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- The 4 Things All Entrepreneurs Must Know to Succeed in Business. - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from Louis LimTo start and sustain a new business is a very exciting and challenging enterprise for most people but it entails the greatest risk of failure. Many wide-eye entrepreneurs go into a new enterprise, unfortunately, with more aspirations than common sense and put themselves at more dangers of ...
Views: 745(11 votes) - Are You Addicted To Success or Failure? - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from ALLAN KATZThe bottom line is that to be successful in business and in life you’ll need to cultivate a sense of balance in your life. Entrepreneurs choose to do work they love and delegate the rest. Find time each day to sit quietly with yourself and enjoy the tranquility of not having to think about ...
Views: 1100(2 votes) - Hit the Prospects Hot Buttons to Close More Sales - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from Geoff FickeAt the conclusion of every sales presentation the salesman will have achieved one of three results: a sale is made, a sale is lost or valuable information is gleaned that can result in building a relationship. The third result can be called identifying the “hot button”. Obviously, the purpose of ...
Views: 5565(3 votes) - Hot Advice for Anyone with a Website, Blog, Business, Career or J-o-b. Yep, I’m Talkin’ to You! - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from Danielle LaPorteI've worked with a few dozen Fire Starter clients in the past few weeks on career optimizing, transitioning, start ups, reinventions, product ideas, social media strategies and balancing it all without burning it out. {And I adore each and everyone of you. I'm thinking about you all right this ...
Views: 1435(17 votes) - Do Not Shortchange Funding Needs Too Little Is Worse Than Too Much - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from Geoff FickeThere is an old adage in the funding community: “Investing $1,000,000 to fail is expensive, investing $5,000,000 to succeed is cheap. Investors will respond to funding needs based on real world assumptions. They will be very cautious when assessing a venture’s real funding requirements. ...
Views: 1258(1 vote) - Keep Business Operations and Logistics Simple, Streamlined and Agile - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from Geoff FickeMost of the entrepreneurs we interview in our consulting business have a very unrealistic conception of what excites and disappoints investors. The dream of many inexperienced inventors seeking to fund their opportunity is to build a substantial infrastructure. Their business plan identifies the ...
Views: 1269(1 vote) - The 16th Century Entrepreneur Who Created the Concept of the Taxi - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from Geoff FickeThe 16th century was a time of amazing transformation in Europe. The Dark Ages were gone, the Black Plague had run it course and Middle Age fears and superstitions were slowly disappearing. The printing press had been invented and it was completely revamping the way people communicated. Columbus ...
Views: 1635(2 votes) - Why Are Successful Entrepreneurs So Darn Lucky? - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from Geoff FickeWhat is your definition of the word “luck”? Not the Webster’s Dictionary definition, your definition. Is it being in the right place at the right time? Picking the right dealer in a casino? Turning up at a party where you meet your current wife (could be good or bad luck)? Entrepreneurs seem ...
Views: 1556(2 votes) - Getting Out There In A Bigger Way Means Overcoming Your Fear of Criticism - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from Fabienne FredricksonQUOTE: “Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine… And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated ...
Views: 1340(2 votes) - Strategic Alliance - The Underused Option - by Submitted on Aug 24, 2009 from Geoff FickeYou are an entrepreneurial inventor with marvelous ideas in your area of expertise. The ability to create models, prototypes and concepts flows easily from your fertile brain. Nevertheless, all you have to show for your creative efforts is a garage full of dead end stuff, despite all of your ...
Views: 1114(2 votes) - The Importance of the Unreasonable Man - by Submitted on Aug 24, 2009 from Geoff FickeAlmost every person in the world takes a certain pride in being a reasonable person. They will make prudent choices based on their background and attitudes. The safe decision minimizes the chances of being wrong. No one likes to be wrong. The safe decision, however, carries little upside ...
Views: 1455(1 vote) - Which Business Structure Is Best For Your New Enterprise? - by Submitted on Aug 24, 2009 from Geoff FickeThe type of business structure you organize for your new enterprise is greatly determined by your personality, realities, needs and experience. Millions of people in the United States never enter into any type of formal business structure. This includes the bulk of the black or underground ...
Views: 1443(1 vote) - I Can’t Find Funding. Is My Idea Dead? No, Consider a Campaign to License! - by Submitted on Aug 24, 2009 from Geoff FickeMost inexperienced entrepreneurs are unaware of the many options and alternative strategies available to push a new idea or invention to market. The most common approach they seek to implement is a classic funding round. When this avenue fails, and with overwhelming frequency it does, the idea ...
