4 Ways to Build Trust with Customers That Can Transform Your Business
“Make hundreds of dollars a week just by stuffing envelopes.” Remember that tiny ad that used to run regularly in virtually every newspaper’s classified ad section? I suppose a fair number of people answered the ad, otherwise they would have gone extinct quite quickly. However, most of us didn’t take the bait. Why? Because we…
Read More3 Ways to Avoid Common Hiring Mistakes When Starting Out
If you’ve just started a new business, you probably have a lot on your plate. Besides the obligatory 3 a.m. panic attacks, of course, you’ve also got to spend a good chunk of each week staring blankly at your bank statements. There are hundreds of decisions to second-guess, and lots of potential failure to contemplate.…
Read MoreThe Right Way to Get Funding from Family and Friends
Most entrepreneurs I know are so passionate about their new idea that they are surprised when family and friends don’t line up to invest in their new venture. Yet they tend to ignore this problem, and move on quickly to professional investors. They don’t realize that most Angel investors and venture capitalists will also decline…
Read MoreThe Do’s and Don’ts of Manufacturing Overseas
Outsourcing manufacturing is not simply a matter of profitability, but is also a matter of survival! If your firm is not able to cut costs to make up for economies of scale, you will not be able to keep your prices low enough to compete with more established competition! Don’t Select a Contract Manufacturer Based…
Read MoreVoIP Technology: Security Risks and How to Combat Them
Voice over IP or VoIP technology is rapidly being adopted by enterprises, consumers, and governments as it offers a higher degree of flexibility and more features than traditional telephony infrastructures, as well as the potential for reduced cost through equipment unification and—for the consumers—new business models. However, VoIP systems also demonstrate a higher degree of complexity with…
Read More5 Tips for Starting a Small Business in College
Starting a business while still enrolled in college isn’t an option for everyone. College is stressful enough, and running a business is a whole new ball game. If you’re especially ambitious and bursting at the seams with ideas, it may be worth overcoming the fear of that stress to help your future materialize. In some…
Read MoreHow a Paintball Career Paved the Way for a High-Quality Business Model
Retiring from a successful career in any sport can be a difficult adjustment, and people often struggle to find the same success in new ventures. Tommy ‘Gun’ Pemberton enjoyed a very successful career in professional paintball; he saw victory in the World Cup and at one time was recognized as the UK’s number one player.…
Read MoreFirst Be Consistent, Then Become Great!
I recently read an article “Consistency Is Far Greater Than Rare Moments of Greatness” by Scott Ginsberg The Nametag Guy. In it he makes the point “Because ultimately, consistency is greater than rare moments of greatness. And people only give you credit for that which they see you do consistently.” It brought to mind that even…
Read MoreFocus on Your People’s Strengths?
There are a number of thoughtful articles suggesting we get better results in developing our people by focusing on their developing their strengths, not “fixing” them, or criticizing their weaknesses. A recent HBR article, Developing Employees’ Strengths Boosts Sales, Profit, and Engagement, presents compelling data about organizations focusing on strengths based interventions (I guess that’s HBR…
Read MoreElevator Speech Part 4: Delivery
So in my last three posts, I’ve written about a simple one-minute business description that every business owner should know, which I’m calling “the elevator speech” because that’s what they call it in a formal way for grad-level business plan competitions. I say every business owner should be able to do a simple elevator speech.…
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