Startup
Midweek Reading: Burt’s Bees, Shopping Malls, and Good Jobs
Another week is flying by, while we’re all still coming off the high of Independence Day and World Cup Championships. Here are some of the things you should be reading this week as a small business owner: Burt Shavitz, the one-of-a-kind entrepreneur who founded Burt’s Bees, passed away this weekend at the age of 80.…
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4 Keys to Entrepreneurial Independence
Every year we celebrate our independence on July 4. Of all our holidays, July 4 really stands apart with its unadulterated joy. We shoot off massive firework displays, see how many hot dogs Joey Chestnut can eat, and spend time with family and friends in the bright summer sun. It’s all because of the freedom…
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Best of Business Mentoring: Supporting New Entrepreneurs with Jim Flannery
This month, we’re looking at the best Business Mentoring programs of the year, starting with February’s conversation between Fran Tarkenton and Jim Flannery, the Project Director of the Four Athens incubator in Athens, Georgia. Jim provides information, guidance, and assistance on business strategy, business plans, financial planning, and identifying sources of funding for new entrepreneurs.…
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A Nation of Entrepreneurs
One of the most important sources of this country’s greatness has always been its entrepreneurial spirit. We are a nation of entrepreneurs, always looking to use the resources and skills we have to make life better for ourselves—and for everyone around us. So many of the great innovations have gotten their start here. In a…
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Playing Big Ball by Finding Partners
When we have partners, we can achieve more than we could do on our own. When you stop trying to do everything yourself, and you find the right partner, you can stop playing small ball and start to play big ball. A few years after retiring from the NFL, I took over running a company…
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Why Entrepreneurs Are Natural Bootstrappers
When you’re an entrepreneur, your ultimate goal, the thing that everything else builds on, is to create value for others by solving problems. To do that, you have to look at the resources you have available to you, and figure out ways you can use them. That DIY approach makes entrepreneurs natural bootstrappers, and not…
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Business Mentoring Preview: Creating a Successful Kickstarter Campaign
Early on in the startup stage, Jonathan Pascual knew that he would be short of funds to open the door for Taproom Coffee. To help get things started, he turned to a Kickstarter campaign. Researching similar businesses that also used Kickstarter, he set up a campaign to raise $15,000. He studied businesses who had conducted…
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Interview with Meryl Moss on BookTrib Live
One of the most fun interviews I’ve ever done came last week, with Meryl Moss on BookTrib Live Chat. We were able to really talk about some important things for entrepreneurs, recent graduates, and really anyone who is thinking about being more effective in their work. BookTrib is a website for book lovers, with chances…
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How Would I Complete a “Do-It-Yourself” Incorporation?
There used to be a time when incorporating was a long and arduous process. Very little was centralized, and it required you to either go sit in an office all day, waiting for paperwork, or pay a lawyer to do all of it for you. However, thanks in large part to the Internet, incorporating your…
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Who Becomes an Entrepreneur?
What is an entrepreneur? If you ask someone to picture an entrepreneur and describe their background, there’s a good chance you’ll hear a variation on one of two responses—and very probably both offered at once. First up is the tech wizard, majoring in computer science, who may graduate or might just drop out after getting…
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