If your startup has to go the way of the dinosaurs, wouldn't you want to know as soon as possible? Startup Smart gives eleven early warning signs that your startup might be failing. Here are two examples: Increases in fixed costs without an increase in revenues Fixed costs have a direct impact on your profitability. If you increase your fixed costs these need to be linked to revenue and profit expectations. You also need sufficient capital or funding to cover these costs if increases are needed to facilitate growth. Funding your business with debt rather than equity finance If your business…
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Most Topular Stories
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11 early indications that your startup may be in trouble
Holy Kaw!22 Feb 2012 | 11:02 pm -
Europe Weighs on Asia Markets
WSJ.com: What's News US22 Feb 2012 | 10:04 pmAsian stock markets were mostly lower amid concerns over European growth and uncertainty about implementing Greece's debt deal; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.8%. -
Engaging with criticism
Seth's Blog22 Feb 2012 | 2:03 amIf you need to find out how your audience is receiving your work, it's worth considering how you've structured the interactions around criticism. Sometimes a customer has a one-off problem, a situation that is unique and a concern that has to be extinguished on the spot. More often, though, that feedback you're getting represents the way a hundred or a thousand other customers are also judging you. Some random ideas: If you defend yourself to the customer, quickly explaining precisely why the policy is the way it is, why the product is the way it is, you are pushing the criticizer away… -
10 Hot Export Markets for Small Businesses
Entrepreneur Update22 Feb 2012 | 7:02 amA look at a range of export opportunities, as well as challenges, for companies seeking growth beyond their home borders. -
The Impact of Less
Digital Photography School22 Feb 2012 | 10:16 amA Guest post by Nick Fleming. Photography is about choices and decisions. Make the right ones up to the moment the shutter button is pressed and a successful composition will result. This sounds simple enough but we all know how frustratingly elusive this can be. The key to good photography is consistently choosing the right options and we achieve this not through following a magic formula, nor by having the best kit, but by practice. However, the single piece of information that seems to resonate more than any other with my workshop attendees is that the way to impactful pictures is as…
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Holy Kaw!
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11 early indications that your startup may be in trouble
22 Feb 2012 | 11:02 pmIf your startup has to go the way of the dinosaurs, wouldn't you want to know as soon as possible? Startup Smart gives eleven early warning signs that your startup might be failing. Here are two examples: Increases in fixed costs without an increase in revenues Fixed costs have a direct impact on your profitability. If you increase your fixed costs these need to be linked to revenue and profit expectations. You also need sufficient capital or funding to cover these costs if increases are needed to facilitate growth. Funding your business with debt rather than equity finance If your business… -
Top execs and their dogs
22 Feb 2012 | 10:49 pmSome top executives can seem larger than life. Butall it takes is a little bit of canine to humanize them. Take a look at this CNN photo gallery of twenty-three CEOs and their best friends. Here's former CEO of Scott Paper, Al Dunlap: And VP of Global Ad Sales at Facebook, Carolyn Everson: Full story at CNN. Top pet news. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
5 huge architectural mishaps
22 Feb 2012 | 9:49 pmAs The Simpsons so infamously said, "Man has always loved his buildings. But what happens when the buildings say, 'no more!'" Cracked shows five examples of buildings with such tremendous design flaws that it's almost as though the buildings are out to get us. For example, the Walt Disney Concert Hall: ...the building in question is very shiny, and while shiny things are all sorts of pretty (by virtue of their shininess), they also tend to reflect light. If you concentrate that light onto a single area and angle it just right, you get a crude laser. If you're a comic book supervillain, you… -
What do your employees actually cost you?
