Archive for August 2005
Secret Capitals of Small Business
Secret Capitals of Small Business: Most business capitals shout their names from the hilltops—literally, in the case of Hollywood. Everyone knows which industry dominates that town, and which ones rule Detroit and Houston. But how many could name the capital of socks? Or medical imaging technology? Or firearms? These are among dozens of hidden capitals [...]
Young Entrepreneurs Have Challenges
Westchester County Business Journal: Getting the respect of potential clients and employees is the most common problem mentioned by entrepreneurs who started heading up their own businesses while still in their twenties. They say many people assume that a younger entrepreneur is less capable and responsible. “I look very, very young and sometimes people don’t [...]
Paul Allen: It’s much harder to find a directory of angel investors, and since they are many times more likely than VCs to fund your startup company, it can be frustrating if you are an entrepreneur looking for potential angel funding. Our solution? Let’s all work together to create a free open-access directory of angel [...]
How to Do Business with Uncle Sam
One year ago today: How to Do Business with Uncle Sam.
Two years ago today: What is a Ponzi?: The term “Ponzi� is derived from Charles Ponzi (nee Ponsi), who was an Italian immigrant and ran his original scams in Montreal. In 1919, he set himself up in an office on the second floor, of a downtown bank building in Boston. Ironically, he called his company [...]
Entrepreneur: One of the toughest things to figure out when you’re getting ready to sell on eBay is how to set your starting and/or “Buy It Now” price. People break into a sweat about making this decision, but it’s really not that urgent an issue–unless you price your item too low and it sells at [...]
The Business Plan Coach: Employees. You can’t grow a business without them. When there is more work to do then can be completed, the answer seems to be in hiring and adding new staff! Yet simply hiring new employees to do the work you used to do could be a trap.
David V. Lorenzo: I have always been a big fan of being second to market with a product, service or an idea. I find that the first mover advantage can be overcome by a person or company who watches carefully and corrects the mistakes made by the first mover. Now you have a better product [...]
Personal Trainers Need Mental Muscle, Too
Startup Journal: About six years ago, he took a step toward a change, going back to college to study exercise and nutrition. After several months, he’d stopped working full time for the family firm and took his first fitness job, teaching group classes at retirement communities. “Once I completed that first session,” he says, “I [...]
StartupSchool.org: Are you a hacker who has thought about one day starting a startup? Then you’re invited to a free, one-day startup school this October 15 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. … Most hackers probably consider starting a company at some point, but are put off because “business” seems a mystery. Our goal is to remove that [...]
Why Any Sole Proprietorship Is A Risky Business
Two years ago today: Why Any Sole Proprietorship Is A Risky Business.
One year ago today: History of MLM.
This week’s Brain Brew Radio episode is online. This week: David finds out that guests often take Doug’s advice and sometimes it even works… Hershel and John find out from the Brain Brew Crew how they can educate the public on their unique photography service… Ellen works with Doug and David to figure out the [...]
This week’s Cubicle Escape Pod podcast, episode number 42, is now online. Highlights from the show notes include: Big word of the day Know yourself?
Coyote Blog: I recently went through the process of obtaining an SBA (Small Business Administration) loan. These are loans that are what I call “cash flow” loans, secured more by the companies earnings rather than collateral (though collateral may be required, see below). SBA loans are written by private banks to standards set by the [...]
How to Beat the Home Business Blues
Yaro Starak: The solution to this problem is simple – get some friends, communicate with humans and make plans to get away from your business on a regular basis. The real key however is to be proactive and seek out socialization otherwise it is all too easy to spend a night at home alone with [...]
Success is Where Bold & Aggressive Meets Preparedness
This week’s Startup Nation is online: On this weekend’s radio show, a caller from Long Island, New York was extremely bold & aggressive (“ring the bell babe” is what he said at the beginning of his elevator pitch) but he wasn’t properly prepared. His elevator pitch received high marks from the Sloan brothers for passion [...]
→ zoup.com Zoup! is a dining experience that features 12 always-rotating soup varieties each day, including at least one low-fat, vegetarian, dairy-free and spicy recipe. They also offer made-to-order salads, and grilled panini sandwiches. Zoups founders believe, and their extensive testing shows/ that there is a strong demand in the marketplace for the kind of [...]
