I belong to a small network of businesses each of which provides similar and related services, though it is rare for any of us to compete directly with one another. This allows us to forward projects and clients to each other with little risk of losing the client. A few days ago, the owner of [...]
I had a discussion with a Personal Trainer about goals, and how to go about setting realistic goals for clients. We discussed, for example, a client who wants to lose 20 pounds in a 4 week period – the goal is well-defined, but it is not, however, sustainable. The interesting thing to note here is [...]
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 placed an order a few days ago for an item listed as next day delivery. A few minutes after completing the order on the site, I got an email that read as follows: Thank you for ordering with Business X Delivery! Your order has been received and is being processed. Your order is scheduled [...]
Perhaps one of the factors of life as the self-employed freelancer is in regard to what happens when you get sick. Or, if it isn’t you who gets sick, a family member who you have to care for. Even for those under the impression that they rarely get sick, it tends to happen, as Murphy’s [...]
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.
