What if You Come Across Juicy Competitor Information?
Many of us belong to industry associations and find ourselves at conferences and trade shows with time to spend with competitors. Some of these are old friends; some even former associates. It is natural to want to associate with these people for many reasons, certainly socially. Most CEOs want to obtain information about their competitors…
Read MoreReal Estate and the Net Investment Income Tax and Self-Employment Tax
If you are planning or are actually doing a real estate business, either as an investor or as an active participant, you will have to deal with these: Net Investment Income Tax: If you have net investment income and your modified adjusted gross income exceeds $250,000 for married persons filing jointly, then there is a…
Read MoreThe 3 D’s That Kill Businesses: Debt, Divorce, and Death
Hardly anyone creates a company while also imagining the worst possible thing that could happen to it. Instead we envision success, milestones, and creating revenue for both the business and for your family. But unfortunately, it doesn’t always go that way. Businesses, even really successful ones, are susceptible to going under—and not from a lack…
Read MoreThe Top 5 Home Service Franchises You Should Invest in Today
Home Service franchise opportunities provide customer conveniences that not only help manage the upkeep of someone’s house but also life’s many tasks. From lawn care franchises that maintain beautiful, green grass to dry cleaning business opportunities that provide 24/7 drop off, these franchises all perform a unique and valuable service that saves time and money…
Read More7 Plan Elements That Separate Businesses from Hobbies
Unless you are a serial entrepreneur with a string of successes behind you, you need a business plan to convince investors that you can build a business out of the dream that has been driving your passion to change the world. Don’t believe that Silicon Valley myth that all you have to do is sketch…
Read MoreWhat’s Your Bell Curve Look Like?
We tend to think about organizational performance in terms of “bell curves” or some sort of distribution curve. The typical bell curve looks something like this: The performance of our people is on the X (horizontal) axis, the number of our people is on the Y (vertical) axis. The bell curve typically has us thinking…
Read MoreHow Companies Can Start Planting Roots in a Community
Consumers don’t favor Whole Foods over Walmart for reasons relating to the chains’ respective sizes or ubiquity — it’s because only the former serves as a catalyst to community. The competitive difference between the homogenous corporate paradigm embodied by Walmart and the community-centered model cultivated by Whole Foods grows increasingly stark. At Walmart, sterile interchangeability and…
Read More5 Secrets of Creating a Great Business Team
My favorite five secrets of a great business team? This list came to me first as an answer to the question how do you build a great business team on Quora. These five points aren’t something from the business school curriculum. They come from the experience of actually doing it, recruiting a team and growing a business…
Read More5 Simple Steps to Easy Sales Forecasting
Let’s suppose that your business experiences a 10% increase in customer orders in the upcoming three months. To take advantage of this opportunity, you might need to order more supplies, introduce changes to your work schedule or even hire someone to help out with the added workload. If you don’t have enough time to adjust,…
Read MoreWhy You Need to Convert Your Website to HTTPS Now!
If your organization or business website still uses HTTP, it’s time to convert it to HTTPS! Many small-to-medium businesses and nonprofit organizations may not be aware that their websites’ http standards are outdated. Because many are without internal marketing or IT experts, this issue may be completely off their radar. What’s HTTPS? Here’s a good explanation: “HTTPS, the…
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