CT Entrepreneur Provides Tips for How to Start a Business

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CT Entrepreneur Provides Tips for How to Start a Business

October 03 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Entrepreneurial Insights 0 comments Tags: Connecticut business resources, entrepreneur, how to start a business, how to start a business CT, starting a business, starting a business CT

Ready to launch your business? Not sure where to begin? Connecticut inventor, entrepreneur, and angel investor Eric Knight provides a step-by-step guide.

Eric Knight received the Community Favorite Entrepreneur: Scalable Venture award at the 2018 CT Entrepreneur Awards.

Most ambitious entrepreneurs know the reality: Nine out of 10 startups fail. To increase odds of success, some fundamental steps must be done.

“Anyone can start a business,” says Eric. “My goal is to coach you to the highest likelihood of success.”

Eric has years of experience working with hundreds of startups—many of which don’t know where to begin. Innovation Destination Hartford asked him for some tips.

STEP 1: READ AND STRATEGIZE

Every entrepreneur needs to read The Lean Startup. “If you’re not willing to read this book, you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur,” emphasizes Eric. The book lays out key processes and strategies. You’ll learn that everything is customer-centric—and you’ll realize the importance of having the customer be actively engaged in the development of your product or service.

Eric also tells the entrepreneurs he advises to utilize a Business Model Canvas as opposed to business plan. “People get bogged down in the details they think belong in a business plan,” he notes. “With the Business Model Canvas, it’s one sheet of paper and nine boxes. Google it. It couldn’t be easier.”

Universal homework: Read The Lean Startup and complete a Business Model Canvas.

STEP 2: KNOW YOUR MARKET

As an aspiring entrepreneur, you really need to look at your market.

“For some reason, a lot of people skip this step. Everyone wants to start by building a website and getting a logo,” notes Eric. “But you can’t build a house before you have the blueprint. The key is to future-proof your business by building it right.”

Market research is critical. Find out if what you’re doing or hasn’t been done before.

“Make sure the market truly desires your product or service—and, more importantly, make sure they are willing to open their wallets and buy it,” Eric says. “Everyone may want what you’re offering, but will they pay for it? This question is fundamentally lacking,” he underscores.

“It’s important to bridge the gap—you need to make sure you have a product or service people want and will pay for. And then you need to make sure there is a large and sustainable margin so your business will thrive,” Eric explains.

STEP 3: CREATE A BRAND NAME

We live in a brand-centric society. It’s essential to know if your brand will resonate with people. The key to finding out? Brand brainstorming sessions.

Eric recommends brainstorming with people who understand your product or service. His plan of action involves pizza, beverages, and Post-its. He advises that you discuss the top three benefits of your product or service then ask everyone to spend an hour using the Post-its to free associate and jot down company names.

“Let everyone know no idea is a bad idea,” says Eric. “The goal is to fill the walls of the room with as many ideas as you can. In an hour, aim to have 1,000 names.”

His next step is to check off the group’s top 50 names and then check domain name availability. The requirements:

The URL must end with .com (not .org, .net, etc.)
Must be spelled how it sounds
No hyphen can be used in the spelling

Next, whittle down your list to 10 to 15 potential dot-com-available names and then talk to your target market to see what they like. You’ve established a potential brand and you can use the market to test it.

“One of the most important steps at this stage is having a lean philosophy of building a business,” says Eric. “Remember, the overall theme is to reduce the odds of your business failing.”

STEP 4: MAKE IT VIRTUALLY

If you’re creating a product, you may need to build a prototype or a sample people can experience. For example, if you’re building an app, make screenshots and display the app’s flow in a PowerPoint. If you’re creating a product, have a 3D rendering done.

“The key is to not to spend, but to validate and iterate what you’re doing,” emphasizes Eric. “Don’t spend money until you validate. Then use Lean Startup strategies to show your product to your target audience and get feedback.”

Again, the goal is to future-proof with no cost and the least amount of risk. When you’re starting out, you need to stay lean and no-cost for as long as possible. At this point, you’re using tools to test your product or service with your target market and refine it based on their feedback.

STEP 5: MAKE IT REAL

Once you’ve created and tested your prototype, the next steps include forming a company, creating a sample website, ad testing, and performing trials and demos of your product. You need to make it real.

Even if you’re a one-person enterprise (solopreneur), there are very real and important reasons to incorporate—particularly to help separate your business activities from your personal assets. The methods and strategies for doing such are beyond the scope of this article.

Seek a business attorney who specializes in the unique needs of startups. Start at one of the many business startup support organizations around Connecticut.

Some great resources include:

In addition, the MetroHartford Alliance provides a comprehensive Directory of Connecticut Accelerators, Incubators, and Co-Working Spaces.

Once you’ve done some research, you can take some steps toward developing your product or service.

If you’re providing a service, it can be tested easily with pop-ups. “You don’t have to sign a lease,” Eric explains. “For instance, if you’re thinking about opening a new pizza place, find somewhere that would love to sell your product but doesn’t have the facility. Then, you can test your pizza and split the revenue. The same concept goes for a car wash. Align yourself with someone who already has the space and you can test your business concept.”

If you’re creating a product, you will need to find a company to make your product in low-volume/small-scale production. You may need a software developer or, if you’re creating a physical product, you may need to collaborate with a manufacturer. Take advantage of the many 3D printing/additive manufacturing resources available here in Connecticut.

Useful resources include:

ACT 3D Equipment & Services — learn more in our feature story: Connecticut 3D Printing Supplier Talks Innovation, Technology & Collaboration
Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) Advanced Manufacturing Center
Stanley Black & Decker Advanced Manufacturing Center
Stanley+Techstars Additive Manufacturing Accelerator — Learn more about applying to the accelerator

A simple online search for “Connecticut additive manufacturing” or “Connecticut 3D printing” will bring up dozens of resources with manufacturing capabilities in plastic, metal, ceramic, and advanced materials. Many of these Connecticut resources will provide low-cost prototyping and small-run production.

At this point, you’re staying nimble. You’re still iterating, but you still haven’t spent much money.

Bear in mind that it may cost more to create low volumes of your product; however, you’re better off not making as much now—ensuring you don’t have inventory you can’t sell. The goal at this stage is breaking even.

STEP 6: SCALE

Once you know people are buying your product or service, you can scale to bring costs down. That will enable you to increase your margin.

Many manufacturers and software developers in Connecticut will be more than happy to help you scale your product offering.

The Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) is a great resource for discovering top-notch Connecticut manufacturers. This statewide trade association provides wide-ranging resources that assist Connecticut manufacturers in their business missions.

And of particular note for startups, the CTC helps companies find and connect with expert manufacturers, software developers, funding sources, and a variety of other professional development services. To streamline the connection process, the CTC provides a Member Directory Search tool.

The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) is another useful resource. Headquartered in East Hartford, CT, the nonprofit organization creates and implements innovative ideas for applied technologies, energy solutions, STEM education, career development and export and cyber compliance. CCAT also has an Advanced Manufacturing Center with state-of-the-art equipment. The team provides customized manufacturing solutions including prove-out prior to transitioning to production and on-site implementation support.

