CEO, Owners

Ridgefield, NJ----In response to many audience queries on how to grow a company, Small Business Digest solicited contributions from executives and experts who themselves were charged with growing their enterprises.

More than 100 of their contributions are contained in a unique new book Recalculating, 97+ Experts On Driving Small Business Growth. It is available starting September 15^th where all good books are sold.

While four out of five start-ups fail within five years, successful entrepreneurs often have common traits or habits.

Our company, Information Strategies, Inc., recently asked more than 100 presidents, experts, and advisors to contribute to our new book, RECALCULATING.  Among the things we asked were their thoughts on what were the traits they found most common to their success.

The results surprised some when they heard them, but after reflection seem logical.

Among them were:

·         Passion and commitment

Although the summer season is one of the most common periods of time for small business employees to request vacation, the effects of such leave taking has become more of a year round problem in recent years.

Howard Tarnoff, Senior Vice President of Customer Success at Ceridian, says the failure to take time away from work has been shown to be detrimental on a person’s physical and mental health, it also impacts work performance and productivity.

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are constantly looking to new technology to create a workforce that is more productive, more efficient and more innovative. In recent years, new technologies like cloud computing and open source software have made even the most historically complex and costly systems once reserved for large enterprises more affordable for SMBs. Identifying technology solutions that enable true productivity, all while staying under budget, is a goal of all SMBs.

As he likes to say, Jason Lutz is the creator, founder, designer, and sole manager of the Vermont Cedar Chair Company.

He, built his company on an idea and a self-described passion for natural materials spawned by a charity mission to Jamaica.

In 2007, the summer after his fourth year of college at Ohio State University, Lutz had the opportunity to travel to Jamaica for charity work.

One in every four small business owner’s current primary concern is the impact of the upcoming presidential election, according to Capital One’s Spark Business Barometer.

Keri Gohman, Senior Vice President, Small Business Bank, Capital One said the Barometer also revealed that small business optimism dropped in Q1, and 41% of business owners believe conditions are good/excellent; compared to 50% during the same time in 2015.

It’s safe to say the majority of small business owners crave growth and expansion.

It’s typically associated with success, especially in the business world.

But growth can also create a number of challenges.

Oftentimes, businesses that experience success and development in the first few years are affected by stages of rapid change, which can alter the stability of the company. 

For much of the past 50 years small business, formation has been a bell weather of how the economy would behave over the next 12 months.

Today, some economists are striking a warning note.

Despite low financing rates and better tools for managing an enterprise, small business formation has slowed during the past six years.

In fact, there are 70,000 less small companies today than in 2010 according to John Schlagenhauf, a former congressional economic advisor.

Starting a business is one of the most thrilling endeavors but it can also be challenging as it is often hard to know what to do or how to start.

According to Leslie Barber, Small Business Engagement Officer, Intuit there are more resources than ever to help entrepreneurs get their start and making the process an easy one. Below are six tips to help any small business get up and running.

2016 is upon us even as the prior year is not finished.

While the presidential race and terrorists are important issues, SMBs face a number of critical factors in the New Year.

Among them are:

Ø      First and foremost is the belief by many SMB leaders that the economy is not strong.

Ø      Interest rates which may go above the negative rates of recent years.

Ø      Energy costs, which have shown a marked decline in recent months.

Ø      Inflation, which has not been a factor in recent years.