If you are one of the new age of entrepreneurs, who hates the thought of doing a business plan as a first step in starting your new venture, you will love this message. More and more professionals agree that a better strategy is to explore and fine tune your assumptions before declaring a specific plan […]
Business plan
Investors Love A Credible Entrepreneur Market Sizing
Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market-research data. They don’t realize that business projections with no third-party validation have no credibility with investors. Every good business […]
The Entrepreneurial Strategy To Overcoming Depression
It’s no secret that the high-pressure world of business can have some negative effects on our health. Aside from the constant stress that comes with being a successful entrepreneur, there’s the ever-present risk of debt. We’ve all seen it happen – an investment goes awry, your forecasts turn out to be off or a global […]
5 Must-Do’s For Non-Tech CEOs in Technology
Technology is the canvas for our teenagers and 20something to build their vast dreams and ambitions on. Deals like “yo” that get funded further fuels the already maddening gold rush to dive in and be a participant. Outcome: A lot of start-ups trying to solve a lot of problems. That is great. But, very often […]
How to Start a Startup: What You Really Need to Know
I was doing some keyword research on Google looking for topics that entrepreneurs were looking for answers to, and the number one searched term was “how to start a business.” I have been writing for over two years now, and just assumed most of you had already started a business. But, for those of you […]
Top 10 Business Plan Mistakes to Avoid
Getting a new business off the ground is never easy. Increase your chances of success by avoiding these common business plan mistakes: 1. Giving top-down financial projections Don’t base your entire business plan on capturing a certain percentage of the market. Your investors will think that you are being far too optimistic, and your […]
Why Entrepreneurs Fail: The 9 Killer Mistakes
As detailed in the popular infographic below, here are the 9 common mistakes entrepreneurs tend to make when they go into business. Wrong Choice of Business First and foremost, choosing the wrong business idea will inevitably lead to failure. It is important to research the viability of any startup and decide whether or not the […]
Do Not Let Investors Conclude Your Startup is a Hobby
Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of specifying and documenting “formal business processes.” The right […]
8 Intellectual Property Items Every Startup Needs
A large portion of your competitive advantage and potential value to investors is the size of your intellectual property portfolio. When someone says Intellectual Property (IP), most entrepreneurs think only of patents. In reality, patents are only one of at least eight items that should be in your IP portfolio. You need all these before […]
Key Components for Writing a Startup Business Plan
When writing a business plan, it is critical to do research and set strategy across the following key topics: (1) your industry/competition; (2) business/revenue model; (3) sales/marketing plan; (4) management team; (5) cash requirements; and (6) forecasted financials/expected ROI. When you are done, you will end up with the necessary research to back up the key […]
6 Business Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Have
When starting out in business, you may be able to fumble your way to short-term success if you have a good product and a measure of business savvy. If you want to experience long-term success, however, there are some core disciplines you learn and execute. At some point (sooner is better than later), you will […]