According to estimates, retail and service businesses earn as much as 40 percent of total annual sales during the November-December holiday months, and a successful 2009 holiday shopping season will determine whether many businesses, already struggling through a deep recession,…
The company's office supply market was stagnant. Sales were adrift in a sea of mediocrity. Worse, company management knew who their customers were, but felt alienated from them because of a middle-man sales and logistics organization between the company and…
Facebook, Flickr, Twitter -- all the social media talk is enough to make one's head spin. By now, "social media" is no longer a buzzword, and it isn't a surprise that businesses are using emerging media and social networks to…
A few decades have passed since Bill "Spaceman" Lee was approached by a reporter seeking to confirm a widespread rumor surrounding the flaky Boston Red Sox pitcher. "Bill," he asked, "is it true you've experimented with marijuana?" "No, I don't…
Mention the word "recession" to Laura Buckley, and the Colorado Springs information technology veteran dauntlessly says, "We're just not going to participate in a recession, thank you. This year we are confident we'll maintain our growth despite the economic downturn."…
BEARSKI BATH & BODY Wife-and-husband team Jessica and Christian Seybold were looking to start a business when an opportunity fell into their lap. The Kansas-based maker of Jessica's favorite soaps and lotions was in the market to sell. "My sister…
From a home-based startup in 1991, Danielson Designs in Trinidad has become one of the largest private employers in Las Animas County, but in some ways that success has been merely a means to an end for company founders Mark and Annie Danielson. Over the past 15 years the couple has poured time, mo...
As responsible business owners, we invest a lot of time answering the "what" question. What will I sell? What should my price be? What kind of marketing should I do? We find "how" intriguing as well, as in how will…
Owner-founder Kevin DeLange, right, and his wife, Michelle, join brewer Bill Eye in toasting the success of Aurora's Dry Dock Brewing Co., honored as the best small brewery in the country by the Great American Beer Festival. The beers of…
Few business people realize that the number one exporter in the world in 2008 was not China, Japan or the U.S. The number one exporter was Germany -- because of the many small and medium-sized German businesses which are ranked…
Most shoppers still know it simply as Vitamin Cottage even though the Lakewood-based retailer modified its name about two years ago to reflect the fact that more of its business now comes from groceries than from vitamins....
At a recent ACG Denver luncheon (http://chapters.acg.org/denver/), Chris Carrington, CEO of Alpine Access Corporation, spoke about Alpine Access' 11-year journey to cross the chasm and achieve significant adoption. Alpine Access provides 100 percent virtual call center services for 24 x…
HOTTY HOODY Aundrea Rosdal's inspiration for the Hotty Hoody came from a scary accident in 1997. "My son had an accident when he was 4 - he's now 16 - when he grabbed the barrel of my curling iron and…
INITIAL LIGHT BULB: After meeting as students at the University of Michigan, Jeffrey Powers and Vikas Reddy decided to start a business together. They launched Occipital from an office on Beaver Island, Mich., before relocating to New York in early…
Denver-based ReadyTalk chose last month's Fifth Annual CSIA DEMOgala to announce its newest product: the ReadyTalk Media Player, which helps businesses make better use of social media by allowing them to easily embed recorded content into websites, blogs and other…
Denver is already the cradle of the giant burrito, with Chipotle, Qdoba, Chez Jose, Bocaza and Illegal Pete's all emerging here in the early 1990s. Boulder's Phil Anson aims to make this the mecca of the frozen burrito, too. Less…
The growth of women-owned Hispanic businesses hasn't escaped the notice of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which included a Latina Summit in September when it met in Denver for its 30th annual convention.
As his most recent answer to the small business crisis, President Obama just held a press conference to give more money to banks. As usual, it was just another photo op for politicians who continue to do nothing to solve…
In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman told his son: "It's not enough to be liked, Biff. You've got to be well-liked!" And an Ad Biggie in Denver once told his account service staff: "Make friends of your clients. Because…
For a small business owner, it can be hard to draw the line between what's professional and what's personal. After all, you've used countless hours and resources of your own to build your business. But when the lines between your…
Sometimes finding a plumber or other service provider can be akin to pulling a marble out of a jar. You can just pluck it out and hope it's not a bad one. But there are too many different marbles to be sure.
John-Paul Maxfield envisions the day when hauling trash to a landfill is as unthinkable as smoking on airplanes is now. But that day, he concedes, is 10 or 20 years down the road. In the here and now, Maxfield cites…
The sputtering U.S. economy has taken its toll on Colorado businesses - not to mention workers who have suffered job losses in record numbers in 2009 - but those hardships aren't fully reflected in the ColoradoBiz Top 250 Private Companies ranking.
The majority of forecasting economists see U.S. economic growth returning in the current quarter, with most forecasts actually revised higher in recent weeks to reflect stronger performance. Reasonably solid growth during 2009's final quarter also seems on tap, with…
