If you’ve never been to a business plan competition or angel conference, you really should try to find one to attend. They’re excellent networking events and great opportunities to see what other entrepreneurs are up to. But more importantly, they give you the rare chance to hear what potential investors like and don’t like about [...]
In product design, mistakes are costly, and the longer it takes to discover a problem, the more costly it becomes. I came across an article written by Dr. David M. Anderson about Design for Manufacturability where he talks about “The Rule of 10“. He claims that it costs 10 times more to find and repair a defect [...]
When asked what’s the most important thing to a website owner for building their site, often the response revolves around ad revenues or social media management tools. But both of these answers ignore the most fundamental part of ensuring long-term growth: trust between the site and the visitors. Without trust, why should readers return? [...]
All companies have their own way of going about meetings. In some cases, businesses have the employees in their different departments meet on a regular basis in order to make sure everything is in order, people are handling their individual responsibilities, and any and all questions can be asked and hopefully answered. In other instances, [...]
The BusinessMakers Show will broadcast an interview with Palo Alto Software founder and president, Tim Berry, on Saturday, May 12. Tim will share his experiences and expertise on business planning as well as his personal experiences as an entrepreneur. The discussion will also look at the importance of succession planning, recounting Tim’s transfer of management [...]
It’s never easy to leave a stable job to launch a startup. But sometimes circumstances align and a budding entrepreneur just knows that the time is right to make the leap. Sulaiman Sanni and his partner Ben Lamson were both working for Meltwater Group, a large, well known Software as a Service company, Su as [...]
It’s not about taxes or any public policy, or economic statistics, or red tape. The right time to start your new business is … When you think you can… When you’re pretty sure people will buy what you want to sell… When you understand the market… You know why people might make purchasing decisions, and [...]
As a small business owner, you may never see the need to grow your company so that you have more than a few employees. Or maybe you never plan to hire even one employee. So, does this mean that you will never have to develop a training plan? Probably not. Even if you never hire [...]
I opened up the bright blue Val-Pack envelope this morning like I sometimes do, more out of a marketer’s curiosity than anything else. I don’t use coupons; it’s too much of a hassle for me to save a few bucks. But I do leaf through the coupons just to see who’s advertising, what they’re advertising, [...]
You’ve got a great business idea, so now all you need is a great pitch, right? No need to spend time on a business plan, just put together a few slides and a five to ten minute speech and investors will be throwing money at you. Think again. A great pitch is important, everyone agrees [...]