Archive for the 'Posts' Tag
Seeing Both Sides: VCs look to make 5-10x their money in any investment in 4-6 years. If they can’t see a reasonable path to this, they won’t find the investment appealing. VCs also typically like to invest a minimum of $5-10M per company (some less, some more, but let’s focus on the bulk of the [...]
It’s About You, Not Others’ Opinions
USA Today: During the past few weeks I have received e-mails from several readers asking how to maintain the entrepreneurial spirit when so many people around them are throwing negative comments their way. One reader, recovering from his unsuccessful second try at a business, heard plenty of “I told you sos.” Another asked for suggestions [...]
Almost All US Businesses Employ Less Than 5
The MicroEnterprise Journal: “According to an analysis of Census Department data performed last year by the Center for Women’s Business Research, ninety percent of all U.S. businesses employ fewer than five workers, making them microbusinesses. In addition, 63% of all U.S. businesses earn less than $50,000 in annual revenues. New York State, along with California [...]
Springboard Announces Midwest Venture Forum
Entrepreneur Daily: Springboard Enterprises, a nonprofit organization that helps women-led businesses obtain financing, is calling for women entrepreneurs who are seeking funding to apply for Springboard 2005: Midwest Venture Forum. Co-hosted by Northwestern University’s Center for Women Entrepreneurs in Technology, the six-month coaching program helps women access networks that will assist them in raising capital. [...]
Entrepreneur: “You may think it’s nearly impossible to start a business without a lot of money, but think again–some of the biggest success stories have had extremely humble beginnings. Don’t believe us? You will after you read the startup stories of the following four businesses. These entrepreneurs built successful ventures with less than $1,000 and [...]
Innovative.Franchising.Blog: “I just found a good article on the legal aspects of franchising at HowStuffWorks.com. Its a bit simple, but a good start.”
Nuts and bolts of Entrepreneurship
CNET: “While a bold idea, unflagging determination and patient financial backers are all crucial to successful start-ups, entrepreneurs must also focus on less dramatic aspects of running a company, according to seasoned entrepreneurs who spoke at the 8th Annual Wharton Entrepreneurship Conference.” via Anthony Cerminaro.
Inc.: “New research suggests that not only is it possible to make friends with your competitors — it’s advisable. No matter how competitive their industry, rival CEOs who form friendships are at a distinct advantage over those who who go it alone, says James D. Westphal, professor of management at the University of Texas at [...]
How a Hot-Dog Wagon Can Earn You Cold Cash
In a letter to Startup Journal a budding entrepreneur asked: “I am 23 and plan to start a chain of hot-dog wagons by next summer. People laugh when they first hear of it, but in doing the research I found that it can be a lucrative business. Is this a good step for a first-time [...]
How To Turn Your Hobby Into A Successful Business
Bankrate.com: From hobby to business sounds like a dream come true: Do what you love and get paid for it. The recreational skier becomes an instructor. The quilt maker quits her day job to sell hand-stitched coverlets. The gourmet turns food caterer. But that dream can become a nightmare if you’re not careful. Before you [...]
Auction Bytes: FoundValue is a new eBay consignment service with 10 full-time employees and 80 sellers (“specialists”) in 24 states. But unlike other eBay consignment chains, FoundValue has one characteristic that makes them stand out from the crowd: they do housecalls, so brick & mortar stores are not required. Stella Kleiman founded the San Francisco-based [...]
Jeremy Wright: “Evan Carmichael has revealed how his firm decides if they want to fund a company.”
Entrepreneurship Around the Globe
The Entrepreneurial Mind: “This week’s National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship looks into entrepreneurship in Mexico, the Middle East, and Ireland.”
This week’s Carnival of the Capitalists is up at Gongol.com.
60-Second Guide to Retaining the Records Your Business Needs
Which papers can you keep, and which can you throw away? AllBusiness to the rescue: Paper, paper, paper. It’s everywhere in a small business, from customer invoices and expense receipts to your licenses and annual tax returns. Without proper management, these records can gradually proliferate into a monumental mess, making it difficult to find what [...]
I recently discovered two great new franchise blogs: Franchise Pundit by Ryan Knoll and Innovative.Franchising.Blog by Josh Dorkin. Ryan critiques franchises with his own brand of humor, classifying each potential opportunity as either “I wouldn’t buy it” or “I’d buy it”. Josh’s site is more franchise news related, with some longer original and reprinted articles. [...]
Fortune: “In the U.S., state and local programs make so-called microloans available, typically to small-business owners who are unable to get traditional loans from banks either because they have poor credit ratings or no credit history at all. About 500 community-based microlenders and a handful of state microlending programs make loans available—most for several thousand [...]