For service businesses, apply contemporary marketing techniques—particularly targeted online marketing—to rapidly ramp up your clientele. Search online for “Connecticut digital marketing agencies” for an excellent selection of firms—both large and small—that can help your business grow.

STEP 7: CONTINUOUS ITERATION

“Don’t rest on your laurels—even if you’re making money and growing,” warns Eric. “Smart companies are always listening. Be attuned to your market; it will give you ideas for new products and services to grow your business. The key is to listen.”

Paying attention to your market’s needs and continuously iterating will help you create ideas for new, profitable products and/or services. Continue to use the Lean Startup methodology to iterate and grow. Once you have a proven formula that works, keep at it. As Eric says, “Lather. Rinse. And repeat.”

About Eric Knight
Eric is President of Remarkable Technologies, Inc., a company he founded 24 years ago. Through the support of CTNext, he also serves as a mentor for many companies throughout the Greater Hartford region. Learn more about Eric and book an appointment with him.

About CTNext
CTNext, a subsidiary of Connecticut Innovations, is a Connecticut-based resource for entrepreneurial support. The goal of the program is to build a more robust community of entrepreneurs and to accelerate startup growth by providing access to talent, space, industry expertise, services, skill development, and capital to foster innovation and create jobs for people in Connecticut. CTNext launched in 2012 and has more than 1,500 members in its network.

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Making Yourself Known as a Startup

September 13 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Entrepreneurial Insights 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT, CT startup, entrepreneur, startup, startup tips, tips for startups

Checkmate was honored as "Murphy's Innovator of the Month" in August 2017. Founder Tom Nassr (right) accepted the award from Senator Chris Murphy.

How are you making yourself known? When you are starting out as an entrepreneur, sharing your name and idea with the world can be a good thing. There are advantages to marketing yourself, but there are some disadvantages as well. If you need help figuring out if making yourself known is a good idea for you, here are some of the things I’ve learned from building a startup.

Why Should You Make Yourself Known?

Telling people about your ideas does more than simply get your name out there. As you talk with others and introduce yourself, you will have the opportunity to make connections. Maybe the person you just met will know someone you should pitch your idea to next. They might know a network of people who could offer you advice and support or they could become your mentor or partner. If your venture doesn’t work out, you will still have accumulated relationships and established trust that can carry on to your next venture, even after a failure.

An early venture of mine was an app where users could post temporary tags on a shared map to discuss what was going on in their area. Before I even had a product, I openly shared my thoughts with a favorite professor of mine. The app I wanted to make had attributes, but a weak use case or purpose at the time. My philosophy professor realized the alignment my idea had with resources for refugees. Refugees were always spread out and could move or disappear at a moment’s notice, so we started thinking about how Kricket could be used to give refugees useful, real-time information.

Through my discussions with my professor, I was connected with the Nobel Summit for Peace Laureates. Although my product was not finished or ready to be used, my sharing it led to many more doors being opened for me in the humanitarian space and I made a lot of great connections with people I’m still in touch with today. None of this would have happened if I had kept my startup to myself until I felt it was the “right time” to share it with the world.

When Should You Make Yourself Known?

Although it would be nice to know the “right time” to start putting yourself out there, the reality is that there is no right time. Everyone wants to do things when they feel ready, but we are always thinking of what is happening in the future. It’s a lot like skydiving. You get up in the plane, you think about the drop, you become afraid and you don’t want to jump anymore. You forget that you have a parachute until the instructor jumps out with you and pulls the cord or you want to pull it before you’ve even jumped.

Although there is no right time (or even a wrong time) to start making yourself known, the best time is when you are just as ready to see your idea fail as you are to see it succeed. If you are too early, you risk appearing as if you are not committed to the idea. If you are too late, then you’ll likely have wasted time and missed valuable customer feedback. The “Goldilocks Zone” is when you have a sense of momentum in your endeavors. Even though failure is an option, the desire to try and the action to go through with your idea is further than most people go.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Aside from building up a network, there’s the opportunity to go to conferences or events related to your venture. You could find like-minded people who are just as passionate about your idea as you are or, most importantly, learn things that you didn’t know that you didn’t know.

That said, it may still be tempting to operate as a stealth startup, especially if you’re concerned that someone you share it with will steal it. However, the positives of getting your idea out there likely outweigh the risks. Aaron Patzer, founder of Mint and other ventures, promotes the idea of being as open as possible with your business. “Tell anyone and everyone your idea without fear they’re going to steal it,” Patzer said at a 2010 Future of Web Apps conference in Miami, pointing out that the chance of someone stealing your idea is very small while the benefits of receiving a lot of feedback early on are invaluable. This early feedback will let you address your market’s pain points before you start building your product, and you will be able to refine it to be more in line with your market’s needs as you build.

If you are still afraid of someone trying to take your idea for themselves, explore some provisional patents or use NDAs, or better yet, mutual NDAs. Doing so will give you some peace of mind while also giving you the freedom to discuss your idea with people who can help.

Getting your name out there is one way to build a startup, but it is not the only way. If you think it is a good idea for you, go to events, accelerators, maker spaces, etc., and introduce yourself to others. Start making connections, because you never know the potential of the person sitting next to you on a train, plane or at an event. The people who you meet will be the ones helping you along, and they will be the ones to decide if your idea is good enough to thrive. Yet it is on you, and only you, to take that first step out of the plane.

About the Author
Tom Nassr is CEO at Connecticut-based Checkmate Digital, which architects, designs, and engineers custom software products with startups. He is a member of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invitation-only, fee-based organization comprised of entrepreneurs aged 40 and younger. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year, and have created tens of thousands of jobs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program.

Interested in learning more about Tom and his entrepreneurial endeavors?

Read our interview: Connecticut Startup Helps Future Startups

Get more entrepreneurial tips from Tom in his Innovation Destination Hartford blog: Successfully Failing: What I Learned from Failing My First Startup

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CT Entrepreneur Releases New Book for Business Owners

September 07 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Entrepreneurial Insights 0 comments Tags: business development, business growth, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, startup

Anthony Price is Founder and CEO of LootScout and author of a new book, "Get the Loot and Run: Find Money for Your Business."

Connecticut entrepreneur Anthony Price, Founder and CEO of LootScout, has released a new book, Get the Loot and Run: Find Money for Your Business.

The book is written for every type of business owner—from those who are launching a startup to those who are operating billion-dollar businesses.

Get the Loot and Run can help business owners find capital from little-known grants, low-interest loans, government funding, and one-of-kind bank programs. Author Anthony Price has started several businesses on a modest budget and helped raised millions of dollars for businesses. In Get the Loot and Run, he shares his experience on the front lines of advising companies.

Read an excerpt from Chapter 1.

WHAT ARE YOU: ENTREPRENEUR OR SMALL-BUSINESS OWNER?

My universe was shaken to its foundation, like a building crumbling to the ground under the force of a 9.0 earthquake, after reading Ben Lamm’s guest column in Entrepreneur magazine: “Stop Calling Everyone an Entrepreneur—They Aren’t.”

