Have you noticed a trend lately disparaging small businesses (especially solo-owned ones)? It's a bit ironic that the people who are taking chances, thinking creatively, and testing out new products and services are getting slammed for not creating jobs at a time...
How do you manage uncertainty when, by definition, it involves wrestling with stuff that's difficult--and sometimes impossible--to predict? It all starts with understanding (and then leveraging) your competitive advantages, says Keith Bickel, author of Mastering...
It's a new year, but are you still doing the "same old, same old?" I wrote recently about knowing when to fold--giving up a product or a service or even a business development strategy that's run its course. But there's another thing business owners need to consider:...
You might have read that the Green Bay Packers are selling ownership shares. Which means that, for $250, you can own a share of the franchise. You can't sell you share (or shares) and it won't increase in value--but it makes you an owner of the NFL-Super-Bowl-winning...
For 2012, I've decided that I don't need to reinvent the wheel. Last year, I picked out 3 little words--crayons, velcro, and abandon--to guide my business. The whole point was to keep me focused on moving forward, while giving myself permission to take risks again....
How do you measure success? There's a lot of conversation around business success, what it means, and how to measure it. (And we probably talk even more sometimes about lazy metrics and poor measurement.) I'm not going to talk about measurement at all today. Just...
What do you do when the big boys own all the shelf space? One approach is to build a virtual shelf, one person at a time. That's what Joe Vukson is doing. I met Vukson via Twitter earlier this year after I saw a press release about a new runner ID product. I tweeted...
You've probably heard that Lowe's pulled its advertising from reality TV show All-American Muslim. The home improvement company says it made a business decision based on its assertion that the show is a "lightning rod" for "strong political and societal views." The...
Sometimes you have to know when to let go: The best small business owners are constantly innovating—rethinking a product, redesigning our Web sites, tweaking our marketing approaches, testing productivity tools and technologies. It’s what we do. But we’re...
I've talked before about how brand loyalty isn't eroding (we're just saving our loyalty for where we feel valued). Today I'm doing to share four lessons from an organization that just doesn't get it: The Shakespeare Theatre. Lesson #1: People are more likely to donate...