Topics
Running Your Business
Articles
Associations
American Strategic Management Institute
The American Strategic Management Institute (ASMI) is the nation's leading authority on measurement and management methodologies for improving individual and organizational performance. ASMI's mission is to identify, study and disseminate the leading strategic management and performance measurement practices pioneered by best-in-class organizations.
Phone: 858-874-6876
Web: www.asmiweb.com
International Customer Service Association (ICSA)
International Customer Service Association (ICSA) is the largest association for customer service professionals. It has local chapters, publishes its own newsletter, and holds an annual conference and other educational events. Its members consist of managers, directors, vice-presidents, owners and CEOs of companies of all types in virtually every industry.
Phone: 800-360-4272
Web: http://www.icsa.com
Books
401 Questions That Every Entrepreneur Should Ask
This book looks at the nitty-gritty of starting a business, in a Q&A format, and asks questions like "How will you stay on top of cash flow?" and "Do you have someone to take your place in case of an emergency?" Questions cover such issues as business organizational structure, locating your business, dealing with customers, risk management, time management, and use of technology.
James L. Silvester.
Career Press.
256.
Paperback.
Cost: $17.99
Birthing the Elephant: A Woman's Go-for-it! Guide to Overcoming the Big Challenges of Launching a Business
Customized for the female entrepreneur's unique psychological experience of launching a business, BIRTHING THE ELEPHANT goes beyond logistics to prepare women for the emotional challenges they will face, with expert advice on reshaping one's business identity, giving up the paycheck mentality, anticipating problems, and avoiding costly mistakes. This supportive handbook gives the small-business owner the staying power to survive and succeed in the business of her dreams.
Karin Abarbanel, Bruce Freeman.
Ten Speed Press.
211 pages.
Paperback.
Cost: $15.95
Bounce!: Failure, Resiliency, and Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success
In Bounce!, entrepreneur and business owner Barry Moltz explains that both success and failure are simply outcomes in the normal life cycle of business—a life cycle in which overall process matters far more than any single event or outcome. Great businesses are those that develop the resiliency to bounce through these cycles to succeed over the long term. Using a blend of personal experience and firsthand interviews with business leaders, Moltz shares the practical tools and techniques that every business needs to survive the cycle of ups and downs.
Barry J. Moltz.
Wiley.
256 pages.
Hardcover.
Cost: $24.95
Competing in a Flat World: Building Enterprises for a Borderless World
This is the next level of understanding about the "flattening" of the world, as described in Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat. The authors write about how to build a global company through the forging of international relationships and leveraging the Internet. The book includes many good examples of companies that are successfully executing this strategy.
Victor K. Fung (Author), William K. Fung (Author), Yoram (Jerry) Wind (Author) .
Wharton School Publishing.
272 pages.
Hardcover.
Cost: $27.99
Corporate Instinct: Building a Knowing Enterprise for the 21st Century
Drawing on interviews with 350 companies, this book presents management and technology tools to help manage an organization's shared knowledge. It offers a blueprint for a business which focuses on innovation, not administration.
Thomas M. Koulopoulos, et al.
Wiley.
248pp.
Hardcover.
Cost: $35.00
Create the Business Breakthrough You Want: Secrets and Strategies from the World's Greatest Mentors
Tracy, the lead author of this book, is one of the most well-known and respected motivational business gurus in the world. In addition to Tracy and his writing team, this book also features 57 other business/motivational leaders who write about everything from individual to corporate success.
Mark Victor Hansen, Robert G. Allen, Bob Proctor.
Mission Publishing .
312 pages .
Paperback.
Cost: $19.95
Doing Business Anywhere: The Essential Guide to Going Global
Almost every business today is global, and commerce doesn't stop at national borders. If you want to start a new venture, you've got to organize, plan, operate, and execute with a global mindset. Navigating conflicting and confusing laws, dealing with different cultures, and operating in different countries is the reality of entrepreneurship today. Sometimes, the complex-ities can be overwhelming.
Tom Travis .
Wiley.
202 pages .
Hardcover.
Cost: $24.95
Entrepreneur's Notebook: Practical Advice for Starting a New Business Venture
Entrepreneur's Notebook propels you on a whirlwind tour of the start-up process. It is an invaluable reference for new and experienced entrepreneurs that includes chapters on a wide range of topics, from entrepreneurial team building to business plans to financing. This excellent book provides an incredible amount of practical information that will help you make smarter decisions and avoid costly mistakes. The author, Steven K. Gold, is an accomplished entrepreneur who has co-founded and led five early-stage ventures. As an investor and mentor, he also advises many entrepreneurs and young companies. He earned his B.S.E. in Entrepreneurial Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and his M.D. from Brown University Medical School.