I thought this was typical Silicon Valley propaganda, from a hotshot in a hoodie and jeans. But after my less-skeptical self emerged, I began to think there was merit to what Ben was espousing. Ben, the founder of several companies and CEO of a startup, believes that the “entrepreneur” label has become as ubiquitous as Nikes on NBA-wannabes. He says that a lot more people are qualiﬁed to manage a “Jamba Juice than take companies from inception, through market traction (paying customers), funding, growth and eventual IPO or exit.”

I full-heartedly agree. Ben comes from a world where solving big “hair-on-fire” problems and scaling a business as fast as possible are crucial to owning a market and attracting OPM: Other People’s Money. This business template requires a steady stream of capital to be pumped into the business as fuel, which most businesses don’t have. The money that your small business burns through is yours, or if you are lucky, your family’s, friend’s or the bank’s. In reality, a startup business has a limited amount of time to build a business with paying customers, or it will fail. Think of Chobani yogurt in your refrigerator—it’s expiration date is a constant reminder that it will not last forever.

The pressure comes from investors. When you play with OPM, investors are the house, they make the rules, and they want to make lots of money (10, 20, or 30x return or more) from a liquidity event (an exit from your business within ﬁve to seven years as a result of selling or going public). In Ben’s view, the mission is the domination of an industry from the playbooks of Facebook, Google and Amazon.

ENTREPRENEURS TAKE BIG RISKS

Entrepreneurs view problems from a unique perspective. George Bernard Shaw, the playwright, said, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” Entrepreneurs are the unreasonable men (and women), risk-takers, but not gamblers. To them, gambling is working at a job they don’t like, with no future for advancement, for a boss who doesn’t value them. Entrepreneurs are confident in their abilities to solve big problems, assemble a team and scale. They are a special group of people who believe in their vision, talent, version of reality and work ethic.

Blaze Pizza, a restaurant concept started five years ago with two stores in Southern California, plans to open 100 to 150 stores a year, starting in 2018. Blaze creates made-to-order pizzas in an assembly-line style, similar to Chipotle or Subway, and cooks pizzas in three minutes. Its cooking innovation is the “secret sauce” that opened the lunch-crowd market to pizza. Blaze makes its own dough, fresh, and from scratch. The company has attracted a lot of attention on its social media channels. LeBron James, the perennial NBA all-star, is a spokesperson and early investor in the company, choosing an equity deal over a multimillion-dollar deal from McDonald’s.

The biggest differentiator between an entrepreneur and a small-business owner is that the former wants to solve big problems, grow quickly and takes huge risks. Think Facebook, Google, and Tesla. Facebook has over two billion monthly users, and its mission is: “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.” Google is the most visited website on the Internet. Its mission is: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”6 Founded in 2003, Tesla Motor’s mission is: “To accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible.”

SMALL AND POWERFUL

A business consists of coordinated activities that deliver value to customers with the intent of generating a proﬁt to its owners. There are twenty-nine million small businesses in the U.S., which represent 99.9 percent of all businesses. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a small business as having fewer than 500 employees; organized for profit; has a place of business in the U.S.; operates primarily in the U.S.; is independently owned and operated, and is not dominant in its ﬁeld on a national basis.

Michael Gerber, the author of The E-Myth states, “There is a myth in this country—I call it the E-Myth—which says that small businesses are started by entrepreneurs risking capital to make a profit. This is simply not so.” Most small business owners make the misguided assumption that because they know the technical work of the business, they understand the business that does the technical work. These are two different things, just as being a home baker doesn’t make one competent to run a neighborhood bakery or a corporate chain of bakeries.

Small business owner does not equal entrepreneur. Gene Marks, a Forbes.com contributor and proud small business owner, said it best in his piece, “The Difference Between an Entrepreneur and a Small Business Owner”: “Entrepreneurs take risks.” Gene goes on to say that they take much bigger risks than business owners do. Marks’ dad was an entrepreneur in the mid-nineties who dreamed of delivering his proprietary bookkeeping software to the world. At the time, Gene and his dad were both certiﬁed public accountants (CPAs), who took on Intuit’s QuickBooks and the Year 2000 bug. Unfortunately, they lost.

Gene is not afraid to say he is a small-business owner. He likes stability and is satisfied with knowing what the future holds. Gene says that in contrast, entrepreneurs are never satisﬁed with the status quo. The typical pizza store owner is content making a good living with one store.

Compare Ben Lamm’s vision of a startup business on steroids with how most small businesses start. Look at your favorite small business. For example, the guy (Jim) who owns the automobile repair garage down the street probably started because he either worked in the family business or got tired of working for someone else. Jim doesn’t have a grand vision to be as ubiquitous as Pep Boys. Sure, he wants to make money, but the love of his craft, freedom from a boss, quality of life, and a sense that he can shape his destiny are all reasons that usually motivate someone to start or buy a business.

JUST DO IT

Customers determine winners in business. But a decisive factor for your future success comes down to how you answer this question: Will you be an entrepreneur or a small-business owner? Entrepreneurs take big risks to create something new, while small-business owners provide goods and services that the market needs right now. Each has its own value.

Life as a small-business owner is appealing. There’s no disputing its impact on the American psyche. In our winner-take-all society, we need balance between big-risk takers and steady small businesses. Ben states, “Entrepreneurs, at their core, are rare, transformative and risky. They are going to propel the society forward with big leaps of creative disruption. Small-business owners give us a stable base that de-risks the moonshots and protects us from the fallout of failures.” Our economy needs both the entrepreneur and the small-business owner.

To succeed in business, you have to know whether you’re playing as an entrepreneur who is ready to change the game, the industry, the world, or as a small-business owner seeking to make an impact on a smaller scale. If you’re trying to change the game, put on a pair of Shaquille O’Neal’s size 22, because that’s what changing the game feels like. Your choice whether to be an entrepreneur or small-business owner will affect how you start, fund, manage, and grow your business.

TAKEAWAY: Decide what you will be. Choose one.

For more from Anthony Price, read the IDH blog:

Innovation Is the One More Thing Part 1
Innovation Is the One More Thing Part 2

Purchase the book:

Get the Loot and Run: Find Money for Your Business

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CT CEO Shares Updates About Growing Tech Company

August 29 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Entrepreneurial Insights, Tech, Where Are They Now? 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT, small business growth, small businesses, tech company, technology

Control Station President and CEO Dennis Nash on a recent trip to one of the company’s software clients, Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Boston, MA.

Where Are They Now? Follow Up with Control Station President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Nash

Innovation Destination Hartford met with Control Station, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Nash in December 2015. (Read the interview: Connecticut Technology Company Success—Control Station, Inc.) At that time, the company had recently moved to a new facility in Manchester, CT, having outgrown the venture incubation space within Nerac—a global research and advisory firm located in Tolland, CT.

IDH Website Curator Nan Price recently caught up with Dennis. He shared what the company has been doing since 2015 to grow and to help manufacturers improve production efficiency.

NAN PRICE: Tell us what’s new?

