Monthly Archives: May 2011
Turning Crisis into Opportunity — The Bright Side and then Some
In a 1959 speech that was otherwise unremarkable, John F. Kennedy said something profound: "The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware …
Are you providing customer service or sales assistance?
How often have you visited a store and found that the customer service assistant knows less about their products than you do? As a business owner, how much are you paying for “customer service” employees who add little or no …
Where is My Money Going? Into Bad Apples.
Maintaining an effective and friendly staff is one of the most complicated challenges I’ve encountered as a young entrepreneur. As Chief Operating Officer of AKT Enterprises, I oversee the coordination and collaboration of over sixty employees spread over five departments …
Failure to Launch: Why New Products Don't Make It
When a new product is introduced to the market, what do you think the chances are that it will be a success? We're not talking a "Silly Bands" or "iPhone" type success — just that a product actually enters the …
YongoPal's Moment of Zen: A High-Tech Startup Simplifies for Success
Darien Brown thought he had a good idea for a business when he came up with a way to connect English language students in South Korea with conversation pals in the US over social media. He had studied in Korea …
Young Entrepreneur Interview with Haig Kayserian of KAYWEB Angels
If you're in the process of building any kind of tech startup, you'll be very interested in today's interview with Haig Kayserian. Haig has founded a very unique New York-based angel investment group, focused on helping startups in the web …
The True Key to Business Survival
My grandfather was a farmer. Before that he was an airplane mechanic for the United States Army during World War II. Then he bought a little land, and started growing some cotton and soybeans. He bought more land, then some …
Company Karma: How to Handle Conflicts of Interest in Business
Life presents us with conflicts of interest and ethical dilemmas all the time, does it not? Â The business world is no different. Â Depending on what stage your business is in, I am sure you have faced a number of challenging …
5 Traits of a True Innovator — Are You One?
The word "innovation" is thrown around a lot, and a lot of entrepreneurs are called innovators or think of themselves as innovators. But what does that really mean? Is anyone who comes up with a new idea an innovator? If …
Young Entrepreneur Interview with Steve Greenbaum, CEO of PostNet
When you're a small business owner, you can use all the help you can get. This is especially true when it comes to startup or operating capital. So when we heard about a contest that PostNet was running, where entrepreneurs …
Get Answers to these 8 Questions Before You Join a Startup
If you really want to impress a startup founder as a potential employee, or you want to be a smart investor, you need to know the right questions to ask. These are the questions that get past the hype of …
5 Daily Activities that Will Give You and Your Business a Boost
If you're like most entrepreneurs, you have a ton on your plate at all times. Running and trying to grow a business is not easy work, and it often leaves room for little else. The danger in that is when …
Notes from the Hiring Front
Our company is in the fortunate position of growing at a significant rate. We have more than doubled in size in the past year and anticipate the same rate of growth over the next year. Not a day goes by …
How to Not Have to Eat a Horse
Businesses are a lot like nursery rhymes. For every over-worked, shoe-dwelling old woman, there’s another who’s prepared to eat cats, dogs, and horses (whole, presumably) in order to catch a fly. Apparently this second old lady didn’t hear that honey …
7 Strategies for Making the Most of a Slow Summer
A lot of businesses slow down during the summer months, and with gas prices skyrocketing and triggering other price increases, this summer might be worse than most. If your business is one that does better when the temps are lower, …
5 Ways to Battle Mediocrity in Your Small Business
We all want thriving, successful businesses; and the reasons behind our desire for success vary from person to person. However, there is one thing we all want to avoid – mediocrity. Mediocrity will stall success. Mediocrity will keep the status …
Hidden Jewel of a Down Economy: Exit Alliances
With the way the economy has been over the past three years, you might be having trouble seeing any bright spots. A report came out several months back that said we are officially out of the recession, but looking at …
5 Keys for Promoting Honesty & Transparency in Your Company
As an entrepreneur and manager of your company, what do you pride yourself on? Career advancement for your employees, regular meetings, providing recognition for a job well-done — these are all great attributes. Now what about the less obvious and …
5 Steps to Writing a Killer White Paper
The purpose of a white paper is to deliver information about your business to your prospect in an educational format. You should pick a topic that will generate awareness to a problem your services are designed to address. At the …
Before You Buy a Franchise: 5 Critical Factors to Consider
When you're deciding how to go about starting a new business, one option is often to purchase a franchise. There are franchises for just about any type of business you can think of these days, from dog groomers to accountants. …
5 Ways to Focus on Business Momentum, Not Motion
Too many entrepreneurs confuse motion with momentum. We all know someone who repeatedly tells us how "busy" they are, when it's hard to see what they get done. Momentum is moving things forward (mass x velocity). Founders or employees in …
If You Haven't Shredded Your Marketing Plan by Now — It's Time!
Shred your marketing plan? Are we advocating doing away with marketing plans? No. Shred it and start over! Unless your marketing plan was created within the last two years, it is obsolete and needs to be reborn. It used to …
Do We Expect Too Much For Free?
When the New York Times began its new subscription service, and limited the number of articles a subscriber could access each day, the comments on the stories went crazy. Okay, crazier than comments usually are. “And so, the countdown clock …