Steven K. Gold.
Learning Ventures Press .
232 pages .
Paperback.
Cost: $10.85
Generation, Inc.: The 100 Best Businesses for Young Entrepreneurs
Start-up essentials for dreamers and doers--the 100 best opportunities for building a business from the ground up.
The nine-to-five grind is not for everyone. Now more than ever, young entrepreneurs dream of becoming their own boss. And this is the book that will show them how to do it.
Elina Furman .
Berkley Trade .
383 pages .
Paperback.
Cost: $13.00
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
Good to Great discusses the findings of the Good to Great study that studied what made a company go from good to great. This is the study of several companies and conclusions are made based on case studies and research. This book is good for any entrepreneur or person in a leadership position.
Jim Collins.
Collins.
320pp.
Hardcover.
Cost: $15.40
Harvard Business Review on Entrepreneurship
This series collects articles from the Harvard Business Review on a specific subject -- in this case entrepreneurship. It focuses on financing and raising capital, as might be expected, but also includes material on writing a business plan and commercializing technology.
Amar Bhide, William A. Sahlman, et al..
Harvard Business School Press.
217.
Paperback.
Cost: $19.95
Outfoxing The Small Business Owner: Crafty Techniques For Creating A Profitable Relationship
Outfoxing The Small Business Owner helps entrepreneurs create a new strategy to get more of the small business market in order to raise their bottom line. This book offers innovation ways to get your product or service noticed by small business, fost long-term partnerships, identify and address your customers' true business needs and collect payments in a a timely manner.
Gene Marks.
Adams Media Corporation.
227pp.
Hardcover.
Cost: $10.62
SECRETS OF GREAT RAINMAKERS: THE KEYS TO SUCCESS AND WEALTH
In Secrets of the Great Rainmakers you'll learn how to outsmart the competition and set yourself apart from the pack. In over 50 interviews with industry leaders from a wide variety of fields, bestselling author Jeffrey J. Fox will share the proven techniques and hard-won wisdom that have helped great rainmakers get ahead, along with his trademark brand of counterintuitive insight and commentary that have made his books so popular.
Jeffrey J. Fox .
Hyperion.
208 pages .
Hardcover.
Cost: $16.95
Small Business for Dummies
Part of the popular "For Dummies" series, this title focuses on entrepreneur and small business basics such as determining whether a small business is for you, getting your finances in order, writing a businss plan, seeking financing. It also looks a small busines management issues such as insurance, accounting, marketing, and taxes. In particular, it offers a lot of useful tips and checklists.
Eric Tyson and Jim Schell.
Wiley Publishing Inc..
410.
Paperback.
Cost: $21.99
Start Your Own Business, 4th Edition
From the editors of Entrepreneur magazine, this book has takes you step by step through the startup journey and guides you through the first three years of business ownership with dozens of work sheets and checklists you can use to measure your progress along the way.
Rieva Lesonsky.
Entrepreneur Press.
700.
Paperback.
Cost: $24.95
Strategic Negotiation: A Breakthrough Four-Step Process for Effective Business Negotiation
Strategic Negotiation provides readers with a systematic and rational process that enable you to go beyond "win-win" to create true, measurable business value, and allow both you and your customer to meet and exceed your negotiation goals. This book is good for anyone in any company dealing with sales.
Brian Dietmeyer, Rob Kaplan.
Kaplan Business.
224pp.
Hardcover.
Cost: $16.10
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Whether you are an overworked employee or an entrepreneur trapped in your own business, this book is the compass for a new and revolutionary world. Join Tim Ferriss as he teaches you:How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever you want; How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs; How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist; How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and freuent "mini-retirements"; What the crucial difference is between absolute and relative income; How to train your boss to value performance over presence, or kill your job (or company) if it's beyond repair; What automated cash-flow "muses" are and how to create one in 2 to 4 weeks; How to cultivate selective ignorance—and create time—with a low-information diet; What the management secrets of Remote Control CEOs are; How to get free housing worldwide and airfare at 50-80% off; How to fill the void and create a meaningful life after removing work and the office
You can have it all—really.
Timothy Ferriss .
Crown.
320 pages .
Hardcover.
Cost: $19.95
The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth
This review of the small business landscape argues that there are seven "rules" of growth for entrepreneurs and small businesses: 1) Establishing and maintaining a strong sense of purpose, 2) Understanding the marketplace, 3) Creating a growth plan that is realistic and specific, 4)Developing customer-driven processes with a focus on acquisition and retention, 5) Leveraging technology wherever possible, 6)Recruiting and retaining top performers, and 7) Monitoring trends to anticipate market changes.
Steven S. Little.
John Wiley & Sons.
236.
Paperback.