Today is Tuesday, the day of the week I publicly thank my paid sponsors. Thank you: Clean Force International Franchise Solutions The Entrepreneur’s Source WSI Franchise & Business Opportunities Show (If you’re interested in advertising or sponsoring the site, please contact Tim at advertising@business-opportunities.biz or call me at 209-765-1656.)
Rich Dad’s Before You Quit Your Job
This post has been removed.
Don’t Take on the Big Boys: Go for a Niche
Times Online: It can be easy for small-business owners to become downhearted when faced with endless red tape, tax and regulation. But the good news is that when it comes to making the most of lucrative business opportunities, small can be beautiful. You do not need a sledgehammer to crack a nut. This is why, [...]
How to Make a Reality Television Show
One year ago today: How to Make a Reality Television Show and Purchase DirecTV.
WorkHappy.net wants to know: If a rabid donkey were guarding your computer and you were only allowed to ever view three business-oriented blogs again, without getting bitten or kicked, what would they be?
How to Get Funding: Traction and Trajectory
Paul Allen: Today I decided that in order to be compelling, business plan presentations really need to have two things: traction and trajectory. It’s pretty hard to convince anyone, especially an investor who is naturally protective of his/her own money, that your idea will actually work. Entrepreneurs often count their chickens before they hatch. In [...]
Starting Up Always Feels the Same
Go Big Blog: It’s funny that no matter how many times you go into startup mode, it always feels like doing it again for the first time. There’s the wild-eyed enthusiasm of the brilliant new idea, quickly followed up by the sleep-deprived anxiety of having risked everything to develop that idea. Then somewhere along the [...]
Jeff Cornwall: I recently had the pleasure of being a luncheon speaker to the Nashville SCORE chapter. This group may be retired from their business careers, but they are not ready to retire from the world of business. SCORE is a national organization with chapters in 389 cities. The SCORE volunteers include people with expertise [...]
Carnival of Personal Finance #11
This week’s Carnival of Personal Finance is up at AllThingsFinancial.
Starting a Business Takes Time
David Lorenzo: Fifty-seven percent of small-business owners say they work six or more days each week. In sharp contrast, only 7% say they work fewer than five days each week. Sixty-two percent of small-business owners say they work 50 or more hours each week. On average, small-business owners put in 52 hours each week. On [...]
This week’s Carnival of the Capitalists is up at CaseySoftware.com.
One year ago today: Produce Trivia.
Corporate Income and Losses in an S-Corporation
MyCorporation.com: The IRS treats corporate income and corporate losses very differently when a corporation has elected S-Corporation status. This point is best illustrated through the following, very fictional, example: Heidi incorporates “Heidi’s Hotties, Inc.-An Upscale Dating Service” Charlie and Heidi are a happily married couple in Los Angeles. Charlie is a successful actor who earns [...]
Confessions of an Entrepreneur
Anita Campbell’s Small Business Trends is running a column of Hesh Reinfeld’s humor essay Confessions of an Entrepreneur: I found his humor to be intelligent, brilliantly incisive, and of course, funny. The following piece captures the essence of what it is like to be a serial entrepreneur. Hesh Reinfeld: I told my family that I [...]
→ pumpitupparty.com Pump It Up is an play, and party hosting zone for children. They have the latest inflatable designs that are engaging, challenging and interactive. Kids love to play on recreational inflatables in their indoor arenas, and their facilities are great for private parties, birthday parties, corporate team building, mom’s club meetings and other [...]
Basic Guide to Small Business Financial Management
Anthony Cerminaro: This website will help you understand basic practices in financial management, and build the basic systems and practices needed in a healthy business.
Purdue to Hold 19th Annual $100,000 Business Plan Competition
Business Plan Coach: I was reading the Inside Indiana and noticed that Purdue University is holding it’s 19th Annual Business Plan Competition. The university says this Fall it will offer six workshops to help prepare teams to write business plans to qualify for the competition. The competition is not entirely closed to Purdue University students [...]
Message from the SBA’s Office of Advocacy
That was scary: moments after I pressed publish on my last, slightly contemptuous post about the SBA, I received this email from the John McDowell of the SBA’s Office of Advocacy. He wrote: Knowing of your interest in small business and entrepreneurship, I thought you might be interested in the resources available from the Office [...]
