I was recently given a copy of Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain! by Scott Adams, the cartoonist who behind Dilbert. In his introduction, Scott discusses why he chose to write a book which has nothing to do with business, at least not in general. He had no experience in the field, and yet he [...]
A recent question posted on a site I frequent asked about the use of vaporware as a means of measuring customer interest in a product prior to actually building the product. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of vaporware, the definition from Wikipedia reads: Vaporware describes products not released on the date announced by [...]
Today’s post is really short, because it’s actually a question, not an answer. I was forwarded a talk by Jason Fried about Why Work Doesn’t Happen in the Office, in which he discusses where people like to go when they need to get some work done. Interestingly, the answers he got were pretty much anything [...]
Often in my line of work, I have conversations with people who have thought of an idea for a product or service, and are looking to turn it into a business. The first barrier they need to cross, namely, having a GOOD idea, has been crossed via validation from potential customers of the product or [...]
I was working on a business development plan for someone, and we discussed her business, what she envisioned being able to do for clients, and various approaches she could take to find new clients. This came, after some discussion, to the concept of unique value proposition – that is, what would set her business apart [...]
I attended a lecture recently in which the concept of boundaries came up, and how some people have a good understanding of other people’s boundaries, while some people do not. Naturally, when dealing with other people, knowing what boundaries exist is incredibly important, but unfortunately, finding those boundaries can be quite difficult. As an example [...]
I’m in the midst of attending a workshop that was titled “Starting a Business”, but which I’ve learned would be better titled “Writing a Business Plan” since that’s what is being focused on. This raises at least one question, which is how fundamental is writing a good business plan to starting a business? This came [...]
Elie Kochman is the author of Advice for Small Business Owners and the founder of Optimal Upgrade Consulting. Using his experience working in the corporate world along with his exposure to the world of small businesses, he writes these articles to assist others avoiding common pitfalls of growing a business. His experience in the corporate world, building his own business, and working directly with other growing businesses has given him some perspective on the trials and pains of running a business.