DENNIS NASH: When we spoke three years ago, Control Station had just moved to a new office space. Today, we’re the same rapidly growing tech company, but we now have 12 full-time employees, a joint venture in Ireland, and customers located in nearly 60 countries.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) even recognized us as the 2018 Exporter of the Year for the state of Connecticut. Those are all great developments and signs that we’re gaining momentum as well as gaining recognition.

NAN: Has the company experienced any major pivots since we featured your story?

DENNIS: We’re actually in the midst of pivoting from a software-only business to a technology-based solutions company. If you think back to 2015, we’d just established our PlantESP product as the company’s “growth engine” and we were determining the best way to package services with the software. At the time, we were unsure of the particular service offerings customers would want. But even then we knew that clients would benefit from a more hands-on approach.

It may not be as obvious here in the Greater Hartford area, but there’s been meaningful growth in the manufacturing market’s demand for production monitoring and diagnostic solutions. Manufacturers are increasingly looking for ways to do more with less—and that includes contracting for technologies like PlantESP as well as for value-added services.

Even though PlantESP can single out a plant’s “bad actors,” not every manufacturer has the engineering resources needed to do the analysis and determine the right corrective measures. Our service offerings enable customers to realize greater value from the PlantESP software. That’s the services niche we’ve targeted and its paying dividends.

Another interesting industry trend we’re watching is the steady shift of analytics technologies and services to the cloud. That may be the next pivot for us as PlantESP was recently redesigned to support delivery via the cloud. Only a small portion of the services we provide today are performed remotely. In a way, those engagements are helping us solidify the business case for a more comprehensive cloud-based offering.

NAN: How are you continuing to build your customer base?

DENNIS: It’s easier to grow existing accounts than it is to win over new ones—that’s one I’m sure you’ve heard before. So, we try to foster a culture of responsiveness and innovation, which seems to resonate with our customers. It’s not uncommon for me to get an email from someone praising one of our engineers for going above and beyond. I love hearing when the team goes the extra mile, makes an impact, and helps a customer to be successful. That’s what keeps customers asking for more—and it’s what seems to be driving our referral sales.

Responsiveness is key too. It’s kind of funny how easy someone’s expectations are exceeded simply by acknowledging their issue. Years ago, we automated our trouble ticket system so acknowledgements are instantaneous. What’s more, we’re responding to inbound support calls in under an hour. Considering that the industry standard is six hours or more, we’re way ahead of the game.

In terms of innovation, we see each customer interaction as an opportunity. That’s a bit cliché, and not every call or meeting unearths a new product breakthrough. Most support calls are pretty simple and it’s just a matter of helping the customer activate a software license.

But sometimes we get that unexpected surprise where a customer shares details about how they’re using our software—or more specifically how they’re trying to use it—and it’s an “ah ha” moment.

Our sales team is far more sophisticated now, too. They’re proactively hosting annual review meetings with our biggest accounts and our biggest users with the goal of learning “what’s next.” When you can stay in sync with your customers and address their needs that’s bound to keep them happy. It’s no surprise that what one customer views as valuable is usually valuable to others. And just like that, we’re able to keep the virtuous cycle going round and round!

NAN: In what ways do you connect with other entrepreneurs?

DENNIS: Even these many years in, there’s still a lot to learn. Control Station clearly isn’t a startup anymore, but we’re not on a glide path to success either. I’m just at a different phase with the business and focused on different challenges.

The Control Station team at a recent offsite event at Pine & Iron Axe Throwing in Hartford, CT.

At the start, I was laser focused on closing the next sale. Today, I spend more time on researching 401K programs and recruiting. Fortunately, I’ve cultivated a solid group of contacts over the years—other small business CEOs, venture guys, and serial entrepreneurs—people who I trust. It’s hard to know when I’ll need input, let alone on what topic. It’s nice having people who are dealing with similar challenges. It’s even better when they’ve got the answers.

I try to meet up with at least one of my contacts each month to get their take on trends, best-practices, and whatever challenges they might be facing. Over the years, I’ve gotten timely input on things as seemingly simple as sick days and vacation policy. Trust me, that stuff can keep you up at night when you’re getting started and constantly worrying about cash flow. You can’t underestimate the value of personal experience. What worked? What didn’t? Why? That’s information you can’t always get from Audible.

I also meet quarterly with the CEO of another automation company with similar revenues and a similar headcount, but he’s in hardware versus me being in software.

Our meetings focus on three things: A general update, performance against the last quarter goals, and plans for the next quarter. We’ve been meeting for several years now, so we understand each other’s business and management styles. More importantly, we’re at a point where we’re expected to hold each other accountable. It’s like having another board of directors.

NAN: What’s next for Control Station?

DENNIS: Fortunately, we’re on a nice growth trajectory. Even so, we’re looking at ways we can accelerate growth and extend our capabilities while maintaining the company’s core culture and values. We’re considering organic as well as inorganic ways of taking Control Station to the next level. Our joint venture in Ireland is one example of how we might look to expand in the future.

A key to growth will be continuing our investments in product innovation. We’re lucky to have some brilliant engineers on the team and many great ideas on our product roadmap.

It’s good being so close to the University of Connecticut too, as the school has been a major source of brainpower. Last time I checked, four out of five of our employees received at least one degree from UConn. We also recently engaged the university on a research project that could unlock new value for our customers. Hopefully that’ll lead to more sales so we can hire more UConn graduates so we can grow sales and so on and so on.

I also think it’s good to be located near a hotbed of innovative thinking and research. Hartford is becoming a magnet of sorts for entrepreneurs. There’s more and more buzz, especially in the FinTech arena.

Seven Stars, the new blockchain company that’s relocating from New York to West Hartford is just one example. All the buzz helps, as it’s making it easier to recruit. It seems as though college graduates aren’t just racing off to Boston or New York immediately after commencement. Hartford is becoming more of a draw for them. Now that we’re getting a professional soccer team, I imagine the sky is the limit!

NAN: Where do you see the entrepreneurial landscape heading in Connecticut?

DENNIS: Hartford seems to be making a steady transition from its old identity as the insurance capitol to a hub for innovators. I referenced Seven Stars when I mentioned FinTech. If that transition goes according to plan, I imagine it’ll serve as an anchor for other like-minded startups—whether in FinTech or another high-tech arena. The region would definitely benefit from an injection of youth and innovation. And where there is a critical mass of talent, I have to believe that Control Station will thrive.

Learn more about Control Station, Inc.

VISIT: controlstation.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube

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Entrepreneur Runs Successful Hartford-Based Tech Company

August 20 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Entrepreneurial Insights, Where Are They Now? 0 comments Tags: business success, Connecticut, CT, entrepreneur, Hartford, tech

Tech to Us provides managed IT services for businesses and remote home technical support services for home users. The company has been located in the Hartford Trust Building since it launched in 2010. In April 2018, Tech to Us expanded its offices.

Innovation Destination Hartford Website Curator Nan Price spoke with Tech to Us Founder & CEO Guy Citarella about the company’s evolution and future plans.

NAN PRICE: Have you always been entrepreneurial?

