Maurice Kelly

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Implementing these top strategies may help your business stand out during one of the most competitive selling cycles of the year.  The holiday season is the perfect time to nurture your established brand relationships with loyal customers and clients and possibly develop some new ones. Whether your company is targeting B2C or B2B, it's also a chance to come up with other creative concepts to grab people's attention, make them smile, and show them that you truly care.  If you focus on the humanization of your company, highlighting the effectiveness of your employees, you'll connect effectively with the community at large. Here are 14 ways that Fast Company Executive Board members are successfully keeping their organizations in the public eye not only in November and December but throughout the entire year.

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Follow these side-hustle business success strategies prior to stepping out on your own. Turning a part-time passion into a full-time paying career is no easy feat, especially if you are responsible for keeping the lights on through a regular 9-to-5. But maintaining your balance does not have to result in around-the-clock burnout. Make the start-up life a little easier on your grind by scaling back in certain areas of the gig business that can be outsourced or even automated. This will free up your limited time, energy, and other possible resources to focus on reaching your future entrepreneurial goals and aspirations. Based on their personal experiences and objectives, experts from Fast Company Executive Board are here to discuss some practical guidelines for turning your side hustle into a thriving and independent hit.

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Transitioning from a micromanager to a true leader can be difficult, but it's essential if you want to build trust with your team. When you're used to being in control of your business, it can be hard to delegate tasks that you've done well on your own. But with growth comes the necessity to hire new employees to take on projects you're no longer as available to handle. Micromanaging slows down workflow and creates a strained dynamic between employees and leaders. More importantly, it hinders the ability of a manager to build trust with their employees. To help you break this bad habit, a panel of Fast Company Executive Board members shares some best practices for becoming less of a micromanager and trusting your team's instincts. 

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Here are 10 tips to help leaders decide on the best next steps to level-up business. If you're looking to upgrade your company's image or improve on the pattern of behaviors it is widely known for in the marketplace up until now, there are plenty of factors to evaluate before making a decision to promote the rebranding of your business. Be clear on what it is that you truly plan to accomplish and why. Then do your research even further to make sure it's the right plan of action for you now and if now is the best time to do it. By examining these few points, you'll be setting your team up for successful wins each time.  Fast Company Executive Board members advise leaders on how to start with just some minor adjustments to improve your business effectively before moving on to invest in a major overhaul that you may not be prepared for to move forward with as quickly. 

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If you're strapped for cash, you can still find practical ways to launch and grow your new establishment successfully. Building a start-up business on a small budget is never easy. But being new to the industry it's important to build the best track record and gain as much positive attention as possible to elevate and expand your company in no time. Below, 15 gurus from Fast Company Executive Board share their time and knowledge about low-cost ways to create a buzz factor of excitement about your product or service.

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How to keep your company's original mission relative to the future growth market.  To avoid remaining stagnant in today's evolving marketplace, an entrepreneur must keep one eye on the pulse of the latest trends and the other on the reasons for going into business in the first place. To stay balanced, the leader should make pursuing innovation a natural part of the company's course in order to survive. Below, 15 members from Fast Company Executive Board weigh in on the path to blending legacy with future possibilities to help their companies thrive.

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Every single person on your team—in the early days—needs to have an entrepreneurial spirit. If you want to launch a growing business and be successful, it's important to create a strong mission statement and surround yourself with folks who are willing to put in the work because they're passionate about what they do. Business leaders should also look for people who can carry out core values and continue to foster a positive company culture that lives up to the brand that the founder envisions.  It may be difficult to obtain the best talent in the market, so start with the peers in your network who respect what you're already doing and are happy to support what you stand for. Below, 11 expert panelists from Fast Company Executive Board suggest other leading traits business owners and managers should think about when they are trying to match a job candidate within their company. 

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Set your terms and conditions early to achieve a positive partnership and maximize outcomes. As you continue to network and market the business, you may be open to innovative ventures and exciting opportunities that come your way to boost the company's platform and share its products or services even further. At first glance it may seem like a good idea to join forces with a new alliance in business, but how much do you really know about your potential partner's financial track record, its commitment to customer satisfaction, and whether it shares your same core values and views on what it takes to maintain success in the marketplace?  That's why 13 Fast Company Executive Board members want to point out additional key factors that leaders must consider in the decision-making process prior to signing the next deal.

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Allowing every challenge to serve its purpose will strengthen your company's reputation in the long term. Whether it's the impact of a prolonged global health crisis or a mismatched partnership that was all wrong from the beginning, operating an organization on a daily basis, supporting your team, and meeting client expectations, through the good times and the bad, does not come without obstacles. What sometimes seems like a series of unforeseen challenges to test your tenacity, build stronger community relations, and demonstrate credibility on the core values your company represents can actually strengthen your company.  Below, 16 Fast Company Executive Board members reflect on how their companies have been able to rise up and revamp a sticky business situation into something good.