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Want to Write a Business Book? Follow These Expert Tips

Posted: 04 Apr 2020 03:25 PM PDT

Writing and publishing a book is no small feat. It requires time, dedication, and a lot of patience. Plus, beyond the excitement of seeing your name on a cover, having your own book can also establish you as an expert and leader in your field.

So what should first-time authors keep in mind before they start writing? To find out, we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:

Q. What is one particularly important thing for entrepreneurs to remember when they are looking to write or publish their first book?

1. Have a strategy

The important thing to remember for entrepreneurs looking to publish their first book is that publishing a book is as much about having a promotional strategy as it is about writing great content. Publishers want you to have a clearly defined audience, a PR strategy, and an audience or mailing list in place when you come to them. —Amine Rahal, Little Dragon Media

 

2. Test your idea first

Writing a book is still one of the best marketing tools around. However, it also requires a lot of time—the one thing an entrepreneur does not have a lot of. Before you sketch out hundreds of pages, find out if there's an interest in your idea by blogging or writing short articles. The comments you receive will give you a quick indication of the interest in your topic. —Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker 

 

3. Offer value

Make sure that whatever content you put out to your readers offers them value. If there’s no underlying message to take in, then all it is is a story without substance. Teach your readers a lesson, and they’ll keep coming back for more. —Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

 

4. It’s going to be more work than you think

Everyone I know that has written a book says the same thing: it was way more work than they ever realized. It is also incredibly rewarding work. Be prepared to put in the work. Be prepared for unexpected obstacles and frustrations. Be prepared for it not to sell. Do it anyway. It will take perseverance, but it will be worth it. —Reuben Yonatan, GetVoIP

5. Speak your truth

Your audience wants to know your story. They want to know how you got where you are, and they want to know all the obstacles that you encountered along the way. There’s no good story without conflict, so be very sincere when telling your story—tell your story raw. People will relate to the challenges that you went through and will find inspiration in knowing how you overcome them. —Alfredo Atanacio, Uassist.ME

6. Grow your personal brand

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as seeing tons of people buy and love your new book. The problem many entrepreneurs face is they don’t focus on building their personal brand before publishing their work. If no one knows you exist, there’s a slim chance people are going to clamor in excitement over your new book. Build your network on LinkedIn and a personal brand website. —John Turner, SeedProd LLC

7. Hire an editor

Hiring an editor is a crucial step when writing a book. Even if you are a wonderful writer, they are the outside ear that can confirm the messages you are attempting to get across are clear. Do not put the burden of self-editing on yourself. Bring in an expert to help make your book shine. —Rana Gujral, Behavioral Signals

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8. Write from your experience

Make sure you really know what you are talking about. Make sure you carefully research and self-evaluate your experience. This way your book will have a clear value to communicate. —Nicole Munoz, Nicole Munoz Consulting, Inc.

 

9. Have a unique story

Every entrepreneur with a social media presence is writing a book now. It’s getting to the point where way too many authors seem to be selling a “secrets to the trade” rather than how to actually succeed in their business. Be sure you can offer a unique and entertaining story based off a successful background before you even think about publishing a book. —Andrew Saladino, Kitchen Cabinet Kings

 

10. Create an amazing outline and proposal

When I wrote my book, organizing my thoughts was my biggest challenge. Authors are overwhelmed at the thought of putting 10,000 words on paper, so creating an outline is very helpful. Even if you are self-publishing, you’ll want a proposal to show an editor and keep you focused. I took my 20-chapter outline and pretended they were 20 amazing blog posts, written over two years. —Matt Wilson, Under30Experiences

11. Take advantage of social media

While you’re writing your book, be sure to include parts that redirect all your readers to some of your social media profiles. That way, they will be able to connect more deeply with you, and your audience will continue to grow. —Kevin Leyes, Team Leyes

 

12. Build an email list

Writing a book takes time and effort, so the last thing you want is for no one to read it. That’s why you need to promote your book early, and the easiest way to do that is by building an email list—an email list is a great way to get the word out about your book. Plus, if you build an email list before you start writing, you can find out exactly what your subscribers are interested in. —Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster

13. Get an accountability partner

Having published two books on Amazon, I understand many of the headaches of publishing and the process. The best piece of advice I have is to assign an accountability partner to keep you on schedule. This partner can also be your editor, but an accountability partner should also be working towards a goal. Map out the boundaries of the partnership and timeline, then motivate each other weekly. —Matthew Capala, Alphametic

RELATED: How to Create a Best-Selling E-Book

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Business Entity Types 101: Is It Time to Rethink Your Business Structure?

