From the folks at Cambrian House comes these thoughts on getting lost in product development and ignoring the customer. Oh, how easy it is! And these guys admit to making this mistake which immediately sets the tone for the rest of their blog post. Customers = Good (quoted from them) Yup. It’s hard to say […]
Entrepreneurs Should Never Say “Greedy”
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be rich. Lots of entrepreneurs have that goal, and it’s a perfectly suitable goal. But greed is another story. And “greedy” is one of the 7 words an entrepreneur should never use. Not because the word itself is so awful, but the connotation and meaning behind it are bad […]
My Biggest Failure as a Business Owner
Entrepreneurs and business owners will fail. It’s hard to talk about, it’s even harder to experience. My biggest failure as a business owner was having to let people go because I couldn’t pay them. It was in 2001 when the bubble burst, and I couldn’t make payroll. We had grown a bit too quickly and didn’t anticipate the severity of the problems. Some of the best advice I can now give is this: don’t hire too many people too quickly.
Entrepreneurs Should Never Say “Whatever.”
One of the most damaging words an entrepreneur can use is “whatever.” It’s one of the 7 words that entrepreneurs should never say. The only context where the word “whatever” works is when speaking to someone you trust, and you say, “Do whatever you think makes sense.” But otherwise it smacks of indecision, laziness and […]
My Top 4 Mistakes as an Entrepreneur
“Pratice what you preach” or “Do as I say, not what I do”? Maybe it depends on who you’re talking to, but today, I’ll pratice the former and embrace my failure. How have I failed? Oh, let me count the ways. No, really, I’m going to count the ways. Here are 4 big mistakes I’ve […]
5 Things I Never Forget After 10 Years as an Entrepreneur
10 years ago today, I started a web design/development business with 4 partners. Two of those partners have since left, while two others joined. The company changed into a software development business. It grew, and then shrank, only to start growing again. It’s almost impossible to count all the significant changes or learning experiences. Sometimes […]
New Bootstrapping Blog Lists 45 Bootstrapping Ideas from Inc.com
Shawn Hessinger has recently started a new blog entitled, bootstrapme.com – how to bootstrap your business to fame and fortune. It’s part of the creative weblogging network and definitely worth reading. The blog is relatively new, but Shawn recently published 3 posts which include 45 bootstrapping ideas culled from Inc.com’s website content. Part 1 | […]
7 Words You Should Never Say as an Entrepreneur
None of these are curse words because let’s face it, in a moment of crisis you may curse, by all means (so long as you’re not cursing at clients!) The idea behind this was inspired by George Carlin though; there’s no harm with mixing humor and business! Here are 7 words you should never say […]
Being an Entrepreneur is like Dating: Put Yourself Out There!
Inspired by Rick Spence’s call for startup advice/anecdotes I sent him an email with this thought, “put yourself out there.” (There was a bit more to it, otherwise I would expect Rick to hit delete rather quickly.) The gist of the idea is that entrepreneurs can’t be afraid of reaching out to people; even people […]
Embrace Failure. Learn From It And You Will Succeed.
Yesterday I wrote that you can be more prepared in business and life if you learn from your mistakes and failures. Many more successful people than myself will also tell you, “Failure is good. Embrace it and learn from it. Then you’ll succeed.” First let’s try and accept two facts: Failure is inevitable. Even the […]
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