Q. Our children have no interest in taking over our business, so my wife and I have decided to sell it. How should we proceed? A. Selling your business is one of the most important things you will ever do. Here are key issues to consider: 1. When to sell: Aim to sell when the company’s numbers are good. If that’s not…
Just when you thought you had perfected your company’s website, many consumers are turning to mobile apps for information, interaction and convenience. Brian Dote, the founder of Tapiki, a mobile-app development firm, provides these tips to help create an app that works for your business. 1. Know your customer Before you spend money to create a mobile app, make…
Four or five times a year, Mike Upton closes the door in Petaluma, Calif., and flies to China to check an operation that’s making several hundred-thousand Hawaii-inspired ukuleles a year. Originally based in Hawaii, Upton moved to California but maintains a distribution center in Honolulu for his Kala Ukulele brand. The company has grown in six years into a multimillion-dollar business that…
10:38 am, Friday United Laundry Service Honolulu Photo: David Croxford >> At United Laundry Service, employees and machines work together to process 18,000 pounds of laundry every hour, including 12,000 sheets, according to president and CEO Vicky Cayetano. When the laundry opened in 1988, the company could handle less than 1,000 pounds an hour with 25 employees. Now, it…
Problem: “Where did those shots come from?” Even on today’s high-tech battlefield, it’s often hard to tell. That’s why Honolulu-based Oceanit developed FLASH – Fast as Light Assessment of Snipers and Hostile Fire – which uses infrared sensors and high-speed processors. “Within milliseconds, it’s able to pinpoint with very fine angular accuracy where the shots are coming from,” says program manager…
What looks like can’t-miss, all-star potential often turns out a few years later to have been all potential and no actuality. But baseball scouts and managers have to keep looking because they need new players all the time to replace those who retire. Looking for emerging leaders is equally challenging, but an even more important task. Good leaders are crucial…
After nearly three years of construction, Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, opened in September at Ko Olina. In an exclusive interview with Hawaii Business at the resort, Disney’s chief executive talks about Aulani’s role in the global conglomerate, about planning and executing a new product, and about future plans for Hawaii. HB: In the bigger picture, how does Aulani fit…
Solitude can pay off big Your September editorial was well-written and right on point (“Editor’s Note,” September 2011). In sympathy with your comment that “One problem with solitude is that it looks unproductive,” I submit the following anecdote: The CEO of a large consumer products company was showing a guest around the executive offices. As they walked from office to office,…
Plastic surgery is a growing business in Hawaii, with thousands of local customers and others flying in from the mainland, Canada, Japan and South Korea for procedures, say two of Hawaii’s top specialists in the field. Dr. Robert Peterson, chief of plastic surgery at Kapiolani Medical Center, says Kapiolani’s Athena Clinic performs about 100 surgical and nonsurgical procedures each week…
Jasmine “Tita” Kuhaulua never thought college was an option while she was in high school. After graduation, she had three children in quick succession and the possibility of college receded further. But, the Waialeale Project has changed everything for the 25-year-old, part-time substitute teacher and sports coach. Kuhaulua is in her third semester at Kauai Community College and on her way toward…
Hanahauoli School The first rule of not-for-profits,” writes nonprofit consultant Peter Brinckerhoff, “is mission, mission, and more mission.” Mission, he points out, is a nonprofit organization’s legal reason for existence. It’s why the staff works long hours, often for a fraction of what they would earn in the for-profit sector. It’s what attracts volunteers and donors. This is why it’s…
Next to Kona International Airport, at Keahole Point, sits a potential gold mine that is home to some of the state’s biggest exporters and groundbreaking research being done nowhere else in the world. The Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority is an 870-acre ocean and science technology park with 40 tenants – from unique aquaculture companies raising seahorses to a…
When was the last time you went to a luau and enjoyed deep-fried onion ring chips with your squid luau and lomi salmon? Never, that’s when. But Tim’s Cascade Snacks doesn’t care. The Washington-based manufacturer makes a lot of money selling its Hawaiian Luau Barbeque Rings even though there’s nothing Hawaiian about deep-fried onion rings and they’ve probably never been…
Subway now has more outlets than any other restaurant chain in the country and, with more than 35,000 locations in 98 countries, it’s closing in on McDonald’s worldwide lead. That growth is only possible because thousands of people are drawn to the sandwich store’s relatively inexpensive franchising opportunities. The initial franchising fee is only $15,000. But, the company’s website sketches…
Teri Orton caught the triathlon “bug” about 15 years ago. Today, she’s accomplished something that few athletes around the world have: She is an Ironman. Orton, VP of condominium resort marketing for Outrigger Enterprises Group, completed the Ironman Canada on Aug. 28, a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run. It was the second Ironman for the 43-year-old Orton,…
“Without Bill Evans there would have been no Keith Jarrett, and Keith Jarrett is god,” says Maggie Herron. Well, then, without Keith Jarrett, there would be no Maggie Herron, the Big Island’s jazz goddess. Herron’s newest CD is “In the Wings,” with nine original ballads and piano compositions. At age 60, she says she feels a sense of culmination with…
Snap roll. Hammer head. Cuban eight. The aerobatic maneuvers that pilot Bruce Clements teases from his vintage biplanes may sound gut wrenching, but this is one of the most pleasant thrill rides you’ll find. “You’re sitting in the open and you see and smell everything in a way you can’t from the ground or in enclosed spaces,” says Clements, a…
Most business owners talk a good story when it comes to customer service, but, unless you are always there, you depend on employees to provide that service. Do you know how well they’re doing? A secret-shopper company can tell you. The “shoppers” anonymously visit client locations and report on how employees perform. “The first thing I do is try to…
Mary Flood has been in the real estate business for more than 30 years, and is a past president of the Building Industry Association of Hawaii and the Honolulu Board of Realtors. Originally from the small town of Eden, Wis., she volunteers for local nonprofits, including the American Cancer Society, Special Olympics Hawaii and the Great Aloha Run. HB: The…
Name: Shoko Watanabe, VMD Job: Veterinarian, trained in oncology, at the VCA Family Animal Hospital in Pearl City. Years on the job: 3 Toughest part: It’s hard telling pet owners that their companions have cancer and that chemotherapy could cost up to $5,000. “Suddenly, their pets get sick and owners don’t know what’s going on. Then they’re diagnosed with this…
Cynthia Arnold, second from left, sits between Nellie and Herbert Lum, who needed help moving out of the home they had lived in for 40 years. Arnold and Dan and Julie Ihara, at right, operate Senior Move Managers to help people like the Lums make difficult transitions. Moving is tough, especially for seniors who have lived in the same house…
At this DBEDT for Business Toastmasters Club meeting, Cameron Black evaluates a speech given earlier by another club member. A Toastmaster of the Day chooses a theme for each meeting’s speeches. At this meeting, the TMOD was Mark Ambler and the topic was “The Power of the Internet.” The club meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month….