Andrew Field

35 posts
Business growth is great, but bigger challenges go with it - Andrew Field, CEO of PrintingForLess.com, provides tips and advice to help you chart a course for your business.
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Small Business in a Rough Economy

A crumbling stock market. The credit crunch. Gasoline approaching $4/gallon. Plummeting house prices. How are these impacting small businesses? At PFL, we talk to thousands of business people every week, most of them in companies...
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Web 2.0 Stuff

Yesterday we interviewed a candidate for a software developer position. When we got to the part of the interview where we ask if he has any questions for us, he asked me “why haven't you...
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Startup Story

Maybe it's the soft spot in my heart for anyone brave or foolhardy enough to try a startup in the Rocky Mountain West, an area not known for its abundance of resources for entrepreneurs. Or...
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Senior Managers: Build or Buy?

At PFL, we focus hard on developing leaders from within. A number of our senior people were originally hired into entry-level positions, and worked their way into positions with progressively greater responsibility. Nonetheless, I think...
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Why Are You in Business?

A long vacation provides a much-needed break, but still affords opportunities to get interesting perspectives on how entrepreneurs view their businesses. We just spent a week with extended family on a beautiful island off the coast...
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More on Making Hay While the Sun Shines

Joel's post on working hard while customers are clamoring for your product or services struck a chord with me. A few of us at PFL were reminiscing yesterday about the "good old days" when we had...
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Learning From Others

One of the challenges faced by anyone running a start-up or small business is learning what you need to know, before your lack of knowledge trips you up big time. Reading business books and accessing...
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Reunions

I got a notice last week for my 30th high school reunion. (Please keep the age jokes to yourself...) I'm not sure if I'm going to go. I live 5 hours worth of air travel away,...
achieving potential
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The Free Rider Problem

Thought leader Dave Bayless has a fascinating post on what he calls the Free Rider Problem. He posts that in a small company, everyone's contribution is visible and makes a big difference, but as a company grows,...
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First Impressions II

Thanks for the responses. The point of my post about the sign on the front desk of the Mill Creek Inn in Lake Geneva Wisconsin was not to opine about whether they have the right...
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Loneliness on Fathers’ Day

Seth Godin and his readers have some great observations on loneliness. Happy Fathers Day to all! https://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/06/everyone_is_lon.html Please feel free to post comments here or to Seth directly. He has one of the most highly-visited blogs...
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Getting in Bed with Venture Capitalists

Marc Andreessen, famous co-founder of Netscape, finally comes clean with his opinions about entering a relationship with VC's. Bottom line: it ain't a free lunch. As a really smart entrepreneur I know says: "Partners are...
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Are You Boring People to Death?

It slays me when a presenter in a meeting or at a conference throws up PowerPoint slides full of words, then proceeds to read them to the audience. I mean, if words alone are enough...
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Customer Intimacy

I've mentioned that PFL's business model is built on "customer intimacy," or knowing a lot about our customers and how each of them defines success for their small business. One obstacle we encounter is when...
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Risky Business

We're in Miles City, Montana this weekend at the world famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale. What a blast! People come here from all over for a 3-day party in the streets, intermingled with auctions...
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PR: Working the Media

One of the best ways to grow your business without breaking the bank is to get free exposure for your company in the news media. Sounds great, but how do you actually get someone to...
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Change of Scenery

I spent last week in Boston, Annapolis, and Washington, DC. While I dreaded spending an entire week out of the office -- and not on vacation -- it turns out it was time very well...
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More on Computer Storage

A funny thing about being a new blogger is that I never know what is going to get people talking. My post on an easy-to-use Raid Array, which is designed to prevent loss of your...
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Computer Stuff

One of the challenges faced by high-growth businesses is Information Technology, or IT. This broad category includes laptop and desktop computers, servers, file storage, internet service, phone systems, network gear, etc. Large corporations have massive...