Cost: $18.95
The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us
From Booklist - Meredith, a foreign correspondent, describes the global power shift occurring in India and in China as computers continue to change the way business is conducted. The U.S. and Europe have lost both low- and high-paying jobs to these countries, and there are other factors at play, such as the unquenchable global thirst for oil and massive environmental issues. This is a complicated story because as jobs are lost, cheap goods are being imported and sold at low prices to American consumers, and some retailers' stock prices are rising, to the benefit of workers' 401K accounts. The author notes, "In this decade, a clear pattern emerged: China became factory to the world, the United States became buyer to the world, and India began to become back office to the world." In this thought-provoking and well-researched book, the author advises that the U.S. must strengthen its education system, promote innovation, forget about protectionism or unfettered free markets, and focus on creating jobs. Whaley, Mary
Robyn Meredith .
W. W. Norton.
256 pages.
Hardcover.
Cost: $25.95
The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law
This guide looks at the many legal issues associated with entrepreneurship and small business ownership. It reviews such issues as selecting and working with an attorney, incorporation and business structure, raising money, human resources, intellectual property, e-commerce sales, and going public or selling your business.
Constance E. Bagley and Craig E. Dauchy.
Thomson South-Western West.
730.
Paperback.
Cost: $47.95
The Self-Defeating Organization: How Smart Companies Can Stop Outsmarting Themselves
The Self-Defeating Organization explores what it means to be a self-defeating organization and how companies fall into such low performance periods. This book offers self-defeating patterns that can help determine whether you're companie is falling victim.
Robert E. Hardy, Randy Schwartz.
Addison Wesley Publishing Company.
336pp.
Paperback.
The Small Business Bible
The Small Business Bible attempts to cover all aspects of operating a small business -- from developing a business plan and branding your business to bookkeeping, legal issues, and operating on a shoestring budget. It also offers a range of tips and checklists.
Steven D. Strauss.
John Wiley & Sons.
436.
Paperback.
Cost: $19.95
The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business
Steve Mariotti, a former New York City high-school teacher, founded the nonprofit National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship after he discovered that students who launched commercial ventures tended to eventually blossom in numerous areas. In this updated edition of The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business, he lays out the critically relevant basics on everything from recognizing opportunities and researching markets to handling finances and protecting ideas--all organized and written specifically for the younger reader. Brief case studies and inspiring tales of notables who started young, including Russell Simmons of Def Jam, Tom Monaghan of Domino's Pizza, and Steve Perlman of WebTV, offer encouragement. New chapters on technology (explaining, for instance, ways that computers and the Net provide competitive advantages) and philanthropy ("ethical business behavior is not only morally right, it's good for business") bring Mariotti's advice into the 21st century. No single volume can provide all the details necessary to get an idea up and running, but this one contains enough information and stimulation to move practically anyone off the couch and into the beginning stages of entrepreneurship. --Howard Rothman --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Steve Mariotti .
Crown Business.
322 pages .
Hardcover.
Cost: $14.98
Up Your Business!: 7 Steps to Fix, Build, or Stretch Your Organization
Up Your Business discusses ways to make you organization or company work at the highest possible level. This book includes a seven step plan that you can use to fix, build, or stretch your business. This book is good for anyone in a leadership position.
Dave Anderson.
Wiley.
288pp.
Hardcover.
Cost: $15.72
What Made jack welch JACK WELCH: How Ordinary People Become Extraordinary Leaders
Though the title suggests a focus on the famous General Electric CEO's many accomplishments and leadership skills, this management guide draws on the experiences of many other leaders, including Rudy Giuliani and Gen. Tommy Franks, as well as leaders in corporations like Florida Power and Light or Hearst.
Stephen H. Baum (Author), Dave Conti (Author) .
Crown Business .
288 pages .
Hardcover.
Cost: $24.95
What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business
The premise of this book is that it has asked successful entrepreneurs: "If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?" It emphasises the need to research markets and business opportunities carefully before commiting to a new business. It also covers such issues as creating a business plan, financing, management, marketing, and others. Checklists on locating a business and on necessary recordkeeping are also included.
Jan Norman.
Dearborn Trade Publishing.
222.
Paperback.
Cost: $18.95
Events
Annual Call Center Exhibition (ACCE)
The Annual Call Center Exhibition (ACCE) offers a variety of educational tracks and sessions presented in several different formats focusing on customer relationship management (CRM), call center management, and technology. The exhibit hall includes providers of a large range of solutions and services, including quality monitoring, information technology, and interactive voice recognition.
