Billions and billions of dollars in contracts are awarded every year to small and minority owned businesses by large corporations. Drawing from my nearly 20 years of experience in key roles, including corporate purchasing agent, supply chain consultant, supplier diversity professional, and small business coach, I will teach you how you can successfully compete for your share of this multi-billion dollar pie.

Here are the webinar details:

• ​Tuesday, January 17th
• 7:30 PM EST

Click here to register and you will receive all the log in information by email.

FREE E-Book!
Every webinar attendee will receive a free copy of my new e-book, Relationships to Revenues, which provides dozens of tips to help small businesses win big contracts with large corporations. You will also get some additional gifts focused on helping you grow your business.

So make sure you register for your spot today to get this exclusive information that you will find few other places.

What I call the "Lone Ranger" syndrome is very prevalent among many entrepreneurs. It's somewhat understandable, because often times they have been burned by flaky people or those with alterior motives. And to be honest sometimes it's easier to get things done that you can do yourself. However, the long-term implications are that if you never build strategic relationships and partnerships, your business will struggle to build capacity that will allow you to serve more customers, thereby limiting your growth.

We all need people to help our businesses grow to their full potential. We just have to make sure we are recruiting and connecting with the right kind of people that will help to propel our vision forward.

In my previous post, You're Fired! 3 Types of People You Need to Keep Off Your Dream Team, I discussed who you need to keep away from your Dream Team. In this video I discuss the three types of people you need to keep close to your team.

So where you ask are the coaching videos for these critical topics? To view them all you have to do is download my free mobile app and go to the Coaching Videos section. You will also be able to watch all the other exclusive coaching videos that are inside the app.

"You're fired!" has long been an unwelcome phrase in the workplace way before our current President-elect Donald Trump made it even more infamous on his previous TV show, The Apprentice. And I'm sure for anyone who has ever had that directed at them, it was not a pleasant experience.

Nevertheless, this is a statement or a concept that you need to be able to practice as a relates to the vision, dream, or business that God has given you. The truth is there are some people that have gotten closer to your vision than they should be. Sometimes you must make some hard decisions when you determine that some people should not continue the journey with you to your destiny.

​Too much is at stake for you to be messing around with the wrong people or for the wrong people to be messing around with you!

I created a coaching video that describes three types of people that you need to fire from your Dream Team. In order to watch the video all you have to do is download my free mobile app and go to the Coaching Videos section. You also be able to watch all the other coaching videos that are inside the app.

After you download the app and open it you'll see that we have some great free resources and a 50% OFF deal that you don't want to miss out on!

​So download the app, watch this video, and I look forward to your feedback. Enjoy!

Are you you ready to have the best year of your life?!?! And it really doesn't matter how great or not so great your year was just in 2016. You should always be looking to be better, grow more, learn more, make a more significant impact in the world, etc. Don't ever rest on what you have previously accomplished. Anyone who has a relationship with Jesus should always be looking for opportunities to become a better version of yourself.

So just as you're identifying ways to be a better you this year, entrepreneurs should also consider ways you can hit the reset button in your business in order to have your best year yet...

1) RENEW Your Mind. Stress and frustrations can clog up your creativity and clarity. You need to take some time to declutter your mind so that you can see clearly what you need to do in your business as you move forward. The more clarity you have, the more confident and accurate decision-maker you will be. Spending time with God in His word will allow to let go of thoughts and don't belong and embrace the ones that need to stay.

2) REFOCUS Your Goals. If you haven't already done so, you must first clarify specific, concrete goals. Next, define the difference between a real opportunity and a distraction. Often times we get delayed from reaching our goals because we don't have a way to differentiate between the two. If the "opportunity" isn't pushing you towards your goal, most likely what you're dealing with is a distraction. Leave those alone - no matter how good it might look - so you can keep moving forward in doing the things that will give you legitimate momentum.
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3) REPOSITION Your Relationships. In 2016 people showed you who they really are to you if you were paying attention. Either they were for you or against you. You need to keep strategic people around you as vision partners, advisors, supporters, etc. And for those that are not, you must create some distance between them and your vision. You may not (or you might) have to cut them off completely, but you don't want to allow them any closer to your business and ideas than is absolutely necessary.

​4) REFRESH Your Brand. If your business did not accomplish what you expected or desired it to accomplish last year it could be because you lack a branding strategy, don't have a clear message, you're not connecting with the right audience, you're not relevant to the market you are pursuing, or all of the above. Sometimes the truth is a bitter pill to swallow. If you're not good at branding, marketing, sales, or advertising, please get some help and don't try to go at it alone. There are enough legitimate branding experts out there that you can leverage their gifting while allowing you to function in your gifting with excellence. Just be diligent in finding the right ones with which to partner.

So don't be afraid to hit the reset button and start something over, so you can move forward the right way. Hitting the reset button means admitting that you may have made a bad decision or a mistake as a result of thinking you were doing something right. Avoid repeating the mistakes of last year. But you also can't rest on last year's success.  
If you're willing to become a "brand new creation" you are guaranteed to have a year that exceeds your expectations! Have a blessed 2017!