22 Feb 2012 | 8:45 pmSome people start their own business with the aim of making tons of money. But you have to consider how much your business's employees are going to run out. In fact, according to an Open Forum article, it's vital. Here's why: Knowing how much you spend for each employee will help you improve your business results in four key ways: You will correctly cost their time. You will price your products and services more profitably. You’ll help your staff understand the entire value of the compensation package you provide. You can plan for the exact costs you’ll incur whether your… -
Famous abbeys that aren't featured in internationally famous TV shows
22 Feb 2012 | 8:10 pmHas Downton Abbey sparked your interest in English abbeys? Mental Floss points out seven other abbeys in England. Take the Bolton Abbey, for instance, which is shown above. Writes Mental Floss: The Bolton Abbey monastery was under construction when the axe of dissolution came down from Henry VIII, and the building was never finished. The estate was passed down through the Dukes of Devonshire, until the 11th Duke gave it to the Chatworth Settlement Trustees. The ruins are now open to the public to tour, which is what Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon did in episode 6 of their series The Trip…
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WSJ.com: What's News US
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Europe Weighs on Asia Markets
22 Feb 2012 | 10:04 pmAsian stock markets were mostly lower amid concerns over European growth and uncertainty about implementing Greece's debt deal; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.8%. -
SEC May Ticket Speeding Traders
22 Feb 2012 | 9:47 pmSEC Chairman Schapiro said she is worried about the role of high-frequency traders in the stock market and hinted at new policies aimed at curbing frenetic market activity. -
GM Tries to Solve European Riddle
22 Feb 2012 | 9:45 pmGeneral Motors and French car maker Peugeot Citroën are discussing a European auto alliance as the two grapple with weak sales and a raging price war on the continent. -
Panel Backs Weight-Loss Drug Qnexa
22 Feb 2012 | 8:42 pmAn FDA panel backed Vivus's Qnexa, which could lead to approval of the first new prescription weight-loss drug in more than a decade. -
Study Says Colon Test Saves Lives
22 Feb 2012 | 7:59 pmA major new study found that colonoscopies save lives, providing long-missing evidence to support one of medicine's least popular preventive tests.
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Seth's Blog
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Engaging with criticism
22 Feb 2012 | 2:03 amIf you need to find out how your audience is receiving your work, it's worth considering how you've structured the interactions around criticism. Sometimes a customer has a one-off problem, a situation that is unique and a concern that has to be extinguished on the spot. More often, though, that feedback you're getting represents the way a hundred or a thousand other customers are also judging you. Some random ideas: If you defend yourself to the customer, quickly explaining precisely why the policy is the way it is, why the product is the way it is, you are pushing the criticizer away… -
The map has been replaced by the compass
21 Feb 2012 | 2:23 amThe map keeps getting redrawn, because it's cheaper than ever to go offroad, to develop and innovate and remake what we thought was going to be next. Technology keeps changing the routes we take to get our projects from here to there. It doesn't pay to memorize the route, because it's going to change soon. The compass, on the other hand, is more important then ever. If you don't know which direction you're going, how will you know when you're off course? And yet... And yet we spend most of our time learning (or teaching) the map, yesterday's map, while we're anxious and afraid to spend any… -
Too far from the center?
20 Feb 2012 | 2:20 amThe action used to happen at court. In France, if you wanted to get ahead, you put on your outfit, called in favors and hung out near the King, because proximity was all. If you're in Kibera, are you too far from Silicon Valley to write an app? If you live in New Zealand, are you too far outside the mainstream music world to perform a hit song? What about an author who lives 3,000 miles from New York? The magic of our new form of communication is that it's no longer one-way. If you consume an app, you can write one. If you can read a blog, you can publish one. If you can grab an ebook, you… -
"How'd it work out?"
19 Feb 2012 | 2:01 amIt turns out that the light fixtures a builder used in my kitchen a few years ago have all begun to fail. One by one, each one stops working. My guess is that he has no idea, and continues to confidently install these fixtures, his go-to choice for kitchen lighting. And why not? He doesn't know that they only have a relatively short life. He doesn't know because he didn't ask. Doctors and consultants and builders are often hesitant to ask about how something worked long after the work is done. It feels like nothing but a chance to hear a complaint. It's not. It's a chance to show that you… -
Transparent or translucent?
