A reason people start businesses is to fill a market need—often one they see themselves. When Bryan started Nu-Kitchen, it was because he saw a need for fresh, natural, diet food, delivered to the home. He asked friends and found that he wasn’t the only one who desired such a service. Bryan went ahead and launched [...]
Being a solo entrepreneur can result in building a profitable business. Being your own boss—not accountable to anyone—and not managing employees, can be incredibly freeing. However, there’s only so much one person can do in a day, so you must be strategic with how you operate. Creating a profitable business, along with allowing for personal time, is [...]
No big surprise, I get a lot of questions from entreprneuers about funding—specifically on how to get it and where to look. I have several thoughts about this topic—more than this blog entry will allow—so I’ll just give you a brief overview. Where you are in the entrepreneurial process will dictate how you should think [...]
Mentorship can come in many different forms, whether formalized or not. Many of us have informal relationships with a varied number of people who’re able to share their wisdom, from our parents to our best friends. I just read an SBA study saying that 52% of entepreneurs get their advice from a mentor. Of course, that shouldn’t [...]
In these tumultuous economic times, many folks are thinking more seriously about fleeing the corporate world and starting their own business. As a corporate refugee myself, I, too, understand the allure of starting your own business. However, when I left Morgan Stanley in 2003 to found NuKitchen, I didn’t do it on a whim. My [...]
A lot of entreprenuers have asked me why a business plan is important—they wonder, “Isn’t a business plan only crucial when we want to get funding for a new business?” A business plan is extremely important, but not for that reason. Surprised? Hear me out. I believe a business plan is an invaluable tool for [...]
Thought that opener might get your attention. What I’m suggesting is that not all business ideas need to be brand spanking new. Clearly innovation and cutting-edge products are a cornerstone of entrepreneurialism and growth at every level of society. We need to continually foster new ideas, but I’m also trying to de-emphasize their importance in [...]
Trick question! Neither—at least from my perspective. Historically, I’ll admit, we’ve been exposed to many attention-grabbing extroverts—and perhaps, for the foreseeable future, we extroverts may continue to receive partisan exposure—leading one to erroneously conclude that, to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be an extrovert. But how much more of Donald Trump do you [...]
A close friend recently confided that he wanted to pursue an entrepreneurial venture. But he had serious doubts about its viability because a nationally recognized competitor was doing the same thing his venture was intending to tackle. This made me think about how excited I was when my business partner and I first came up [...]