I am always amazed by people in history who overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to do something extraordinary, especially in the light of conditions that were intentionally set against them. One of their commonalities is they usually had great vision to see beyond their circumstances into a future that was very different from their present situations. Harriet Tubman definitely fits this description.

​As the engineer of the Underground Railroad, she no doubt had to overcome so much of what she saw in the natural and trust the faith that was guiding her. She had to be a BIG dreamer. I love this quote of hers...

I believe this quote is a great mantra for today's teenagers who are the next generation of world changers, entrepreneurs, inventors, pastors, politicians, leaders, etc. They absolutely need to be in environments that cultivate their creative capacity, energize their intellectual potential, and stimulate their spiritual development.

At Kinsman Community that's exactly what we're doing as we provide programs that build teens financially, socially, and spiritually. We're catalyzing their dreams and helping turn them into reality.
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​Learn more about how we work with at-risk youth and how you can support us at www.mykinsman.org

At Kinsman Community we love the opportunity to work with at-risk teens and help them learn how to start businesses and better their lives. And they say the best form of marketing is a satisfied customer. So we wanted to share with you some of the experiences our students had at our most recent Inc My Dream Young Boss Camp. Check out what these incredible students had to say...

I am extremely excited and encouraged as I hear more stories of successful businesses started by teens becoming more frequent. In fact a recent article in Harvard Business Review, Meet the Teenagers Who Found Their Own Startups, highlighted research of the characteristics of teens who had started their own successful companies.

If we want these instances to be become more frequent, we definitely need to understand what it takes for this current group of exceptional teens to excel. The article stated that...

This is why at Kinsman Community we're excited about working with at- risk teens to help them build successful businesses. Entrepreneurship training is an incredible vehicle to help them build their future, break generational cycles of poverty, and transform their communities. Sometimes all a teen needs is exposure to the right opportunity and you will see them flourish.

The more we understand what is required for teenagers to build a successful business, the more we can integrate these principles across the board no matter what kind of community a teenager may come from.

Click here to learn more abou how we help at-risk teens start profitable businesses.

The Kinsman Story
My wife, Shawnice, and I have been investing in the lives of teens for more than 15 years. Our passion for seeing at-risk youth succeed in every area of life led us to launch Kinsman Community (Kinsman) in 2014 in the South Atlanta community. Our non-profit organization is dedicated to providing leadership, workplace development, and entrepreneurship training to at-risk youth in Metro Atlanta ages 11-18. 

After many conversations with community leaders, local church leaders, and leaders of other local nonprofits, we decided to offer our first entrepreneurship camp in South Atlanta in June 2014. The program drew over 25 students and the excitement and initiative we saw in them prompted us to continue to grow our programs in the S. Atlanta community and beyond. Since that time we have expanded our programs to serve more than 100 youth and young adults all over Metro Atlanta.

2017 Program Goals
2017 is fast approaching, and we are expecting to serve more than 100 middle and high school students across Atlanta. We are raising funds to ensure that we have the appropriate resources to serve them with excellence through three key programs:

1) Inc. My Dream Young Boss Summer Camp - Entrepreneur Startup
2) L.E.E.P. (Leadership Employment Empowerment Pathway) - Career Development
3) Club D.A.R.E. (Dreams Are Realized Everyday) - Monthly Business Coaching

Programs Needs to Turn Dreams into Businesses
Your donation will help to cover needed resources to turn dreams into businesses including: 
- Trainers and staff
- Startup capital for business competition winners
- Office supplies
- Equipment
- Transportation for events
- Meals and snacks 

Thank You!
The success of our organization is dependent upon the financial support of community-centered organizations and individuals like you. Your donation today will provide the resources for Kinsman to continue providing this valuable training, instruction, and investments into the students.

Learn more about Kinsman Community at www.mykinsman.org.

As we roll into the final month of the year, entrepreneurs and small business owners often try to balance two important thoughts: 1) focusing on ending the year strong and 2) evaluating how their business performed over the past 11 months. Alas that's the life of an entrepreneur, constantly going back and forth between maximizing the present and positioning for the future.

So if you are currently in the mode of evaluating your business or maybe even reconsidering why you started the business in the first place, I have some encouragement for you. Here are 3 reasons why your small business is a BIG deal...

1) Provides Income. Whether your business is a side hustle or your main source of income, at least it's producing something. You may not be making as much money as you want to, but imagine if you didn't have your business at all. And if you have made money in the past that means you definitely have the potential to make even more in the future.

2) Creates Jobs. Small businesses are the main economic engine and job creators in this country. You greatly impact someone else's livelihood when they are on your payroll. Whether you are already employing people or your business has the potential to do it down the line as you grow, you are doing a great service for your community and your country.

3) Inspire Others. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream for field is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12). Hope is contagious. Sometimes just seeing someone else pursue their business dream inspires people to chase their own. Whether you have reached all or business goals or not, you are still further ahead than many people who are still in the sidelines.

​So if you ever get down on yourself about the current state of your business just remember that you're probably having a bigger impact you think you are. Keep up the great work!