Business Coaching

B2B Stories

Reaching your goals with a project manager

Imagine that you are in the middle of planning your biggest fundraising event. There are half-implemented ideas, lists of to-dos, and you’re missing key deadlines to kick off your event. Invitations, receipts, and sticky notes litter your office space. This is where a project manager comes into play. A project is a set of tasks that must be completed to arrive at a unique goal or outcome. Depending on the size and scope of the project, these tasks may be simple or elaborate, but all projects can be broken down

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ABD Extra

Mondays with Rick: Benchmarking: A key to economic development success

I am a huge fan of benchmarking as a tool for evaluating both progress and success. However, benchmarking is also a great tool for identifying ideas for improvement. My experience with benchmarking has typically come from evaluating and improving business products and processes. In this column, I would like to share with you what benchmarking is, the different types of benchmarking and my past experience of helping to apply benchmarking to an area’s economic development, and how we might apply it in a similar way here in the Augusta area.

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ABD Extra

Mondays with Rick: Benchmarking: A key to economic development success

I am a huge fan of benchmarking as a tool for evaluating both progress and success. However, benchmarking is also a great tool for identifying ideas for improvement. My experience with benchmarking has typically come from evaluating and improving business products and processes. In this column, I would like to share with you what benchmarking is, the different types of benchmarking and my past experience of helping to apply benchmarking to an area’s economic development, and how we might apply it in a similar way here in the Augusta area.

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ABD Extra

Economic Update: ABD Extra Conference and Expo Edition

In this week’s economic update, we take a look at the employee recruitment and retention panel discussion from ABD’s Conference and Expo last week! Darin Myers, who is co-owner of TAB CSRA, speaks about interviewing job candidates and creating company values. This panel was moderated by Mike Petchenik who creates the weekly Georgia Business Minutes and other media for Augusta Business Daily.

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B2B Stories

Mondays with Rick: Networking has many dimensions

Dr. Rick Franza, Professor of Management at the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about the importance of networking and peer groups. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: We just held our successful business networking event, the ABD Spring Expo, last week. Why is networking important for businesses? Rick: Too often, people see networking as a direct vehicle for the benefits they can get from it, but I see it as an indirect

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ABD Extra

Mondays with Rick: Use your pain points for new business opportunities

Dr. Rick Franza, Professor of Management at the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about how and when to take advantage of business opportunities. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: Several weeks ago, we talked about the importance of innovation in business success, but often, innovation involves taking advantage of new opportunities. What should we view as opportunities? Rick: Author, Clayton Christensen, who developed the idea of “disruptive innovation,” said that business opportunities

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ABD Extra

Mondays with Rick: Employee Retention–It’s All About Your Culture

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” That quote from a famed management expert, Peter Drucker, is familiar to any of us who have studied how to lead modern organizations. Drucker’s quote implies that your company’s culture is what determines your firm’s success, regardless of how effective your strategy may be. However, I take issue with that interpretation. What I believe Drucker meant is that in order for a company’s strategy to be successful, it must have a company culture that allows it to execute the strategy appropriately. The bottom line is

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ABD Extra

Economic Update: Thanking the next generation

Just as Dana Lynn discussed in our top story this week, Coach Dave Holdeman from The Alternative Board of the CSRA and Augusta Business Daily publisher, Neil Gordon talk about programs that will not only bring jobs, but could provide vital treatment options for cancer in the future. Be sure to get to know the details on all this and more in the latest economic update.

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ABD Extra

Economic Update: Thanking the next generation

Just as Dana Lynn discussed in our top story this week, Coach Dave Holdeman from The Alternative Board of the CSRA and Augusta Business Daily publisher, Neil Gordon talk about programs that will not only bring jobs, but could provide vital treatment options for cancer in the future. Be sure to get to know the details on all this and more in the latest economic update.

Read More »
B2B Stories

Mondays with Rick: Pitfalls of mixing personal and business finance

Dr. Rick Franza, Professor of Management at the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about the pitfalls of mixing personal and business finances. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: Often, when an entrepreneur or small business owner needs capital, it’s tempting to dip into personal funds for use in the business. What is your advice on that? Rick: It’s a huge challenge for small businesses or entrepreneurs to separate the two. Often, they

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