Dear Readers,

Welcome to the April edition of the First Choice Triangle Tribune! This month, we recognize National Small Business Week, a time to celebrate the entrepreneurs who drive innovation, create jobs, and strengthen our communities. In the fast-moving world of business, staying ahead isn’t just about working harder. It’s about learning, adapting, and making informed decisions. As Peter Senge wisely said:

"The only sustainable competitive advantage is an organization's ability to learn faster than the competition."

Here’s what’s inside:
✔️ Celebrating National Small Business Week – 10 signs that signal a thriving business
✔️ Financial Statements Every Buyer Wants to See – A featured video on what buyers look for in a sale
✔️ Trends Shaping Small Business in 2025 – The shifts and innovations shaping the year ahead
✔️ Featured Listing of the Month – A unique business opportunity ready for the right buyer

Here’s to learning, growing, and making smarter business moves!

Celebrating National Small Business Week!

Starting and running a small business comes with risks, and one of the biggest questions entrepreneurs face is, “Will my business succeed?”

While there’s no definitive formula for success, certain signs strongly indicate that a business is on the right track. In honor of National Small Business Week, we're highlighting key markers of a thriving small business:

1. Revenue is growing year after year, and you earn money even while you are out of office.
2. You have happy, repeat customers, who bring you even more customers because they start telling their family and friends about you without your prompting. 
3. You readily seek advice from other professionals: attorneys, accountants when their expertise is required in problem troubleshooting. 
4. You have a holistic focus on improving efficiency, not just a sole goal of boosting sales
5. You maintain good business credit. 
6. Not everything needs your involvement anymore. Your team is capable of making basic decisions, and they can handle problems well without your input. 
7. You start getting random signups. In the past, you can tell exactly where they came from, because it involved you directing them to a certain channel. Instead, people are finding you organically now. 
8. You know how to manage your energy. You get the amount of sleep you need, you take vacations, you know how to strategically plan business time and family time. This flexibility and stamina aids a sustainable business. 
9. You have hard evidence of market demand: you have test marketing results (for example, the response from a direct marketing campaign), sales made, or advance orders and contracts signed, and interest generated through social media.
10. Other companies are popping up with similar products, services or marketing and becoming your competition. 

How many of these did you check off?