Producer: International Customer Management Institute
Venue: San Diego Convention Center
Location: San Diego,
CA,
USA
Phone: 800-441-8826
Website: www.ACCEicmi.com
ICSAnet
An annual conference sponsored by the International Customer Service Association (ICSA) that focuses on customer service management, education, networking and technology. ICSAnet is a three-day conference which includes a trade show, networking events, and educational sessions. This year the conference will be co-hosted by ICSA (Inernational Customer Service Association) and ICCM (International Call Center Management). Members receive a discount.
Producer: International Customer Service Association
Venue: Navy Pier
Location: Chicago,
IL,
USA
Phone: 800-360-4272 or 312-321-6800
Website: http://www.icsa.com
National Conference on Operations and Fulfillment
This event features a large number of seminars and exhibitors focused on operations and fulfillment in the direct-to-customer marketplace. Exhibitors include companies such as Argent Productivity Optimization Solutions, Midco Call Center, and UPS. The conference also includes roundtable discussions, keynote presentations, and receptions that provide great networking opportunities.
Producer: Direct Marketing Association/Prism Business Media Exhibitions
Venue: Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center
Location: Schaumburg,
IL,
USA
Phone: 330-425-9330
Website: http://www.ncof.com/
Publications
CFO
CFO magazine aims to provide corporate chief financial officers (CFOs) with solid reporting on financial news and trends, analyses of the accomplishments of finance executives facing complex problems, original research into critical economic issues, exposure to innovative thinkers who will challenge their assumptions.
Phone: 212-459-3004
Web: http://www.cfo.com/
Conference Board Review
This is a bimonthly collection of articles, ideas, and opinions published by The Conference Board that presents senior executives with in-depth perspectives on a variety of business issues, including advertising, market research, and strategic marketing.
Phone: 212-759-0900
Web: http://www.conference-board.com
Customer Interaction Solutions
This publication offers information on inbound and outbound telemarketing, call center operation, customer service hiring, training, and service agencies. A section focuses on computer-telephony integration and other call-center technologies.
Phone: 800-243-6002 or 203-852-6800
Web: http://www.tmcnet.com/
Entrepreneur Magazine
Entrepreneur Magazine covers the whole range of issues that might be encountered by an entrepreneur or small business owner. A typical issue might include articles on networking, starting an e-business, financing your business, identifying insurance needs, hiring strategies, technology, and more. Its website also offers a variety of small business checklists to download.
Web: www.entrepreneur.com
Inc.
Inc. magazine bills itself as "the daily resource for entrepreneurs." It offers articles on marketing, financing, business growth, technology, business development, and frequent case studies of successful entrepreneurs. The Inc.com website also offers a variety of other downloadable resources.
Web: www.inc.com
Purchasing
This publication will give sales managers a view from the other side of the fence. Articles interpret news, market conditions, and overall buying conditions, as well as provide information on how specific companies conduct their purchasing operations.
Phone: 800-446-6551
Web: http://www.purchasing.com
Success Magazine
Success magazine is a business service magazine offering articles addressing the personal and business needs of small and medium-size business owners, CEOs, and entrepreneurs. It offers success stories, advice, and step-by-step guides to such things as online marketing, setting up a new office, and taking advantage of small business tax breaks.
Web: www.successmagazine.com
Videos
Web Sites
10 Steps to Open for Business
Use our proven, step-by-step process to help you achieve startup success. Read, watch, listen, download, discuss, take action and, most importantly, Start It Up!
100 Sites Entrepreneurs Should Visit
These days, it seems that almost everyone has a blog, so it's often hard to separate what's really worth reading from what isn't. Luckily, we've done the work for you and narrowed it down to 100 highly informative sites. Take a look at what they have to say and see how they can help you grow your business.
23 Ways to Delegate to Others
It's the challenge that just about all entrepreneurs stumble over - knowing when and how to hand over some of their responsibilities to someone else so that they can focus on the most important stuff.
4 Main Disadvantages of Outsourcing
Outsourcing isn't something you do for its own sake; you do it because you know that it will lead to more productivity and in effect, profitability. So think it through. Here are a few things to remember about the negative side to outsourcing.
5 Common Mistakes People Make When Starting Up a Small Business
Starting, and running, a small business isn't a cakewalk. It's hard to believe, but over 50 percent of small businesses fail in their first year and 95 percent fail within the first five years, according to the U.S. Small Business Association. Starting a business is risky for most, but success can come for those who proceed with logic and discipline.
5 Do's and 5 Don'ts with the Media
Did you know that there are literally thousands of media outlets from newspapers to magazines to local and national TV shows, seeking story ideas on a regular basis? They are constantly seeking news angles, novel ideas and unique information. For small business owners, this translates into countless opportunities to get your company in front of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of potential clients.
