Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. That’s like trying to sell part of something to a stranger for big money when you haven’t fully defined it yet. It won’t work, it costs time and money, and hurts your credibility for when you need them later. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). The challenge is finding and using qualified affordable support organizations for each stage. Don’t…
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Most Topular Stories
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Know the Right Resources for Your Startup Stage
Startup Professionals Musings16 May 2012 | 6:30 am -
Online Education for Young Entrepreneurs: Worth Your Time?
Where Young Entrepreneurs Meet and Start-Up » Blog16 May 2012 | 3:00 amKersten Kelly never thought she’d get her MBA online. It was only when the 25-year-old owner of a resume-reviewing service, TheResumeReviewer.com, and regional sales manager for a private-label biscuit company, got a job that required her to relocate to a remote part of the country that pursuing an online MBA made sense. “I wanted to enhance my theoretical skills while continuing to build my in-field experience,” says Kelly who got her MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, which is located in Bloomington, Ind., four hours away from where she lived in South Bend,… -
Happy Small Business Week: Time to Shine in D.C.
Entrepreneur Update16 May 2012 | 1:00 pmNational Small Business Week is a big deal for small business. Here's what you can expect. -
The scent of man, now available at Yankee Candle
Holy Kaw!16 May 2012 | 1:31 pmIf vanilla and fresh linen was still feeling too feminine to scent the man cave, fear not, manly men, Yankee Candle has heard your barbaric yawp and is now offering Man Candles. Offered in macho scents such as 2x4, Riding Mower, First Down and Man Town, you need never hang your head again after being dragged into the candle store. They even offer a sports-themed candle holder so you don’t ruin the tabletop. Just in time for Father’s Day. Full story at Yankee Candle via Buzzfeed. You know you want a Man Candle. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Get Leadership Right from the Start
Blogtrepreneur | Entrepreneur Blog16 May 2012 | 4:00 amAs a child I can still remember the musical strains of Broadway plays wafting through our home. My mother seemed to believe that all children should be continuously exposed to such music. To this day it amazes me that little pieces of those songs still march their way across the screen in my mind. Why is that important? Because the foundation, or the start, of an entrepreneurial venture is forever tied to the initial vision of the prospective enterprise. And much like the old refrain “let’s start at the beginning, a very good place to start,” you only get one shot to create the first…
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Startup Professionals Musings
-
Know the Right Resources for Your Startup Stage
16 May 2012 | 6:30 amSome entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. That’s like trying to sell part of something to a stranger for big money when you haven’t fully defined it yet. It won’t work, it costs time and money, and hurts your credibility for when you need them later. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). The challenge is finding and using qualified affordable support organizations for each stage. Don’t… -
Great Businesses Evolve Innovation to a Revolution
15 May 2012 | 6:30 amGreat businesses these days start with innovation, and then take it up a few notches to make it a revolution. An example is Google, who turned a new search technology into a tool that most of us couldn’t live without. As an entrepreneur, how do you know if you have the potential to innovate, and what are the steps to get from innovation to revolution? While digging into this subject, I came across a recent book by Patrick J. Howie, called “The Evolution of Revolutions,” which makes the points that resonate with my experience. He starts with a discussion of the Big Five personality… -
Test Your Business Model Against These 10 Elements
14 May 2012 | 6:30 amYou can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. There are no “overrides” – for example, businesses don’t thrive just because they offer the latest technology, or because everyone wants to be “green, or because their goal is to reduce world hunger. I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. The most common failures are solutions… -
Successful Startups Often Come With a High Price
13 May 2012 | 7:31 amMost entrepreneurs expect to face the “normal” challenges of starting a business, which include finding the right opportunity, building and executing a winning plan, and financing their venture. But many forget the pitfalls associated with traditional business jobs which can apply even to the smartest and most dedicated people running their own business. Often these facets of entrepreneurship don’t rear their ugly head until well down the road. Yet before you start, you should think about what the impact might be on your psyche, and how to neutralize these challenges in your own plan. -
Smart Entrepreneurs Plan Multiple Rollout Iterations
12 May 2012 | 8:05 amThe traditional mode of starting a company is to plan a serial process, where you complete only once all the steps, leading to the “big bang” launch of the company. I strongly recommend a dramatic departure from this model, called “planned iteration,” where you assume you won’t get it right the first time. This idea was well articulated by Paul Graham in an old essay, called “Startups in 13 Sentences” in which he talked about “making a few people really happy rather than making a lot of people semi-happy.” One of his key points is that “launching teaches you what you…
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Where Young Entrepreneurs Meet and Start-Up » Blog
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Online Education for Young Entrepreneurs: Worth Your Time?