GUY CITARELLA: I’ve always wanted to start my own business. My business interest began when I was a kid. My family on my dad’s side owns businesses, so I was exposed to it at a young age. My goal was to eventually start my own company and at some point, I just decided to go for it.

NAN: Was Tech to Us your first startup?

GUY: Yes, I had done some freelancing on the side prior to launching Tech to Us, but this is my first startup of any major consequence.

NAN: When you were first starting out, was it just you?

GUY: It was me and one other person, a close friend, who was an employee. I was intentional about not having a partner. I’m 100% owner of the company.

That’s what I would recommend for any founder who’s looking to start up: If you lack a certain skillset that you absolutely need to have, then bringing someone on may be fine for you. If not, then keep full ownership. For me, keeping 100% ownership means at least I have some value for my time and all my investment in the company.

NAN: What were the biggest challenges you faced as you were starting up?

GUY: Two major things that always come to mind are marketing and finding good quality people especially on a startup budget.

Hiring is especially challenging when you’re just starting up. Now we’re finally able to pay more for quality talent. But during the startup days, the first couple of years were hard. And, when you’re running a service-based business you need people to execute your service. You’re not just selling or shipping a product or working in a warehouse, you’re customer-facing. You need high-quality people for these interactions. So, it’s always a challenge to find qualified people.

And then the other thing would be marketing, which is always a challenge. Everyone goes into business thinking: My service is great. I’ll just do this, this, and this. And then the customers don’t show up. They don’t just come knocking at your door. You have to go get them and find them in reasonable numbers, which isn’t always easy.

Finding quality people and marketing are still challenges to this day, in different ways.

NAN: Tech to Us is now in its eighth year. Tell us how the company has evolved.

GUY: We started with Tech to Us doing direct-to-consumer, remote technical support —home users. We still do that today

Also, the company was originally doing a lot of call center services for a mixture of customer care and tech support. We eventually eliminated any of the customer care services and focused on just providing technical services. Just over a year ago, we began providing managed IT services for businesses in addition to direct-to-consumer technical support. It was part of the reason for our expansion.

NAN: Was that based on customer need?

GUY: Yes. I think the future of our business—where we have the biggest growth potential—is based on our managed IT services. We have a tremendous opportunity to service businesses locally and nationally. Not that we’re getting away from our home user services—they’re currently still a very large part of our business, so we’re not moving away from that. But we have expanded in managed services and we already have many clients.

NAN: Speaking of customers, how have you been building your customer base?

GUY: Since we’ve been around for eight years, we get referral business and people who have used us in the past continue using our services. We also do web marketing. Obviously, the internet is a big draw for this industry—people searching for tech-support. For businesses, we do regular campaigns with cold calling and cold emailing. We also get a good amount of inbound leads from our website.

With marketing, the toughest challenge is balancing the cost of marketing with the return on investment. That’s also why we’re going more local for our B2B managed services. There’s a better value proposition of being able to go to a client’s site and meet to face to face and provide our IT expertise in person.

NAN: Do you have a specific target market?

GUY: For our home users, it’s really anyone. But our demographic is 90% are 55 or older. On the B2B side, we target smaller companies usually with 10 to 100 employees. We provide services across multiple verticals—pretty much any vertical with more than 10 employees needs IT support.

NAN: Let’s talk about the expansion. How many employees do you have now?

GUY: We recently hired a couple sales representatives for business development, so we now have 15 employees, which is a good size for us. We may expand and add more technical staff as the year goes on.

NAN: How did you choose the business location? Why Hartford?

GUY: In terms of choosing the Hartford area as our location, it was just a matter of luck in terms of an office space that fit our needs in our budget at the time. We’ve been in the same building ever since, even though the building changed ownership this past year. The location has worked out well for us.

We’ve been here for eight years and it was a good choice. I wouldn’t change anything. I personally love Hartford. I moved downtown two years ago, so I get to walk to work every day. Hartford is a good, centrally located city where it’s affordable to do business. It provides those extra city resources and pulls in a wide area of people, so you can be downtown without having the high expense.

The city is up-and-coming. Hence why I moved here. I see a lot of potential here in Hartford—it’s obviously grown a lot over the past several years. You can see the difference.

NAN: Tell us something we don’t really know about what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur. Anything that surprised you?

GUY: As an entrepreneur, you have to realize that the rest of the world doesn’t operate like Silicon Valley. Venture capitalists aren’t going to come knocking on your door dropping millions of dollars.

Tech to Us is a bootstrapped company from the ground up, built with my own money. Being an entrepreneur is tough financially, especially at first—and, to be frank, ongoing as well. Every year, every month, it’s always looking at how much money we are bringing in versus how much money is going out.

I thought it would be much easier after a few years, but that challenge always exists, even as you’re growing the business. Because as you grow, you need to put more money into the business to grow by hiring or by investing in another technology. So, there’s always that feeling that you’re behind the curve. You’re always trying to catch up to your spending and your revenue. And, until you get that big boom, it’s difficult to maintain.

NAN: Any advice for other entrepreneurs?

GUY: The number one thing is: You think it’s going to come faster or you can get more business sooner. But it takes time and patience and it takes good money management.

For someone starting up a business, they say you should have at least six months of living expenses in the bank before you launch. I would say at least double that just to play it safe, because for about the first year of this company I wasn’t really making anything myself. I was living on what I had and what I could afford to pay myself, but it wasn’t much.

NAN: What’s next for Tech to Us?

GUY: Our goal is to grow our B2B managed IT services. That’s our big focus. Not that everything else is less valuable to us, but we got that figured out and we’re doing well with it.

Our next phase as we continue to grow will be eventually adding even more higher-level technicians to help us handle our increased number of projects. We’re seeing continued growth in our managed IT services that would definitely cause us to need such qualified people.

Our local presence as a full managed IT services firm is proving to be in demand as we service businesses in Connecticut and the surrounding states.

Learn more about Tech to Us

VISIT: www.techtous.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | Twitter

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Entrepreneurship and Innovation Thriving in Northeast Connecticut

July 26 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Entrepreneurial Insights 0 comments Tags: business owner, Connecticut, Connecticut tech startups, CT, CTNext, entrepreneurship, incubator, innovation, Innovation Place, Kevin Bouley, Nerac, UConn, UConn TIP

"I see significant and impactful connections being made here in Connecticut," says Nerac President Kevin Bouley.

Nerac President Kevin Bouley provided an update about entrepreneurial and innovative activities in the northeastern part of Connecticut since his last interview with Innovation Destination Hartford in September 2015.

NERAC BECOMES A CTNEXT PARTNER

Given the role I play fostering entrepreneurial and innovative activities—techpreneurship—particularly at the University of Connecticut, I was encouraged to submit an application to become a CTNext partner.

CTNext reviewed the application favorably, and has recognized Nerac as a CTNext partner. The value is in an expansion of the Nerac Venture Incubator serving the northeast region of Connecticut, with an emphasis on UConn. This enables increased levels of engagement, support, mentoring, and assistance for the community of tech startups.

XCELLR8

Another focus of my efforts has been enhancing the XCellR8 programming—in both reach and frequency. The CTNext Partnership allows us to bring in the assistance of Dr. Ripi Singh, President and Innovator of Plus4pi, with Inspiring Next.

