Moving house is stressful enough; what do you do when you also have to move your home office and be up and running for business quickly? Here are some tips to help (from someone who just did it a two weeks ago!): Work backwards. Start by packing the items that you won't need immediately and label those boxes, "Unpack Later." A few days before …
Are You a Jumper or a Planner?
There appears to be two types of small business owners:Those who jump right into running their business, and marketing their products and services, with little or no planning. And those who plan a strategy -- and a service or product design -- before they ever dream of offering it to the public. Is one better than the other? Yes …
Getting Help through Your SBDC
Did you know you have already paid for business counseling services? America's Small Business Development Centers are funded through tax dollars and grants, and offer free counseling and low-cost classes to small business owners. I sat down recently with three people from my local Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and asked them to help …
What Should Be In Your Annual Business Plan
NOW is the time to work on your annual business plan, whether it's January 1 or mid-June. You see, business changes rapidly, and what you decided six months ago might not be accurate anymore. Perhaps you've got a new product to launch, or a new competitor has arrived to shake up the field. Many people quake in fear at the idea of writing a …
Successful Businesses Start with a Defining Moment – What’s Yours?
Did you ever look back and realize you had a major turning point, a single moment in time when your life changed completely? I had three defining moments as a small business owner Here's a photo that a college roommate took of me in the early 1980s. I got to watch her set up the lights, and print the photo for her photography class …
Successful Businesses Start with a Defining Moment – What’s Yours?Read More
Stop Copying Everyone Else’s Business Model!
When I looked at my business transformations over the past five years, I quickly came to one daring insight: when I tried to copy other people's business model, I got mediocre results. When I stepped outside of my own comfort zone (as well as what my industry says businesses "should" look like) and created my own business model, business …
