Posts by Edwin Bevens
Midweek Reading: Hiring, Speed Coaching, and Part-Timing
Google drew up a 300-question survey to help figure out how it could identify the best job applicants for future hiring, and found out what we all know: hiring is complicated, and doesn’t depend on just one factor. Samuel Adams Speed Coaching events connect small business owners with small business specialists giving advice on new…
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Midweek Reading: Pop-up Stores and Amazon Exclusives
While retail businesses are struggling, the old concept of pop-up stores is becoming more popular and successful than ever, especially helping eCommerce businesses offer a more tangible shopping experience. The Amazon Exclusives platform is an opportunity for small businesses to increase visibility with a large block of customers, but at the cost of not allowing…
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Midweek Reading: Brainteasers, Day Jobs, and Gigs
Google is moving away from its notorious brainteaser questions during job interviews—but other companies are picking them up, despite uncertainty over their effectiveness. If you’re thinking about quitting your day job while you work in your new business venture, think twice. Here are 3 reasons not to quit the day job. About 1 percent of…
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Midweek Reading: Subscriptions, HRAs, and Search Results
Subscriptions make life easier for consumers—but they also have the power of inertia. According to a survey, 62% of consumers have kept up an unwanted subscription just because they didn’t cancel. A small business advocate points out a reform in how the IRS interprets health care laws could save small business owners hundreds of thousands…
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Midweek Reading: Failure, Publishing, and Altruism
Entrepreneurs often experience failure, but Jonathan Aberman explains why a true entrepreneur never truly fails. Analytics on how people read ebooks are giving publishers and marketers new insight into reader engagement, with a potential big impact for book retailers. Studies suggest that most businesses that get involved with social responsibility programs are motivated by either…
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Midweek Reading: Profitable Businesses and Bad Bosses
Sageworks studied the net profit margin of 16,000 small businesses to identify the 15 most profitable types of small businesses. The most common types tend to be in service industries. What’s the worst kind of boss? A study found that it’s not the always-unfair boss; it’s the unpredictable boss who causes the most stress and…
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Midweek Reading: Young Entrepreneurs and Business Networks
Young entrepreneurs are finding business opportunities, and I’m not talking about 20somethings. These are 10 year old franchisors, teenage lotion moguls and other child entrepreneurs learning financial literacy and starting real businesses from bank loans on up. A giant national chain might seem like it stands apart from the small businesses all around it, but…
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Midweek Reading: Employment Brand, User Experience, and Apple
Gallup research finds that for companies to attract the best employees, they have to create and market a strong employment brand just as they market their brand to consumers. If you’ve ever been driven to the brink of madness trying to put together Ikea furniture, Chris Myers shares how his recent assembly experiences influenced his…
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Midweek Reading: Family Businesses and Winter Efficiency
Family businesses must still follow all the traditional rules of business, but there are unique dynamics to a family business, including the impact on personal relationships, boundaries between roles, and communication. Popular wisdom holds that the winter months have a negative effect on our moods and cognition. New studies, however, suggest that performance is just…
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Midweek Reading: The Patent King and the Super Bowl
Thomas Edison is the man most famous for his incredible number of patents. But Artur Fischer, a German inventor who died earlier this year, had even more—more than 1,100, all based on obstacles and problems he encountered in his own life. The Super Bowl is also the biggest advertising day of the year. This year’s…
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