Business growth: Go long and short

“When you come to the fork in the road, take it,” said Yogi Berra, the famous New York Yankee baseball player of the 1960s. While many are lost on his words, in many respects, no truer words were spoken.... Read More

Business growth: Crossroads IN manufacturing

Indiana ranks first with the highest concentration of manufacturing employment in the country, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. As recently as this past October, the State had 2.04 times the national average. There were 2.73 million workers employed by Indiana manufacturers.... Read More

Business growth: Leadership qualities

“Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them," said John Maxwell. “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” Maxwell’s quotes are just a few of the qualities represented by leadership. How do your leadership qualities compare?... Read More

Grow your business: Jobs being replaced by AI

For centuries, jobs have evolved and devolved. From the Industrial Revolution to the age of computerization, artificial intelligence (AI) is now in the forefront of job replacement. In a recent study of five million job listings by Bloomberry, a labor trend publication, several job types will be replaced sooner than others.... Read More

Business growth: What’s your type?

Personality type that is. “Personality has power to uplift, power to depress, power to curse and power to bless,” Rotary International founder Paul Harris is known to have said. In so many ways, Harris articulated the many different personality types in a few succinct words.... Read More

Business growth: Convert expenses to revenue

While the thought of converting expenses to revenue seems counter intuitive, it is more than possible in the business climate of today. Many well known companies have already done it and more are in the process. Firms are turning expenses into revenue streams, irrespective of whether they are in manufacturing, services, or distribution.... Read More

Grow your business: Scalability

Taylor Swift is a recent example of achieving scalability. She made some very savvy, yet intentional, business decisions that took her to the top of the entertainment industry. Here is what she did and how she did it, in order to expand and grow her brand.... Read More

Business growth: Embrace automation

Up to 45% of the manufacturing workforce, 37% of retail workers, 25% of the workforce in hospitality, and 10% of the education workforce could be displaced by automation/artificial intelligence in the next six years, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.... Read More

Business growth: Build your sales model

“Features tell, benefits sell” is a very appropriate phrase in the sales and marketing cycle. One of the basic principles of business growth is to continually strive for improving your product or service. If you lose touch with your market as it changes, your customers will leave you behind.... Read More

Business growth: Intelligent failure

About thirty years ago, Eli Lilly and Co., the Indiana-based pharmaceutical company, was conducting clinical trials for a potential blockbuster drug called Alimta for treating lung cancer. The upside was one of huge potential for Lilly. The downside was one of losing millions in research dollars if the development of the drug was unsuccessful. Long story short, the drug failed at first, but Lilly scientists and management, true to their Indiana heritage, failed forward in a way which resulted in yet another blockbuster success for the company.... Read More