Consider me new to the blogging world, but passionate about building better businesses, hence the blog name.  I’m a business owner and consultant, former internal auditor and audit manager, former Air Force officer, a closet web site and application programmer, and an avid reader of business and management books and blogs.

I’m disturbed about the nature of business and the state of our US economy today, and even more concerned for the business situation in my home state of Michigan.  So, instead of sitting back and complaining, I thought I’d contribute a few things I’ve learned about running successful businesses, some ideas for improving personal and organizational performance, and throw in a few opinions along the way.

The impetus for this blog can be found in part in the mission statement for the Wyoming-Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce, “Building Better Communities by Building Better Businesses.”  I’ve been associated with this southern Kent County Michigan Chamber for about 13 years, and found it to demonstrate a truly great attitude about businesses and communities working together.  It is also a great place to network, and develop business relationships and friendships as well.

I began asking the question, “How do you build a better business?”, and realized its a matter of getting down to basics.  You can’t just all be friends on the baseball team and expect to accomplish anything.  You still need to hit, field, and run to be successful.  You get down to basics.  And that’s what we’ll do here; talk about better business basics.  If you’re an entrepreneur, we’ll share with you some fundamentals for running your business.  If you’re a small business leader, we’ll talk about key techniques for growing your business by focusing on the human aspects of business.  And if you’re on a corporate or non-profit organization team, we’ll explore how you can fully engage your team members, get them all on the same page, and develop productive business and personal relationships.

After all, performance is personal before it is organizational.  If you (and your people) are not free to achieve their full potential, your business will never achieve its full potential.

Ultimately, we’ll focus on these six critical success factors.  Keep your business:

• People centered
• Servant led
• Principle focused
• Purpose driven
• Community friendly, and
• Environmentally responsible

We’ll explore all this and a lot more on this journey; so please join me for the long haul, and share your reactions along the way!

Peace my friends,

Terry