Hearing from entrepreneurs that have “been there and done that” can be inspirational and instructional. This section contains that kind of information.
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Entrepreneurs can benefit from seeking to be paired for a fee with a mentor who provides guidance and support, says the author, who pursued such a formal mentorship upon the founding of her second venture. With new skills to learn in an operating company as opposed to her previous professional-services concern, this entrepreneur reports developing company-building tactics as well as respect for mentoring itself.
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Founding a business was so much fun for three Harvard juniors that they did it several times--until they found something that worked. They begged, bartered and borrowed resources, with a little help from their folks. And, because they knew their industry and added value as managers, they grew their temp agency for Web professionals into a permanent, international leader.
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Two hardworking entrepreneurs start an online publishing venture as a virtual company. They think they can communicate because they're wired. So, why are they always meeting at the local coffee shop? Profitable but inefficient, their business needs office space in order to grow beyond the launch phase--and, like parents, the founders have to get out of its way.
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This piece is an excellent, in-depth backgrounder on how to grow a small but established company using one or more of seven business models. Handy bonus is a checklist that helps you decide whether your company is ready to expand--or not.
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What does "Lean" mean? This article provides the basic background, terminology, and insight entrepreneurs need to understand how specific, proven processes lead to reduced costs, improved quality, and delighted customers. It also briefly considers the next logical extension of Lean Manufacturing (Lean Thinking), which allows service companies to benefit from the hard-won lessons of manufacturers.
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Creating value at every stage of the process, an entrepreneur rescues stone from sites threatened with destruction and gives it new life elsewhere. To manage multiple languages, locations, currencies and cultures, he relies on the Internet and high-speed telecommunications.
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When entrepreneurs sign up strategic partners, the primary focus often is on development and sales of products or services. For their protection, however, entrepreneurs also need to focus on crafting a proper legal framework in the event the partnership needs to be terminated.
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Michael Gallegos has always believed in giving back, but he only recently discovered the importance of giving back to entrepreneurship.
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Valuation may be done for a wide range of reasons and is not an exact science, whatever method you use. To understand how a company's fair market value is reached, start here.
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Operating under a mandate to prepare for the worst in order to achieve the best, the author, an African-American woman entrepreneur in the male-dominated metals industry, writes that preparation has been critical to facing the challenges presented by the economic difficulties and post-terrorist environment of this difficult year 2001.