The Worst Place to get Money for your Business

Worst Place #1 - Investors! Why? it’s the most expensive money and it takes more of your time and energy to secure it. Plus they almost never tell you no so you waste a lot of energy pursuing deals that are never going to happen.
Worst Place #2 - Lenders. It’s cheaper than investor […]

Assumptions that won’t ASS-U-ME

I’m sure you’ve heard that when you ASSUME it makes an ASS out of U and ME. Here’s a way to make assumptions that work.
Investors all know that business plans are fiction, or rather fairy tales (fiction sometimes has an unhappy ending business plans never do.) And many successful companies thrive without business plans. Even […]

Would People Pay to Promote Your Product?

In most industries probably not. But music is different (like art and a few others where commitment and commerce are closely linked). SELLABAND has developed an interesting business model to exploit this combination of passion and partnership. Details HERE.
The idea is “believers” aka investors invest $10 in a share of a new band. When the […]

CEO Skills - Keeper of the Business Model

You wouldn’t ever spend a penny of your company’s money without expecting some benefit. You spend advertising to get sales, you spend on inventory to have something to sell. You spend on sales people because they put money in your pocket.
A business model is a tool to help you figure out when to spend how […]

Plateaus of Profitability

I said last time that to function as a CEO, you need a team that doesn’t depend on you for day to day successes. It’s hard to build a team like that. Impossible if you don’t understand today’s topic.
Bigger is different - not just more
Companies don’t grow in linear fashion. The characteristics change along with […]

CEO Time

What does a CEO do all day?
What do you do all day?
Is it good or bad if the answers are not the same?

Most business of our size get started because a person can make something or sell something. As the market responds, they need to build a company to meet the market demand. In the […]

When is an Entrepreneur not an Entrepreneur?

There’s a real gulf between an entrepreneurial business where you can do anything through harder work and an ongoing sustainable business that is run through good management technique.
- Bob Jones, owner The Chef’s Garden
I think that says it all.

Is it Science or Art?

I’ve been asked whether management is one or the other. How we ask a question often blinds us to a useful answer. Management, like most aspects of running a business involves both.
My quick distinction is that the science of running a business includes the rules that apply to everyone (like take in more money than […]

Systemize Your Business

A system is a set of parts which accomplish something by relating to one other. Drive a bolt through a pair of blades and the three parts form a system we call scissors. As a scissors they’re more than two blades and bolt. Systems have meaning beyond their parts.
- John Lienhard Engines of our Ingenuity
What […]

Don’t Confuse Marketing Models with Business Models

“The former helps you get visibility for your product, the latter defines how you will actually make money. ” So says  Dharmesh Shah of  OnStartups.com
His post is about the software business and his main point is a the bottom. But I think it applies to may other companies as well.  Not knowing your business model […]

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