Views: 1767(1 vote) - The Business Model Must Be Innovative and Flexible - by Submitted on Aug 24, 2009 from Geoff FickeWhat does the following list of companies have in common? A&P Hudson Motor Car Co. Montgomery Ward TWA Horn and Hardart Studebaker Indian Motorcycle Bonwit Teller Woolworth Bethlehem Steel Polaroid LTV These Companies were successful, recognizable brands in their respective ...
Views: 1276(1 vote) - Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Trade Secrets Protect Your Invention! - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2009 from Geoff FickePatent numbers are issued sequentially, beginning with the number one. Patent number one was issued to Samuel Hopkins on July 31, 1790. It took 75 years for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to issue patent number 1,000,000. Patent number 7,000,000 was issued February 14, ...
Views: 1953(3 votes) - How Do Investors Read Business Plans? - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2009 from Geoff FickeThere are hundreds of thousands of business plans floating around and attempting to find a funding home. I receive hundreds of business plans annually myself, and can definitely state that 99% of these documents are laughable as presentations of an exciting investment opportunity. I am not ...
Views: 1417(3 votes) - Make a Friend Everyday, Network! - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2009 from Geoff FickeHave you ever noticed how successful people always seem to have a very wide net of friends and acquaintances? Howard Hughes became an infamous recluse only after he was fabulously wealthy. His network of business associations enabled him to excel in aviation, manufacturing, heavy industry, oil, ...
Views: 1384(13 votes) - Napoleon and Alexander the Great Are Innovative Role Models Even Today - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2009 from Geoff FickeDuring the 18th century the royal courts of Europe were starved for exciting and fresh entertainment formats. The staid choral recital, piano concerto, plays and opera had been standard fare in all of the great palaces for centuries. Each court strove to offer something more modern, more cutting ...
Views: 2902(3 votes) - Organize the Business Structure That Is Right for Your New Enterprise - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2009 from Geoff FickeEvery business requires a structure that will withstand necessary legal and governmental scrutiny. The choice of how to organize a new enterprise should be made based on the needs and capacity of the owner(s) to maintain and detail the records, history and finances of the business. Many ...
Views: 2775(3 votes) - Graduate to a New Degree of Success - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2009 from Jacki OpfermanGraduation season is here and we all know what that means: transitions, growth and new opportunities. Developing a successful business also often involves the same stages, and running a business means we graduate from one stage to another. Adolescence and middle school are the years when ...
Views: 1076(2 votes) - Smart Women Need a "Lighthouse" - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2009 from Joy ChudacoffA few weeks ago, my sister Rene and I had the opportunity to visit our Mom in Florida. It was a "girl's getaway" filled with shopping, going to the beach, tasty food, wine and great conversation. Every morning we had a ritual of getting up, grabbing our coffee and heading out to the beach for a ...
Views: 1117(1 vote) - Make Your Business Plan Read Like An Action Novel - You Are Guaranteed to Receive A Stronger Response - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2009 from Geoff FickeLet’s face it, nobody confuses writing or reading a Business Plan with a Bruce Willis action movie or a Tom Clancy novel. A Business Plan is a serious presentation that details an economic opportunity being offered for funding, licensing or sales consideration. Detail, research, financials and ...
Views: 1088(1 vote) - Competition Keeps Successful Entrepreneurs Sharp - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2009 from Geoff FickeEvery sports fan knows the story of a sports team competitively peaking at the right time on the road to winning a championship. The Pittsburgh Steelers won the 2006 Super Bowl even though they only had the second best record in their division. In addition, they had to overcome the huge hurdle ...
Views: 1556(2 votes) - When Selling Do Not Confuse Objections and Conditions - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2009 from Geoff FickeMy first sales manager, a grizzled old veteran with a no excuses allowed attitude used to tell me, “there are no lousy products, just lousy salesmen”. As a rookie salesman I thought the comment surely a strange one. Of course, there are bad products I thought. I know a bad product when I see ...
Views: 1657(1 vote) - Selling Is the Most Important Job For Every Entrepreneur - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2009 from Geoff FickeLet’s consider the example of an entrepreneurial inventor attempting to market his newest creation: a portable hydrostatic body fat test appliance. Design is complete, testing is finished and results exceeded initial assumptions, several working prototypes have been built, UL Approval is in ...
Views: 1427(2 votes) - Marketing and Selling Are Crucial to Success...and Very Different Tasks - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2009 from Geoff Ficke“an aggregate of functions involved in moving goods from producer to consumer” – Webster’s Dictionary, definition of “marketing” “to give up property to another for money or other valuable consideration” Webster’s Dictionary, definition of “selling” Many new entrepreneurs do not ...
