CEO Blog
Why My Employees’ Dreams Matter
January is traditionally a time when businesses plan out the main objectives they want to achieve by the end of the year. Usually, the conversation is limited to how to maximize profit from the resources they have. However, this year, in addition to looking at our...
read moreMastering The Art Of Business Networking
Some practical ways to leave a positive first impression involve asking people about their hobbies and what drives them. Networking is all about planting the seeds of a relationship and cultivating it over time through multiple interactions. Those conversations might...
read moreBNG Team Breaks New Ground By Hiring “Dream Manager” To Coach Employee Aspirations
December 21st, 8:00 AM CST, Fargo, North Dakota - BNG Team breaks the mold on traditional business once again and hires Jeff Vanlaningham as their new “Dream Manager.” The company stated Vanlaningham would be starting in January 2019, where his job will entail...
read moreThe Dangers Of Putting Processes Over People In Your Business
In my circle of fellow business owners, I’ve noticed a recent trend in debating the pros and cons of whether a business should focus on process or people. What makes the biggest difference in an organization at the end of the day? It can be a bit of a catch-22, no...
read moreBalancing The Work Vs Play Dynamic In Your Business
I’m a fun loving person by nature and have a very dedicated “work hard/play hard” mindset. Even in the very earliest days when my friends and I were working 24/7 from a basement we still took time to blow off steam by playing a friendly game of foosball. While we’ve...
read moreThe Accidental Entrepreneur: Navigating Owning A Business
I’m not sure most entrepreneurs started their first company because they wanted to run a business. Sure it sounds like a great idea, setting your hours, and being in charge of your career. I think a lot of times hobbies or interests become profitable and people begin...
read moreHow To Retain Top Talent At Your Business
Everyone wants talented individuals to work for their company. You want to know someone is giving their job everything they have and are passionate about what they do. However, many businesses are finding it difficult to attract and retain talented employees. Recent...
read moreAre These Negative Work Habits Preventing You From Being Promoted?
Last month for the blog I talked about what it takes to become a manager, and at the time I thought it was only going to be one part. But in hindsight, I realized I still had so much more to say about becoming a leader, and I have some other things I wanted to say...
read moreWhat It Takes To Become A Manager
As our business begins to grow, I find myself looking for more managers to take the burden off my other senior staff. We’re just getting too big, and we need a lot of talent to manage individual departments. I’ve gotten several questions on what I look for when I’m...
read moreHow To Develop A Product Or Service As A Business
This month’s topic was submitted through a comment! Thank you Ella Taguiam for suggesting I talk about business development and researching products. To me, product development is always one of the most exciting parts of owning a business. I love meetings where we...
read moreHow To Not Be An Annoying Salesperson
I hate annoying salespeople, and I don’t think I’m alone in that belief. Perhaps my annoyance stems more from being a former salesman myself and knowing the shady tricks they are trying, gets on my nerves. As someone with 10+ years of experience in sales, it’s...
read moreWhy I Don’t Care If You Have A Degree To Work For Our Company
This may come across as controversial, but when it comes to hiring people for our company I don’t care if they have a degree or not. Granted, I’m a little biased, as I’m a college drop out who didn’t have interest in pursuing higher education. For me, a Bachelors in...
read moreWhy Selling Was Easier Before I Became Educated
They say that ignorance is bliss, and that’s certainly the case when it comes to sales. When I look back to my personal records in sales, I realize that I closed more deals when I was nineteen then I do today. Now initially, that bummed me out and started examining my...
read moreYou Want To Be An Entrepreneur? Either You’re All In Or Cut Your Losses
Owning a business is a relatively common dream for people to have, but have you ever considered what it takes to make it a reality? Running a business is not as easy as you think. Ideally, it should be as simple as executing on an idea. However, most people have an...
read moreStop Being Busy All Day Accomplishing Nothing
Do you ever find yourself busy all day, and then at the end of it you wonder what you actually got done? That statement summarizes my life as a business owner, and the truth is I can be in meetings all day, answering phone calls, and checking email for 10+ hours, and...
read moreThe 5 Most Important Things To Do When You’re A Startup Business
Our company made the Inc. 5000 list again! You can read more in depth here on where we ranked, but for the third year in a row, this has me thinking a lot about where we started ten years ago. Being a startup is challenging, and there were lots of moments when my...
read moreCore Values: How To Create Principles That Guide Your Business
Do you put any weight in your company’s core values? It’s a topic that’s been highly talked about, recently, when building businesses. Forbes is talking about how important core values are, as is Inc., and even Business Insider. They truly are important. Our own...
read moreHow To Avoid Managing Like a Dictator: the Value of Teamwork
A couple of months ago, I spent some time in my blog talking about building a company culture for your business and some steps you can take to create it. There was one point I didn’t have a chance to dive into as deep as I wanted. This point can be a business and...
read moreHow Hard Could It Be? The BNG Story: A Retrospective
It’s finally here! After all the waiting and production hours our official documentary is here! Yes, we’ve been talking about this project for months, and it’s finally come to light! January 27th marked a moment in our company’s history; we celebrated our ten year...
read moreCompany Culture: How to Treat Your Team Members
If there are underlying forces that make our company succeed, it's definitely because of our team members and our culture. Back in our early days, when it was just me, Ryan and Tyler hitting the streets and trying to sell, we were always about supporting each other. A...
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