I built five businesses from the ground up. Each time in the process I found myself as a hostage of my business, never knowing how it would work out, how I would get off the treadmill, or most importantly, a firm date for when I could look forward to enjoying my business. It all seemed [...]
Almost everyone decrying the demise of entrepreneurship in America is blaming either Walmart or rising health care costs for making it more difficult to start a business. But the biggest obstacle is a long-term shift in American culture and society that has little to do with big box businesses or heart attacks.
Your business has the same issues as those I visited in Kenya. In the final analysis, there’s only one number in business that really matters, you’re Freedom Number.
Finding time to blog has been difficult, but these tweets tell it all. I’ll share more tomorrow.
Day 4
Candle wax being melted on the table to hold our light while dinner is made. Rieva and Karina (kids) enjoying darkness. #Kenya
After a great visit to London and Belfast working with business owners (I’ve been asked to come back in May), I was on to Kenya on Thursday, arriving at 9:30pm at night. The ride from the airport was fascinaing. The paved road from the airport was worse than most back roads anywhere in [...]
As I was writing my new book “Making Money is Killing Your Business” and getting feedback on it, a lot of people told me that some of the principles in this book are things they’ve never heard before. I’ve frequently heard, “I’ve never been given permission to think that way.” Allow me to set the [...]
February 8-20 I will accompany The 1010 Project to Kenya to help break the cycle of poverty and develop some sustainable business models. I need your help. So does The1010Project.
It’s surprising to me how often I see all the classic definitions of a business that don’t define or describe a business well at all. If you follow them, they might even put you out of business.
Just about every business owner I know is a hostage to his or her business. How do we break free? By first becoming a willing prisoner in your business.
Some capitalists seem to be very threatened by the idea of social entrepreneurship either because it has the word social in it (too close to socialism for comfort), or because they think they’ve always been socially responsible and this new phrase does not recognize that. It’s not new and it’s not socialism, but it is [...]

My name is Chuck Blakeman and these are some of my thoughts on business, growth, and success. My company, TeamNimbusWest, provides outcome-based peer advisory, coaching, and consulting for Business Owners, CEOs, and their growing businesses.
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