Views: 1892(2 votes) - A Business Model That Keeps on Giving - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2009 from Geoff FickeIf there were an Entrepreneur’s Hall of Fame, Wayne Huizenga would be a charter member. Most people recognize the Wayne Huizenga as being the former owner of the Florida Marlins baseball team, and the current owner of the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins. These are the types of gaudy ...
Views: 1603(1 vote) - A Strong Sales Model Underlies Every Assumption In a Business Plan - by Submitted on Aug 21, 2009 from Geoff FickeOne of the most difficult tasks a new prospective entrepreneur faces is the construction of a Sales Model. Many books devoted to instruction for writing a business plan devote little or no attention to this vital exercise. The knowledge needed to assemble a quantified, qualified and clearly ...
Views: 2190(1 vote) - The 10 Commandments of Selling - by Submitted on Aug 21, 2009 from Geoff FickeThe 10 Commandments of Selling Every successful entrepreneur must achieve a level of sales competence. Short of spending valuable capital on hiring sales professionals, there is no alternative. Selling is to business as fertilizer is to agriculture. Nothing happens in a company until ...
Views: 2582(1 vote) - Making Public Relations Work for Your Business - by Submitted on Aug 21, 2009 from Geoff FickeThe magic word that every consumer loves to hear more than any other is, FREE! Sales promotions offering a free sample or product inducement are always exceedingly popular. Human nature being what it is, the opportunity to obtain something of perceived value for nothing is usually very ...
Views: 1498(1 vote) - What Modern Marketers Can Learn From A 100 Year Old Artisan Auto Maker - by Submitted on Aug 21, 2009 from Geoff FickeH. F. S. Morgan launched his eponymous car manufacturing company in England in 1909. For a century, through world wars and great economic turbulence, Morgan Motor Company has produced some of the most stylish, desirable automobiles ever produced. Unless you are a classic car enthusiast, you ...
Views: 1349(2 votes) - Who Me? An Awakening Leader? - by Submitted on Aug 20, 2009 from Rebecca AstaraBy Kerrie Dancing Butterfly Yes you! Yes everyone! Everyone has the potential to be a leader. Especially now, all voices, all ideas, all perspectives, all talents, all skills, all resources and all hands are needed to dream and manifest new sustainable solutions into our collective reality. ...
Views: 894(3 votes) - The Zen of Ease - by Submitted on Aug 20, 2009 from Ruth HegartyOne day someone in one of my mastermind groups told me she thought of me as the “Queen of Ease” which I absolutely loved (and may continue to use as my alter ego) since my mission in life is to help the woman entrepreneur have more time and energy for herself AND more money and success in her ...
Views: 1445(2 votes) - A Professional Demeanor Screams Success - by Submitted on Aug 20, 2009 from Geoff FickeThe importance of a professional business presentation can not be overstated in determining the fate of a new business opportunity. Nevertheless, it is amazing how many times the presenter does not apply these same essential professional requirements to their own person. You only get one chance ...
Views: 5251(1 vote) - What Makes an Entrepreneur Different - by Submitted on Aug 20, 2009 from Geoff FickeStudies indicate that entrepreneurs are born, not made. As a serial entrepreneur myself, having worked with dozens of successful entrepreneurs, I can confirm that this is a truism. No two are exactly alike, but they are different from those who fail, or worse, never try. I am often asked what ...
Views: 1666(1 vote) - Bootstrapping Your Way to Success - by Submitted on Aug 20, 2009 from Geoff FickeThere is no more accurate American descriptive phrase of the rags to riches success then: “He pulled himself up by his bootstraps”. The pioneers, backwoodsmen, cowboys, whalers and other prototypical American hero classes all possessed an air of courage, self-reliance, and belief that they could ...
Views: 1359(1 vote) - The Man Who Invented Modern Athletic Shoes Inadvertently Revolutionized Commerce and Sports - by Submitted on Aug 20, 2009 from Geoff FickeI grew up in the 1950’s playing basketball hour after hour on city playgrounds. The public courts of the day were nothing like those found today in most American towns. There were no lights, a steel, kidney-shaped backboard (ugh!) with bent rims, occasionally a steel chain net and no lines ...