Posted: 04 Apr 2020 03:13 PM PDT

A lot is riding on the business entity type you choose. The business structure you decide on affects your legal liability as an owner, tax obligations, growth potential, and compliance requirements you’ll need to satisfy on an ongoing basis. To make matters more complex, the entity type that’s right at the beginning of a business’s existence may not continue to be the ideal choice as the company grows and evolves.

So, what’s an entrepreneur to do? First and foremost, I encourage business owners to consult with a licensed attorney and accountant or tax advisor to get professional guidance. Every situation is unique, so it’s critical to have expert advice before making the crucial decisions of choosing a business entity and assessing when it’s time for a change.

To help you prepare for your all-important discussions with your legal and financial advisors, the following is food for thought about some of the most popular business entity types.

Business entity basics

1. Sole proprietorship and general partnership

Many small businesses start as either a sole proprietorship (one owner or a married couple) or general partnership (multiple owners). When business owners don't formally register their companies with the state, they are, by default, considered either a sole proprietorship or general partnership. There is no legal or financial separation between the business and its owners.

Pros of sole proprietorships and general partnerships:

  • Inexpensive and straightforward to set up and maintain administratively—Usually, there’s no legal formation paperwork required to operate as a sole proprietorship or general partnership. Aside from filing a DBA (fictitious name registration), if someone wants to advertise the business under a name that doesn’t include their first and last name, state paperwork is minimal. Compared to other business structures, sole proprietorships and general partnerships have fewer ongoing compliance formalities to fulfill. 
  • Pass-through tax simplicity—Business profits and losses flow through to the business owners’ individual tax returns, keeping tax filing simple, too.   

Cons of sole proprietorships and general partnerships:

  • Personal liability risks—If someone sues the business or the business can’t pay its bills, the owners are directly responsible. That means your personal assets (home, retirement savings, etc.) might be taken to satisfy debts or lawsuits. 
  • Potentially excessive self-employment tax burden—All taxable business income earned by sole proprietorships and general partnerships is subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes. That 15.3% on all profits can add up to a lofty tax bill.
  • Limited opportunities for growth—Sole proprietorships and general partnerships may not sell stock to raise capital. Also, outside investors typically will not fund businesses that haven't formally registered as a statutory business entity (e.g., LLC or corporation).
  • Inability to sell the company—Sole proprietors and general partners may sell their business’s assets. However, they may not sell the business entity itself. Also, if a sole proprietorship or general partnership has outstanding debt upon closing, the business owners will be responsible for what’s owed, even though they are no longer running the business.  

2. Limited liability company (LLC)

The LLC business structure may be described as a bit of a cross between a sole proprietorship or partnership and a corporation. By default, an LLC is considered the same tax-paying entity as its owners (“members”). However, the LLC is regarded as a separate legal entity from its members. Articles of Organization must be filed with the state to form an LLC. 

Pros of limited liability companies

  • Limited liability for owners—The legal separation between the business and LLC members helps protect the business owners’ personal assets in the event of legal or financial debts. 
  • Tax flexibility—Normally, LLCs receive pass-through taxation, with business income and losses reported on their personal tax returns. However, eligible LLCs may instead elect to be taxed as an S Corporation (more on that later!). 
  • Management flexibility—Multimember LLCs can choose to be member-managed or manager-managed. That allows them to decide if the business's owners will handle the day-to-day management responsibilities or if they will designate a person (or persons) as a manager(s). Most states consider an LLC "member-managed" unless otherwise specified in its formation documents

Cons of LLCs

  • Potentially excessive self-employment tax burden—By default, LLCs are treated as a pass-through tax entity. This means that, like sole proprietors and general partnerships, self-employment taxes apply to all business profits.
  • Limited opportunities for growth—While an LLC can add members (unless limited by its operating agreement) to bring additional funds into the business, it cannot raise capital by issuing stock. 
  • Limited lifespan—Unless an LLC's operating agreement states otherwise, an LLC is considered to cease to exist if a member departs from the LLC.

