Right now, if you looked around the world and took notice of the changes, you would notice that things are shifting.  While you might have been worried about the economy in the past few years, things are beginning to improve. …

Startups ask me "How much money should I ask for?" The simple answer is the absolute minimum amount you need to make your plan work.  Some entrepreneurs try to start with a huge number, hoping they can negotiate and close …

We recently had the pleasure of catching up with Jessica Mah, the co-founder and CEO of inDinero. inDinero is a financial monitoring platform that allows you to easily track all aspects of your finances and see exactly how your business …

Though you may be a brand new startup without the towering credentials of your experienced competitors, you should never appear this way to your clients or potential investors. In the beginning stages of your company, it is important to give …

Since the age of 18 I have spent most of my adult life living the life of an entrepreneur, so it is for that reason that I'm excited to share with you what I believe it takes to be a …

This insidious disease kills more good startups than any other, especially high-tech ones, and yet most founders (who may be the cause) never even see it happening. "Feature creep" (or scope creep) refers to the penchant to add just one …

Every investor expects to see some traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have been working 20 hours a day, and spent your last dollar, but have no results to show, investors will be sympathetic, but will …

There are two distinct ways to go about founding a business – running with your latest "big idea," or following a tried-and-true business model. While there is certainly nothing wrong with the person who has a vision and makes it …

If you're thinking of launching your own plumbing business, you should first decide on what kind of plumbing business you want to run: service-oriented or product-oriented. You can either go it alone or hire on others to work with you. …

It's easy to think that running a successful company is too difficult and that it's too big for just one person.  Even if you have more employees than yourself, some days, your company can be daunting, especially when things are …

Say what you will about Facebook and about how it's a place for MySpace refugees, but Mark Zuckerberg is a billionaire.  He didn't get there because he wanted to get successful and then sell out.  This social media maven got …

Many people dream about becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg.  However, 95% of bloggers have fewer than five visitors to their website in a given week.  Of course, many bloggers just want to share a few stories and pictures and couldn't …

QUESTION: What are some potential alternative methods to financing a business other than angels and VCs? – Meg, Houston, TX The following answers have been provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council, an advocacy group comprised of many of the world’s …

Imagine this scenario. At the helm of affairs at your startup, you are holding a team meeting to share a set of fresh ideas. Once you have finished talking, all you hear is silence. You prod your team members to …

We are thrilled to announce the launch of a new book today!  Our good friend, Scott Gerber, has written a book that speaks to what matters most to us, and it launches today.  The book is entitled Never Get a …

Advice is given to us so often, it's easy for it to fall on deaf ears. Some of this so-called advice is given from friends, other from family; perhaps a colleague or a mentor. How do you decide what sticks? …

Money to build the business is the number one challenge for most startups. Don't believe the urban myth that you can sketch your idea on a napkin, and people will throw money at you. In reality, there are multiple more …

Running a successful business in a recession is not always easy.  Financing one can seem downright impossible when you think about how miserly lenders seem these days.  It is not as difficult as it seems, but you must adapt to …

We recently started our new annual blog awards series where we'll be recognizing our favorite blogs from a variety of categories. There are a lot of really great blogs out there that we at YoungEntrepreneur.com read and learn from on …

So, you make the best crab cake in the Western Hemisphere and you want to sell your culinary creation by opening a restaurant. Fabulous! That's easy….find a location, sign the lease, and start making crab cakes. If only it were …

Every new entrepreneur has heard about how hard it is to get your business plan read by an investor. Most venture capitalists get multiple new plans in the mail every day, and unless you are very lucky and have excellent …

When most people think of entrepreneurship, they think of dot com startups, well funded franchises and other such complex and expensive sounding ventures. The truth is, however, you don't have to have a lot of money, or a special skill, …

For a new entrepreneur, hiring one or more people to help you out can seem like a far off dream, but it might be a good idea sooner than later.  By concentrating all of your time and efforts doing something …

HP is helping people around the world achieve their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs.  Through their HP Life program, available through their online portal at www.life-global.org, as well as at training centers around the world, they are introducing the concepts, challenges, …

When you first start your small business, chances are, especially if you are bootstrapping, you're focused on getting started, and getting through the first year or two. That is, after all, as we've all heard, when most small businesses fold, …