshet Center for the Arts. Glenn Pajarito, who is the creative director of Rough Draft NYC, said the campaign is mostly geared toward people who live outside of Albuquerque and don't know much about…

3. 5 workplace trends driving change in offices

   From implementing wellness and sustainability initiatives, to leveraging technology investments and the growing freelance economy, the priority list of issues that affect the workplace and workplace happiness is as important as it is long. The Staples Advantage Workplace Index, a study of office workers, identified several workplace trends employers and employees will implement and experience this year. According to Neil Ringel, executive vice president, Staples Advantage, North America, these trends…

4. Use downloadable content to add credibility to your product or service

   A common frustration among content marketers is seeing their well-crafted content ignored by sales reps. Depending on who you ask, the estimates for how much content goes unused by sales vary from 60 percent to 90 percent. So how do you get sales to get on board and leverage the content you’re producing? Many times, salespeople see the primary function of these pieces as lead-generation tools. However, by encouraging your team to use them as tools for cultivating relationships with current…

5. Consider a cap on operating expenses when negotiating leases

   Most business owners I know are really good at what they do. They are also usually great negotiators in their industries. But they aren’t always aware of the impact of negotiation when it comes to securing commercial real estate leases for their own businesses, including extensions and renewals. I can’t tell you how many times I see business owners sacrifice opportunities to significantly improve their lease terms and rates because they are not aware of everything up for negotiation. They…

6. Identify key resources to overcome challenges as a new manager

   New managers can face a number of challenges, whether they are first-time managers or just new to an organization. If you’re a first-time manager who has recently been promoted, you may find that you now struggle to balance your individual responsibilities with time spent overseeing staff. If you are suddenly supervising the team you were once a part of, the challenge might be creating new boundaries with former peers. Even if you are a veteran leader with years of management experience, navigating…

7. Your company holiday party: Some potential Phila. sites & what you need to know to plan

   The holiday season is a great time to celebrate and thank employees for all of their hard work. Before the festivities can begin, however, there's work to be done. If you are new to planning the company holiday party, or you are just looking for some new ideas, the Philadelphia Business Journal has a few suggestions for you. Check out the gallery below for some sites around Philadelphia that you may not have considered. This is interactive, so – if you know of a good locale for a company holiday…

8. Women to watch: Dayton’s most influential women of 2016

   Editor's note: The Bizwomen team is compiling a national ranking of women in business, the Bizwomen Women to Watch, which will highlight 100 powerful and influential women from around the country. The list will be unveiled in December. Until then, we will showcase our impressive pool of nominees, women who are changing the business world for the better. Read more about our ranking here . The list — compiled by the Dayton Business Journal — features women from a variety of industries, including…

9. Brush up your skills to re-enter the workforce

   Maybe your firstborn child came into the world. Perhaps you had to care for an aging parent. Or, quite possibly, you just packed it all up one day and decided to travel the world. Whatever the case, people leave the workforce every day for extended periods of time. Some never come back, but others decide they want to return or quite simply, financially-speaking, they need to return. When someone hasn’t held down a full-time job for a number of years and then decides to come back to work, doing…

10. Communication skills are the ultimate tie breaker in your career

    I’ve seen it hundreds of times over the last 20 years. A very confident and capable employee gets a promotion. And it makes sense on the surface. They’re smart. They have a ton of experience, and all the employees seem to like them. Then it happens: The new manager soon comes to realize that it’s no longer their personal performance that’s determining things like raises and glowing evaluations. It’s their ability to accomplish important things through others. Their old friends don’t…