Here are five tips for a new generation of entrepreneurs that came out of the day: 5. Get the business model right Neil Stephenson, CEO of Onyx Group, stressed the importance of making sure your business model works. You need to find a market that is ripe for disruption and make sure your product is better than your competitors – having a sound business model...
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1) Check references for real. Intuit Co-founder Scott Cook is very particular about who he hires. And after 30 years, he has it down to a science — including how to get the truth out of a reference check. The reality is that people want to be nice, so almost everyone will start out by saying how great the candidate is. Cook’s advice is to completely ignore this opening feedback. When they’re...
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1. Focus on the value not the features. The temptation when touting a product is to zero in on all the features. Messaging about features alone, however, can result in the company’s blending in with all the others. Instead, work on crafting messages that will promote the true end value that a customer will receive. Rather than repeating the fact that the company’s technology includes an easy way to...
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A web search for “Starting a business is like” turned up dozens of results that left me scratching my head. Sporty analogies. Based on what’s online, I figured out that some people really like sports metaphors: I encountered lines like “starting a business is like a football game” and “launching a business is like skateboarding in a half pipe” as well as “starting a business is like...
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1.“If you’re afraid of losing money, you will not make it to success.” – Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder of Chobani, 2013 World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2.“You don’t have to be first to market, you just have to deliver and execute better.” – Jeffrey Sprecher, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Intercontinental Exchange, Distinguished Alumnus Award, Pepperdine School of Business Management 3.“Connecting and collaborating are your most powerful keys to success as...
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Starting a business is a big achievement for many entrepreneurs, but maintaining one is the larger challenge. There are many standard challenges that face every business whether they are large or small. These include things like hiring the right people, building a brand and so on. However, there are some that are unique to small businesses – ones most large companies have grown out of long ago....
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I’ve learned a lot from the development of NameLayer, and I’m ready to divulge every trick in my arsenal. In this guide, I provide realistic solutions to the frustrations encountered when naming a company. Plus, I’ll have some fun analyzing both good and bad company names. This guide is divided into three, independent sections: Why Bad Names Hurt You, Coming Up With Names, and Examples of...
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Business development is fun. Putting together partnership deals requires a special combination of hustle, strategic thinking, technical chops, project management, and sales and negotiation skills. It’s a bit like a triathlon, in that it stretches your abilities in multiple arenas. Business development is both creative and analytical—left brain and right brain—and done well, business development deals can be the purest representation of the equation “1+1=3” to drive growth. Read More
1. Contact past clients at least once per quarter using a variety of media: personal visits, phone conversations, networking events, e-mail messages, or handwritten personal notes. 2. Don’t go it alone! Exposing potential project team members during the business development process has the dual benefits of demonstrating a collaborative approach and mentoring younger professionals in the art of rainmaking. Read More
It is so important to have an engaging team that motivates your staff and inspires your customers. Great article. Read More