Sheila Dedenbach

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Resource planning can be challenging, but it's an important step for keeping your budget and operations on track. For new business leaders, it's important to have a clear and prioritized road map for the business’s future, as this will help guide your decisions each day. However, each initiative, project and task requires certain resources — such as staff, funding, equipment, tools and more. Determining how to allocate these resources effectively is key to ensuring your business has what it needs to accomplish your goals. That said, it’s important to regularly assess whether your resources are being used effectively and to make adjustments as needed to stay on track. To help you do this, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council offer their best advice on how to tackle resource planning as a new business owner.

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It's not enough to simply define your brand mission — you have to live it every day. For any business, having a clear and meaningful mission is critical for success. To truly live up to that mission, however, you must ensure that it is consistently and clearly woven throughout all aspects of the business. Your brand's mission should be evident in the company's values, culture and day-to-day operations. To help you achieve this, 15 Rolling Stone Culture Council members each outline one specific step or action businesses can take to ensure their mission is fully integrated into their operations and why this is so important for the success and sustainability of the business.

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Tackling that "post-holiday slump" head-on is the best way to keep your team's morale and productivity up all year long. During the holidays, it's easy for teams to get swept up in the cheer and overall positive mood of the season. However, as the new year begins and the festivities have wound down, you and your employees may experience a dip in energy. While 12 months of holiday spirit might not be feasible (or even desired), there are plenty of ways leaders can maintain their team's good mood and upward momentum year-round. To help, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council offer eight strategies for keeping up team morale at the beginning of the year and beyond.

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Being deliberate and strategic about your content marketing efforts will yield far better results than a series of unrelated posts. Using social media or a blog to promote your brand isn't as simple as posting for the sake of it. Having a solid content strategy takes the guesswork out of what to publish and ensures that the content will resonate with your audience. Successful content strategies should consider the needs and demographics of your audience, the mission of your business, the purpose of publishing the content and more. Here, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share their No. 1 tips for creating an effective content strategy for your brand and why these tips work so well.

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The end of the year is a notoriously busy time, but it's important to make room in your schedule for these key year-end to-dos. As the end of the year approaches, most businesses are wrapping up any outstanding projects and assessing what needs to be carried over into the new year. It's the perfect time for leaders to meet with employees to discuss what worked, what could be better and how teamwork can help achieve next year’s goals. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share some essential items business leaders should achieve before January 1st. Here's why they believe these 13 tasks belong on your end-of-year to-do list.

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The end of the year is an ideal time to reflect on what you've learned and how you can apply it to your business moving forward. One of the most important aspects of an end-of-year review is assessing what went right and what went wrong for your business. Setting expectations for the following year based on those statistics helps ensure that your company continues to improve. Here, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share the most valuable lessons they learned over the past 12 months and the key takeaways they'll implement in their businesses in 2023.

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Their future opinion of your business rides on how you respond to their concerns. It's no secret that unhappy customers can have a negative effect on your business. All it takes is a slew of negative Yelp reviews or low star ratings to ruin a business’s reputation. But the reviews themselves aren’t always what have the biggest impact — it's all about the way the business responds to unsatisfied buyers. That's why it's so important to address customer concerns when they occur and attempt to turn the situation around. To shed some light on how to do so properly, 12 Rolling Stone Culture Council members explain the smartest things you should do first when you have an unhappy customer and why.

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Customer education must be approached with the right tone and content to be effective. Sometimes, customers may be interested in your product or service, but if it seems too complicated or difficult to understand, they may not follow through with a purchase. Conveying information in a simple, concise and fun way can help educate the customer without the need for a long, complicated or boring explanation. Whether you publish an FAQ page or create a short explainer video, it's important to keep your customer interested while making sure they understand the nuances of your product or service. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share 12 effective approaches to customer education any business leader can leverage.

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In an industry that moves at breakneck speeds, it helps to have some coping strategies when you're feeling stressed out. Whether you own a bustling restaurant, are involved in the ever-changing fashion or music businesses or are trying to advocate for change on a major scale, working in the culture space often involves a hectic lifestyle. While it's an exciting space to be in, it can often be fast-paced and overwhelming, which can quickly lead to stress and burnout. Managing stress can be done in many different ways, from taking small breaks throughout the day to prioritizing passions outside of work. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share some ways they unwind from the pressures of their industry and how doing so keeps them at the top of their professional game.

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A positive work environment, including one that embraces a growth mindset, starts at the top. In the business world, a "growth mindset" is often prized for its ability to motivate employees and drive them toward success. Leaders and employees who pursue growth and improvement every day tend to give their all so that they can evolve as professionals and as people in general.   As prominent leaders in their respective fields, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council understand how important it is to encourage and inspire employees to grow. Doing so shows them you are dedicated to elevating their careers and helping them improve professionally. Here, 11 members share some of the ways in which any business leader can inspire their employees to develop and maintain a growth mindset — and how doing so can help improve your business in the long run.

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Many entrepreneurs are afraid of failing when they first start out, but it's possible to push past that fear and find success. Today, more people than ever are driven to create their own businesses. While the thought of being your own boss and creating something you love can be exhilarating, many entrepreneurs also experience that prickly feeling of fear when they actually launch. After all, the potential for failure is high in the early stages of a startup, and new businesses don't always make it past their first few years. Some people will fold under the pressure while others will rise to the challenge despite their fear. To help you ensure you're in the latter camp, 14 members of Rolling Stone Culture Council share how entrepreneurs can overcome the fear of failure and push forward.

