Small Business

Aloha Got Soul

Record label delivers new and old music from outside Hawai‘i’s mainstream oger Bong doesn’t want people to have a narrow idea of Hawai‘i. That’s one reason he shares unique and interesting music from Hawai‘i’s past and present with audiences worldwide.…

How to Choose A Growth Strategy

I recently participated in a Skype call with a successful midsize 10-year-old business on O‘ahu. It is owned by a committed and ambitious young man who wants to grow his company into a larger and more profitable operation. The owner…

EMSS Provides Business Solutions

EMSS focused on paper forms when it was founded 31 years ago; today, the company is “a one-stop shop” for paper, tech, consulting and many other solutions. Vietnam veteran Larry Watanabe was the manager of Oceanic Time Warner Cable’s information…

Great Ideas for Small Local Stores

“The way people buy things has been changing over the last decade, but I feel like people haven’t changed. They still want to have that connection, they still want that personal experience,” says Dylan Butterbaugh, founder and owner of Manoa…

Healing Hemp, Without the High

A Hawaii Island-based company is part of a fast-growing industry: making cannabidiol, or CBD products, for people seeking natural pain relief and other benefits. Steve Sakala and Melinda Goossen are part of one of the country’s fastest-growing industries: making and…