16 May 2012 | 3:00 amKersten Kelly never thought she’d get her MBA online. It was only when the 25-year-old owner of a resume-reviewing service, TheResumeReviewer.com, and regional sales manager for a private-label biscuit company, got a job that required her to relocate to a remote part of the country that pursuing an online MBA made sense. “I wanted to enhance my theoretical skills while continuing to build my in-field experience,” says Kelly who got her MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, which is located in Bloomington, Ind., four hours away from where she lived in South Bend,… -
Shaping Crowdfunding 2.0
15 May 2012 | 3:00 amThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has the delicate task of writing guidelines for the next generation of crowdfunding, so that investors are protected and yet preserving its benefits to companies seeking to raise money. Crowdfunding has been mostly restricted to artists and business owners accepting small donations in exchange for things like tote bags and CDs. But the JOBS Act, signed last month, will let entrepreneurs sell pieces of their business (equity) to non-accredited investors via crowdfunding. The SEC is expected to release its guidelines early next year. The crowdfunding… -
Entrepreneurship as a Career Choice for New Grads Gets Some Respect
14 May 2012 | 3:00 amJust when you thought the employment picture for recent grads couldn’t get any worse. A report out today shows that students are increasingly having trouble landing internships — making the experience gap between recent grads and older workers even more pronounced. Fifty percent of employers haven’t hired any interns in the past six months, according to a survey of 225 employers by the Boston-based Gen-Y consulting firm Millennial Branding, using data from career-services operator Experience Inc. The survey also shows that 91 percent of those employers think that students… -
A Young Entrepreneur’s Best Friend is His. . . Mom?
13 May 2012 | 3:00 amIn starting a business, entrepreneurs often find themselves having to rely on their families — for everything from start-up capital to moral support. And while parents and loved ones often do this gladly, it can be an undeniably tough call. After all, most businesses fail — and giving a young son or daughter cash to start up a business can require a whole different level of trust than simply shelling out for a pair of Air Jordans. When my brother Matthew and I purchased a bar and pool hall in Vancouver at just 20 and 19 years old respectively, not getting our mom’s approval… -
A Young Fitness Business Inspired by Mom
12 May 2012 | 3:00 amGiving Mom a big ‘Thank you’ on Mother’s Day is always a sweet idea. But for the 28-year-old fitness trainer and author Dustin Maher, he should show his appreciation every day of the year. After all, Maher’s mom inspired his business, a mini empire focused on getting moms in shape and helping them connect with each other. Maher, of Madison, Wis., has big plans for his business, which currently includes local MamaTone fitness classes, outdoor Fit Fun Bootcamps at 11 sites, his Fit Moms for Life: How to Have Endless Energy to Outplay Your Kids book and a workout-DVD…
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Entrepreneur Update
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Happy Small Business Week: Time to Shine in D.C.
16 May 2012 | 1:00 pmNational Small Business Week is a big deal for small business. Here's what you can expect. -
Birchbox and Changing the Way We Shop (Video)
16 May 2012 | 9:47 amWhen Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna realized the flaws in the way women buy cosmetics, they started a company to revamp the system. Here, the Birchbox founders chat about their vision for the future of buying beauty and grooming products. -
Skillshare and Changing the Way We Learn (Video)
16 May 2012 | 9:46 amLearning doesn't have to end at graduation. Here's how Malcolm Ong and Michael Karnjanaprakorn built a business that aims to put learning first. -
How JackThreads Plans to Own the Male Demographic (Video)
16 May 2012 | 9:46 amOther than dispel the idea that men don't like shopping, flash-sale site founder Jason Ross is hoping to train his company's energy on making a one-stop-lifestyle-shop for men. -
Finding the Best Time to Post to Social Networks
16 May 2012 | 9:34 amPopular URL shortening service bitly examines the peak times to post to Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
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Holy Kaw!
