“Know thyself.” It’s an old saying, but one more business owners would do well to heed. There are many brand-related mistakes an entrepreneur can make, like overdoing an ad campaign or not being transparent about your products, but perhaps the biggest mistake an entrepreneur can make is having a poorly defined brand identity. And yet, it happens all the time. Why is this such a big deal? Read More……
What happens when everything falls apart and you lose it all? These very successful entrepreneurs and members of The Oracles, who have all started from scratch more than once, explain what they would do next if they lost it all again.
1. Cover rent, then start another business.
I’d hop into a promising business and start selling because that’s what I’m good at. The minute my rent was covered, I would start a business. It wouldn’t make much of a difference if it were a hot dog stand on the corner or a technology startup, as long as I believed wholeheartedly in the product. —Barbara Corcoran, founder of The Corcoran Group and Shark on Shark Tank Read More……
New startups are rarely easy to finance. Unless you’re independently wealthy or able to completely fund your venture by yourself, creativity and resourcefulness are truly the keys to success in financing your new startup. Let’s assume you’ve already been turned down for a small business loan, and you don’t qualify for a grant. Now the question is: “how can my startup get the financing it needs to launch successfully?” Here are five creative financing ideas for cash-strapped startups wanting to take their idea from a mere vision to reality. Read More……
Technology moves fast. So fast that we’re looking for the next big thing before the last big thing becomes big. The willingness to embrace new technology and understand trends can make or break a company’s success. Predicting what’s next can be difficult. Internet marketing, social media, and e-commerce were all just ideas at one point in time, yet they’ve now turned the business world on its head. Fortune highlighted “app fever” in its 2016 predictions, as developers try to create the next big Zuckerburg-level thing to make everyone’s life better. While creating the next Facebook is likely a bit more ambitious than the average small business owner has in mind, other emerging trends are much simpler and can be just as effective on business models. Here are some of the biggest business and technology trends we expect to see in the this year. Read More……
Who said starting a small business was easy? In this day and age, there are so many p’s and q’s, dotting the i’s and lower-case j’s and crossing the t’s, that could make your mind explode. Small business operations is no exception and one particular headache facing business owners is human resources.
Without a doubt, you’re looking at a massive undertaking to ensure the human resources for your business are properly managed. Think about it. If your employees aren’t regularly getting their paychecks, or your benefits aren’t received correctly, or your employees don’t have the proper training to do their job, your company isn’t going to last very long.
The key to successfully managing HR is to keep in mind these common mistakes — and to avoid them completely. Read More…..
Social media has become as important as public relations, as it’s even been integrated into the overall PR strategy for many companies. It’s necessary to understand the usefulness of social media and how it can positively impact your business. “There are many reasons a small business needs a social media presence. The most practical reasons have to do with your credibility and discoverability,” said Leah Paul, director of marketing at Mediabistro. “It’s important because……Read More
E-commerce offers fantastic revenue opportunities, the ability to be open 24/7 and traditionally fewer overheads when compared to bricks and mortar retailing. Yet, despite the fact that more than 12 million Australian consumers shop online — and we are experiencing year-over-year double digit growth in online shopping — a huge number of e-commerce businesses are struggling to be profitable, or in many cases, survive. If you own an e-commerce store, or are planning on building one, here are 10 crucial items to be aware of that will have a significant impact on the success or failure of your business. Read More……
Making a few mini money mistakes here and there isn’t uncommon for budding entrepreneurs. I made a habit of this during my first few years of entrepreneurship. Here’s the trouble with the philosophy I adopted: Over time, tiny neglect resulted in a cash flow crisis. Individually, the money mistakes I made weren’t financially crushing. I got into trouble when I began to layer these babies on top of each other. After making several mistakes, I made matters worse by not taking the time to undo the mess or get myself organized — I considered this time to be non-revenue generating and non-productive. I told myself that when I hit my revenue goal, I would take a few days or a week to get organized, fix my habits and ask my accountant for help. I didn’t want to distract myself from making money. Read More……
When you’re marketing your business, you need to stay on top of managing your content production calendar. While it is your responsibility to schedule and record your work history, it can also get out of control unless you know how to accomplish it accordingly. Take the time to create a schedule that is capable of keeping all of your activities in order. Managing a content calendar is all about knowing what you want ans making a plan. Read More……
We hear a lot that content is king, but companies that produce the best content seem to rule over the largest kingdoms — and B2B content is no exception. “Good enough” just won’t cut it when it comes to content marketing, so what can you do to stand out in the digital crowd? I’ve identified six key characteristics that separate great B2B content from the merely good, pulling evidence from some of our most successful programs to show why great content matters more in 2017 than ever before.
Great content is: Read More……
