Is Franchise Ownership the Right Choice for You?
Being able to work for yourself and not someone else is a compelling idea for many people. You may just be starting your career and dreaming of building a business. Or, you may have had a long and successful corporate career and are longing for something more—additional money, greater flexibility or the chance to focus…
Read MoreSmartphones Can Make You Dumb
If your smartphone has morphed into an appendage, you’d better take heed. It’s making you dumb! Every time you participate in social media, read blog posts, or check the latest marketing news, they impede your brain’s reasoning and performance. So what happens to our minds when we allow a single tool such dominion over our perception…
Read MoreThe Challenge of Boosting Growth in a Low-Inflation Economy
For anyone who was around during the hyper-inflation days of Presidents Ford and Carter, the current economic climate as something of an Alice-in-Wonderland feel. I say this because in those days the Fed was continually hiking its interest rate to bring down inflation. Today, the Fed is more worried that there isn’t quite enough inflation…
Read MoreAre You Ready to Take on an Office Lease?
Rent your first office with caution. Several years ago, I became involved with a Southeast Asian company looking to expand into the United States. During the discussions with the CEO about hiring North American managers, he made it clear that he wanted us to find a first-class office facility from which to start the search process,…
Read More5 Ways to Reduce Costs and Improve Business Performance
Technology’s continuous advancements have torn apart the barrier between and among nations. Thanks to ecommerce, individual industries now operate their respective businesses within a circuit of globalized market systems. Unfortunately, such ecommerce has resulted in business opportunities as well as threats. Ecommerce has made transacting business between and among individuals of diverse locations and entities…
Read MoreWhat are the Normal Steps for Angel Investment?
Question: What are the normal steps for angel investment? What’s involved in submitting a business plan? I decided to answer this question here because I see it so often in email and in question and answer sites on the web, especially Quora, which is where I first saw it and answered it. Yes you do need…
Read More3 Interview Questions Small Businesses Need to Start Asking Candidates
What was one of the biggest challenges facing small businesses in 2017? According to a report from the 2017 American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, it isn’t keeping current business nor is it cash flow concerns. The number one challenge to growth — at 26% — is finding and investing in the right staff. The good…
Read MoreHow to Prepare Yourself for the Cost of Employees
You’ve run the numbers and you know how much you can pay your new hire — but did you know that standard wages and salaries only represent approximately 70% of the total costs of compensation for each employee? The other 30% comes from benefits like paid time off, health insurance and retirement plans. And this is just the breakdown…
Read MoreTake These 3 Funding Myths with a Grain of Salt
Funding your business isn’t difficult, but acting on poor advice makes the process unnecessarily challenging. Your friends and family will support your vision, but there’s no guarantee they understand what it takes to fund a business. To get funded, you need to distinguish the difference between encouragement and business advice. Identifying encouragement vs. advice When…
Read MoreHow to Cultivate Your Team’s Creativity by Thinking Outside the Box
Creativity: Is it something innate? Something that can be learned? As a marketer, creativity is needed as much as the air we breathe. But how do you teach creativity? How do you foster it? During my five years managing in the marketing world, I have learned that everyone has the ability to be creative, you…
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