IS YOUR BUSINESS FOCUSED ON GROWTH? I recently conducted a survey among 350 businesses regarding their practices with the intended purpose of understanding challenges confronting them. While those surveyed were 80% plus small businesses–defined as less than $10 million in revenue–responses were received from medium to large organizations as well. When asked the most significant…

Entrepreneurship continues to play a critical role in Detroit’s economic revival and transformation. With recent emphasis and dollars flowing into the city focused on developing the small business ecosystem, it’s clear small business and the entrepreneurial spirit will have an integral part in Detroit’s future. In particular, minority-owned businesses are a critical driver in job…

Detroit is under the spotlight and the glare has never been more intense and brighter. Detroit entrepreneurs, Jeff Smith and Donald Levitt, Ph. D. are hoping to use the glare of the spotlight to show the positives of Detroit by developing Enterprising Detroit–a proposed Detroit Public Television (DPTV), one-hour documentary to tell the story focused…

Are you ready to launch your business and take it to another level? There is a program that can help you. The Blackstone LaunchPad–a program aimed at creating jobs in communities hardest hit by the financial meltdown. Blackstone built the Michigan program with the hopes it would become a national model for promoting entrepreneurship through…

Generally, people have good or great ideas. Whether it’s personally and/or professionally. However, how many times has an idea been developed, but not been properly executed? This happens more times than not. To this end, there are two stats that struck me recently: According to Entrepreneur.com, 27% of small businesses don’t have a strategic marketing…

I recently wrote a blog on creating a personal brand and its potential impact on generating business. We discussed the need to view yourself as a brand–specifically, understand your personal vision, mission and what you stand for. Additionally, I asked the following question: Would you ever buy yourself? The obvious answer is yes–however, the point of…

Detroit’s a great sports town. Many call it the best sports city in America. The passion for the Tigers, Lions, Red Wings and the Pistons is second to none. I believe, this stems from Detroit’s history as a hard-working, manufacturing city. One where the fans went straight from the auto factories to watching the teams…

I often get asked this question: “How do you develop and/or get your business?” I rely heavily on my network. The power of the network is a powerful tool. Many people in business are not comfortable with networking and don’t realize its impact on growing their business or identifying business development opportunities. First, let’s define…

Comcast is certainly a major player within the communications industry,  While it’s known primarily for its cable and media-related services, it is committed to assisting entrepreneurs take their business concepts to the next level by launching an initiative called the Project StartUp Entrepreneur Forum. In fact, Detroit is one of three cities to be involved…

Focusing on Change:  Rebranding the City of Pontiac I recently had the opportunity to attend the City of Pontiac’s business conference.  The day featured presentations from the Mayor, business leaders and comments from several entrepreneurs. I was fortunate to have been invited to be one of the speakers. The conference was focused on Pontiac and…