A Checklist to Find the Startup Partner of Your Dreams
As an advisor to startups, I often get asked what to look for in an ideal co-founder or business partner. My first response is that it’s much like finding that ideal spouse, where chemistry, common interests and complementary communication skills are key. After some reflection, I now realize these attributes are necessary but not sufficient…
Read MoreHow to Become a Product Designer
Casey Kerrigan, MD, isn’t a product designer. And yet, that’s exactly what she is. What sounds like a contradiction isn’t at all. Rather, it’s the axiom of a new era in product design—an era in which anyone can leverage technology to turn expertise into ideas and ideas into inventions. Anyone can learn how to become…
Read MoreThe Three Pillars of Great Customer Service
Regardless of a company’s size, product offering or prices, its lifespan depends on its ability to deliver quality customer service time after time. Customers help build your reputation, grow your network of contacts and establish your business, meaning everything comes back to how you treat them. Quality customer service can be difficult to maintain across…
Read More8 Best Email Marketing Tools for Small Businesses
Like it or not, email marketing is still one of the best ways to reach out to customers, when used correctly. Even though it seems like social media has taken the lead, experts still agree that traditional email marketing remains at the top of the list. Small businesses can have budget constraints while they look…
Read MoreWhy Teams Led by Nice Guys Finish First
Robert Fulghum has probably made about a gazillion dollars from “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” and all the spin-offs it’s produced. His works remind me of a category that used to be on Kindergarten report cards. Back in the day we were rated on this report card line item:…
Read More3 Top Myths Surrounding Product Discounts
While you don’t want to go reducing prices at random, every now and then the payoff can be huge. Each customer has a set price they are willing to pay for your product. Unfortunately, it’s rarely the same as the one advertised on your site. That’s because there are three main types of customers: Price-sensitive: customers…
Read MoreBe the Problem Solver
Here is the situation: you own a franchise or small business. It’s the first year, so you are working through the speed bumps every business faces. You have a handful of employees that are pulling your attention to a million different things, the budget is tight but your demands keep growing, and you are still…
Read MoreThe “Competitor” Question
It happened again this morning. I was doing a review with a sales person. It was a very important call, we were discussing the customers’ attitudes, views, priorities, and so forth. I asked, what competition are they looking at, what do they think of them? There was a momentary pause on the phone. The sales…
Read MoreDouble Down!
This piece of wisdom came from Jeff Bezos, founder & CEO of Amazon, during a board meeting for one of the companies where he sits as board member. Jeff asked the question, “Is there anything big or small, which is working better than you expected? Is there anywhere we could double down?” Bezos’ point was…
Read MorePatents, Trademarks, Copyrights & Licensing: What’s the Difference?
Diving into the world of intellectual property can be overwhelming. Especially when it comes to protecting and monetizing your information. Before getting started, you may ask yourself these questions: Has this product been created before? How do I guard my ideas? If I put it out there, how do I prevent people from stealing my…
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