Pathway Lending and Four Brothers Wood-Fired Pizza joined Launch Tennessee’s 36|86 Festival to discuss how to overcome survivor mentality. Four Brothers is Clarksville, Tennessee’s first wood-fired pizza restaurant opened by husband and wife, Jamaal and Christa Bradley, in June of 2019. The Bradleys worked with Pathway’s Business Advisory Services team to pivot through the pandemic
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Exploring Small Business Resiliency from a Veteran and Military Perspective
BY REGGIE ORDONEZ, PATHWAY VBOC DIRECTOR The Foundations of Veteran Entrepreneurship The correlation between the worlds of military service and entrepreneurship is significant. 9.1% of small businesses are owned by veterans when 1% of the nation serves in the Armed Forces of the United States. The ability to creatively attack problems, bear the weight of
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3 Fears Every Entrepreneur Must Overcome
Owners of Bradley’s and Knoxville Chocolate Company, Brad and Joy Hamlett, found themselves in a scary situation after purchasing a 100-year-old candy factory: Sales were flat but expenses doubled. “I just remember times when we felt like how are we going to make it? Something has to give,” said Joy. While the candy business might
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Understanding Your Competitive Advantage
As an entrepreneur your competitive advantage must be front and center in your mind. It sets you apart and is essential to your business success. To understand and define your competitive advantage you need to know three things: your business, your customers and your competition. Through an in depth knowledge of your products and services,
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The Dangers of Falling In Love With Your Business Concept Too Soon
The first step in the process of planning your business is asking yourself if your business idea is a good one. Your business idea must be one of two things: something people already want but can’t get or something you can convince them they want. Many new entrepreneurs fall in love with a concept before
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6 Questions, 9 Weeks: Your Plan To Start A Small Business in Tennessee
The excitement of turning your big idea into a new business can quickly become overwhelming. With everything on your plate, you may find yourself stuck in get-it-done mode at the expense of planning. If that sounds familiar, it may be time to hit pause and make a plan. Read on to see what we think
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5 Resources to Make Part of Your #VetBiz Community
We know business ownership isn’t a solo mission. So, this National Veterans Small Business week, we are celebrating you – the veteran entrepreneur – and your #VetBiz community. We have resources and support waiting for you to help your business succeed and we want to be part of your community. Here are a few programs that might be
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Entrepreneurship Resources for Service-Disabled Veterans
For the month of October, we’re focusing on service-disabled veterans who are current or aspiring business owners. The resilience of service-disabled veterans translates well into business ownership, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recognizes service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) as an integral part of the veteran business community. To prepare for business ownership, service-disabled
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Ways to Fund Your Business: Bootstrapping
How to bootstrap your business Bootstrapping means starting or growing your business with the resources you already have, without the use of outside funds. Here is a helpful article from Intuit QuickBooks on how to bootstrap a small business. Methods of bootstrapping your business include: -Personal Savings/Debt Many entrepreneurs budget carefully to build up their
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Ways to Fund Your Business: Find an investor
Why investors seek small business owners to invest in and the risks you’ll face If you’ve ever watched Shark Tank, you may think this is how investors operate. While investors are great when looking to fund your small business, typically, it’s difficult to maintain control over the future direction of your business. Investors buy ownership
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