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3. C Corporation

A C Corporation is regarded as a separate taxpayer and legal entity from its owners. Business income and expenses are tied to the business, and the corporate entity reports and pays taxes. Ownership of a C Corp is through purchasing shares of stock.

Incorporating as a C Corp involves filing Articles of Incorporation (sometimes called Certificate of Incorporation) with the state. Other state requirements must also be met to start a corporation.

Pros of C Corporations

Most legal protection for owners—The C Corp structure provides the highest degree of liability protection for business owners. Under most circumstances, shareholders, directors, and employees have protection from lawsuits and debts of the corporation. 

Growth potential—C Corporations can have an unlimited number of shareholders and may issue multiple classes of stock. Typically, investors will be more interested in funding companies organized as corporations rather than those operating as other entity types.  

Tax flexibility—Eligible corporations may choose to be taxed as an S Corporation (see more about that in the next section). Often, corporations are eligible for more tax deductions than businesses operating as other business structures. 

Perpetual life—Ownership interests in a corporation may be transferred to others. Shareholders can sell, gift, or bequeath their shares of company stock, and the corporation continues to exist. Only when a C Corp is formally dissolved is its life ended. 

Cons of C Corporations

More compliance complexity and costs—In most states, it costs more to incorporate a business than to form an LLC. There are more internal and external rules to start and operate a C Corp, such as appointing a board of directors, drafting bylaws, filing an initial report, filing annual reports, etc.

Double taxation—A C Corporation’s profits get taxed at the federal corporate income tax rate. Then they are again taxed to shareholders when the corporation distributes those profits as dividends. This creates a double tax because the dividends paid do not qualify as tax deductions for the corporation. Another potential disadvantage from a shareholder’s individual tax perspective, is that they may not deduct any loss of the corporation on their personal tax returns.  

Overview of the S Corporation election for LLCs and corporations

The S Corporation is a tax election that qualifying LLCs and corporations can choose.

The benefit for LLCs is that S Corp election can reduce the amount of self-employment tax business owners must pay. An LLC taxed as an S Corp still gets pass-through tax treatment (tax obligations pass-through to the owners’ returns), but only the wages and salaries of business owners on the company’s payroll are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes. Any profit distributions paid to owners do not have those taxes levied on them.

To request S Corporation election, an LLC must file IRS Form 8832 (to be taxed as a corporation) and IRS Form 2553 (to choose S Corporation election).

S Corp tax treatment allows corporations to avoid the sting of double taxation. As an S Corporation, a corporation’s profits and losses flow through to shareholders’ personal tax returns. The corporate entity does not pay income tax. Shareholders who are employed by the corporation pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on their wages or salaries from the company, but the dividend income paid to shareholders is not subject to those taxes.

Note that S Corporations may not exceed 100 shareholders. Therefore, corporations with more than that are not eligible for S Corp election.

Is your business entity type still the right one for you?

Business owners operating as a sole proprietor, general partnership, or LLC may find that their business is outgrowing the limitations of their entity type.  A few things that might drive entrepreneurs to consider changing their business structure include:

  • Wanting to add employees
  • Desiring to bring on a new partner or co-owner
  • Seeking funding from investors
  • Wanting to reduce self-employment tax payments
  • Planning to sell the business
  • Planning to retire

The process to switch from one business entity type to another will vary by business structure and in which state the business is operating. An attorney and accountant can help determine whether a change may be beneficial. Also, a lawyer can advise on the correct steps to take to change business entities. Details are often available on states' Secretary of State websites, as well. 

Ideally, when starting your business, it's helpful to think both short-term and long-term about what structure will best serve your needs and vision. With some research, reaching out to the right resources for guidance, you will be empowered to make an informed decision. 

RELATED: How Do Owners of an LLC or S Corporation Get Paid?

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Upcoming Certification Changes for Women-Owned Businesses

Posted: 04 Apr 2020 02:59 PM PDT

If you're a woman small business owner who wants to do business with corporate or government clients, you know there's a lot of competition. But you can get an edge by getting your company certified as a woman-owned business.

