There is rarely a linear path to entrepreneurship. Often, it is a series of twists and turns, ups and downs, that wind us through the business journey. That has surely been the case for Lori Christensen, owner of Rocky Mountain Brownies. Lori was sailing through a highly successful law career, when a series of life altering circumstances forced her to reconsider what she valued most and what kind of life she wanted to lead.
There is rarely a linear path to entrepreneurship. Often, it is a series of twists and turns, ups and downs, that wind us through the business journey. That has surely been the case for Lori Christensen, owner of Rocky Mountain Brownies. Lori was sailing through a highly successful law career, when a series of life altering circumstances forced her to reconsider what she valued most and what kind of life she wanted to lead.
Dan Willman and his wife, Jessica, are co-owners of Do Gooder Games Café, a hybrid games store with an inclusive community where patrons are invited to play games with others while enjoying their favorite beverages and snacks from the café. The store also features new and diverse offerings for customers to purchase games and supplies. To further build community and set themselves apart from similar enterprises, they champion a unique rewards program where customers not only earn points for dollars spent, but also for participating in events such as meetups, art shows, and more.
Owning a business can feel like a lonely experience, especially in the beginning. As a start-up entrepreneur you are usually the one responsible for everything and it is common to second guess yourself or lack confidence in your business decisions. Starting and operating a business is not for the faint of heart, but there are a few key partnerships that can help lighten the load. Keep reading for the top two relationships you need to develop to help you through the rollercoaster of business ownership.
A strong online presence is crucial to a business’s success, especially in our ever-increasing digital world reliant on technology. For many business owners, the skills needed to create and manage a professional website are daunting and ultimately a barrier to their business’s growth. To address the gap in digital skills, especially among minority business owners, the North Metro SBDC started a website program led by Diego Leyes, Bilingual Digital Marketing Specialist and Spanish Programs Outreach Consultant. The selected client for the first round of the website program was Jorge Torres, owner of JCS Cleaning Services.
A major barrier to entry for startup businesses is funding. While it is important to work through long-term, sustainable, funding strategies with a business consultant, there are some new grant and loan programs from the Office of Economic Development and International Trade to help startups become established. Read on to learn about two funding programs to see if they are the right fit for your business.
As a small business owner, you know how expensive employee turnover can be. Factor in the cost of marketing open positions along with your time spent creating job descriptions, recruiting, interviewing, hiring, onboarding new employees, etc. and you quickly see the price rising. But if employee performance issues are not dealt with, they can become all-consuming for you and for the rest of your employees as well. So, is it best to fire problematic employees or try to work though the issues? Keep reading for takeaways from Courtney Berg’s recent webinar, “Can’t I Just Fire Them” Best Practices for Managing Employee Performance.
Chances are that as a business owner, you are collecting some kind of information about your customers. Maybe it is their payment information when they make purchases on your website, maybe it is their address to deliver your product to, or maybe it is just their email address to add to your newsletter. Whatever it may be, as a business owner you need to be aware of the laws surrounding data collection and how they impact your business. What are the best practices to keep your business safe? Keep reading for information from Samantha Peaslee’s recent webinar session, Dealing with Data.
Meno is positioned as a meeting place of meaningful sustainability and appealing design. Jerri describes her motivation saying, “My goal is to not only do things differently but to actually show the industry a fresh business model and approach that can be profitable, all while being transparent for the customers.”
Workplace health and wellness can seem almost like buzz terms at this point, but rest assured, they matter tremendously. Rather than simply looking for the highest pay or best career opportunities, job candidates today are seeking workplaces that value their well-being. And at the same time, a true focus on employee wellness will help to define a company’s reputation today.
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Front Range Community College
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The Colorado Small Business Development Center Network (SBDC) is funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBDC Network is a partnership between the State of Colorado, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, the Small Business Administration (SBA), Colorado’s institutions of higher education, local economic development organizations and local chambers of commerce.
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