It was important that we expand the XCellR8 venue from being physically tied to the Nerac building and evaluate whether the XCellR8 sessions could be equally effective if held on campus, at the Graduate Business Learning Center in Hartford, or at the Innovation Partnership Building on campus.

In November 2017, the very first XCellR8 session was held at the NextGen Residence Hall (now the Peter J. Werth Residential Tower) on the UConn Storrs campus. The location is of significance, because it houses students who have a specific interest in innovation-related activities and are involved in one of eight Living & Learning Communities:

EcoHouse
Engineering House
Eurotech House
Innovation House
Honors to Opportunities (H2O) House
Public Health House
ScHOLA²RS House (Scholastic House of Leaders in Support of African American Researchers & Scholars)
WiMSE (Women in Math, Science, & Engineering)

By bringing XCellR8 to UConn, we can more readily interact with the learning communities. And, depending upon the nature of the presentation or the subject matter being covered at that session, the learning communities may have an interest in sponsoring or becoming more directly engaged in that particular XCellR8 session.

The hope is that exposing freshman and sophomores to this kind of programming will stimulate their interests in any number of the different entrepreneur- and innovation-related programming currently taking place at UConn and give them an opportunity to think proactively about their own ideas.

These students might submit for an idea grant. They might apply to become part of Accelerate UConn or the National Science Foundation Core program. They might apply to the Summer Fellowship program at the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI). They might apply to Innovation Quest (IQ). There are many opportunities for them to become involved.

The strong brand and reputation of XCellR8 is drawing interest from a number of different areas. We have now startups from the UConn Technology Incubation Program (TIP) and reSET that are being referred to XCellR8 for further advancement, refinement, and development.

Companies participating in formal programs at UConn—whether it’s the Wolff New Venture Competition, the IQ Competition, or HackUConn—are now aware of XCellR8 as a vehicle that can be used to prepare and polish presentations prior to the competition.

The facilitation of these discussions—with companies very early in their development and in the subsequent stages of development and growth—has proved to be highly effective. So, the elevated skillset within the XcellR8 network is now helping a whole host of entrepreneurs and their ventures advance from one stage to next, and to the next, and to the next. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and we’re already working on a program schedule for fall 2018 and spring 2019.

EMERGING PARTNERS

Other partners are beginning to emerge from within our entrepreneurial ecosystem. Arrow Electronics, a large multinational electronics equipment provider out of Wallingford, has been a stalwart supporter of XCellR8 for many years. Arrow, which looks to advance technology-based ventures, has a partnership agreement with Indiegogo, a crowdfunding site for early-stage innovations in tech and design.

Arrow is a conduit through which ventures may be qualified to submit to Indiegogo. It’s in Arrow’s best interests, because the company can build value in the customer supply chain.

It’s very interesting to look at Arrow as a prospective early-stage venture investor—a super angel—for these types of emerging companies.

Exciting developments are also taking place in Stamford with UConn’s Stamford campus now having on-campus housing. The number of students interested in attending UConn at the Stamford campus has mushroomed, giving credence to the idea that a FinTech lab could thrive there.

POSITIVE CONNECTIONS

I see significant and impactful connections being made here in Connecticut—Upward Hartford, the Innovation Place Hartford/East Hartford, the build out of the University of Connecticut Graduate Business Learning Center in downtown Hartford, the growing InsurTech and FinTech activity. Pieces are now emerging in the Connecticut landscape that provide an increasing level of early-venture development and innovation-supported techpreneurship in a very positive way.

Learn more about Kevin Bouley and Nerac

READ: Entrepreneur at Heart Creates Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Connecticut
VISIT: www.nerac.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | Twitter

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Entrepreneurial Insights: Building and Rebuilding Your Business

July 17 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Entrepreneurial Insights 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, West Hartford, women entrepreneurs, women-owned business

Lorey Cavanaugh is Owner of West Hartford, CT-based Kitchen & Bath Design + Construction (KBDC).

West Hartford entrepreneur Lorey Cavanaugh is Owner of Kitchen & Bath Design + Construction (KBDC), a woman-owned, full-service design/build firm that’s been doing business in central Connecticut for more than 25 years.

Innovation Destination Hartford Website Curator Nan Price spoke with Lorey about her entrepreneurial story, lessons learned, and best advice.

NAN PRICE: Let’s talk about the concept of being a business owner and knowing your skillset—that’s been integral to your success.

LOREY CAVANAUGH: My experience has been, if you don’t have a particular skill you need to hire for that early on. When I was a one-person company, I hired an accountant to work with me one day a week. I knew I was strong in sales and design and that I was not going to be the person doing the accounting, payroll and taxes. I probably could have taught myself how to do those things, but it didn’t seem the right place to focus my energy.

NAN: It’s interesting that you had the awareness to know that starting out.

LOREY: Truly, as a business owner, one of the things that has been very clear to me is you should spend your time doing the things you do really well, and you hire people to fill in the blanks.

I probably could have done the accounting, but I needed to be out doing what I do well to generate an income for the business.

I’ve had that same approach in terms of marketing—I’ve always hired people to assist me in the marketing process. I don’t design my own ads or do any of that, but I’m involved, and I have a say in it.

For me, it’s always been better to hire an expert, pay them what they charge to do their work, and then focus on the things I know I do well. I think that has been a secret to my success. Knowing what I don’t know and hiring for that—and not being afraid to ask for help.

>NAN: You launched your first business in 1990. Tell us a little about your entrepreneurial evolution.

LOREY: I unintentionally ended up in design school at the University of Connecticut. I went as an English major. At that time, nobody was getting teaching jobs, so I thought: I need a different career. I got hooked into the design department. I minored in business administration because I thought I would probably need some business background for whatever I would do. That decision has served me well.

My degree is in commercial interiors. I spent 10 years doing corporate spaces—insurance companies, doctors’ offices, that kind of thing. It wasn’t my niche; however, it gave me terrific training in space planning, which has been beneficial for what I’m doing now.

My mom was an entrepreneur, which was very innovative in the 1950s. She was a caterer, so I was exposed to food and entertaining early on. I thought maybe kitchen design would be more in my realm.

I became a certified kitchen designer and certified bathroom designer while working for a company in West Hartford. The owner became my mentor in the business. He closed the company at the end of 1989 as the result of an economic climate very similar to “The Great Recession.”

When I worked there, a lot of people approached me about hiring me independently. I thought: Here’s an opportunity, he closed his business, I’m unemployed. What can I do next?

I opened my company, Kitchen and Bath Design Consultants, in 1990. It was a home-based business. My intention was simply supplying design services and consulting specifically around kitchens and baths.

After multiple people told me they needed me to do more than a design, I thought: Maybe there’s a business opportunity here?

Kitchen & Bath Design + Construction (KBDC) added European flair and used bold colors for a Hartford kitchen renovation.

I moved the business into West Hartford Center in 1998. At that time, I changed the name of the business to Kitchen & Bath Design + Construction to better reflect what we were offering. It was just me, folding tables, and cardboard boxes—I had more guts than brains at that point! I had a business model I had borrowed from my mentor; I would do a design/build construction model.

