Being an entrepreneur is hard and the sacrifices you will make will grow as the company does. I’ve encountered a lot of losses on my road and I was having an interesting conversation this morning where this question was asked. ‘Was it worth the costs?’ I didn’t have an answer then, I just knew that when I thought about doing anything else, I got this really heavy feeling in my … [Read more...]
Is it Okay to think Customers are stupid?
RyanAir CEO Michael O’Leary made headlines this week when he argued that a customer in Spain deserved to pay $380 for having RyanAir print a boarding pass. He went even further when he said that “all passengers are stupid who think we will change our policies or our fees”. I’ve been thinking about this statement all morning and I can’t shake the bad taste it’s left in my … [Read more...]
Are proposals worth it?
As a professional services firm, I spend an awful lot of my time preparing and submitting proposals. They are time consuming, sometimes costly and not immediately effective. So why submit them? Well there are a million reasons against them, but here are my top 5 reasons for them. They introduce your company and your ability I am not a formal person, but I do know what I know … [Read more...]
Money, Friendship and Business
Inevitably in the life of an entrepreneur there comes a time where friendship, money and business collide. Sometimes the collision is disastrous, sometimes it is a saving grace but the one thing that is certain is that it is never easy. I recently encountered a situation where all three of these things collided and here is what I learned. Be specific and be sure Communication … [Read more...]
The view from the top
Let’s face it, we all went in to business because we were really good at something and thought we could do it better. A couple of years later, we have learned some new things and are a little less willing to listen to someone else’s advice. But what if that advice is coming from a client? I recently had a situation where some unwanted advice led to a deeper understanding of my … [Read more...]
What we can learn from the US Women’s Soccer team
Reporters from all over have had some type of sound bite regarding the t-shirts the US Women’s soccer team. The shirts said ‘Greatness has been found’ and sports writers and enthusiasts are lining up to take aim at the perceived lack of humility. As a woman operating in a male dominated industry I have to say ‘Why should they be humble’? Here’s what I have been able to take … [Read more...]
Why are you important?
As we create our businesses more often than not we get caught up in the day to day firefighting strategies. What we don’t do because there isn’t enough time in the day, no one has figured out how to clone ourselves and/or we don’t see the immediate value is define a future strategy. It’s easy to spend so much time in our businesses that we don’t work on them, so here are a few … [Read more...]
The Gospel of Sales
As an entrepreneur I know that sales are the lifeblood of my business, so when I am approached with a sales pitch I tend to take an analytical view. Recently I was searching for a vendor to complete my website overhaul and some of the pitches that I received…well they were interesting. In reviewing the pitches, I learned five most important points if you are not a marketing … [Read more...]
What Marissa Mayer should bring to Yahoo
Marissa Mayer is a 37 year old executive of a technology firm that alone should create energy and excitement around leadership potential. She is joining Yahoo from Google and to be frank some rigidity is needed at Yahoo. So as we wait with bated breath to dissect her every move as CEO, here are things that I would like to see her bring to the troubled company. Well rounded … [Read more...]
What we need in incubators
Around the country politicians, industry leaders and small businesses have screamed their support for small business development centers and universities to get involved in creating business incubators that help build and sustain small business. The goal is admirable, small businesses stimulate economies and create more jobs. But there is an undercurrent of dissatisfaction … [Read more...]