Certification makes your business more visible to potential clients, increases your networking opportunities, and can expose you to new possibilities. Whether you've never thought about getting certified, have considered it, or are already certified, you should know the Small Business Administration (SBA) has proposed to amend its certification process. New regulations are expected to be published this summer.

Here's what you need to know

To refresh your memory, there are two types of woman-owned business certifications. The Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) certification is for businesses wanting to do business with the private sector, nonprofits, state governments, or local governments.

For those wanting to work with the federal government, your goal is certification from Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) or Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB).

To be eligible for the women's contracting program, your business must:

  • Be a small business
  • Be at least 51% owned and controlled by women who are U.S. citizens
  • Have women manage day-to-day operations and also make long-term decisions

To qualify as an economically disadvantaged business within the women's contracting program, your business must:

  • Meet all the requirements of the women's contracting program
  • Be owned and controlled by one or more women, each with a personal net worth less than $750,000
  • Be owned and controlled by one or more women, each with $350,000 or less in adjusted gross income averaged over the previous three years
  • Be owned and controlled by one or more women, each with $6 million or less in personal assets

The eligibility requirements to qualify as a WOSB or an EDWOSB are fully defined in Title 13 Part 127 Subpart B of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). You can also get a preliminary assessment of whether you qualify at the SBA's Certify website.

According to SBA, the new requirements currently are scheduled to be published on June 30, 2020, and take effect 30 days later.

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Per the Office of Advocacy, the proposed rule would:

  • Provide that the SBA will establish a free electronic application process for all firms seeking to be certified as WOSBs or EDWOSBs. In the pursuit of speed, efficiency, and ease of administrative burden, applicants would apply online through an electronic application process.
  • Allow participation from an expanded list of federal and state entities with existing certification programs and confirm the continued participation of approved third-party certifiers. SBA 8(m) program participants.
  • Require approved third-party certifiers to notify applicants of their fees and the option to use SBA's free online certification process.
  • Eliminate the self-certification option for SBA 8(m) program participants.
  • Adopt a $750,000 net worth standard when assessing economic disadvantage for eligibility for both the 8(m) EDWOSB Program and the 8(a) Business Development Program.

Perhaps the biggest change to affect participation is the elimination of self-certification. Businesses will need to certify through an approved third-party entity or go through the SBA's free online certification at certify.sba.gov.

Already certified? Here's what to know

If you're already certified through a third party or the SBA, you'll need to get recertified: "Third-party certified firms must recertify three years after the date of their most recent recertification as a third-party certified firm."

For self-certified WOSBs or EDWOSBs with active WOSB or EDWOSB set-aside contracts, your business is still certified throughout the life of the contract. If the contract is more than five years, however, the business must get recertified by SBA or an approved third-party certifier before the end of the fifth year of the contract.

If your business is self-certified and has no active contracts, you must recertify with the SBA or approved third party at a date dependent on the last time your business was examined by the SBA.

What can certification do for you?

Being certified as a woman-owned business doesn't guarantee anything, but it can help you gain an advantage with potential clients.

  • Federal government agencies are required by law to meet goals for giving a certain percentage of their contracts to WOSBs or EDWOSBs. In industries where women have historically been underrepresented, some federal agencies even set aside a certain percentage of their contracts for WOSBs or EDWOSBs.
  • State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector businesses may have similar quotas to meet. In these situations, being certified can help your small business get in the door to compete with larger companies for contracts.
  • Certification organizations may also offer member benefits such as educational programs, conferences, networking events, and matchmaking opportunities.
  • Do you already work with corporate or government clients? Certification as a woman-owned business could open up even more opportunities with those companies.

You can stay updated on the upcoming certification changes on the SBA contracting website.

RELATED: ​How to Succeed in Business: Hard-Earned Wisdom From a Woman CEO

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5 Ways to Improve the Productivity of Your Team

Posted: 04 Apr 2020 02:55 PM PDT

Increasingly we are operating in complex workplaces where individual and collaborative work share blurred boundaries, and there is a constant barrage of emails and reminders pinging at us throughout the day. Sometimes it can become a bit too much, leading to frustration, loss of productivity, low morale, and even a complete burnout.

As a business owner, you strive hard to create the perfect plan supported by a strategic vision. But if your employees are constantly feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated, the whole business could come crumbling down. That's why addressing employee productivity is one of the key components of a business plan.