5 Fatal Mistakes for Small Retailing
In today's fast-moving and ever-changing business environment, mistakes can be fatal. Even at best, statistics show that about half of small businesses last less than two years. Increase your odds of success by avoiding these potential pitfalls.
5 Ways to Boost Profits
No matter how many sales you make, your business will struggle if you don't watch your margins.
50 Ways to Green Your Business
Half-a-hundred options for cleaning up your business, from the universal (catch that rainwater!) to the specific (lose the plastic bowls!). Mix, match--join in.
8 Tips for Increasing Your Average Sale
Walk into any McDonald's, order a Quarter Pounder, and the clerk will invariably ask, "Do you want fries with that?" Each affirmative answer adds $1 or more to that particular sale. If just a fraction of McDonald's' 54 million daily customers say yes to that question, that's millions of extra dollars in the burger biggie's pocket.
The same strategy is important for startups.
8 Top Tips for Young Entrepreneurs
Online start-up businesses run by young adults are an increasingly common phenomenon. A commonly overlooked demographic, however, are the real youth - those under 18 years of age. With online businesspeople facing very low barriers to market entry, many tech-savvy kids are getting in on the act and taking advantage of the opportunities that abound.
A Niche to Grow
Most successful marketing tales begin and end with a well-plumbed niche. In other words, the marketer has found the most-qualified group of prospects and motivated them to action. You'll rarely see a company that's risen to the top using a shotgun approach--targeting a mass audience indiscriminately--yet this is where many entrepreneurs trip up.
Applying the 80/20 Principle to Your College Business
Vilfredo Pareto was a known economist in the 1800s who observed that 20% of the Italian populace owned 80% of the country's wealth. From that, it came to be known that 20% of a source was responsible for 80% of the result. This 80/20 concept, dubbed as Pareto's Principle, is applicable to most other areas of expertise and can be used in your business and in your life.
Automate Your Online Business
These 4 easy steps will save you time, make you money and free you up to run your business from anywhere in the world.
Avoid Organizational Nightmares
It's Monday morning, and you're reviewing your calendar. You suddenly realize you've double-booked a client meeting and your daughter's piano recital. Not only that, Friday is a school holiday you didn't plan for. Another week, another organizational nightmare.
Banking on Thanks
More and more, retailers are showing their appreciation for customers in an effort to keep them spending.
Be a Millionaire Franchisee
You want a franchise business, but not just any old thing--you want something big time. We're talking about a multimillion-dollar enterprise. So how do you go about accomplishing that goal?
Beat the Clock
E-mails, faxes, phone calls, oh my. Here's how to get it all done.
Beginner Tips on Using Facebook for Business
By now you've probably heard of Facebook, right? Taking the time to learn Facebook can help you market your small business. And if you are going to use social networking sites like Facebook it is also important to know the proper etiquette.
Better Business Bureau - Valuable or a Waste?
I was all set to write what I considered to be a non-controversial post about the Better Business Bureau.
I didn't expect ANYONE to find fault with the Better Business Bureau. The Better Business Bureau is like motherhood and apple pie. Who could say anything bad about them?
Boring, But True: Ten Reasons Why Startups Need Documentation
Congratulations for reading this far. Most people won't, because there is nothing less flashy than the idea of writing things down. Read on, and find out why documentation is the major difference between a large successful business and a small struggling one.
Brand Management: The Hilfiger Lessons
It has been quite a decade for Tommy Hilfiger. During the 90s, it seemed his brand could do no wrong. The business experienced meteoric growth and, by 2000, was generating $2bn in worldwide sales.
But then came the new century, and Hilfiger struggled to maintain the momentum. Tommy would learn some of the key lessons of brand management the hard way.
Business Lessons Learned From Brett Favre
Recently Brett Favre, the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, broke the all-time NFL touchdown record. As a fan of football and Green Bay (I grew up in Wisconsin) I've had the opportunity to watch Favre over the years, and I also realized how his career provides some valuable business-building lessons.
How? Because success is success, whether you've built a multi-billion dollar company, written a dozen best-selling novels or are a famous quarterback. Many of the same mindset and principles are the same no matter how the success manifests itself.
Business Owner Should Plan For The Unexpected ; Develop a Succession Strategy
Every business owner needs to plan for the expected (retirement) and the unexpected (death or disability). A closely held business is frequently the primary component of a business owner's wealth, but a lack of planning can zap the value of that wealth.
There are five possibilities for business continuation.
Business Startup Checklist
You've decided to start a business. This is both an exciting and demanding time. The checklist below is meant to help new business owners by providing a list of the most common startup steps. Depending on your particular industry, additional steps may be required for your business.
Careful Planning Can Save Entrepreneurs
Going from salary slave to self-made mogul takes careful planning. So before you spend a penny, figure out who needs your product or service, how you expect to sell it and whom you'll compete against.
