Business Blogs: Trends, tips, and real-life anecdotes from industry experts.

Here’s a transcript of my comments on CNN’s Your $$$$ this weekend. Thought you might enjoy…
ALI VELSHI: Businesses start up with in these economies, and by the way consumption we were over consumers and that’s going to change, but we do remain consumers. People do buy things.
CHRISTINE ROMANS: That’s right.
VELSHI: Richard Sloan joins us now; [...]

Simple question: Does having a social agenda — a “cause” — attached to your business ultimately help you become more profitable (in a financial sense strictly)?

Vote and comment in this simple Poll at StartupNation.

If you’ve been following StartupNation for years, not just months or weeks, you know that we were one of the pioneers that popularized the “Elevator Pitch”, your chance-of-a-lifetime opportunity to pitch your dream investor in a blazing 60 seconds. It was always one of the most popular segments in our nationally syndicated radio show and [...]

You just got fired for the last time. Now you’re in charge of the hiring / firing policy. Why? Because you are starting your own business… FINALLY.
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To hang the “BOSS” sign on your door, here are 5 quick tips:
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1)      Play to Your Passion: Figure out what turns you on – if you’re passionate about a [...]

My prediction? Some of the most exciting businesses of the next few years are going to be born in 2009 and grown from 2008 toil. It’s my strong view that the economic duress we’re all under as entrepreneurs is going to make us smarter, scrappier, more effective and ultimately far more successful.
To help you along [...]

Here’s an excerpt from Sam Carpenter’s book Work The System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less…       

Eight years ago, in the depths of my workplace chaos, I was also dealing with a very sick body and an exhausted mind. I was delirious during the day and couldn’t sleep at night. My doctor had [...]

In my small business, Centratel, each of our half-dozen key management people has had several years of on-the-job experience. Training managers to operate a telephone answering service is a long, drawn-out affair because it is necessary to understand a myriad of technical details and random facts. The introduction of documentation speeds up this training process, but [...]

The producers at The Big Idea called asking if I’d make myself available to help out one of their viewers in need. His name was Tony, and here was his situation: He’s a dad of four kids, got let go from one job accepted a new one and that company went bankrupt right before his [...]

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Welcome to the Monday Morning Memoir September 22, 2008.
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I have been thinking about the organic process of product growth and brand identity.  While I was working on my MBA the professors would teach that every company knew what their product and brand identity was at the startup phase of the company.  What’s interesting about my [...]

For years, a nagging problem in my small business, Centratel, was the time and effort it took to pay the monthly bills. The process did nothing for the bottom line and each month required 10 to 14 hours of my time to process 60-80 payables to various vendors. I wrote the checks, entered the transactions [...]