Hundreds of local entrepreneurs and C-level executives attended Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week (BREW), an annual series of events, panels and keynotes designed to help Capital Region entrepreneurs enhance and grow their businesses.
Here are some key takeaways compiled by Business Report from this year’s Entrepreneurship Day, which took place Nov. 14 at the LSU Emerging Technology Center:
- Values are the way out of a crisis—Jill Nelson, founder and CEO of Portland’s Ruby Receptionists, stuck to the company’s corporate values of friendly customer service and loyalty to its small business clients to survive during the 2008 financial crisis. While other businesses were cutting customer service departments in 2009 by as much as 15%, Nelson’s client count increased by 30%.
- Don’t ask for what you need—When you need money, ask for advice; when you need advice, ask for money. The less often you can put yourself in a position of desperation, the better.
- Study the competition—Research the companies you want to be like as well as the companies you’ll compete against. Learn what works—and doesn’t—for both
Read the full list of tips here. Send comments to editor@businessreport.com
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