WHY EXIT PLAN IS IMPERATIVE FOR ENTREPRENEURS Many first-time entrepreneurs have questioned the need for an exit plan, or harvest plan, because they are more concerned with launching the business and making it a success than with thinking about how they are going to get out. But even though some […]
Business
HOW A COMPANY CAN GROW BY GOING GLOBAL Today the question for a growth-oriented company is not “Should we go global? But “when should we go global?” There are many reasons why entrepreneurs must consider the global market even as early as the development of their original business plan. For […]
THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING A CODE OF ETHICS The process of developing a code of ethics begins with company self-examination to identify values held by individuals and alert everyone to inconsistencies in how people deal with particular issues. For a new company, this means getting the founding team together to […]
ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILTY Ethics or the moral code by which we live and conduct business – essentially the concept of right and wrong – derives from the cultural, social, political, and ethnic norms with which we are raised as children. People don’t always sit down to think about their […]
THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CYCLE There are ways for entrepreneurial firms to compete effectively in the area of production development. In fact the environment for product development is uniquely suited to smaller companies, which are often better able to adapt to change and move quickly in new directions. Three fundamental strategies […]
NEW VENTURE CREATION: FROM FEASIBILITY CONCEPT TO BUSINESS PLAN Simply stated, feasibility is about the business idea and testing the business concept. The business plan is about the execution strategy that will bring that idea to market. The business plan serves three purposes: (1) it serves as a reality check […]
WHY BUSINESS MODELS FAIL Developing a Business Concept A business concept is a concise description of an opportunity that contains four essential elements: The customer definition; the value proposition (or benefit to the customer) and the compelling story; the product/service; and the distribution channel or means of delivering the benefit […]
IMPORTANCE OF CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT The simplest definition of cross-functional teams (or CFTs) is teams that are made up of people from different functional areas within a company – marketing, engineering, sales, and human resources, for example. These teams take many forms, but they are most often […]
METHODS OF ACHIEVING ECONOMIES OF SCOPE Economies of scope are cost advantages that result when firms provide a variety of products rather than specializing in the production or delivery of a single product. Economies of scope also exist if a firm can produce a given level of output of each […]
STEPS IN CREATING A DISASTER PLANNING AND RECOVERY STRATEGY Business owners are strongly encouraged to make contingency plans for responding to and recovering from disasters that may befall them. Analysts note that disasters – whether they take the form of floods, fires, or power outage – can have a devastating […]