In this article we share ways in which you can boost your team's productivity, while increasing their happiness and creating a more successful business.

1. Lead by example

At the crux of most team productivity issues is usually poor time management skills. Teams that lack this critical skill will struggle with projects, meetings, and emails until they eventually succumb to the pressure by either churning out substandard work or not getting to it at all.

As a business leader, you need to set a positive example for your team. Incorporate good time management skills in your work day to show how work can be managed efficiently. Organizing and prioritizing work strategically will ensure you give due time to important things instead of spending a whole day wrestling with something that could have been put off for later or delegated to someone else. This can also help you to avoid "this meeting could have been an email" situations.

2. Set achievable goals

People work best when they are given clear goals to work toward. Sit with your team and sketch out work goals together so everyone is on the same page. Outline clearly what is expected of the team and decide together what will be the best way to go about it.

This will help the team organize and execute work more effectively. It will also help you analyze better and more fairly the work completed as you will compare it to the well-defined key goals set in the beginning.

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3. Break the communication silos

A team that communicates better is a more successful team. A lot of times team members cannot perform to the best of their abilities because of bottlenecks in team communication. Encouraging open and honest communication within a team will ensure people uninhibitedly share their insights and problems, which in turn leads to more creative problem-solving and superior performance.

4. Give your team the right tools

For teams to operate at their best, they need the right collaboration tools. Today there is an abundance of tools that allow team members to more easily communicate with one another, manage projects, train each other, and share documents among others.

Use these tools as they can immediately boost employee productivity.

5. Respect team autonomy

Higher productivity in the workplace is observed in teams that get the autonomy and room to make their own decisions and delegate work as they see fit. Once you have set clear goals and expectations, it is time to step back and let your team handle things on their own.

You have to trust people and give them the freedom to choose how they approach a project. You can touch base with them periodically to analyze their progress but micromanaging almost always dampens team spirit and productivity. Let the team be in charge of their work and time. Team autonomy leads to greater ownership of work, which means more invested and more productive employees.

Team productivity is key

Even if you have the best business idea, products or services in the world, if your team isn't as productive as it needs to be, you won't achieve lasting success. Follow these five strategies and growing your business will become much easier.

RELATED: 10 Productivity Tools That Entrepreneurs Can't Live Without

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Small Business Relief Must Be a Priority During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Posted: 04 Apr 2020 02:32 PM PDT

By Alexis Glick

As the COVID-19 health emergency has been unfolding, I've been doing some writing and media appearances talking about a group of people I care passionately about—namely, the millions of underserved children in the United States who depend on the U.S.D.A.'s school lunch and school breakfast programs for the lion's share of their daily nutrition, and who risk hunger and food insecurity when public schools are forced to close for health reasons.

Thankfully, the U.S.D.A., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the School Nutrition Association, the Food Research and Action Center, and numerous NGOs and national and local nonprofits like my own are focused on that issue, and are helping to figure out creative solutions during the shutdown. That's good news. (My own organization's COVID-19 Emergency School Nutrition Fund launched on March 30th can be accessed here.)

That has allowed me to momentarily turn my attention to another group for whom the effects of coronavirus hold the potential of being devastating: the men and women of America's small business community and their families.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy

According to 2019 figures from the Small Business Administration, small businesses employ nearly 60 million Americans, or 47.3% of the private workforce. Many of those people are part-time employees, and many of them do not have paid sick leave.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy: they create two-thirds of net new jobs and drive U.S. innovation and competitiveness. SBA figures document that small businesses account for an astonishing 44% of all U.S. economic activity.

Without belittling the hits that large corporations take when the economy comes to a standstill for weeks or months, in truth, it's small businesses—restaurants, retail, hospitality, travel, skilled laborers, service providers of all kinds—who tend to be hit hardest in times like these. They simply don't have the reservoirs of cash on their balance sheets that the big corporations and publicly traded companies have.

A hiatus that lasts weeks or months can put the best-managed Main Street small enterprise out of business, and it's precisely small business owners and their employees who are least likely to have a personal financial cushion to soften the fall.

