The following article appeared in the March 23, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C. Sign up for free!
5 tips for small business success from sustainability summit: Draw on your network, support your team, hit the gym
Panelists at a small-business summit last week in SouthPark shared tips for success. (Photo: Tony Mecia/The Charlotte Ledger)
Starting a small business can feel lonely at times. But entrepreneurs have plenty of advantages, too, that can put them ahead of slower-moving large competitors.
Those were some of the takeaways from a small-business sustainability summit last week in SouthPark called “Creating Pathways to Legacy.” The event, hosted by U.S. Bank, drew a couple of hundred business owners who heard from expert panels.
Some of the advice offered at the summit to business owners included:
◼️ Establish financial clarity: Rocio Gonzalez, executive director of the Women’s Business Center of Charlotte, said knowing your business’ finances will help you make data-informed decisions: “When you have business financial clarity, you will know and understand your management and operations, your pricing and your capital options. So financial clarity — knowing your numbers — it's just so simple, but really having financial clarity will help you fully understand your business and how you can grow it.”
◼️ Get an accountability partner. Adriana McLane, the founder of Fulfilling Strategy, a Charlotte-based consulting company that helps mid-sized distributors with strategic planning, said her business took off after starting to work with someone who kept her on task.
“All the preparation, … it can easily be put on the back burner,” said McLane, who is also on the board of the Charlotte chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, or NAWBO. “One of the best things you can do is get an accountability partner. I got an accountability partner through NAWBO four years ago, and it changed my life. My business more than doubled. And it’s more fun.”
◼️ Build stronger relationships: Building relationships is important, said Christopher Dennis of E-Fix Development Corp., a real estate development company that focuses on underdeveloped neighborhoods.
But instead of relentless networking, consider who might already be in your orbit and develop closer ties with them, he said: “They keep saying, ‘Build good relationships.’ Don't travel miles looking for the right connection. Look to your left. Look to your right. They’re sitting right next to you.”
◼️ Nurture your team: Recognize that some of your greatest assets are the people you work with, said Walter Moore of Insperity, a human resources outsourcing company.
“If you take care of your people, everything else will fall into place,” he said, “because they advocate and you’re protected and you have that culture, and you'll make it if you take care of your people.”
◼️ Take care of yourself: Dr. Jessica Mendelsohn, owner of New South Family Medicine and MedSpa, got a laugh from the crowd when she reminded business owners: “Don’t forget to exercise.”
—Tony Mecia