Usually, this article would be dedicated to a particular pitch from the previous week’s episode of Dragons’ Den, but today, it’s focused on a piece of advice issued on the den. With a business trying to move forward rapidly before they had a sufficiently strong business model, Arlene Dickinson of Venture Communications made an interesting [...]
A common question when starting a business is in regard to choosing a jurisdiction under which to operate. For example, here in Canada you can incorporate provincially or federally. In the US, you can incorporate in any of the states, provided you meet their requirements. Other countries will allow you to form a corporation under [...]
During the course of recent reading, I came across several discussions about the concept of making decisions. One of the more interesting facts I came across is that there are two types of decision makers – those who take the safe routes, and those who dare. Reflecting over various events, along with supporting evidence provided [...]
I spent a few hours this week at a conference on family law, hosted by a law firm, and catering to accountants and financial advisors. The subject of the conference, which takes place annually, was succession planning, something that people don’t really want to talk about until it’s too late (and sometimes not even then). [...]
By nature, I like to be around people, but I’m significantly more productive when I’m alone, or close to it. In a room filled with people I can relate to, I like to have conversations, and find myself easily distracted by what the people around me are doing. For a variety of reasons, I don’t [...]
A well known prayer, originally authored by Reinhold Niebuhr, reads as follows: God, grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference. This prayer, with it’s insight to perspective on life’s challenges, has been used by various organizations looking to [...]
Okay, the joke is, perhaps, a poor one, though you likely laughed because you can think of people who would say exactly such a statement. I was asked recently regarding an inherent bias toward hiring people from my community. While many of the people in my office are from my community, there was actually another [...]
In a recent article I wrote for a local organization, I discussed an approach to networking that involves whispering, not shouting. The article addressed a common issue with organized networking events in which people shamelessly self-promote without establishing connections, turning the event into a mass marketing forum. What many people fail to realize at such [...]
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.