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Small business owners, founders, and hardworking employees often don't get the credit they deserve. In many ways, large and small, they have built our country into what it is today. American small business owners represent a powerful legacy: many today are the children and grandchildren of immigrants and "greatest generation" visionaries who took risks that only entrepreneurs understand, dedicated themselves to what we used to call the American dream, made successes of their enterprises, enriched and stabilized their communities, raised their families, and supported city, state, and national growth by billions paid in taxes.

We often hear folks advising others to patronize small businesses in their neighborhoods. This is well intentioned, but it's a hollow gesture in a time when guidelines and laws are advising merchants to limit hours, cut back on customers, and in some cases close down. You can't patronize a hotel, a bar, a shop, or a gym whose doors are shuttered. And unlike collateral-rich corporations, small businesses can't borrow their way out of red ink.

Financial relief for small businesses should be a priority

The primary help for small business going forward in this crisis must be financial relief. That includes unemployment insurance, of course, but I'm talking about grants, debt forgiveness, disaster loans, micro-financing, special economic-injury instruments that offer access to capital, and, yes, if the coronavirus is as long-lasting a crisis as some are warning, appropriate "bailouts" based on intelligent assessments of real losses.

The SBA offers many of these things in one form or another, along with guidance and advice to business owners on accessing assistance. And the $2 trillion "stimulus" bill includes $350 billion in loans to small businesses under the Paycheck Protection Program (a great first step), which will help small businesses with fewer than 500 employees cover payroll and other expenses through June 30, as of now.  It's part of the CARES Act Economic Relief Plan just approved by Congress. (For more information, see Newly Available CARES Act Loans: 10 Things Small Businesses Need to Know.)

While this is great news, the possibly months-long duration of the COVID-19 shutdown of our nation's towns and cities, this possibly may be just the beginning of the funding that's going to be needed to save this most vital sector of our economy.

My hope is that funding will continue to be allocated at the community, regional, state, and national levels before we get deeper into the evolution of this difficult time, and that we can all step up and help small business in the spirit of mutual support of our friends in need. And let's remember that relief is the point—not political posturing.

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures

Lastly, let me stress that, in addition to seeking aid from the federal government through all available channels, small businesses should keep in mind that this potentially months-long crisis is causing business both large and small to rethink how they work. Adaptation, flexibility, and the embrace of new ways of doing business will be the lasting legacy of COVID-19, and those adaptations will take many forms, from distance-working and online meetings to new delivery models for products and services. But if any group is prepared to adapt with changing times, it's the men and women who run America's small businesses.

I've heard more than one observer remark lately that the feeling around the coronavirus crisis's impact on business reminds them of 9/11. I understand the comparison, although the reality is that CDC estimates of possible deaths from the disease in fact far exceed the 3,000 souls lost on 9/11.

On that fateful day, almost 18,000 small businesses were shut down or destroyed. The U.S. government, through the SBA and private-sector groups, made loans and cash grants to qualifying businesses in Manhattan, in Virginia near the site of the Pentagon attack, and to businesses around the country that were financially hurt because of the attacks. Community Development Block Grants and Economic Injury Disaster Loans were also made available.

But a new Goldman Sachs survey of small business indicates that, of the 30 million small businesses in the United States, as many as 50% will be able to last only 3 months in the current crisis, and 96% have already been significantly affected. In other words, as many as half of the 59 million people employed by U.S. small businesses may be unemployed by June. This makes the 18,000 small businesses lost on 9/11 pale in comparison. We are in unprecedented territory, which means we need unprecedented measures.

Public health and the greater good come first—any small business owner would tell you that. They care as deeply about their neighbors as any sector of the economy. If that means temporary business closings in the interest of stopping the spread of the virus, that's what they will do to protect all of us.

But I would urge us all to keep in mind that the survival of America's small business owners and employees in the coming months will be largely dependent on our willingness to help sustain this invaluable economic sector in a time of unprecedented vulnerability, and get them the immediate and urgent support they need—both financial and emotional.

RELATED: Small Business Relief: COVID-19 Resources for Startups

About the Author

Post by: Alexis Glick

Alexis Glick is chief executive officer of GENYOUth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating healthier school communities through programs in partnership with the National Football League and the National Dairy Council. She is a frequent contributor to CNN on topics related to global business, the financial markets, and CEO leadership trends. She advises CEOs and professional athletes. The views expressed here are hers.

Company: GENYOUth
Website: www.genyouthnow.org

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