When you’re about to launch your great new startup or building a small business, you don’t spend a lot of time pondering how you’ll eventually leave it. Sure, you might imagine your terrific new app will be bought by millions. Or perhaps you think one day you’ll make enough money to retire. But without a …
7 Keys to a Winning Proposal
A few weeks ago, a potential large client made a reasonable, but nerve-wracking, request, “Can you send me a proposal?” It’s not unusual—in many small businesses, creating proposals are a critical part of the sales process. Whether you’re bidding to build a company’s new website or a homeowner’s new deck, your proposal plays a large …
Follow Your Heart and Make Money Too
February is the month for Valentine’s Day, and all around, you’ll see hearts and flowers. But when it comes to starting and growing your small business, have you followed your own heart? Small business owners are notorious for sabotaging their own companies when they fall out of love with what they’re doing. Once you lose …
Monkey Brings Success to Small Business
Hold on tight: here comes the year of the monkey. And it should be a great, if tumultuous, year for small business owners and entrepreneurs. If you’re just starting a business, it portends to be a particularly auspicious year for launching new ventures. February 8 marks the beginning of the Chinese, or lunar, new year. …
Making Your Small Business Look Big
Has a prospective client ever said your small business was too limited to serve their needs? Does your small business lack expertise in critical areas? Well, there’s a way to add skills, size, and strength without hiring a single employee. Join with others to form a “virtual company.” What’s a virtual company? It’s an alliance …
Commit Yourself to the Turn
It’s not typical to get small business guidance on a ski slope, but one of the most useful pieces of advice I ever got came when I first learned to ski many years ago: “Commit yourself to the turn.” Whenever you want to go in a new direction—in skiing or small business—you have to follow …
10 Rules for Small Business Success
For over 25 years, I’ve helped small business owners start, run, and grow their companies. I’ve worked with all sizes of businesses: from one-person micro-businesses to companies with hundreds of millions in revenue. I’ve consulted with companies in all kinds of industries. Some served consumers; some served other businesses. There were start-ups and long-established entities. …
Succeeding in Your First Business
Each year, one of the most popular new year’s resolutions is “quit my job and start a business.” If one of your goals in 2016 is to start your first small business, then I’ve got an important tip on how to succeed: start with a “training wheel” business. As the head of my fourth small …
16 Small Business Resolutions for 2016
Lose weight. Quit smoking. Floss. January’s the traditional time for making new year’s resolutions. But in addition to your personal goals, what do you want to achieve in 2016 for your small business? I’ve come up with a list of New Year’s Resolutions for Small Business, and since it’s 2016, it seems only natural that …
