10 Things I Hated About Your Business Pitch
Business planning expert Tim Berry has over 20 years of hearing business pitches as a judge of business plan competitions and as an angel investor. Here are the things he hates to see in a business pitch, so you can avoid making these key mistakes.
By Tim Berry |
Ask the Experts: Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting a Business
In every startup story, there's bound to be a wrong turn here or there, and it’s easy for entrepreneurs to look back on their mistakes and see exactly where they went wrong. Here's what these entrepreneurs wish they'd known sooner.
By Briana Morgaine |
Top Startup Mistake: Unrealistic Forecasts
A growth forecast works for investors when it’s built on realistic assumptions, laid out transparently. The problem? Most forecasts are unrealistic, overly optimistic, and built without real basis. Here's how to fix that.
By Tim Berry |
5 Mistakes I Made When Starting My Business (So You Don’t Have To)
The mistakes you make while starting your business can be both annoying and costly. Learn what pitfalls to avoid from one successful entrepreneur who has been there before.
By Jordan Fried |
When You Own a Nonprofit, There Are Some Mistakes You Never Want to Make
A lot of work goes into making a nonprofit run smoothly, and a lot can go wrong. If you want to keep yours afloat, here are five mistakes you need to avoid.
By Brad Wayland |
3 Business Mistakes You Should Avoid Making
The decisions you make on day one of your business have a ripple effect that can impact your business for years to come.
By Mark Daoust |
What Did Entrepreneurs Learn in 2015?
It’s a good idea to take a look at what worked—and what didn’t—for your business in 2015.
By Briana Morgaine |
Tim Berry Advises Aspiring Business Owners on What to Do When Your Plan Gets Rejected
Your plan just got rejected. Welcome to the club. Reality check: You’re the rule, not the exception. So, how do you bounce back?
By Tim Berry |
10 CEOs Who Made Huge Mistakes
It’s true that no one is perfect, and this shows itself in the business world as much as it does anywhere else. While entrepreneurs strive to do their best, mistakes are sometimes unavoidable. However, we small business owners can take some comfort in the fact that we’re not at the helm of a massive corporation...
By Will Bridges |
The 8 Most Common Small Business Accounting Mistakes
Thanks to the large range of accounting applications available for today’s small and medium-sized businesses, it’s easier than ever to keep an accurate record of where your business’s money is going. While accounting software has made bookkeeping and accounting easier for small businesses, it’s also made errors and accounting mistakes—from incorrectly categorizing a transaction to...
By Ivan Lavelle |
Good Marketing Undone
I wrote this article a few years ago, before I took over the customer service team for Palo Alto Software. My perspective at the time was as a consumer. Looking back on it now, as the manager of my team, the glaring miss in this company’s story was the lack of training for their staff....
By Teri Epperly |
3 Reasons Why Micromanagement Is a Macro Hindrance
“I’m just trying to help!” “I want to ensure our success!” If these lines sound familiar, you should know that they’re classic micromanagement warning signs. And, unfortunately for the well-intentioned micromanager, the results are rarely positive. For his book “My Way or the Highway,” Harry Chambers organized a interesting study about micromanagement. According to the survey...
By Ashley Coolman |
What is the Biggest Cause of Business Failure?
There are many reasons businesses fail: lack of money, changes in the economy, ineffective management, employee turnover, theft, illness, or death of the owner are just a few. According to SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), the main reason businesses fail is ineffective management, whether it be poor planning or not understanding all that is required...
By Arlene Soto |
Bad Boys and the Fab Five: Business Lessons from Basketball History
In 2009, to commemorate their 30th anniversary, ESPN released a new sports documentary series called “30 for 30.” The series included 30 full-length documentary features that highlighted sports history’s most memorable moments and personalities. The series was so popular that ESPN decided to release a second volume of 30 more documentaries, produce 30 new digital...
By Jonathan Michael |
How to Run a Business in Prison (Orange is the New Black, Season 2)—Minor Spoilers
The Netflix original series, Orange is the New Black, takes a gritty, poignant, and hilarious look at life inside a women’s federal prison. The show premiered in 2013 to critical acclaim, and in June 2014 Netflix released all 13 episodes of its second season. The show recently won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Comedy...
By Jonathan Michael |
James Altucher On How and How Not to Look Professional Raising Investment Money
Some of these tips are (in my opinion) truly bad advice, and some are great, but they are all worth reading. And the ones I'm including in this post seem very true to me.
By Tim Berry |
The Biggest Marketing Blunders of All Time
Apparently having near-unlimited funds does not preclude some of the largest brand names in the world from getting their marketing terribly wrong. Here are just a few examples of how even the best can misinterpret their audiences.
By Ian Kirk |
Failure Is An Option
Instead of proclaiming that you’re not afraid to fail, it’s important to contemplate challenges you may face, how you will handle them, and what you will do if ultimately you do fail.
By Adrienne Asselmeier |
Failed Entrepreneur Liveblogs Implosion Of His Tech Startup
An anonymous big-time tech entrepreneur has predicted the demise of his fledgling business, and is blogging the collapse as it happens.
By Bailey Koharchick |
How Even A Four-Star Restaurant Can Fail
Anyone who owns or is thinking about opening a restaurant should familiarize themselves with the Southfork Kitchen story, and use it to guard themselves against failure.