Slowly, I started hiring people and developing the concept. I ended up with three stores, 23 people, and five vehicles on the road. It was a big business. From 1998 to 2008, I achieved exactly what I had hoped I would achieve.

When the economy tanked in 2008, I lost most of it and lost all my personal savings. I closed two out of three of the operations. I moved to this space on Sedgwick Road in West Hartford, dropped 20 people, and sold my vehicles, real estate, displays, etc.

NAN: What did you do?

LOREY: I phoned a friend of mine, another woman business owner who I respected tremendously, and asked for help. She told I needed to sell everything and quickly and dramatically downsize, because otherwise I wouldn’t survive.

I had spent 10 years building this business to what I wanted it to be and I had to pull the plug on the whole thing in order to survive. And I listened to her. When somebody you respect gives you advice, your responsibility is to put it into action.

So, I did that. I consulted with a business attorney and followed their directions. It was a pretty crazy time.

I’ve spent the next 10 years rebuilding the business. And you know what? That’s a really important part of the story—being near bankruptcy and figuring out how to deal with that.

I had multiple subcontractors, vendors, and home owners I owed “stuff” to—most of it money—and I had no money. What do you do next? You can’t just file bankruptcy and say: Sorry, the economy was bad and I lost everything so you are going to suffer too.

After getting some guidance and doing plenty of soul searching, I decided I was going to liquidate my assets, put everything into the business, and see if I could bring it back around. I had spent 10 years building it successfully and I decided: I’ve got at least another 10 years (hopefully). Let’s go for it and see if I can do it again.

We managed to deliver everything we promised to the clients we had under contract. I was able to make myself whole with all the subcontractors and vendors. Think about it: If I were to file bankruptcy in construction, at the residential level, who would give me money for deposits on future projects? I knew I needed to stay whole in that regard.

So, I liquidated everything, downsized like crazy, continued the same business model, and slowly built the business up to what it is today. And it’s different. It’s smaller. It’s more focused. I’m back into designing, selling, and customer contact.

That’s the thing I really do best, designing and selling. I’m mentoring and supporting and doing all the things a business owner does, but a big part of what I do now is customer contact. And I love it.

NAN: What lessons learned!

LOREY: Tons. And I believe it all had to happen exactly the way it did.

NAN: Does being in Connecticut play an important role in your company? Are all your clients based here?

LOREY: That’s a great question. I’m from Connecticut and went to school in Connecticut. I decided we would work within a 30-mile radius. It’s what we can service best. We’re very hands on; we are designing and then building, so we’re supervising all the labor. To do that effectively, we really can’t go much beyond 30 miles.

That said, I have travelled further, but it’s not our core business. I’ve done some teaching and consulting nationally and I see that may be in my future as well.

NAN: How are you finding your clients and marketing?

LOREY: From a marketing standpoint, historically, our biggest and best source of business has been referrals and repeat customers.

I’m currently in the process of revisiting marketing. I’ve been in my business a long time and marketing has changed dramatically. We’re really taking a deep dive into social media, trying to figure out what that means for the company, and measuring that.

My marketing and administrative manager is spearheading this effort. She’s going to be taking multiple social media classes through the University of Hartford Entrepreneurial Center. She’s been doing social media, and she will now do it better. We found out about the class through the Innovation Destination Hartford website.

NAN: That’s fantastic!

LOREY: Yes! The resources Innovation Destination Hartford provides—business owners all have to go searching for them, I’m glad I found them offered conveniently in one place.

I also do some print advertising for the arts, which kind of kills two birds with one stone. Those are our clients. For example, the people who are supporting the Hartford Stage are definitely my demographic. And the arts are struggling in terms of finances. So, if I place ads and act as a sponsor for arts organizations, I get something good out of it and I feel like I’m doing something good. I try to give back where we can, for example we offer complimentary consultations at auctions for charitable organizations.

I’m still trying to figure out the marketing piece. Every year I look at: What’s working? What’s not working? How can we change it up? What’s a better thing to do?

That’s one of the things I love about being a business owner, you can keep it fresh if you have that mindset. If you figure out what’s working and what you can do differently you can go at it and try it.

NAN: It’s being innovative!

LOREY: Right. And being open to change.

What happened in 2008 was the scariest thing I ever went through! I learned that you’ve got to keep your head up and put one foot in front of the other. If you keep making the next right decision, there is a plan, it’s going to unfold, and you’re going to be okay. I guess that’s how I approach the business.

The first quarter of the year we experienced a bit of a lull and it brought back what happened in 2008. Back then I felt like: What is going on?! We went from hugely successful to nothing. When things slowed up, I started to think: Oh no! It’s happening all over again! I have to tell myself: Lorey, just chill! Breathe and keep going.

Every day I come to work—I may not be working with clients, some days I’m working on marketing or working on training my staff. I just keep showing up and we’ll see what happens. I don’t know what it’s going to look like in a month or a year from now. Who knows? But I go to work every day, have fun, do the I best can, and they tell me more shall be revealed!

Learn more about Kitchen & Bath Design + Construction

VISIT: www.kb-dc.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | Instagram

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Keeping Your Word Is Critical to Business Success

July 03 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Entrepreneurial Insights 0 comments Tags: business owners, business success, Connecticut entrepreneur, entrepreneurial insight, tips for business owners

Always Do What You Say You’re Going to Do

Michael Keiser is Co-Founder of The Entrepreneur Circle and BKV Solutions.

It sounds so simple, right? But how often do we not keep our word?

I recently had an eye-opening interaction with a new LinkedIn connection. We had agreed to meet for coffee and she cancelled a half hour before our appointment, saying she was in a client meeting that may run long.

I told her there was no need to reschedule our meeting and emphasized that cancelling an appointment 30 minutes prior, after I had booked that time out of my schedule, was in poor taste and showed a lack of respect for my time.

She responded by saying running a business is her main focus, therefore meeting clients and making money were more important than keeping an appointment with me.

I explained to her that the key to creating a successful business is doing what you say you’re going to do, all the time, even if you see that thing as small or insignificant. And I told her that a business owner’s most precious commodity is time. When you don’t show respect for someone’s time, they won’t want a relationship with you.

She ended up disconnecting with me. By being so dismissive, she’ll never know who I could have introduced her to and the profound effect it could have had on her business. Not to sound harsh, but I believe her new business will fail. I’m sure cancelling a meeting is not the only time she’s had a lack of integrity with her word.

Unfortunately, many business owners have no idea how damaging it is to relationships and our businesses when we don’t keep our word.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING THROUGH

The entire incident really got me thinking. I began to wonder how often I don’t keep my word. How often do I make a promise and then not follow through?

It can be something small, like promising to call a person on a certain day, but I don’t do it. Or promising to email someone information by a certain date, but I don’t do it.

It’s scary when you think about it. Every time we don’t keep our word, it’s a withdrawal from the emotional and trusting bank account. But we seem to break promises all the time.

What happens when you don’t follow through on your promises?