18 Feb 2012 | 2:39 amThere's an argument for transparency. If you make it easy for people to see right through you, the thinking goes, you are easier to trust. The market, though, often seeks out the translucent. Things that glow. We're drawn to the glow, to the illumination and warm feeling it brings. We'd like our tools and our replaceable institutions to be transparent. We want the bank and the radiologist and the tax man to be totally clear and invisible, so they can get out of the way and we can focus on what's true. But the brands and experiences and legends that lead to stories and affection and…
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Entrepreneur Update
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10 Hot Export Markets for Small Businesses
22 Feb 2012 | 7:02 amA look at a range of export opportunities, as well as challenges, for companies seeking growth beyond their home borders. -
Twitter 101: How to Join the Conversation (Video)
22 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amJason Falls, CEO of Social Media Explorer, shares tips for business owners looking to find their place on social network. -
Seven Ways to Keep Angry Customers (Like Me) Happy
22 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amWhen customer service goes wrong, I am irate. Here's how to keep angry customers like me from storming out of your real or virtual store, never to return. -
Twitter Makes Room for Your Ad Dollars
21 Feb 2012 | 9:46 amAdvertising on Twitter isn't without its challenges. Should you pay for promoted tweets? -
10 Little Known Social Media Tools You Should Be Using -- Now
21 Feb 2012 | 9:00 amWant to take your social media campaigns to the next level? These tools can help you get there.
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Digital Photography School
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The Impact of Less
22 Feb 2012 | 10:16 amA Guest post by Nick Fleming. Photography is about choices and decisions. Make the right ones up to the moment the shutter button is pressed and a successful composition will result. This sounds simple enough but we all know how frustratingly elusive this can be. The key to good photography is consistently choosing the right options and we achieve this not through following a magic formula, nor by having the best kit, but by practice. However, the single piece of information that seems to resonate more than any other with my workshop attendees is that the way to impactful pictures is as… -
Want to be a Child Photographer but Don’t have Kids?
22 Feb 2012 | 6:04 amI just had an excellent question over on my Facebook page. One reader asked, “How easy, or not, is it to get into child photography? I don’t have children, none of my friends have children but I have a growing interest in investigating the child photography side of things.” Well one thing’s for sure – you won’t get accused of being a MWAC! Lots of us child photographers got into this genre because we have children and our passions grew out of that experimentation. However, we can get a lot of slack in the professional arena for being perceived as nothing… -
Fujifilm X10 Review
21 Feb 2012 | 10:36 amDescribed as an ‘enthusiast camera’, this one took me quite by surprise. With a new camera for review I normally take it out of its box, tap a few buttons, power up, then delve deeper. So where was the ‘on’ button? Ain’t none. You get the thing to come alive by manually rolling the lens barrel anti-clockwise from OFF to any of the lens settings within its 28-112mm range (as a 35 SLR equivalent). Simple huh! As a natural successor to the well-received X100, the retro-styled, non-interchangeable lens X10 has a high degree of elegance, completely black with milled… -
My Still-Life Photography Adventure
21 Feb 2012 | 5:50 amEveryone has photographed still life images at one time or another. It’s usually one of those everyday images that catches our eye such as the sun shining through colored glass bottles on a window sill, fresh flowers in a vase or a stack of old books on an antique table. Photographers are attracted to beautiful, interesting or just random things, and just naturally want to capture those images. I have done my share of random still-life shots, and especially enjoy shooting collections such as colored pencils in a row or old tools in a barn. But I had never created a still-life scene… -
How to Create Impossible Images: Erik Johansson
20 Feb 2012 | 10:57 amGot a spare 6 minutes? Here’s photographers Erik Johansson presenting at TED about his ‘Impossible Photography’. Erik combines photos together to create surreal yet realistic images. In the video he shares his rules of doing it. View more of Erik’s Imagery at his site What do you think? Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips. Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips. How to Create Impossible Images: Erik Johansson
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WineSpectator.com: Tasting Reports
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10 Impressive Washington Reds (Wine Spectator)
16 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pmNew reviews of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah from the Evergreen State -
13 California Pinot Noirs (Wine Spectator)
12 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pmNew reviews of impressive Pinots from Sonoma and Santa Barbara -
18 Lush Italian Reds (Wine Spectator)
9 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pmNew reviews of Barberas from Italy's Alba and Asti regions, with some outstanding values -
10 Enticing California Values (Wine Spectator)
6 Feb 2012 | 2:00 amNew reviews of recommended Golden State reds and whites for $25 or less -
17 Southern Rhône Values (Wine Spectator)
2 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pmNew reviews of affordable Syrah- and Grenache-based reds and fresh whites
