Posts Tagged ‘Planning’
Why Your Business Needs a 90-Day Plan
The economy is booming, and businesses everywhere are thriving, but many small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs aren’t making good use of today’s bounty to invest in tomorrow. As long as you have some extra capital at your disposal, you should be continuously investing in your future, and the foundations of any good investment begin…
Read MoreThe Secret to Escaping Your Day Job
Many of us sit in our office cubicles dreaming. Escaping the 9 to 5. Telling the boss you have fired “them.” Packing your bags and not coming back. But most of us never make the step. Daring to dream is where it starts and stops. Doubt creeps in. Fear It is the human condition. Our…
Read MoreHow to Avoid Building a 20th Century Company in the 21st Century Economy
If you want to start an extremely profitable company today, it needs to be built around patents, trademarks, or customer loyalty to particular lifestyle. This is one of the points Martin Lowy makes in his excellent Seeking Alpha piece, The 2-Track Economy: Employers Versus Moat Builders. The “moat” he mentions in the title of the article…
Read MoreThe Secrets to Resilience
“There’s only one thing that’s worse than having an unhappy childhood, and that’s having a too-happy childhood.” – Dylan Thomas Research shows that the majority of successful people had a tough start to their lives. But we can’t choose that. That just happens. Maybe being happy is overrated. So the reality is that some of us…
Read MoreHow to Carry Out a Content Campaign in 10 Clear Steps
Creating and distributing high quality content is a reliable and cost-effective way of driving traffic to your site and building a positive image for your brand. It’s therefore little wonder that, according to the Content Marketing Institute’s recent report, 90% of B2C marketers currently invest in content campaigns, with 60% intending to increase the amount…
Read More7 Steps to Design a Life (and Business) That Makes You Happy
I was bored. The college professor was droning on at the front of the class. Many of us have had that experience. After completing high school I had selected accounting as my career choice. The college was chosen. It was a few months in. And the reality was becoming clear. I hated accounting. But I…
Read MoreThe Tao of Entrepreneurship
Wu wei (無 爲) is often translated as non-action, and entrepreneurs seemingly couldn’t be further from this Taoist ideal. Yet, Sifu Adam Mizner may have a better translation of wu wei: non-preference. Preference, in this context of entrepreneurship, refers to being stuck on an idea that ultimately binds us to an increasingly risky and ultimately failing strategy or business model. Water is the essence…
Read More10 Common Mistakes with Startup Financial Projections
I was glad to be asked about common mistakes with financial projections. I read about 100 business plans a year for angel investment and business plan competitions. Most show unrealistic profitability. More people doing business plans should realize that most startups are unprofitable at the beginning; and that high growth correlates with losses, not profits.…
Read More5 Tips for Small Business Startups
Quick Books Community for Self-Employed is a fun place for me to hang out and to hear everyone’s stories. What a great crowd. If you’re running a small business or thinking about it, you should join the conversation. There’s no cost. Recently, I answered the questions Gina Bianchini asked the community, “What One Thing Did…
Read MoreSelling Your Business Doesn’t Have to Be Doom and Gloom
You’re selling your most prized possession – your business. Whether it’s on a high note or not, it can be a daunting prospect, especially if you’re worried that it reflects badly on your abilities. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are plenty of reasons to sell, and none of them have anything…
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