Views: 5620(3 votes) - How to Write Articles That Entrepeneurs Will Read and Respond To! - by Submitted on Aug 20, 2009 from Thomas AndersonWhen writing for entrepreneurs, or those that want to be, you must have passion, enthusiasm and a complete understanding of what it takes to be an entrepreneur. The writer must be more than just a writer who has researched the subject. They must feel what the reader feels, know and understand ...
Views: 1167(6 votes) - We Plan Exact Vacation Routes But Often Start a New Business with No Road Map - by Submitted on Aug 20, 2009 from Geoff FickeSeneca “The Younger”, the great ancient Roman philosopher famously observed, “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable”. The intent of his words is clear. Knowing where you want to go is the essential prelude to planning how to get there. Unfortunately, many people ...
Views: 1052(2 votes) - Reset Your Sat Nav for Life - by Submitted on Aug 20, 2009 from Marie O'RiordanLet me get straight to the point. Here’s the deal. Your power station of energy lies within you – not your possessions. Say to yourself, ‘I have the power to change the direction of my Life now and avoid the biggest obstacle up ahead… Myself.’ As the greatest philosopher of our time Homer ...
Views: 944(1 vote) - Be Yourself: Imitation is Suicide - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2009 from Ann Ronan, Ph.D.It’s one thing to seek out people who are ahead of you in achieving something you want. For example, if you want to reach a six figure income, working from home, it makes sense to find someone who has done that and to learn from them the systems they used. That’s smart. But what I see so many ...
Views: 3580(1 vote) - Creativity: The Successful Entrepreneur’s Secret Weapon - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2009 from Ann Ronan, Ph.D.Your creative powers are infinite. Yup...think about it. You come from the same source as all of nature around you. Look at fruit trees. How do you think those fruit push themselves up the trunk, through the branches and then hang themselves like beautiful ornaments in just the right place? ...
Views: 1379(1 vote) - How Entrepreneurs Can Build Self Confidence - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2009 from Ann Ronan, Ph.D.It’s not my imagination. And it’s not just anecdotal evidence from my own coaching business. I’ve recently read several research articles that find women exhibit a lack of self-confidence in their own abilities as entrepreneurs compared to men; many women do not feel comfortable calling ...
Views: 1137(1 vote) - A Few Secrets Not Mentioned in "The Secret" - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2009 from Burke FranklinPerhaps you've seen the film, "The Secret" which features interviews with many success gurus sharing how they made it -- I saw the video and thought it was pretty good. In my experience; however, there are a few more factors for achieving the success you want. Having owned my dream airplane, ...
Views: 1266(1 vote) - Business 101: Should I Blog as a Business Owner? - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2009 from Robin HardyThe word blog is a conflation of two words: Web and log. It contains in its four letters a concise and accurate self-description: it is a log of thoughts and writing posted publicly on the World Wide Web. Often times we are hearing the question of, Should I be blogging as a business owner? Why ...
Views: 1495(3 votes) - How a Cool Food Product Lost an Important Marketing Advantage - and Died - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2009 from Geoff FickeHow a Cool Food Product Lost an Important Marketing Advantage - and Died Recently I was interviewed by a national small business magazine about a topic that is all too real; and very problematic for small businessmen. The author of the story was trying to solve a simple problem that many of ...
Views: 1415(2 votes) - How An Immigrant With Just a Few Canaries Builds a Vast Fortune - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2009 from Geoff FickeIn the 1920’s Germany was in tatters. The formerly great empire was dismantled, the powerful army humiliated by its defeat in World War I and the population starved, cold and living in despair. Businesses that had been successful before the war were decimated by the outcome. There was no way to ...
Views: 1385(2 votes) - How an Ingenious Footwear Idea Snatched Defeat from the Jaws of Victory! - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2009 from Geoff FickeSeveral years ago my marketing consulting firm reviewed a most clever, novel, exceedingly commercial concept in casual footwear. We met with the designer who had created the collection and were excited by everything we saw in the initial presentation. The footwear possessed a universality of use ...
Views: 1206(1 vote) - Use Affinity Licensing to Jump Start New Product Sales - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2009 from Geoff FickeI recently met a bank executive who had been laid off in a corporate downsizing. The man was understandably concerned about his and his family’s future. He lived in an area that was experiencing exceptionally stark economic circumstances. This gentleman had received a modest severance package, ...
Views: 1209(1 vote) - How to Make a Single Mall Kiosk Into a Multi-National Company - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2009 from Geoff FickeOne of the bigger mistakes we see new entrepreneurs and startup businesses make is to try to hit a home run right out of the box. My experience in the days when I played baseball, and in building a solid business foundation, is that when purposely trying to hit home runs, you usually strike out. ...
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