Gathered in the Milby High School library, Risk Mitigation Worldwide President and CEO Eartha Jean Johnson engaged local small business owners in an interactive training session focused on helping them protect themselves from liability issues.
Johnson spoke to the group as part of Workshop Wednesday, a monthly series for minority- and women-owned businesses that is hosted by HISD’s Business Solutions Supplier Diversity department. Continue reading
Local business owners were challenged to shift their mindset to achieve their highest potential and reach their goals during Workshop Wednesday, a monthly seminar for minority and women-owned business owners hosted by HISD’s Supplier Diversity Department.
The presentation was titled “Unstuck! Mindset Reset to Achieve ______.” and led by ActionCOACH South Houston President and CEO Ted Hair. The two-hour seminar explained how a mindset is formed, how it reflects everyday outcomes, and how it could potentially deter or encourage a successful business. Continue reading
The HISD Business Assistance Supplier Diversity team is holding an outreach session on Friday for minority- and women-owned business enterprises (M/WBE) interested in working as subcontractors on the projects to rebuild four schools damaged by Hurricane Harvey.
Last week, the HISD Board of Education selected Satterfield & Pontikes Construction as the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) tasked with overseeing the demolition and construction of the four elementary schools – Kolter, Mitchell, Braeburn, and Scarborough. Continue reading
G&A Partners Director Jose Laurel spoke to a crowd of local business owners and vendors on Wednesday offering advice on hiring and retaining good employees.
Laurel emphasized two critical requirements that are essential in achieving growth and success: employees must be eager to learn and companies must be willing to evolve.
Laurel asked attendees how often their companies administered employee reviews. While most in attendance said their companies conducted reviews annually, Laurel noted that the best practice was to conduct shorter appraisals on a regular basis. This ensures employees have the opportunity to get and give feedback.
Local business owners and vendors gathered on Wednesday to hear from Bank of America executives on the multiple ways to grow their businesses by increasing and monitoring cash flow.
Vice President of Global Banking & Markets Brian Barrow and his colleague, Vice President of Small Business Banking Doris Leal, began their presentation by asking questions about each attendee’s work industry and job title. The presentation was a part of the Workshop Wednesday series hosted by HISD’s Business Assistance Supplier Diversity department. Continue reading
Certified Financial Educator Lijoy Thomas and his team educated local business owners and vendors on Wednesday about the concept of building a strong financial foundation.
During Thomas’ presentation, part of HISD’s Business Assistance Workshop Wednesday series, attendees were given clarity on compound interest and debt management, as well as a better understanding of the meaning of the terms asset, liability, and net worth.
“How is it that the richest country in the world is in so much debt?” asked Thomas as he presented information on the nation’s consumer debt level. “An average family owes $15,950 in credit card debt.” Continue reading
Is communication an art or a science? That was the question posed to attendees at this month’s Workshop Wednesday, which focused on the importance of communicating effectively during sales pitches.
Professional Presentation Coach & Workforce Development Expert Ellis Hubbard spoke to an eclectic crowd of attendees during his Listen2WIN workshop about the importance of listening to and noting the body language of the subject of their sales pitch. Those two things can help a salesman identify the type of person with whom they are dealing.
“You have to get to know folks in order to sell,” said Hubbard, who reiterated that listening is the key to communication. “The more you know about someone, the easier it is to sell to them.”
Representatives from local businesses came together last week to get tips from Houston-area business builder and coach Ted Hair on how to increase their sales by tapping into a buyer’s personality.
Since the early 1900s, Hair said, a personality-based sales model has been used to teach salespeople how to identify and speak to different buyers by classifying them into one of four different categories —dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance (DiSC).
“You’re not a salesperson,” Hair said, stressing the importance of identifying your buyer. “You’re a problem-solver.”
Founder and President of Keystone Resources Julie Irvin taught a crowd of local vendors the tips and tricks to creating a successful proposal for HISD.
Irvin said most businesses are unaware of the great resources available to them via the HISD website or the subscriber emails sent by the HISD Business Assistance department.
“HISD has all of these golden opportunities for small businesses, but they’re not able to meet the goals simply because businesses don’t put in a proposal because they don’t know what to do,” said Irvin.
Founder of Superb Speakers and Consultants Joyce Scott spoke to a large crowd of small business owners on how life experiences taught her how to not only obtain clients, but how to keep them.
“People do business with people they like,” said Scott. “You build relationships making clients look good.”
Scott stressed that in order to be successful and gain big contracts, business owners must build a winning team by seeking out people who excel in areas they are lacking.