Davis Young: Getting through in a negative environment will challenge all your communication skills
Can you name a single aspect of business that doesn’t require communication? Of course not. Whether that communication is internal, external or both, nothing happens that doesn’t demand effective communication. If you want to win, it needs to be done well. That just makes common sense. What isn’t logical, is the environment in which businesses […]
Mark Scott: Why being bold is so much better than just playing it safe
It’s a scary feeling when you see great opportunity for your business but have serious doubts about your ability to capitalize on it. That’s precisely the situation Jim Beck, CEO of Nature’s Best, found himself in more than a decade ago. The distributor of vitamins and health and beauty aids had an outdated warehousing system […]
Mission: Akron: Making your worldwide debut
You have invented the next big thing, a breakthrough in the medical device, polymer, energy or tech industries. Now what? How will you reach customers? How will you manufacture it? How will you recruit talent? To whom will you go to get the funding you need to develop the business in its pre-revenue stages? The […]
Edmunds.com gives unlimited vacation, but employees treat it with discipline
If you work for Avi Steinlauf at Edmunds.com, you can take as much vacation as you want. It may seem like a slacker’s dream come true, but Steinlauf says employees have embraced the move with just the right mix of appreciation and discipline. “It’s something we piloted in 2011 with a few work teams and […]
Tuesday Musical Association uses education and events to promote the musical arts in Akron
The Tuesday Musical Association has been providing classical music concerts to the Akron community for more than 125 years. Its mantra, “Presenting the Finest,” is exactly what it does, according to Jarrod Hartzler, executive director of the association. “Most of the world’s most successful and acclaimed musicians have appeared on our concert stage. Annually, musical […]
National Interstate has built an enterprise capable of navigating market turbulence
Describing what has stayed the same during National Interstate’s first 25 years is easier than listing everything that’s changed, according to Dave Michelson, the company’s president and CEO. Today, National Interstate Corp. remains an underwriter of passenger transportation operators across the country. “But really almost everything else to some degree has changed,” Michelson says. National […]
Use old-school tactics to win new customers, build stronger relationships
In a world where fast-paced technology dominates everything we do, the amount of personal contact is decreasing, leaving many first impressions at the mercy of an email sent from a smartphone. But despite our reliance on technology, it’s important that we not lose the basics of our relationship skills. We need to hold ourselves to […]
Panelists at Perspectives '14: Women Who Excel Conference Thursday, April 10, 2014
Laura Bennett took on an uphill battle and co-founded Embrace Pet Insurance Thursday, April 10, 2014 Laura Bennett was trying to get her fledgling pet insurance business off the ground in 2005 when she had to confront the reality that the insurance industry was a male-dominated one. Bennett and co-founder Alex Krooglik were searching for […]
How Entrepreneur Of The Year™ winners from the Houston regional program are making their voice heard at the EOY national program
With 25 regional EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ programs, making the cut to become a finalist in one of the 11 national award categories is tough — you’re competing against more than 200 of the nation’s top entrepreneurs. So landing three national finalists and one national category winner is something worth talking about. Last year, […]
Kelly Borth: Smart SEO — How to optimize your website for search engines
If being online is a part of your business strategy, you need more than a quality, user-friendly website. You need smart SEO. When a person conducts an online search using words related to your business, SEO increases the likelihood that your website is listed at the top of the results. It allows you to reach […]