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A leader’s mindset can make a huge difference in how well a business succeeds during times of uncertainty. The business world can often feel like a roller coaster with unpredictable ups and downs. While it's easy for business leaders to stay positive during the good times, it can be harder to keep that same attitude when the going gets tough. Cultivating the right mindset can help leaders better navigate challenges and have a greater appreciation for the victories. If you're looking for a boost of positivity, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council share their tried-and-true strategies for staying positive no matter the external circumstances.

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If innovation is your goal, you need creativity to flow freely throughout your organization. Industries that rely on constant innovation need leaders who are able to foster creativity among their teams. However, it can be difficult to feel creative all the time, especially in an office setting. Getting out of the office, meeting new people and sharing ideas with others are just a few ways that team members can find that creativity again. Below, 11 Rolling Stone Culture Council members share these strategies and more that have helped them effectively encourage creativity among their employees.

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Truthful feedback from your team — both positive and negative — is essential for continued growth as a business leader. Honest and transparent teams are likely to succeed for the simple fact that they value an open dialogue. If your team isn't on the same page about your plans, projects will suffer and the business may lose the momentum it needs for growth. This is why, as a business leader, it's critical to ensure you're receiving constructive and helpful feedback from your team. To help you make this a priority for both you and your business, 12 members of Rolling Stone Culture Council discuss their best tips for leaders.

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The definition of what a leader should be has evolved over the years. With so much shifting in terms of “how,” “when” and “where” we work post-pandemic, special attention must also be given to the way in which we lead. New environments and new expectations make way for new challenges, and in order to overcome them, managers, business leaders and entrepreneurs alike must reconsider what it means to be a “modern leader” in today’s ever-evolving professional climate. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share their insights on what it means to be a “modern leader” today and the kinds of traits they expect to see if leaders want to succeed in today’s business world.

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As with any new government program, there were — and continue to be — issues that directly affect business operators.

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Sometimes just one question can let you know you’re on the right track. Business is full of tough decisions. During the course of a day, an entrepreneur could find themselves making anywhere from one to hundreds of tough decisions, big or small. While experience and time help make the decision-making process easier for many business owners, they can still often benefit from asking themselves a few clarifying questions. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members each share a question an entrepreneur can ask themselves before making a tough decision to ensure they’re on the right track.

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To rediscover your passion, you might first need to rediscover yourself. When asked why they started their businesses, many entrepreneurs would answer that they were passionate about the product, service or cause their business represented. But along the way, between the day-to-day grind and the stress of leadership, that passion can tend to fade, and those same entrepreneurs may find themselves questioning why they continue to do what they do. While this loss of passion isn’t uncommon, it can feel demotivating to those driven by entrepreneurial purpose. Thankfully, reigniting a passion can be as simple as taking one of the following nine steps. Consider this list of steps recommended by the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council to take back your passion and set yourself on a new path toward happiness and fulfillment.

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A mentor’s advice can change the way you view yourself and your business. For those lucky enough to find one, a mentor can be an invaluable ally when starting a business. Their expert guidance and leadership can help provide you with the tools and knowledge you need to push past obstacles and build something truly sustainable. The members of Rolling Stone Culture Council have each had their own role models and mentors throughout their business journeys. Below, they each share the top lesson they learned from their mentor and how that lesson impacts the way they lead their businesses now.

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The best advice often comes from those who have walked the same path. New businesses are opening all the time, often by first-time entrepreneurs. And while thorough research, planning and thoughtful decision-making can give you a good start in your entrepreneurial journey, nothing can prepare you for the true journey that lies ahead.  With business experience comes a great deal of wisdom, and those who have been in business for any length of time can tell you that learning always comes before success. So, to help get the next generation of business leaders set on the right path, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council consider their own unique perspectives and share their best advice for those just starting out.

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Entrepreneurs knowingly decide they want to take the hard way into a new business venture.

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What inspires entrepreneurs each day doesn't have to come from the business sector. As any entrepreneur will tell you, running a business is a tough job. Finding the motivation to bring your all every day is a task in and of itself as you can easily become overwhelmed by the responsibility of constant planning, innovating and ensuring your team is well taken care of. Having something or someone to draw from for inspiration, then, can have a major impact on an entrepreneur’s outlook. But you don’t have to look to the business realm to be inspired. To share what has served as their biggest source of non-business inspiration, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members each discuss what (or who) inspires them as they lead their companies now and into the future.

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A little gratitude can go a long way in business. Happy customers are the fuel necessary to run any successful business.To help them is the main reason why many entrepreneurs continue doing what they’re doing. And when you build a loyal community of customers, you set yourself up with long-term support. One way to build that loyal following is to show your appreciation for your customers on a regular basis. When customers can feel your gratitude, it helps them feel like their voices are being heard and like they aren’t just a number on a profit report. Gratitude can come in many forms, however, so to help you find the method that suits you best, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council list their top strategies below.

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Your employees can have valuable insights, so it’s important they have an opportunity to share them. As the ones who are deeply involved in the day-to-day running of a business, employees often have the best insights about what does and doesn't work in a company. When you’re a leader, figuring out what employees think about how operations could be improved can be a vital part of ensuring your business’s success. Ingraining employee feedback as part of your company’s culture, therefore, can ensure you hear your team’s opinions on a regular basis. To help you accomplish that, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members offered their own opinions on how you can make feedback a part of your company culture and make sure everyone is heard.