Peterborough’s history of being the ‘Electric City’ has been ignited once again as Community Futures Peterborough introduced its new client, ARC Motor Company, to the community and national media today.

Does your brand really fit your company? Does it give the right message to existing and prospective customers? Branding is an integral part of who and what your company is. If you’re not clear what it is, you risk letting your customers define it for you, and there lie dangerous waters.

By Ingrid Vaughan

Learning cultures within organizations are becoming a standard job expectation of job seekers weighing their options when saying considering an employment offer. Organizations with learning cultures not only attract good applicants, they retain employees and reap the benefit of higher engagement and quality effort from their teams. There is no question that companies need to up their game when it comes to learning and development strategies as newer generations of employees enter the workforce. For these generations it will be an expectation – not just a perk – that learning and development opportunities are available to support career development and progression.

Most business owners would say employee recognition is something they want to do, but it’s often overlooked because it is an important but not urgent priority. Production deadlines, customer demands, financial targets and other business activities scream louder and demand your attention, so you tend to focus on putting out the fires and keeping the business afloat.

One thing’s for certain, change is part of running a small business. No sooner do you get comfortable doing one thing, when something changes and you need to adapt. In small business, that’s the way it is, and your capacity to manage change is vital to surviving. That doesn’t mean we like it or that it’s easy, but it’s a skill we need to hone in order to stay competitive and keep up with what’s happening in the world. Managing change involves getting people to believe in you and requires communication skills to help you build support for the decision to change. A good understanding of the psychological and emotional effects of change is also extremely helpful. Whether you’re managing the change in just yourself, or you have a group of people you’re leading through the change it’s important that you understand the 3 three stages of change.

Most of us have had a special person in our lives who made a big difference. The person who when we were young told us we could when we thought we couldn’t, who helped us see things from different angles when we were stuck, who saw things in us that we couldn’t see in ourselves and who encouraged us to move beyond where we were to someplace better.

If you carry on marketing your company the same way you have been doing for years, you’ll carry on getting the same results. Of course, if you are doing incredibly well that’s fine, but most companies’ marketing efforts start to flag after a while. The following list might be just what you need to kick your marketing activity into a higher gear.

As a small business owner it is very important to get the very best out of your employees; human resources are expensive and you need to see a return on your investment in people every bit as much as making a profit on the goods and services you sell.

Some people looking at this article will be thinking, “Not another article on networking!” Others will be saying, “Bring it on – the more networking tips I can get, the better.” Those in the first group will not have done much networking this past year, and even though they recognize its potential value, they never seem to make time for it, or make it a priority. They will likely have not received any business this last year from networking referrals. The second group will have taken advantage of every networking opportunity they could find, and their business has likely grown because of their expanding network. If you’re in the first group, you really need to read this article, so that you can network more strategically and make the most of your “face time” with potential customers, even if you don’t naturally enjoy it. If you’re in the second group, you’ve probably already jumped to the first tip!