Closing Part of Your Business
When a setback forces you to cut back your operations, make sure you have a team of advisers to help you craft a plan to reorganize.
Competing with the retail giants
The past decade has brought dramatic changes to the world's retail community. Keeping pace in today's fast-moving and unpredictable marketplace isn't easy. Never has business been so challenging.
David Glazer
The engineering director of Google explains how the company maintains its creative culture and innovative operations.
Do What You Do Best
Assess your strengths and weaknesses, then outsource the tasks that aren't your forte.
Don't Be Afraid to Delegate
It's a tautology, of course. If you insist on doing everything yourself, your business will never grow beyond what you can personally handle.
Doom or Boom?
In times of uncertainty, growth opportunities abound for innovative thinkers.
Enjoy your success. Now get back to work!
If you and your company have made it past the start-up stage, congratulations! You've poured a lot of time, resources, and lots of yourself into getting the company this far. But, here's a secret that is generally only know by entrepreneurs who have been in the game for years: it's only just begun.
Entrepreneur's Guide to Success
Many people would like to be self-employed but fear the risk -- with good reason. Within five years, half of new businesses are out of business.
Entrepreneurs: 5 Sure-Fire Business Resolutions for 2008
It's that time of year again when we make resolutions in our personal lives that help guide us into the New Year. Hopefully, for most of us, we'll follow through and achieve all of our resolutions - even if we do fall off the wagon once or twice.
Escape from Cubicle Hell
From retirement-averse baby boomers to Gen Y-ers disillusioned with the corporate world, a growing number of people are starting businesses out of their homes in a wide range of industries.
Father Figure
What happens when a daughter inherits dad's business?
Finding the Perfect Location
A restaurant's nationwide expansion offers entrepreneurs in other industries lessons on how to determine the right place for their own businesses.
Five time-wasters for the college entrepreneur
Business people already have little time to waste. So how much less does a student entrepreneur got to waste with the academic load he or she has? Very little. But they still waste a chunk of their time to not so important things. Students sometimes forget not just time but also everything that they are supposed to do with it. Here are the top five.
For Better or Worse
Look no further for a business partner. You may already have a perfect match--your spouse.
Gerber's Best Business Advice
Michael Gerber reveals why the core principles and opportunities for today's entrepreneurs haven't really changed much in 30 years.
Give Your Clients Red-Carpet Treatment
If you're a celebrity, you're used to red carpets being rolled out for you and being greeted by name and with a smile. Wouldn't it be great to be admired and complimented by strangers on a daily basis? I sometimes wonder what it would be like if business associates bent over backward to cater to my personal desires and needs. That may sound far-fetched, but in Hollywood it's the norm.
Grow Your Biz--From eBay and Beyond
Setting up shop on eBay, Amazon, ProStores, and other auction and e-commerce sites is a great way to live the entrepreneurial dream. The problem is you're not alone.
Hit the Highway
Create a mobile office and watch the bumps on the road to a working vacation disappear.
How do I become an LLC?
Lawyer and FSB editor Adriana Gardella helps unravel the legal issues that vex business owners.
How Managers' Everyday Decisions Create-or Destroy-Your Company's Strategy
Top leaders' formal strategies determine how business gets done in your firm-right? Wrong, say authors Joseph Bower and Clark Gilbert: It's other managers' decisions about where to commit resources that really drive strategy. Sometimes these choices support corporate plans. Other times, they don't.
How Much Credit Do Customers Deserve?
Microsoft recently announced that it plans to extend credit to customers by as much as 60%, to $1.25 billion, this year. Should you extend your customers the same courtesy?
How to boost your online presence
Got biz? Having a website's a big advantage - that's true. But it doesn't mean there's no way to do online profile-raising other than that. Do more with your site!
How to Choose a Business Partner
Evaluate based on skills and personality, not emotional ties. Then define roles and formalize the agreement with the help of a lawyer.
How to Cope With Overnight Success
What do you do when your product's a hit? These 10 steps will take you from being overwhelmed to being in control faster than you can say "I made it!"
How to Execute a Merger
We'll show you how to navigate this critical period in five key steps, and our video interview with M&A expert Steven Ramirez will explain how to avoid common merger mistakes.
How to Gather Competitive Research
To formulate an effective corporate strategy, it's essential to understand two basic questions: What is your company doing, and what are your competitors doing?
How to Get Services for a Fraction of the Price
If you need someone to create a press release for you or put up your website, this article explains how you can find a reliable person to do this for you at a fraction of what you might otherwise pay.
How to Get Services for a Fraction of the Price
If you need someone to create a press release for you or put up your website, this article explains how you can find a reliable person to do this for you at a fraction of what you might otherwise pay.
