ITT 209: Small Business Mistakes to Avoid with Rob Braiman

Rob Braiman is personally responsible for the development and growth of three directly owned and successful start-ups, he brings a passion for the small to mid-market segment of business. He has spent 15 years working directly with business owners to improve strategic planning, operations, growth, and business development. 

 

During today’s conversation, I sit down with Rob Braiman, who’s the Principal and Managing Member at Cogent Analytics. I brought Rob on the call today to talk about the typical problems that small business owners and entrepreneurs face today and how to get through them. This conversation does get somewhat analytical and academia focused, but it will still be incredibly useful for small business owners. 

 

You’ll leave this conversation thinking about how you can improve some of your bottom line metrics and numbers that you don’t necessarily think about when bootstrapping. My big takeaway from this episode is that the world of KPI metrics can be quite interesting when you know what you’re tracking and how to pay yourself first.

In this broadcast, Rob and I talk about:

 

• Where did Rob’s entrepreneurial journey begin
• What was Rob’s time like with the fifth group
• How did Rob go from the military to working with analytics
• What background do small business owners typically come from
• What are the four pillars that analyzes your current state of business
• What are the types and sizes of small businesses Rob typically works with
• How does Rob take a holistic view to his clients
• Does Rob typically see the same mistakes made by small business owners
• Why you need to look at your financials
• Where should you start when looking at KPIs
• How can you monitor your business development
• What is a good break even strategy
• Why most business owners do not come from an academic background
• In what way does under-performing give away your money
• Why you need to feel comfortable talking about your profits without concerning yourself with “greed”
• How is Cogent Analytics an information first business

 

How to Connect with Rob:

 

• cogentanalytics.com
• Take Cogent Analytics Entrepreneur Quiz to learn what opportunities you have for better profits
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

 

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