Doug Burgoyne came on the den this week pitching his business Frogbox, which supplies hard plastic boxes as a rental in place of cardboard boxes. His pitch, coming in with a valuation of $1.2 million, was that the business is profitable (though apparently not yet to a significant level), and is designed to scale. The [...]
Perhaps this issue is more relevant to those in service-based businesses, though I believe that no matter the nature of your business, this issue will resonate with you. I would be interested in hearing your feedback on this issue – as I believe that it has no right or wrong answers, merely a large set [...]
There’s something interesting about the show Dragons’ Den that seems to appeal to a certain type of business person. People come on the show with their businesses, hoping to leave the set with a potential investment from one of the five dragons, yet in the average show, only 2 businesses will get lucky. Having watched [...]
There is a tendency for prudent people to have a Plan A, or what they really want to have work, and a Plan B. In business, though, your Plan B should be to support Plan A. The true reason for having multiple plans is when there is an outside factor which can influence whether or [...]
One of the most common questions encountered in regard to new businesses is in regard to what to do with an idea. There is often a misconception among those who have not yet ventured into the realm of starting a business that an idea has value. In truth, ideas are fairly worthless without execution. If [...]
A question pondered by owners of businesses is how to fit new ideas into existing businesses, or whether the new idea should be the basis for a new business. Often, the new idea arises from an existing part of a business, or is being developed using resources from the existing business. Perhaps it is only [...]
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 [...]
In a conversation with a client, we discussed a piece of advice he had received from a venture capitalist in regard to his business. He had been seeking an investment of a few million dollars, most of which would be spent on development and hardware infrastructure for the business. The business already had clients lined [...]
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.