How to Get Your Customers to Solve Problems for You
Crowdsourcing is a technique that sophisticated companies use to translate the enthusiasm of their most highly-engaged customers into valuable marketing, branding, or product-development insight. You can do it, too.
How to Manage Independent Contractors
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently assessed Federal Express with $319 million in penalties for failing to pay taxes and benefits for drivers whom they called "contractors" but treated like employees. The practice is tempting: According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the cost of hiring a contractor is as much as 30 percent lower than that of hiring an employee. But it's also illegal - and costly if you get audited.
How to Manage Independent Contractors
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the cost of hiring a contractor is as much as 30 percent lower than that of hiring an employee. But it's also illegal - and costly if you get audited.
How to Overcome Barriers of Entry
Small-scaled businesses may find it difficult to enter new markets where established players already exist. Here are some suggestions to overcome these barriers of entry.
How to Review the Competition
Keeping track of your competitor's activities can be challenging, but knowing about new activities and events is critical to your own success. If you're in an industry with very similar products and services, you can learn a lot from the competition and even strategize how to make your company take the lead with a competitive edge.
How To Run On Fumes
The U.S. Family Medical Leave Act allows employees of companies with more than 50 employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for sick relatives. But entrepreneurs and plenty of other cash-strapped folks don't have that luxury.
While physical and emotional exhaustion are bound to strike, there are ways of mustering the strength to plow through.
How to Use Text Messaging to Reach Customers
Businesses are always seeking innovative ways to communicate efficiently and effectively with customers in order to maintain good customer service and to increase sales. While postal mailing, phoning, and most recently emailing have been utilized as methods of communication from businesses to its customers, a new communication star is emerging, known commonly as "text messaging" and also known as short message system ("SMS").
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/332476_schreter21.html
Every startup entrepreneur is busy -- really busy. There are business plans to write, projections to prepare and products to design. In their earnest desire to get ahead, it's easy to overlook the very issues that can slow down any promising company.
Improving Customer Service & Customer Retention Levels
The obvious importance of the collection of accounts receivable is, that a sale isn't a sale until you're paid, and that all businesses run on money. A less obvious but important reason is that of customer service and retention levels.
Is a Home Business a Green Business?
There is clear evidence that a trend toward reduced commuting could help lower greenhouse gases. But just because you are not a polluting commuter, doesn't mean you run a "green" business.
It's 11pm, do you know what your competitors are up to?
Competition is a pre-existing phenomenon. Even before you conceptualized your business, potential competitors already abound in your field. And now that your biz is fully established, it's time to stand out by outsmarting your tightest competitors.
Keeping Order
Rescuing offices in disarray is big business for professional organizers.
Knock 'Em Dead
Do you know what to say when someone asks, "So what do you do?" Given this opportunity, a well-scripted response--known as your elevator speech--should begin flowing off your tongue.
Leave 'em Laughing
Just because we're a serious company doesn't mean customer interaction has to be dull or depressing. We provide excellent service, but also brief, bright moments in customers' days. They love us for it.
Leila's House of Corrections: Delegate Now
No manager can do it all, but some are afraid to let go. You hired your team for their strengths-now learn how to hand off projects and let your employees accomplish tasks on their own. They may even do it better than you.
Let's Make a Deal
Learn how to negotiate successfully by interpreting these 5 subconscious indicators.
Make them smile
Adam Golomb from Eat'n Park sent me these delicious cookies in response to my post "Never a normal thank you."
These folks know how to get people talking about you.
Making Your Meetings Matter
In a perfect world, when you call a meeting, everyone shows up on time, comes prepared, is not distracted by their PDA or laptop, and stays alert and engaged. But it's not a perfect world. BNET talks to Bert Decker a communications expert, best selling author and entrepreneur, to find out how to make meetings more effective.
Malcolm Gladwell: Don't Assume Experts' Judgment is Robust
At the RSA 2008 security conference in San Francisco, Malcolm Gladwell, author of 'Blink' and 'The Tipping Point,' talks about the decision-making process and uses the 'Pepsi challenge' to explain how fragile a person's judgment can be.
Mapping Out a Smooth Transition
When Roy Leppo became a snowbird in the early 1960s, he didn't exactly retire. He would return from Arizona every six months and take back the reins of his Ohio farm-equipment business from his son Dick.
"My grandfather gave my father a hard time," says Glenn Leppo, president of Leppo Inc. "He made it very difficult for my father to manage the business."
Here are some of the lessons about succession planning that he and his family have learned along the way.
MoreBusiness.com
The MoreBusiness.com website provides a variety of useful resources for entrepreneurs, including start-up advice, templates, checklists, business plans, and marketing plans.
