Why advisory boards are a smart move for small businesses. A great way to develop deep relationships with local professionals while also gaining expert counsel on your small business is by enlisting an advisory board. Advisory boards differ from director boards, which are administrative in nature. Advisers are just that—they serve as business mentors and have no liability or financial interest in the company, so they are free to provide…

Melinda Emerson is one of American’s leading small business experts, a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and social media strategist. She’s written the bestseller Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months and is an industry expert on the new CNBC show Crowd Rules. Her blog Succeed as Your Own Boss is syndicated by The Huffington Post, and she hosts #SmallBizChat, a weekly live Twitter show. Melinda also writes a regular column…

Constructive destruction offers a path to stronger growth. Destroy your business? Don’t most business owners focus on building their businesses rather than tearing them down in some way? Actually, there are times when a business must destroy some of its practices, culture, products and even markets so it can get beyond its constraints and grow much bigger. Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen and others have described this as a…

It takes more than a killer recipe to make it in the food business. But help is out there. A Leawood man plans to revolutionize the ketchup industry. A Lee’s Summit couple has taken a backyard passion for barbecue to a new level with a gourmet nut business. And a Liberty woman has turned her mother’s coffee cake recipe into a must-have treat at upscale bakery counters. These “foodpreneurs” are…