VCs Getting Back in the Start-up Game
The Entrepreneurial Mind: Over the past weeks I have made a post on growing interest of angel investors in finding deals to invest in and on the overhang of funding in VC funds. So what does all of this cash looking for deals mean to entrepreneurs? Remember Economics 101: too many dollars going after the [...]
The Chronicles Of A Start-up In Audio
€irePreneur: “I’m enjoying listening to the Daily Source Code more than ever these days as Adam Curry is no longer merely acting as a podcasting cheerleader but is now chronicling the adventures of a start-up company – Boku Communications – whose new website – Podshow (the singular) is due to launch any day now.”
If You Like to Follow The Rules, Buy A Franchise!
Smart Money: Franchisors prefer working with people who can follow the rules, rather than true entrepreneurs, says Jeff Elgin, CEO of FranChoice, an Eden Prairie, Minn., consulting firm that coaches people in choosing a franchise. If you’ve got strong feelings about everything from the kinds of products you’ll be selling to the color of the [...]
Jeff Cornwall: StartupJournal reports that angle investors are “dusting off their calculators and starting to get serious” about doing deals. They are coming together in increasing numbers in both formal networks and informal investment clubs to find good deals to invest in. They also seem to be branching out in the types of deals they [...]
When You Need a Small Business Attorney
Invest Nebraska: “Growing businesses operate lean by necessity and intelligent business owners never spend money they don’t have to spend. This frugality can be both a blessing and a curse. A spendthrift company quickly burns through its cash and disappears from the competitive landscape while the frugal company persists. The frugal business goes too far [...]
Lessons From Network Marketers
About.com: Network marketing, or multi-level marketing, is one of the fastest-growing business models of the past few decades. Between 1993 and 2003, total direct selling revenues grew by 7.1% annually, dramatically above the rate of growth of the economy — and of total retail sales (according to the Direct Selling Association). … We recently interviewed [...]
This week’s Carnival of the Capitalists is up at TJ’s Weblog.
Hustle, Passion and Resiliency
Rob Hyndman: “Jason Calacanis’s latest post, while perhaps taking a little too much pleasure out of poking a VC’s associate with a pointy stick, is a funny and quick read about the meaning of, well, business.”
Entreworld: “Launching your first product? Get by with a little help from your friends at an inventors’ group. An inexperienced inventor can gain valuable knowledge and insights by joining such a group. Here are the steps, told in case-study style, you can take to find the right group and make the most of your membership.”
Eye Contact – A Clue to Ownership
Des Walsh: “On Saturday I went to the mall to buy a printer cartridge at the electronics store. The young guy was keen to serve me, alert, attentive, processed the credit card, gave me the bag with the item in it, said ‘Thanks’ in an offhand way and looked somewhere off to the left. Maybe [...]
Monster Blog: “According to a recent study, 81 percent of people had their best ideas outside of the office. Top places for idea generation? The car, in bed and socializing. Six percent of us have our best ideas in the bathroom.”
Is Bankruptcy Law Bad for Entrepreneurship?
The Entrepreneurial Mind: An article at Knowledge@Emory raises an interesting possibility. They question whether the newly passed Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 may dampen our entrepreneurial economy. Why? Because so many entrepreneurs use personal credit cards and second mortgages on their homes to finance start-ups. For these entrepreneurs, easy bankruptcy provides [...]
Fresh Inc.: So you want to be in business for yourself, but you don’t have a novel business idea. You want to be your own boss, but the boss of what? You say you’re interested in being out on your own, but aren’t thrilled with the idea of going it alone. Ever considered a franchise? [...]
Slate: The real genius of Applebee’s is Hamra and Gustin’s steadfast faith that America’s franchisees can, in fact, train low-wage workers to adequately sauce a platter of Bleu Cheese Sirloin. Call them the grand optimists of American small business, if you like. But if you’re not a fan, here’s a spot of grim news: The [...]
Harry Joiner in a forum post on Business Success Resources: I thought you folks might find this post beneficial. As an avid online researcher, every once in a while I’ll stumble across [a PDF] that’s just stunning in its usefulness. Such was the case this morning: “How to Write a Business Plan” by McKinsey and [...]
On-Again Off-Again Entrepreneur
Anita Campbell in Small Business Trends: A trend I am seeing increasingly is what I dub the “on-again off-again entrepreneur.” The on-again off-again entrepreneur is someone who moves back and forth between being employed and owning his or her own business — multiple times. It’s not an either/or question: either being an entrepreneur your whole [...]