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The scent of man, now available at Yankee Candle
16 May 2012 | 1:31 pmIf vanilla and fresh linen was still feeling too feminine to scent the man cave, fear not, manly men, Yankee Candle has heard your barbaric yawp and is now offering Man Candles. Offered in macho scents such as 2x4, Riding Mower, First Down and Man Town, you need never hang your head again after being dragged into the candle store. They even offer a sports-themed candle holder so you don’t ruin the tabletop. Just in time for Father’s Day. Full story at Yankee Candle via Buzzfeed. You know you want a Man Candle. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Dirty Disney cartoons? [video]
16 May 2012 | 1:16 pmIt’s hard to imagine Disney cartoons have ever been the subject of censorship, but like many beloved cartoons, there’s a seamier side that’s bound to offend if you get the references. Such was the case with “The Shindig” where Clarabelle Cow’s exposed udders were deemed too risqué for Ohio audiences as was her reading material; Three Weeks was an early example of “women’s mass market erotic fiction.” As the old saying goes, "What happens in the barn, stays in the barn." Full story at Neatorama. The evil underbelly of Disney. -
Mammals may not get to cool climates in time
16 May 2012 | 12:09 pmNine percent of the Western Hemisphere’s mammals—and up to 40 percent in some regions—may not be able to outpace climate change. “I think it’s important to point out that in the past when climates have changed—between glacial and interglacial periods when species ranges contracted and expanded—the landscape wasn’t covered with agricultural fields, four-lane highways and parking lots, so species could move much more freely across the landscape,” says Joshua Lawler, associate professor of environmental and forest sciences at University of… -
Time of year matters for vitamin D risk
16 May 2012 | 12:08 pmWhen considering a patient’s blood vitamin D levels, it may be best to consider a lower threshold for concern, as well as the time of year. "In evaluating health risk," the University of Washington researchers conclude, "season-specific targets for Vitamin D blood concentration may be more appropriate than a static target when evaluating patients health risk." Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
The (not so correct) anatomy of sea life
16 May 2012 | 11:52 amMarine biology, scharine schiology. Pleated Jeans skips scientific facts for its series of sea life diagrams. Via Pleated Jeans. (H/T @laughingsquid) Laughing is good for you. Permalink | Leave a comment »
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Blogtrepreneur | Entrepreneur Blog
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Get Leadership Right from the Start
16 May 2012 | 4:00 amAs a child I can still remember the musical strains of Broadway plays wafting through our home. My mother seemed to believe that all children should be continuously exposed to such music. To this day it amazes me that little pieces of those songs still march their way across the screen in my mind. Why is that important? Because the foundation, or the start, of an entrepreneurial venture is forever tied to the initial vision of the prospective enterprise. And much like the old refrain “let’s start at the beginning, a very good place to start,” you only get one shot to create the first… -
Thinking of Buying or Selling Your Website? 7 Important Criteria to Consider!
14 May 2012 | 12:56 pmMy brother, Matthew, and I have been internet entrepreneurs for over 12 years now. In that time, we’ve learned a lot about what works and doesn’t work for making money online. We’ve also learned that what worked yesterday might not work today. But one area that has remained fairly consistent is buying and selling internet properties. We’ve found that, as when buying any business, you must complete your due diligence and consider several key factors when looking at a website for purchase. Most people who want to sell a website are honest, but to avoid the others, and to really… -
Good Business Practices – You have to be More than a Geek
11 May 2012 | 7:54 amA friend of mine was looking at online guitar lessons for her husband’s birthday. Janine is a serious geek with a career in computers that involves over a decade and budgets in the millions. She is also a serious shopper, having learned hand-in-hand with her mother as they ran from store to store. She told me about the process she took to select the right online option, and I realized that it was a powerful learning lesson for any entrepreneur with an online portal. There were three options that looked promising. Janine decided to evaluate their knowledge of technical issues and their… -
Scribendi: Helping you Write the Right Words Right
9 May 2012 | 4:00 amAn interview with Chandra Clarke, founder of Scribendi, an editing company that recently started a plug-in editing program on WordPress. It’s not just what you have to say but how you say it that matters. Even in this age of fast communication, incorrect grammar or typos still damage your credibility. Husband and wife team Chandra K. Clarke and Terence W. Johnson started Scribendi to help writers get it right, and their blogger’s services are now available as a plug-in on WordPress. We talked with Chandra recently about the business and their approach to entrepreneurship. Blogtrepreneur:… -
4 Tips for Getting Back Up when Life Knocks You Down
7 May 2012 | 6:34 amWhen life happens, entrepreneurs don’t have the option to call in sick or ask for some time off. Whether you’re sick, have suffered a business setback, or just having a really bad day, an entrepreneur can’t usually just walk away for a period of time without damaging their business. But just because you’re self-employed doesn’t mean that you don’t still need some mental breaks. If you ignore problems and push through, it will eventually catch up with you. Here are 4 simple tips for entrepreneurs to get that well deserved break we all need from time to time. 1. Small Steps…