You hurt the people around you and damage relationships.
People stop believing you and taking you seriously.
You potentially lose out on great opportunities.
You get a lot less done than you would if you kept your word.
Your self-esteem is damaged.
Your business could be financially harmed.
Customers may leave you.

I’m sure the list could go on.

It also dawns on me that the person we most often break promises with is ourselves. We let ourselves down all the time. We make big plans to eat better, get in shape, work harder on our businesses, and so forth. But then something usually comes up and we go back on our word. Or we make excuses as to why we couldn’t do it.

We usually don’t mean to break promises. Something comes up or we just flat out forget. I’m sure there’s typically no malice intended when we don’t follow through. We almost always mean it when we make a promise. Perhaps we simply don’t put enough emphasis keeping our word. We don’t realize how significant and important it is.

KEEPING YOUR WORD HELPS YOUR BUSINESS THRIVE

When you’re known as someone who keeps their word, it will help your business flourish. It will keep your relationships strong. People will trust you and refer others to you. It plays a huge role in the success or failure of businesses.

Here’s a few things that have helped me get better at keeping promises. You may find them useful, too:

Start keeping track of the promises you make, especially the promises to yourself. Write them down if you need to. Even if it’s something small like, “I’ll call you tomorrow,” keep track of it.
Keep track of how often you don’t keep the promise. This isn’t so you can punish yourself, it’s just to show that you’re probably breaking your word more often than you think.
Don’t allow yourself any excuses for breaking your word. It’s very easy to get into the, “I would have done it but…” routine. If you decide to take ownership for all of it, you’ll become better and keeping promises.
If a real emergency genuinely does come up and you can’t uphold the obligation, let the other person know as soon as possible. A half hour in advance is not fair notice. A lot of us hate to deliver bad news, so we procrastinate. I have a friend who says, “the only thing worse than bad news is bad news late.” Of course, in real life, sometimes things change. But this is far different from not keeping a promise simply because you forgot or “something else came up.”
Start small and practice keeping your word. Don’t expect miracles overnight. Keeping your word is a habit that needs to be nurtured and practiced. Practice on seemingly insignificant things.

When you become great at keeping promises to yourself and others, you’ll see dramatic improvements in yourself and your business. Your confidence increases. Your performance improves. Your relationships improve. And people will see you as someone who knows how to get things done.

I understand that it’s a lot of work. Creating a new habit always is. But if there’s one simple shift you can make that starts showing results immediately, it’s keeping your word.

About the Author
Michael Keiser promises he is Co-Founder of coaching, marketing, and advisory company The Entrepreneur Circle and Co-Founder of management consulting startup BKV Solutions.

Interesting in learning more about Mike and his entrepreneurial endeavors?

Read our interview: Entrepreneur Co-Founds Business Advisory Startup.

Get more entrepreneurial tips from Mike in his Innovation Destination Hartford blogs:

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Hartford Entrepreneur Carmen Veal Reflects on Her Business Experience

June 25 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Entrepreneurial Insights 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Hartford, women entrepreneurs, women-owned business

Where Are They Now? Follow Up with Event Strategist Carmen Veal

Hartford entrepreneur and event strategist Carmen Veal.

Innovation Destination Hartford met with Hartford-based entrepreneur Carmen Veal in December 2017 and learned the value of not giving up (read the interview: Woman Entrepreneur, Innovator, Event Strategist).

Carmen recently celebrated her five-year business anniversary and, after nine years in business for herself, shared some tips she learned along the way in her entrepreneurial exploration. She says she’s currently planning her next celebration and notes that growth is clearly a life-long journey

1. Plan all the way until the end.

2. Your plans won’t always work out. And that’s okay.

3. Most people will disappoint you. It isn’t always you, they’re just functioning at their own highest level of consciousness, which may not align with your own. It’s okay to meet them where they are—and leave them there.

4. You’ll disappoint people. And you’ll need to do the work to get your life together. Because it’s unhealthy to go through life hurting people, even unconsciously.

5. You’ll learn you should work smarter not harder.

6. Practice humility and work hard so you’re not driven by, or showing up as, your ego.

7. Care less about those who don’t support you and more about those who do.

8. Silent cheerleaders are some of the best people you don’t always know you have in your corner.

9. When someone doesn’t understand the investment they are making by paying for your services, or they think you’re too expensive, it really means they can’t afford you and they’re not the type of customer you want.

10. Value your time. Don’t allow other people to waste it.

11. The universe will give you what you need exactly when you need it.

12. “When you get, give and when you learn, teach.” – Maya Angelou

Find out more about Carmen Veal

READ: Woman Entrepreneur, Innovator, Event Strategist
VISIT: carmenveal.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

For more information about Carmen’s Brown Skin Women blog

VISIT: brownskinwomen.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter

Learn more about how Carmen launched Goal Digging Women

VISIT: www.goaldiggingwomen.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | Instagram

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Retention, Expansion, Attraction… Business Creation

June 12 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Entrepreneurial Insights 0 comments Tags: business expansion, business retention, community, economic development, entrepreneurs

Courtney Hendricson is Vice President of Municipal Services at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center.

We all know the foundation of local economic development as business retention, expansion and attraction. But an exciting new dimension to our traditional definition of economic development is “business creation.” What we mean is assisting entrepreneurs in our communities. What are we doing to engage and support the home-based businesses, the small one- and two-person shops, the folks who are baking, tinkering, consulting, and landscaping—who are experts in their skill but perhaps don’t know much about how to set up and grow a business.

We are seeing communities take cool and creative measures to provide support to this growing business sector. Some are providing co-working space, some are providing “office hours” to help early-stage entrepreneurs navigate the process of forming a business. Some are providing legal counsel, IT support, accounting, and bookkeeping. Helping individuals go from an idea to a company is an exciting pursuit and one that more and more municipalities are realizing is critical to their local economy.

I encourage you to think about ways you can help “create” business in your town or city. A few suggestions:

Hold an event that brings entrepreneurs together for networking with one another and with town leaders. Have a speaker or a panel focused on how to start a small business or financial resources aimed at home-based businesses.
Ask local attorneys, accountants, or IT experts to donate a few hours a month for entrepreneurs to ask questions about starting up.
Ask an owner of an empty storefront if they would be willing to use the space for a co-working center that provides meeting rooms, a copier, and other office-type resources that startups often need but can’t afford on their own.
Meet with the entrepreneurs in your community to ask them about their goals, how/when they plan to expand and then help them find the right space in your community that meets their growing business needs.

Contact me to brainstorm ways to help support new businesses in your community.

About the Author
Courtney Hendricson is Vice President of Municipal Services at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC).

Prior to joining CERC, Courtney served as Assistant Town Manager in Enfield, CT and as Economic Development Director in Farmington, CT. She also was the director of community development for Connecticut Main Street Center.

Courtney currently serves as board president of the Connecticut Economic Development Association (CEDAS) and immediate past president of the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW CT). She is past chair of MetroHartford Alliance’s Regional Economic Development Forum, past co-chair of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) P3 Retail Program in Connecticut, and a graduate of Leadership Greater Hartford’s QUEST leadership

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