Archive for July 2005
How Do I Raise Money for my Startup?
Dave Taylor: Please realize that any investment of less than a million or two pushes you out of the Venture Capital zone and into angel investors. While most angel investors fly solo, a lot of them are part of angel investor groups like the Silicon Valley-based Band of Angels. They’re the best of the angel [...]
Fast Company Now: The Open Business Guide is a Creative Commons project supported by George Soros’ Open Society Institute that aims to collect a wide range of case studies and business strategies. The organizers hope to “share, mix and facilitate the spread of innovative business ideas” in a wiki-like setting. One example already populating the [...]
Does Aid Hurt Africa’s Entrepreneurs?
Fresh Inc.: “In an intriguing Q&A in the German magazine Der Spiegel, a young Kenyan economist makes the case that the steady flow of Western aid to Africa actually hurts countries there by propping up inefficient bureaucracies and undermining markets for homegrown food and locally made textiles.”
One Is Not The Loneliest Number
Pelle Braendgaard: “You’ve all heard the common advice that to startups that you need a good team. I’m sure that is right, however some times and at certain stages that team should consist of just you.” via Ken Dyck.
SBA Announces Web Chat Series for Small Business Owners
About: The U.S. Small Business Administration is launching a live Web chat series on entrepreneurship beginning in July. The monthly chat sessions will feature successful entrepreneurs fielding questions from the participants. The first chat will feature J. Scott Plank, chief administrative officer of Under Armour Performance Apparel, on Thursday, July 21, 2005 at 1:00 p.m. [...]
The third fourth Carnival of Personal Finance is up at All Things Financial.
This week’s Carnival of the Capitalists is up at Multiple Mentality.
Entrepreneur: “Think you can stand the heat? Then get in that kitchen! We’ve got all the information you need to start your own restaurant, be it a fast-food joint, a coffeehouse, a deli or a full-service establishment. Start with our extensive how-to, read the profiles of successful restaurateurs and food franchisees, and be sure to [...]
jantize.com
→ comfortkeepers.com Just a few years ago, the only option available if you needed home care or home healthcare was to rely on family or friends for assistance. If this option was not available, assisted living facilities and nursing homes were the next choice. New trends in elder care and senior living recognize the wishes [...]
It Starts With An Idea, But It Doesn’t End There
The Punditpreneur: Now I know that many people comes up with great ideas as a matter-of-fact I’m sure everyone comes up with at least 10 ideas everyday. Some of them can make you money and some of them can land you in jail, but the way our brain works is to come up with solutions [...]
The Successful Business Plan: Secrets and Strategies
Amazon: “Named by Inc. and Forbes magazines as one of the top ten essential books for small business, this fully revised and updated fourth edition of The Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies is a complete, step-by-step guide to researching and writing a fool-proof, perfectly formatted, knock-’em-dead business plan. Required reading at America’s top business [...]
Work On Your Business, Not In It
The true entrepreneurial success works on his business, and not in it, as Jon Symons has come to realize: Financially the whole mess is actually doing fairly well, but what I’ve been experiencing is a growing discontent. The feeling is familiar; it’s the feeling of being lost: lost in details. Before becoming a computer programmer, [...]
Cristian Dorobantescu: “Considering that going on the entrepreneurship path might just be the riskiest thing I ever did, I’ve started to look for some not so problematic alternatives… So here I am, working from 9 to 5 in a huge bureaucratic organization and having my own company in the same time – at home. I [...]
Entrepreneurial Survival Rates
The Entrepreneurial Mind: Ask an average group of people what the survival rate is for entrepreneurial ventures and the figures you usually get are 10-20%. The truth is much rosier than common wisdom assumes. As reported by the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship, a new study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics “examines the survival rates [...]
Congress passed the Junk Fax Prevention Act this week, exempting businesses from previous Federal Communications Commission regulations barring unsolicited fax messages. The amendment would allow businesses, to send unsolicited faxes to customers, with whom they already have an established relationship. This change makes me very happy because the the old rules were very harsh, and [...]
Entrepreneur: Entrepreneurs aren’t known for being lazy, but most entrepreneurs I know are notoriously lazy about doing legal paperwork. But there’s no place for laziness when it comes to getting licenses and permits for your business. It might seem like an insignificant detail or a waste of money, but it’s necessary. I don’t think its [...]
Startup Journal: Father-son partnerships are classic, but mother-daughter businesses are still somewhat novel. Certainly mothers and daughters have teamed up in commercial efforts going back generations, but not in any big numbers. Now, though, as it becomes the norm for multiple generations of women in a family to have professional expertise, the mother-daughter business is [...]
Warren Meyer: “The French smoking thing has been joked about so much it is almost a caricature, but it is still a shock the first time in a restaurant. We observed many American smokers reveling in their smoking freedom. I wonder if there is a business opportunity to sponsor smoking trips to Paris…”
About: Many entrepreneurs have built a successful business but been unable to really enjoy it because the business can’t run without them. They end up trapped by their own success. Financial freedom isn’t really freedom unless you also have the time to enjoy it. And you can forget about running multiple businesses if you can’t [...]
This week’s Carnival of the Capitalists is up at CaseySoftware.com.
Startup Blog: “Writing a business plan is one of the most important tasks in the process of doing a startup. While some might get away with explaining the business on a cocktail napkin, the others need to think through what investors will be asking. Download this 28-page template for business plan from Microsoft (so in [...]
→ candybouquet.com From it’s small beginnings in the garage of Margaret McEntire, to one of the fastest growing franchise opportunities of today, Candy Bouquet International, Inc. currently has over 700 stores in all 50 states and 31 countries. All of this in just 10 years, and according to their Dun & Bradstreet Rating, their growth [...]
Borvin Beverage Franchise Corporation
→ borvinbeverage.com The Borvin Beverage concept is to establish a very limited number of wine wholesale and distribution franchises in order to take advantage of the continued growth in the sale of quality beverages in the United States. Borvin is dedicated to the continued expansion of its international and domestic product lines. Corporate officials visit [...]
Eight Key Steps to Selling Your Business
Nolo: “This year, some 700,000 American businesses will be sold. Most will be small and mid-sized businesses like yours. If you, too, are thinking of selling, consider these practical steps for making the process go smoothly.” Determine a Realistic Price Range Understand the Tax Consequences Prepare for a Sale Seek Potential Buyers Negotiate Your Deal [...]