EntreWorld: “While no entrepreneur wants to consider the possibility of failure, a head-in-the-sand approach is hardly worth pursuing. Wise entrepreneurs protect themselves and their companies by learning from the fatal mistakes others have made before them. The author, a venture-fund veteran, has watched and participated in the progress of numerous entrepreneurial ventures. In this speech, [...]
More Than Half of All Businesses Are Home Based
As a home based entrepreneur, reports like the SBA report “The Small Business Economy” that StartupNation found, are very interesting: According to a recent SBA report (pdf), today 53% of U.S. businesses hang the “Open for Business” sign at home.
PRNewswire: Thousands of people are expected to attend 14th Annual International Franchise Expo that runs for three days in the nation’s capital. The expo will showcase more than 200 franchise systems and small business investment opportunities. The show is hosted by the International Franchise Association and will be at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center on [...]
Some People Just Don’t Understand Working At Home
Jeremy Wright: Since moving to a self-employed position 3 months ago, I’ve found that some people simply don’t understand working at home is still working. It doesn’t really bother me, it’s just not very fun to hear “so, what were you doing today?” all the time, as if I’ve been relaxing.
Pricing Strategies For Small Businesses
Law & Entrepreneurship News: “Webpronews.com has a nice article about how small businesses can repackage pricing strategies to make them more appealing without slashing prices.”
Screening Your Prospects With “Speed Dating”
Rob Levinson in Startup Journal: You’ve probably heard of speed dating, a service that introduces singles to a room full of potentially suitable companions, by allowing pairs exactly eight minutes (or as few as three) for conversation… and the chance to quickly size up chemistry. The best part is the “instant-out clause” — every eight [...]
Business Entity Comparison Table
Entreworld: “This is a summary of the various forms of company structure you can use for your business, organized in a chart that’s easy to review. You can compare the sole proprietorship, limited liability company (LLC), general partnership, S-corporation and C-corporation types along an exhaustive set of criteria, including initial business formation, duration, liability issue, [...]
One year ago today: How to Fire Employees Start Up: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Launching and Managing a New Business Am I an Entrepreneur?
Stop Flying Solo: Get A Partner
I’ve been thinking about finding the perfect business partner recently. When you’re looking for a partner, you don’t want a clone of yourself, rather you want someone that compliments your strengths, makes up for your weaknesses and can offer a different perspective. Adam Rifkin has more: Whereas finding a romantic partner is such a regular [...]
Entrepreneur: “Winning a contest is a great way to achieve the kind of success many inventors only dream about. Sponsored by major companies like Staples and Procter & Gamble, these invention contests offer entrepreneurs major market introduction opportunities. Of course, you can’t win if you don’t enter. Check out the websites for the United Inventors [...]
Paypal wasn’t always the dominant way to send and receive money online. When they were young and trying to attract an audience, they gave away money to everyone who signed up for an account. Today, a new company called GreenZap announced that they are going challenge Paypal for the space: GreenZap is set up to [...]
Promoting Your Self Published Book
David St Lawrence: If you choose to self-publish, you will find yourself with a few weeks of almost-free time while the printers are figuring out how to print your book. It is during this time that you must take off your author hat and put on your publisher hat. It is time to think in [...]
Sydney Johnston continues her great advice about what not to sell on eBay: My second nomination for the Lame Idea About What To Sell On eBay Award is the entire idea about finding “hot” products. If you really want to know what’s sizzling, what’s fiery H-O-T, spend a few hours watching the infomercials on TV. [...]
The Entrepreneurial Mind: Venture Capitalists were busy raising money in 2004 and have some very full pockets of cash. The phenomenon is known as overhang, and you can read about it here (PDF). More cash means more deals and probably a little bit looser purse strings with the investments they are willing to take. Good [...]
Ten Reasons Not to Buy a Franchise
Thinking about buying a franchise? Nolo has ten franchise red flags that should cause you to potentially consider investing your time and money elsewhere: Questionable profitability. High start-up costs. Encroachment. Lack of legal recourse. Limited independence. Royalty payments. Inflated pricing on supplies. Restrictions on post-term competition. Advertising fees. Unfair termination. Always do your due dilligence.
New Parents Make Good Entrepreneurs
NY Times: “For some people having a baby disrupts careers; for others it makes them. A new generation of parent-entrepreneurs – many of whom are survivors of the Internet boom and bust – discovered an unfilled market niche when they began looking for baby gear and children’s furnishings that met their standards for form and [...]
The IRS and eBay: Tax Season Is Here
AuctionBytes.com: It’s that time of year – April 15 is looming. As if I wasn’t already thinking about it, the Associated Press ran an article about eBay sellers and whether they were required to report eBay income on their taxes. How do you know if you are required to report eBay income in your taxes? [...]
