Your Vote Matters
IA Business Advisors has been nominated for Best Professional Services by the Bloomingdale Chamber of Commerce for the Best of Bloomingdale Award. The award recognizes organizations that offer the best services, and this year’s ceremony will take place on September 24th.
Voting starts on September 5th and runs through the 13th.
When Outsourcing Makes More Sense Than Hiring
Outsourcing will not fit every role. A permanent employee may make more sense when the work is continuous, requires close coordination with customers or staff, or depends on knowledge the business wants to keep in-house. Outsourcing is better suited to work that is specialized, limited in volume, or uneven enough that a full-time employee would not be fully utilized.
S.M.A.R.T. Management gives owners a simple way to compare the two options. Track the work being handled outside employees' main roles and record how many hours it takes each week. Then compare the annual cost of hiring, including benefits, with the cost of outsourcing the same work. If the workload is steady and large enough to support a full role, hiring may make sense. If the business only needs part of that capacity, outsourcing may be the better option.
The Growth Channel You're Ignoring
Tired of paid growth channels that usually perform poorly and thinking about creating a newsletter that drives real revenue? HeyNews covers exactly what you need every week: how to start and maintain a newsletter, the tools that actually move numbers, and the growth tactics operators are using right now. From lead generation to distribution playbooks to A/B tests pulled from real campaigns, it's the newsletter about newsletters that pays for itself in one good idea per week.
WEEKLY RECOMMENDATION
This Week's Pick: The I in Team
One of the ideas at the center of Positive Influence: Be the "I" in Team is that composure and the high road are choices made in specific moments, and that many of the traps a leader falls into are ones they set themselves. Correcting someone in the open is rarely a decision. The problem surfaced while others were present, and the owner responded immediately.
FEATURED VIDEO
Building Teams, Trust, and Ethical Influence
In this episode of Daily Influence, Brian Smith talks with Barry Moline, author of Connect: How to Quickly Collaborate for Success in Business and Life, about why strong teams are built through genuine relationships, trust, and the connections that make collaboration possible. Their conversation explores the difference between ethical influence and manipulation, the everyday forces that shape how people make decisions, and the responsibility leaders have to use influence intentionally.
SMB SIGNALS
5.8
points fall in the Expectations Index, as consumers became more pessimistic about business conditions and employment over the next six months.
U.S. Business Activity
S&P Global's flash data showed the U.S. services PMI rising to 56.8, while the Composite Output Index reached 56.0, its highest since April 2022.Employee Pay Preferences
A May 2026 survey of 10,055 employees found that the 15 most valued rewards across categories are dominated by those that provide financial stability and protection against future unanticipated costs.
EVENTS
Families in Business Conference 2026 (Ithaca, NY - October 23, 2026)
Cornell’s 11th annual Families in Business Conference will bring together family business owners, students, academics, and advisers at The Statler Hotel on Cornell’s Ithaca campus. Details →
Leading in a Family Firm (Chapel Hill, NC - October 28-29, 2026)
UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Family Enterprise Center will host a two-day forum for family business owners, family members, and non-family executives at the Rizzo Conference Center. Details →
MORE TO READ
2026 Economic Outlook
The National Small Business Association’s 2026 survey shows small businesses remaining cautious on growth as costs and economic uncertainty stay elevated.
Close Rate Calculation
Pull one quarter of quotes (10 min). List every quote sent in the last three months. For each one, record the date it was sent, the dollar amount, whether it closed, and the date of the first follow-up.
Close rate = Quotes closed ÷ Quotes sent
WEEKLY INSIGHT
"The best leaders don't just adapt to change — they anticipate it and prepare their teams."
— SMART Advantage Team
Ready to Level Up Your Business?
Schedule a free consultation with our experienced advisors today.
