On Monday, November 5th, The Sassy Ladies showed their support of small business at the We Mean Business Expo, in Lincoln, RI.  A joint partnership of the Rhode Island Secretary of State's office and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, this first-time event was packed with hundreds of small business owners looking for assistance from government agencies, non-profits, and small business advisor exhibitors. 

We interviewed many of these experts throughout the day, and asked them to share some tips for our online audience.  Now you can hear their best advice for your business!

Sixcia Devine
Rhode Island Small Business Development Center (RISBDC)
Sixcia says that most people coming to her today are asking about financing, business plans and the resources a small business owner can tap into at the RI Small Business Development Center at Johnson & Wales when starting or growing their businesses.

Carmen Diaz-Jusino 
Center for Women & Enterprise
Carmen and Wendy discuss the many resources available to women entrepreneurs of all stages of business through the Center, including workshops, consulting, networking, and connections to state resources. 

Nancy Faella
Violet's Products
Shares her experience of presenting at the RISBDC B2B Venture Forum, asking inventors for funding of her patent-pending, Colombian coffee cube, import/export start-up business.

Anthony Gemma and John Cronin
Gem Plumbing & RI Small Business Development Center
Anthony and John discuss the launch of their new collaboration, "F.O.C.U.S. 500", which creates a dashboard to measure Financial, Operational, Customer Service, Internal (Us) and Supply/System components for twelve lucky Rhode Island companies. 

Bob LaFond
North Central RI Chamber of Commerce
Bob addresses hard-hitting challenges in Rhode Island like providing affordable health insurance for employees and owners of small businesses and political corruption.

David Lucier, CPA
Lucier & Company, Inc.
David gives advice to small business owners who asked, "Where do I start, and what paperwork do I file?" and the steps to forming a strategic plan for your business.

David Nash
Engage Marketing
Dave Nash thinks small business owners trying to do too much. He suggests picking one thing and doing it very well. He talked to people at the Expo who want to know how to turn an idea into a profitable business, and he presented a workshop at the Expo on using nurture marketing to capture the attention of their market.

Bob Salvas
The Allied Group
Bob speaks to some of the challenges that businesses have in taking their companies to the next level. He and Wendy discuss the resurgence of direct mail marketing and the power of networking for growing a business.

Laura Theisen
Precision Web Marketing
Laura dispells the myth that the web is a high-tech and expensive endeavor.  Precision's online marketing learning center helps small businesses learn to use their marketing resources effectively.

Len Tinkoff
Corporate Performance Partners
You may know Len from his excellent Revenue Engine article series on the Every Company Counts website and newsletter. At the show, he hears from business owners that it is hard to start and profitably grow a business, and advises them on ways  to grow their businesses by better communications with prospects, developing internal processes to sell and deliver products and services, and reviewing critical business metrics.  Hear the four questions that Len says business owners must be able to answer to be successful.