Perhaps the hardest decision made by the owner of a growing business is regarding the first hire. It’s at this point that the stakes in the business change, from being responsible for yourself to being responsible for employees. Where before a lack of business meant that you personally didn’t get paid, now there are other [...]
Displaying the most recent of 295 posts written by
Elie Kochman
In recent weeks, the number of projects I’ve been involved with has rapidly grown, from the few constants and a couple small projects, to several large projects, a few smaller projects, and a constant turn-over of hourly projects. When I sat down one day to work, and realized that I had 8 active projects to [...]
Working with several businesses at various stages of development, as well as many projects that are to become the basis for future businesses, I’ve discovered something interesting about management teams. Every business or project has one, even if the entire company consists of a single individual. However, what I’ve discovered is that there is a [...]
I recently had reason to draft a proposal for something out of the norm for my line of work. I was asked by a family member to assist in writing a formal proposal for an after-school program, with the added twist that the program had already been approved in principal, pending the formal proposal. Not [...]
In my recent post The Right Time to Network I emphasized the importance of networking well in advance of you actually needing something from your network. I was mentioning the post to my photographer during a photo shoot (new images will be put up within a few days), and he described it in a way [...]
I’ve taught in a high school that was fairly restrictive on its students, both within the school and when they are at home. The school was trying to promote a particular set of values, but the lesson they imparted was one of restriction – you can’t do this, that’s not allowed, and so on. Another [...]
Over the past few years, I’ve participated in a variety of networking groups, both online and in real life. I’ve also read several books on networking, and have been coached by a professional networking facilitator on etiquette. Out of interest, I started asking people around me about their networking experiences, what pushed them to start, [...]
With a company that spends significant amounts of time working on websites and applications for small businesses, and an association with a few other companies doing similar work, I’ve seen a large number of projects which have lent themselves to be proposed to investors for some capital. Some were being backed by someone other than [...]
Part of my business involves advising other business owners how to avoid certain pitfalls they may encounter as they grow. I teach them how to manage quality, people, expectations. I teach them how to balance the need for an immediate solution against the long-term needs of the business for a stable solution. The question I [...]
When HP was first founded, it was done on the basis of a product which had been built out of curiosity and then sold, followed by requests for more. The engineers then built another product, and then another, each of which sold to more and more customers. The company grew on the basis of many [...]
