Innovation and Entrepreneurship
by Paul Mobley, MBA
From the category archives:
On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, my wife and I needed to go grocery shopping. We had just finished moving to our new home in Tustin, CA and needed somewhere close. A quick Google map search on my iPhone revealed that there was a Stater Bros just north on Redhill about a mile. The place [...]
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One of the most common things people do is focus on themselves then try to maximize their income by various marketing tactics. These could be the old status quo way of doing things in your industry or the latest “Web 2.0″ marketing tricks. Now is the right time to rethink your business model. Where is [...]
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Do you know how much actual income is derived from your business? In real estate many investors have never sat down to see how much their property actually makes for them. To see how strong the business is you should first ignore financing, income taxes, and depreciation and find out the net operating income after [...]
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Today is election day in the U.S. As I was waiting in line at my polling place it occurred to me that there is something really nice about having an official day that ends the decision process. No matter if you agree with the outcome of the various races, bond measures, etc we will have completed the [...]
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We’re in an amazing time right now. Some have said that this is once in a lifetime economic event. It’s scary when Fortune 500 companies and governments (like the State of CA) are struggling to get financing and having major consequences as a result. What does that mean for small business owners who even in [...]
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Often the first tool new online merchants use is PayPal. It’s easy to setup, there are no monthly fees, and you can package up an order and send it over to them for payment. However, once you get to a certain level of business most people graduate to a full online merchant account for several [...]
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In this difficult economic time you’ve got to be on the look for ways to be more profitable. In a recent conversation with a co-owner of Preferred Pack I learned about one of their innovative products that has been proven to increase productivity 18%. The best part is that it’s actually inexpensive. For a modest [...]
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I was talking with a sports agent recently and was reminded how may micro-businesses there are out there. They’re built around the success and talents of one or a few individuals. These include athletes, musicians, artists, celebrities, etc. These people need the same things that are required for small business success: they need good advisers [...]
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Living in California it is easy to think that business (and life) moves as fast in other parts of the country. It can be even more drastic in other countries. I realized that the rules of the game are different as I spent weeks in Hawaii and Alaska this summer. In both places I had [...]
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Last week I had an urgent need to create a new entity. Normally it would take a few days or weeks to get anything accomplished. But with a good team and an urgent deadline we were able to get it done within three hours. To make things happen you have to have a relationship established [...]
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For an innovation to be successful it needs the support of all areas of the company. This often requires a leader to pull together resources and champion the project (including allowing other people to take credit). Innovation is a team sport. Also, the act of collaboration not only makes the innovation more likely to succeed [...]
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Today, the price of a first class stamp increased to $0.42 (a 2.44% increase). Gas responded, “That’s cute” (SNL: 05/10/08). I’m curious about the impact that fuel and other raw materials has on small businesses. I know a few businesses who use UPS instead of having their own driver for local deliveries. Sometimes product is [...]
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When starting a business you need to confirm that you have the resources and commitment to complete the startup process and get it to sustainability. Often people who have the ability to do development build their product or service but forget that this is only 1/3 of the battle. You also need sales and solid [...]
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Five qualities to seek when hiring creative talent: Receptiveness to direction. Professionals should be able to respond to feedback and describe how it has resulted in an improvement in their work. Integrity. Ethics are important. As them how they have handled past moral dilemmas. Business sense. Business objectives and ROI are the ideal framework for [...]
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With the corporate filing deadline a few days away and personal taxes due in a little more than a month … you can’t deny that tax time is here. Bootstrapping teaches owners to try and keep expenses low. This is generally a good thing unless you’re planning on preparing your own taxes. As a small [...]
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I saw a sign at the famous Wintzell’s Oyster House in Mobile, AL that said, “Customers Wanted: No Experience Necessary“. Clever huh? “No Experience Needed” is a common saying when looking for employee. In fact, many employers prefer to hire someone without experience and train them in their unique way of doing things. That way [...]
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Often entrepreneurs or salaried employees have no idea how their time is spent. It’s even harder for them to identify how there team spends their time. I’ve been involved with companies that track time and those who don’t. If you don’t measure then you don’t know if you’re doing good or bad. One area that [...]
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The “E” Myth Revisited is one of my favorite books on small business management. It challenges the concept of being a “business” owner. Not that owning a business is bad, on the contrary, Michael Gerber just makes the case for not owning a “job”. Additionally, he gets into some wonderful strategic planning for startups. If [...]
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Did you know that there are approximately 650,000 non-profit organizations (NPOs) in the U.S. who have completed the 501(c)3 process and have annual revenues of $25,000 or less? It’s also estimated that there are 120 new non-profits created each day. Combine that with the established NPOs who have less than 500 employees/volunteers and you have [...]
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The amount and frequency of turn away business is often a factor of your positioning. Most companies will do work for anyone within their field. For example, a marketing company that will work with any client on any project. Or a growing property management business that is hungry for new clients so they engage with [...]
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I find that most stress in the work environment comes from unrealistic expectations. Stress often comes from a lack of predefined priorities as well as not having effective systems, structure, and training. Without these standards even self-imposed deadlines can be overwhelming. If you’ve already gone through the process of defining job descriptions, standard operating procedures, [...]
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