In the far reaches of the mind, many people dream of leaving it all behind to lead a simpler life off-the-grid. For Linda Newman, owner of Points Unknown, the idea of packing up her Twin Cities-based life for rural Cook County, Minnesota, was all-encompassing.

Local Business Funding Spotlight: Preparing Mike & Jen's Cocoa Mix for a Small Business Line of Credit

Entrepreneurs are tenacious. They’re problem solvers, and when they have an idea for a business, they cannot and will not rest until they’ve seen it through. While seasoned entrepreneurs with several successful ventures on their hands may be able to access a small business line of credit from a traditional banking partner from the start, first-time business owners often must navigate a more challenging road to accessing financing.

Startups are essential to a thriving economy, but from a financing perspective, they’re risky. With a reliable revenue stream in place, many startups do not make enough to cover the monthly debt service associated with a loan or small business line of credit from a traditional bank. It’s a bit of a catch-22 – especially in the food/food processing industry with a non-traditional sales cycle. Entrepreneurs can’t access capital until they can show revenue, but they need to purchase and prepare inventory in advance and won’t see revenue until weeks or months later.

EOS®, the Entrepreneurial Operating System®, is a complete set of simple concepts and practical tools that have helped thousands of entrepreneurs get what they want from their businesses. Implementing EOS will help you and your leadership team get better at three things:

• Vision — getting everyone in your organization 100% on the same page with where you’re going, and how you plan to get there
• Traction® — instilling focus, discipline and accountability throughout the company so that everyone executes on that vision—every day
• Healthy — helping your leaders become a more cohesive, functional and healthy leadership team