Startups That Work
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Amazon: "Every large company was once a startup struggling to survive, yet only a small percentage of all startups are able to thrive in the long run. Entrepreneurs and investors have gut instincts about what startups need to do to beat the odds, but until now there hasn’t been any hard research on what separates winners and losers.Joel Kurtzman and a research team from Price-waterhouseCoopers studied 350 companies and interviewed hundreds of venture capitalists, CEOs, boards of directors, and angel investors over four years. This unprecedented research has led to some very surprising findings about nine key factors, such as market size, competitive position, business model, and cash flow. For instance:
• Speed usually trumps perfection.
• Advanced technology shouldn’t be the highest priority, even in tech companies.
• Not all growth is smart growth.
Startups That Work can help small-business people create value while giving venture capitalists and investors the essential information they need to figure out which startups are worth the investment risk."
Startups That Work : Surprising Research on What Makes or Breaks a New Company
11 Small Business Marketing Mistakes
Continuing the mistakes series we started here some time ago with 10 Business Planning Mistakes You Should Avoid and Top 10 Mistakes Home-Based Business Owners Make hereisa list of 11 small business marketing mistakes.
1. Sinking a Fortune Into an Unproven Product
2. Believing That "If You Build It, They Will Come"
3. Trying to Reinvent the Wheel
4. Over-Preparing and Doing Nothing
5. Boredom
6. Relying on Networking to Generate Sales Leads
7. Doing What Your Competitors Do
8. Not Targeting a Specific Market
9. Targeting a Market You Can't Reach or One That Can't Afford You
10. Focusing On Acquiring New Customers Instead of Promoting to Current or Previous Customers
11. Not Systematically Following Up on Leads
See details of each of the aformentioned and some solutions on how to avoid them here.
Tag:Small Business Marketing
1. Sinking a Fortune Into an Unproven Product
2. Believing That "If You Build It, They Will Come"
3. Trying to Reinvent the Wheel
4. Over-Preparing and Doing Nothing
5. Boredom
6. Relying on Networking to Generate Sales Leads
7. Doing What Your Competitors Do
8. Not Targeting a Specific Market
9. Targeting a Market You Can't Reach or One That Can't Afford You
10. Focusing On Acquiring New Customers Instead of Promoting to Current or Previous Customers
11. Not Systematically Following Up on Leads
See details of each of the aformentioned and some solutions on how to avoid them here.
Tag:Small Business Marketing
Top 10 Mistakes Home-Based Business Owners Make
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Are you running a home based small business or planning to start one? Here is a list of the Top 10 mistakes home-based business owners make:
1. Trying to fit a round business into a square house. Not all businesses can realistically succeed in a home-based location. Take a look at your needs for equipment, work space, storage, inventory, and employees and determine if it is simply too difficult to run your business from your home.
2. Lack of motivation. It is easy to become distracted. A home business should be run in the same manner as an office-based business. You need to motivate yourself to go to work in the morning and maintain that motivation during the course of the day in order to succeed.
3. No room to grow. If you are fortunate and your home-based business is successful, you may need to expand. This may simply mean another computer or printer and perhaps space for an employee. It is important while setting up a home business environment to anticipate growth. How do you know if it is time to expand beyond your home into a real office? S
4. Over spending what you are saving on overhead. Too many business owners justify spending money on all sorts of equipment by not paying overhead. In the end they overspend. Watch your budget.
5. Forgetting to promote your company. It is not uncommon for home-based business owners to get a little too comfortable working in a relaxed environment. Too often this means not getting out and promoting the business.
6. Not having a client-friendly environment. You may need to have clients come to your home. Too many home business owners have had to make excuses for their house, kids, dog, and the lawn sprinklers before sitting down with their clients. Set up the office portion of the house for business only.
7. Technical insufficiencies. Many home-based businesses are not dedicated or up-to-date. Your business computers should not be networked to the home computer where your children are hogging valuable bandwidth downloading games. And your technical equipment should be as state-of-the-art as you need and can afford.
8. Zoning nightmares. You may not know the zoning laws for your neighborhood, but your neighbors may be able to recite them. There are many stories of home business nightmares because of zoning laws. The more discrete your business is, the less likely you will have problems.
9. Overlapping home and office. One of the advantages of working from a home-based office is that you can spend more time with your family. However, as much you love them, you need to have a separate office space and set some ground rules so you can work while other activities are taking place at home.
10. Lack of a business plan. Just because it is a home-based business does not mean you do not need a business plan. You should be taking your business just as seriously as if you were heading into any other type of business.
Via: David V. Lorenzo
Technorati tag: Home Business
1. Trying to fit a round business into a square house. Not all businesses can realistically succeed in a home-based location. Take a look at your needs for equipment, work space, storage, inventory, and employees and determine if it is simply too difficult to run your business from your home.
2. Lack of motivation. It is easy to become distracted. A home business should be run in the same manner as an office-based business. You need to motivate yourself to go to work in the morning and maintain that motivation during the course of the day in order to succeed.
3. No room to grow. If you are fortunate and your home-based business is successful, you may need to expand. This may simply mean another computer or printer and perhaps space for an employee. It is important while setting up a home business environment to anticipate growth. How do you know if it is time to expand beyond your home into a real office? S
4. Over spending what you are saving on overhead. Too many business owners justify spending money on all sorts of equipment by not paying overhead. In the end they overspend. Watch your budget.
5. Forgetting to promote your company. It is not uncommon for home-based business owners to get a little too comfortable working in a relaxed environment. Too often this means not getting out and promoting the business.
6. Not having a client-friendly environment. You may need to have clients come to your home. Too many home business owners have had to make excuses for their house, kids, dog, and the lawn sprinklers before sitting down with their clients. Set up the office portion of the house for business only.
7. Technical insufficiencies. Many home-based businesses are not dedicated or up-to-date. Your business computers should not be networked to the home computer where your children are hogging valuable bandwidth downloading games. And your technical equipment should be as state-of-the-art as you need and can afford.
8. Zoning nightmares. You may not know the zoning laws for your neighborhood, but your neighbors may be able to recite them. There are many stories of home business nightmares because of zoning laws. The more discrete your business is, the less likely you will have problems.
9. Overlapping home and office. One of the advantages of working from a home-based office is that you can spend more time with your family. However, as much you love them, you need to have a separate office space and set some ground rules so you can work while other activities are taking place at home.
10. Lack of a business plan. Just because it is a home-based business does not mean you do not need a business plan. You should be taking your business just as seriously as if you were heading into any other type of business.
Via: David V. Lorenzo
Technorati tag: Home Business