Nearly 40 Percent of Employees Say Companies Are Not Creative
Companies, especially smaller ones, often depend on big ideas and a creative team of employees to develop innovative products and services. But a new survey shows that many U.S. workers suffer from a lack of creative stimulation at their jobs.
New Ways to Pay
Want to close more sales without doing more work? Give customers more ways to pay with alternative billing methods.
Outsourcing to China
The benefits of outsourcing to China are clear; it can be both cost effective and efficient. However understanding the laws, navigating the bureaucracy, and negotiating the contracts can be tricky. Find out how to develop Guanxi and increase your odds for successful manufacturing in China.
PayPal as a serious ecommerce tool
PayPal has been around now for quite some time. It's always been a choice for Internet marketers looking for easy ways to get and send money.
Plan For Success
As a solopreneur there is always an endless list of projects that we want to work on or need to complete in order to grow our business. If we don't plan properly and build in time to work on these projects we can very quickly become overwhelmed, and in the end we don't complete anything.
Right By Radiohead
The difference between what Radiohead and Apple are doing is that where Radiohead is earning customer loyalty, Apple is spending it.
Running a Company From Home
Setting clear boundaries and carving out time for your work is the key to being a well-balanced home based entrepreneur.
SCORE Adds Resources for Minority Entrepreneurs
SCORE, which provides free counseling to U.S. small business owners and entrepreneurs, recently added a new Minority Entrepreneur section to the SCORE website.
SCORE volunteers have compiled a variety of best practices, statistics and valuable resource information geared toward the minority sector.
Seven Rules for Closing a Deal in China
If you're outsourcing to Chinese manufacturers for the first time, you're bound to make a few gaffes when dealing with a business culture so different from your own. Here are some rules of the road...
Seven Sure Steps to Choosing a Franchise
Franchising is a wonderful way to go into business for yourself. So many things have already been established for your benefit: branding, marketing, processes, products, systems, etc.
Shades of Green
With more large companies going green, the entire industry is under scrutiny.
Shattering the "Passive Income" Myth
Passive Revenue. The words jumped off the website page and hit me like a thunderbolt! I thought I even heard angels singing. It was the golden idol; the Holy Grail. My heart skipped a beat and went ka-ching!
Shut Up And Open Your Ears
If all products were one-size-fits-all, the motor-mouth approach might work. But most accounts are custom jobs--especially when they involve technology solutions or financial and consulting gigs.
Six Keys to Running a Successful Business
Running a business is a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces must fit together perfectly in order to complete the puzzle. If you are missing a piece, or if you have to pound the pieces together, you can't complete the puzzle. All of the pieces are interconnected, so they can't stand alone. In order to run a successful business, there are six puzzle pieces that must all be perfectly arranged and executed.
Small Business Administration
The Small Business Administration (SBA) was created to to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns. Its website offers a variety of tools, resources, and planning guides for entrepreneurs and small businesses. SBA also offers lender information, loans, and other financial services to small business.
Small Business Tools From The SBA
If you are thinking of starting a franchise, or for that matter, any type of small business, there are a multitude of free tools that the SBA has for you to use.
Social Media: Valuable Marketing Tools or Time Waster?
It seems like almost everyday a new social media site joins the throng vying for our attention and time. We hear that Web 2.0 – the interactive way to reach your customers – is the best vehicle for building your brand.
But the time involved to research and understand and experiment can take our eyes of the focus of our business. So is Social Media the new "must have" for small business owners or is it a big time-suck?
Start-up Spark Interview with Ryan Allis
A discussion on March 21st with Shannon Cherry from Start-up Spark about:Growing up in Florida, Advantages/disadvantages of young entrepreneurs, The MAR system, Bootstrapping and living in the office, Doing whatever it takes to keep expenses low, How we hired our first employee, Using equity initially to reduce cash burn, The importance of systems and building a team when scaling, How to avoid creating a job for yourself, Why hiring people smarter than you is critical, The definition of an entrepreneur, Figuring out the purpose of your life, What will motivate you to get through the hard times, The mission of The Humanity Campaign.
Starting a Business? Cover Yourself
If you are starting a business or just dreaming of it, you can expect the startup stage to be heady, exhiliarating, challenging, rewarding and sometimes scary - all at the same time.
Startup Advice from George Costanza: Do The Opposite
As it turns out, this "do the opposite" strategy works out for George. Things start working out for him. By going against his natural instincts, he ends up doing things "right". He's noticed. He comes off as being different.
So, what does this all mean for startups?
StartupNation
The StartupNation website offers the practical information and resources -- including articles, blogs, podcasts, forums, seminars, and success stories -- that you might need to start your own business. It also includes checklists and a marketplace.