Are You Really A Small Business?
What’s a small business? Are you a small business? You might think so, but the US Small Business Administration has a comprehensive list of their “requirements” to be considered a small business in various industries. You can see it in this table, the Small Business Size Standards matched to North American Industry Classification System. Feel [...]
Rhonda Abrams: As September rolls around, it’s once again networking season in the business world. As kids go back to school, entrepreneurs once again return to trade shows, Chamber of Commerce mixers and association meetings. And one question comes up repeatedly: “What do you do?” In business, you have to have your “elevator pitch” ready [...]
Entrepreneurs Should Keep Business Simple
USA Today: At the outset of the book Common Sense Business, Gottry espouses the FANAFI principle, which is “find a need and fill it.” The advice he offers is detailed and organized. Small businesses, he says, go through six stages: Dreaming. Planning. Implementation. Growth. Preservation and evolution Selling/divesting. For success during the growth stage, for [...]
Blogads: So if you feel so inclined, please help create Blogads’ new logo. Beyond a bunch of wires connecting 900 blogs to thousands of advertisers, what is Blogads.com? Please write a post describing what you think Blogads is and should be and how our logo might convey this idea. If you aren’t a blogger, offer [...]
Designing A Better Yellow Page Listing
One year ago today: Designing A Better Yellow Page Listing.
Make Money Online: If you’re already an eBay seller or planning to become one, check out eBay’s Seller Central section on What’s Hot. This gives you a good idea of what sells. With this in mind, you might get more ideas on how to compete in the market.
Business Opportunities Weblog en Español
After a couple month hiatus, I’ve recently relaunched Business Opportunities Weblog en Español, with Miguel Garces providing the translations of my posts, and some original content. If you can read Spanish, be sure to check out these recent posts: Cómo presentar un proyecto empresarial para que sea aceptado Golosinas Caseras Còmo y por què patentar
Going to the Dogs Can Be Rewarding
Startup Journal: Dogs have always been Martin and Cindy Madden’s best friends. Come November, dogs will be their lifework, too. Like entrepreneurs across the country, the San Diego couple — who have owned several award-winning dogs — are seizing on a boom in demand for pet-care services. The Maddens are letting employees run the restaurants [...]
War Taking Toll on the Self-Employed
NY Times: Within months of James J. Maddix’s departure for Iraq, his Big Daddy Taxi service in Kalamazoo, Mich., bit the dust. Big Daddy, which specialized in driving people home from bars, was bringing in about $175,000 a year when Mr. Maddix, 30, was sent on active duty in December 2003. Without him at the [...]
Little Outside Advice Can Help
The Entrepreneurial Mind: Entrepreneurs can get quite isolated. We get into bad habits, ignore issues that need to be addressed but may cause us some discomfort or pain if we change things, and try to avoid dealing with things we just don’t like to deal with. This can be a problem employee who needs to [...]
HispanicBusiness.com: However, the latest government figures indicate that the tide is turning toward more experienced individuals, many of whom may have lost their jobs during the three-year wave of job cutting, which has yet to let up. Unpublished government data obtained by Challenger researchers show that the number of Americans 55 and older categorized as [...]
Chris Pund: Something that pretty much all young entrepreneurs face with starting a business or running one is problems with age discrimination. Although to some, this may not matter and young entreprenuers are becoming more generally accepted, to many seasons business professionals this is a big deal. I have heard and read a lot about [...]
Young Entrepreneurs Drain Labor Pool
The Herman Trend Alert: Early indications suggest that the Millennial Generation, born after 1985, has a strong orientation toward entrepreneurship. They feel confident that they can achieve great results–at least earn a satisfactory living—by going into business for themselves. This population cohort is showing itself to be self-aware, astute, creative, and comfortable taking the risks [...]
Reveries: Matthew Smith is so sure his $50 work shoes will prevent on-the-job injuries that he’ll pay up to $5,000 in “medical expenses and workers’ comp costs” if anyone gets hurt, reports Dee Gill in Inc. (Sep 05). That may sound a little crazy, but Matthew’s guarantee actually has been the key to his company’s [...]
