HOW TO SUCCEED AT A TRULY SEASONAL BUSINESS In a business that is truly driven by the seasons, there are steps that can be taken to ensure greater success. The two most important factors are managing cash flow and hiring the right employees. Finding and keeping good employees is another […]
WHY COMPANY VISION AND VALUES ARE IMPORTANT Vision Every great company begins with the entrepreneur’s vision of what that company will become. Just as top professional athletes envision everyday play of an upcoming game before they ever set foot on the playing field, so do entrepreneurs envision the kind of […]
HOW TO BECOME A SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMPANY Today, it is not enough to have a successful business and make a profit. The business must hold itself to a higher standard of social responsibility by giving something back to the community or communities in which it does business, and through them, […]
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 […]
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 […]
GATHERING COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE One of the weakest portions of any feasibility analysis or business plan is the competitive analysis. This is because an entrepreneur typically looks only at what can easily be seen on the surface rather than digging for what is not so obvious. It is important for entrepreneurs […]
RESEARCHING FOR A TARGET MARKET No matter what the size of the target market, it is crucial that an entrepreneur know as much as possible about the customer. In the beginning of a market analysis, the customer definition may be fairly loose and may even change fairly substantially as field […]
HOW TO FORECAST NEW PRODUCT/SERVICE DEMAND One of the most difficult tasks facing the entrepreneur is forecasting the demand for new product or service, particularly if that product or service has never existed previously in the marketplace. Much of this difficulty is due to the lack of historical data and […]
WHAT DEFINES AN EFFECTIVE CHANNEL AND CREATING A DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY An effective distribution channel has several characteristics, which are discussed briefly below. Inventory At various points along the channel, inventory must be warehoused and ready to be shipped where needed, whether it is raw materials to the manufacturer, or finished […]
FUNDING A RAPIDLY GROWING VENTURE (PART FOUR) The Initial Public Offering (IPO) Making the initial public offering or “going public” is the goal of many companies because it is an exciting way to raise large amounts of money for growth that probably couldn’t be raised from other sources. However, deciding […]
