To Jump or Not To Jump – The Entrepreneur’s Dilema
If there is one thing that I learn over and over again it’s that doing is better than not doing. Jumping off of the bridge is usually better than watching your friends jump whether or not you know the outcome is irrelevant. The ride down is worth it. About a year ago I came up [...]
13 Things You Must Know To Launch Your Idea
Time and time again I have come across startups that have yet to start. The creators have an idea, they can describe it to me without missing a beat but when I ask them “what’s next” I get the blank stare. Here is a small outline of what you should know about your company. Some [...]
How Do You Stay Organized?
I have never been an overly organized person. My desk is generally a mess, my inbox currently has over 30k emails in it, most are read but I don’t move them out of there and I have multiple dry erase boards in my office and in my apartment to help keep things moving. If you [...]
Companies Are Like Buildings
Companies are like tall, tall buildings. When constructing a building you can’t start at the top and work downwards, there is nothing to support the top. You must start with the ground floor and work your way up. CEO’s and other high level executives should keep this in mind when they are building their company [...]
It’s Not Personal, It’s Just Business…
Recently I have been in a few situations where this comment has come up. And I don’t know why it has happened multiple times in just the past few weeks. The first time it was via email with someone I was negotiating with and the other was in person, I am being told that “it [...]
Making the Hard Decisions
In any organization, company, club, group of people there will be people that work and those that claim to work. I have been thinking about how to write this post for a while now I usually try to be as open as possible but sometimes I cannot disclose everything about a situation. This is one [...]
The Small Things
I find myself saying this quite often and I truly believe in it. It is one of my core beliefs and life lessons that if you take care of the little things it makes the big things not so big. I have practiced this method for many years in many different situations and I can’t [...]
Planning is a great idea…
Until it’s time for the rubber to meet the road and you have to see what you are made of. Last weekend I set out to ride my bike around Lake Okeechobee. It was a 135 mile trip that went around the lake on dirt trails, paved roads and gravel paths that made the journey [...]
The Other 99 Percent…
There are so many opinions out there. Everyone thinks they know “best” for the rest of us. I guess by having this blog I am guilty of thinking I know something more. First of all, I don’t. I don’t know how to fix the problem we are having right now, I don’t have a clue [...]
Happiness…
It is one of my core beliefs that we should all be happy. No matter what, if you are not happy then you should work to make yourself happy. If you don’t know what makes you happy then you should work to find out what does. I can tell you that the source of happiness [...]
There’s Always Another Way…
Entrepreneurs are different. We think differently, we see theworld differently, we are different. When I see a problem I donot accept it the way it is. I do not even call it a problem;to me it is a challenge, a challenge that can be and needs to be solved. I don’t wantto stereotype entrepreneurs because everyone is different;however, I can tell you that in my [...]
Failure, A Lesson in Business
If you have not failed, you have not succeeded. Disagree? If you do not know what the bottom looks like how can you tell when you have reached the top? I was just thinking about one time that I failed when it came to hiring a new person. I put an ad out there, had [...]
The Guy With a Plan
A friend once told me that a fool with a plan would beat a genius without one every time. When diving the saying goes, “plan your dive and dive your plan.” I’m sure that there are many other sayings on the same topic. The overwhelming point? Have a plan. My friend is an investor, he [...]
Are You Assertive Enough? Too Much?
Being assertive can be tangled with being rude or overpowering. I think there is a fine line there that we as business owners are often forced to walk along. Today I was reading over a paper in which the author was trying to convey a point and they were not coming across clearly. When writing [...]
Making the “Right” Decision
If you are a math teacher you may want to stop reading. I have news for you, the only time that a decision is 100% “right” is when you are sitting in a classroom and you are able to see all of the inputs, and calculate an answer. In a classroom 1+1 is always 2. [...]
What to Sell When You Have Nothing to Sell
Recently I had a meeting with a business consultant regarding the company I am currently working with. We discussed a few problems and a few possible solutions. The main problem is that right now we have a product that we can’t give away. We have been waiting on a website that did not get done [...]
Leadership and Decision making
Leaders make decisions. That’s pretty obvious, if you are a leader. Some people need the feeling that they know when they make a decision it is the right one. Similar to a math problem, if you have a certain number of inputs then they can only add up to one thing. Sometimes this is not [...]
Expectations, or lack there of
As an entrepreneur I feel as though my life is full of risk. I have to determine my exposure to risk on a daily basis. If I am taking on a new project I have to think about the risk of failure, the risk of my suppliers or resources not coming through, the risk of [...]
Consistency…
Tonight I went to eat with some friends. The restaurant we went to was a sports bar type of place, not the highest class place but definitely not the lowest class of place. Two of my friends ordered sandwiches, the same kind, same toppings, same fries same everything. However, one plate had a pickle and [...]
To Fail or Not to Fail…
Since I was little everything that I was taught was focused on success and failure and how bad it was to fail. I think that nowadays people are hearing more and more about how failure is a good thing. I want to reiterate this idea… Failure is necessary and it’s not evil at all. One [...]
Are you spreading your business too thin?
I have been working on expanding my company. I am focusing on the sign side of things and I have been creating new websites, making online stores, and just in general doing a lot of work. I want to start selling more signs. I thought that I should start advertising car wraps, vinyl signs and [...]
Creating the Experience, and Fresh Scallops
I went scalloping today. What is that you ask? It is the process of swimming around in the Gulf of Mexico and looking for little shells that have scallops inside of them. Then I brought them home and grilled them, they were quite tasty. Scallops on the Grill Why does this matter? There are companies [...]
When does "Going Green" equal "Going Too Far?"
The “green” or eco-friendly market is exploding and has been for a while now. If there is a way for a company to market itself as “green” or in a way to show customers that their purchase helps the planet usually the company does it. How can you tell when its too much? We are [...]
Networking
Do you think that networking works? How has it helped your business? I can tell you from personal experience that networking works. What is meant by the term “networking”? I’m talking about getting out there and interacting with not only customers but your competition and people from other industries. I attended a networking event a [...]
Innovation…
…is something that can either kill your business or propel you to the Inc 500 list. Innovation is talked about all of the time; green innovation, technology innovation. Awards are given from organizations to businesses and individuals because they are found to be, “the most innovative” in their field. What does all of this mean? [...]
Transparency
I read an article today about the white house releasing a report containing all of the salaries of white house employees. They are trying to be transparent, they want to attempt to show people that they do not have any secrets. What about in business? Does this work? I would like your comments… My vote [...]
Agreements and Protecting Yourself
In todays world everyone is set on screwing the next guy out of something. I wanted to raise awareness on the importance of having some sort of signed document whenever you will be entering into an agreement with someone. This has come up because of the situation someone I know is in. They let someone [...]
