Most people you talk to will agree that the likelihood for success of a small business is not high. If you were to ask why, most would not have an answer. It is common knowledge that small businesses have it rough, but it is not common knowledge as to why. In this article I will …
If you are a kid yourself or a parent looking for ideas of how to encourage an entrepreneurial mindset in your kids, read on. A great place for anyone at any age to start is with the purchase and sale of items through classified ads, garage sales, eBay, and the like. The nice thing about …
A common question Shy Entrepreneurs ask is “What are the best small businesses to start?” Here are some fundamentals that will help you make the right choice. Service Based Small businesses by nature are often service based. There are many reasons for this but the biggest reason is providing a service can’t be boxed up …
There will always be more things demanding our attention than we will ever have time to address, so the sooner we develop successful habits the better. If you are anything like most people reading this you probably have a new project that you want to get working on, a few projects that you started and …
In a previous article entitles “Factors of a Competitive Advantage” I covered the three main areas a company can compete without an existing relationship. The three areas again are Cost, Quality, and Lead Time. Each of these factors is present in the market place and is taken into account whenever someone is making a buying …
Many factors play a role in the success or failure of a small business, but how can these factors be assessed across business types and how do we identify which ones are key? In previous articles we have addressed how businesses can compete relative to one another but here we will dig into the key …
Does your company have a competitive advantage? A competitive advantage is the edge one company has over another. It is the reason someone will purchase what you have to offer even if they have no idea who you are. This is important for small businesses because many only offer the same value as the next …
The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is an operational management approach developed by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt and introduced in 1984. It was designed around the idea that complex systems are inherently simple and can tie all of the troubles they experience down to a single root conflict. For his approach Dr. Goldratt maintained that the …
Small home based business opportunities are very attractive for many reasons; being your own boss, setting your own hours, and earning more than you would working for an employer. These dynamics can all exist but it won’t come easy, and it won’t come overnight. The truth may be that the low hanging fruit was picked …
For the past year I have been trying to wrap my brain around the paradoxical relationship between effectiveness and efficiency in small businesses. I have understood that one can be effective without being efficient but I could not reason why. I kept thinking this was a reality that persisted in spite of itself and ultimately …
