Market Research: The Foundation Of Any Successful Startup

by Alysson on March 3rd, 2010

There is perhaps no other single factor that contributes to the failure of small business as much as a lack of market research. Small business success isn’t something that happens by accident. Success is a result of conscientious market research and copious planning. Entrepreneurs are optimistic by nature. They tend to [...]

Tags: competitive research, market research, small business planning, target market

7 Things To Think About BEFORE You Quit Your Job

by Alysson on February 1st, 2010

If you feel your destiny is to join the ranks of the self-employed, that’s fantastic. You’re going to need a lot more than a desire to live out your destiny and good luck to make a start-up venture successful.  Before you hop onto the entrepreneur train, there are some important things to think about [...]

Tags: entrepreneur, self-employed, small business

There’s No Script For Starting A Small Business

by Alysson on January 16th, 2010

Starting a small business isn’t easy. If it were, everyone would do it. Moreover, if running a startup were easy, a much higher percentage of small businesses would succeed. The sad, and often discouraging, reality is that the majority of small businesses fail. Anyone who tries to tell you that there [...]

6 Reasons You Want To Be Your Own Boss

by Alysson on December 20th, 2009

When you form an image of the quintessential American Dream, what do you see? If you’re like many of us, owning your own business is a part of that picture. In a world seemingly controlled by corporate greed and avarice-driven, overpaid corporate executives, our role as “the employee” is less appealing than ever [...]

Tags: be your own boss, Entrepreneurs

Why I’m Tired of Hearing About Sexism in Social Media (and Freelancing)

by Jennifer Mattern on December 17th, 2009

When this post topic was agreed upon weeks ago, I had a very specific plan in mind. I wanted to talk about the constant claims of sexism in social media that I hear from colleagues — not enough women presenting at conferences, not enough women published on social media topics in journals, etc.
However, the issue [...]

Tags: blogging, freelance, freelance writing, gender bias, james chartrand, men with pens, pen names, pseudonyms, sexism, social media

14 Things Every Potential Small Business Owner Must Do

by Alysson on October 7th, 2009

In today’s economic climate, amidst layoffs, downsizing and the general tightening of corporate belts in order to maintain bottom line profit margins, more and more people are choosing to see this as an opportunity to follow their dreams of becoming a small business owner.
Don’t Jump The Entrepreneurial Shark On A Whim
Before quitting your day job [...]

Tags: business owner, entrepreneur, small business

3 Essential Financial Statements All Business Plans Must Have

by Alysson on September 10th, 2009

When writing a business plan there are a ton of things to consider. The business plan takes into consideration all aspects of the business venture from rent to payroll to utilities to office expenses. There are three absolutely critical financial statements that should be included with every business plan.
Cash Flow Statement
The cash flow [...]

Tags: balance sheet, business plans, cash flow statement, financial statements, income statement

Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus Software: A Digital Chain Link Fence For Workplace and Playground

by Alysson on September 3rd, 2009

“Viruses” and “Worms” are forms of computer malware that replicate themselves, spreading as far and wide as the code can travel. A virus attaches itself to an existing program and it may be carried by files saved on removeable media or transferred over a network; a worm is stand-alone code that exploits vulnerabilities in a [...]

Tags: anti-spyware, anti-virus, trojan horse, viruses, worms

Why Women Are The Most Admired Entrepreneurs!

by Hasan on August 18th, 2009

Historically, entrepreneurship has always been male-dominated, but today things are changing for the better for women. There has been an encouraging upturn of women entrepreneurs in the past decade and some of the most influential and inspirational entrepreneurs today are women.
A recent U.S. national poll revealed the most admired entrepreneur to be…. Any guesses?
Oprah [...]

Tags: most admired entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs

Are Too Many Business Ideas Hurting Your Productivity?

by Jennifer Mattern on July 15th, 2009

Great business ideas–is there anything better, or more exciting, to an entrepreneur? For Web-based business owners sometimes there’s too much of a good thing.

Tags: business ideas, Featured, online business ideas, Productivity, small business ideas