Spring Cleaning

So, it’s FINALLY HERE! Spring that is.  After our long winter I was wondering if it was ever going to happen. Now it’s the dreaded green stuff- the pollen that coats everything from your car to your deck! I just took my car through the car wash but I know when I go out this afternoon it will be green again. 

Spring is the time to clean and get rid of things.  My husband and I have been in this mode for a while. Geez, the things we collect!  I am amazed at what we have collected over the years. 

Do you spring clean? Do you clean your office?  How about people? Yes people.  Is it time to take a look at your staff and even your customers?  Now is great time to evaluate all these things.  Do you have staff that need to be reviewed?  How about those customers that drive you crazy, cost you extra money and time and just aren’t worth keeping as a customer? 

The beauty of owning your own business is that you don’t have to keep those people who drag you down.  Do some spring cleaning and lighten your load!

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Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter

A Day in the Life of BizWorks

So what’s it like to run a nonprofit incubator?  Well…. It’s usually a different thing every day.  Some days we do the work of reporting to our grant source.   Sometimes it’s a board meeting talking about our future, thinking strategically and figuring out what’s next.

Other days it’s working with entrepreneurs who walk through the door and need our help.  One thing that is always happening here, we work with our BizWorks’ entrepreneurs! It could be celebrating the good stuff, listening while they vent, talking over employee hiring, finding additional resources or looking at their business strategically to see what’s next. 

Whatever the day brings the staff here is never bored.  There are networking meetings or training sessions on how to run a business.  But what we do every day is talk about running that business and the best ways to do that. We are always looking at ways to help each business grow and hire more employees, which for the bottom line of Chesterfield County is a good thing.

Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter

Warren Buffet, My On-Going Love Affair

If you have read very many of my blogs you know I love me some Warren Buffett!  Here is a recent quote from Fortune Magazine on his diet.  ”Asked to explain the high-sugar, high-salt diet that has somehow enabled him to remain seemingly healthy, Buffett replies: ‘I checked the actuarial tables, and the lowest death rate is among six-year-olds. So I decided to eat like a six-year-old.’ The octogenarian adds, ‘It’s the safest course I can take.”

Mr. Buffett states that he drinks five Cokes a day (yes he owns $16 billion in Coke stocks) and eats UTZ brand potato stix (yes he spoke with that company about buying it) or chocolate chip ice cream for breakfast. Ya gotta love it! Every day a new study comes out telling us that this is healthy and this is not but then six months later another study comes out and reverses those statements.

The thing I love about Mr. Buffett is he is who he is! How many billionaires would admit to eating potato stix?    He has stayed the course in so many things and I guess his diet is one more thing- if it’s working- and it obviously has to this point- why change?

And what girl doesn’t love a man who would eat chocolate ices cream for breakfast!

Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter

Paying For It versus Doing It Yourself

One of the few things I remember form an Economics course I had in college was about the time vs. money factor.  The professor said that when we have a task to do we should look at it from the prospective of whether or not it is cheaper and easier for us to do the task or to hire someone to do it for us.  We talk about this a lot at BizWorks.  We ask our small business owners to evaluate their per hour worth vs paying someone to do certain things for them.

Things like doing your own books or answering your phone, making copies, cleaning your office, etc.  You have to weigh out these things to see if you would be better off paying someone else at a lower rate than you would make an hour.  This would then free you up to spend your time on the parts of the business that bring in money for you. 

So as we welcome Spring, take a look at the tasks you do in your business and evaluate them to see if you are actually losing money by performing these tasks yourself. 

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Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter

...Planning for the End

Many small business owners take on a partner for their business. There can be many reasons behind that partnership but there is one thing you should have regardless and that is a partnership agreement.  I’ve spoken about this before but I feel it’s an important topic to blog about.

We have seen some companies end when partners can’t get along, or a partner isn’t contributing and there was nothing ever set up in writing. A good legal contract can save your business.  When a partnership is not working out and one wants out, if you have nothing in writing it can get ugly.  Having a contract stating who gets what in whatever situation may arise helps each of you to be treated fairly when the time comes to end the partnership.

I know that small business owners don’t always have a lot of money going in and think they can’t afford an attorney to write up the various legal documents they need.  What we like to tell people is we believe that you cannot afford NOT to do these things.  They can literally save you and your business from going under. 

Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter