Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

In reality, their effectiveness is usually more related to how well they develop their work relationships with peers and business leaders. More importantly, we all need to develop the right relationships, and actively avoid those types that are not right for the business, or not right for our career at a particular point in time.

Mentor 91

Mentor Competition Summary Coach 91

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Your leadership skills do not develop without effort. Intellectual property is required for a competitive edge. Neither is good.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

While these investors, and early customers, will always argue that they found you, I’m convinced that there is no substitute for aggressive networking on your part. Ability to relate aspirations to customer needs. You need to show insights to real customers and their needs, that get beyond your passions and projections.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. It can also be very inspiring, as you watch your dream morph into reality, or as you feel each little element of success: Watch your team develop new skills.

Startup 160

Startup Patents Competition Social Network 160

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Get connected to the right mentors and your business may catapult to the next level. I figured if Matt was on the verge of bankruptcy and one mentor changed his trajectory, what if we had a formalized, community-wide program? He is very hands-on and helpful – especially for any company looking into customer acquisition.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Mark Zuckerberg, while still in school, tested the viability of his “ FaceMash ” technology as a business by rolling it out to other students at Harvard as customers. He learned quickly that several pivots were required for business, legal, and customer acceptance reasons. Take advantage of free startup programs and mentors.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Great marketing is required to generate revenue and grow every business, especially new businesses which have no brand recognition nor loyal customer base. Yet, as a business consultant, I still find many of you business leaders relying primarily on your technology, word-of-mouth , or location to attract necessary customers.

Marketing 133

Marketing Customer Custom Outsource Development 133

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2022

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Customers demand more engagement and flexibility. People-centric leaders drive ownership and engagement down to their customer-facing team members.

Coach 128

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2021

Most entrepreneur that fail are quick to offer a litany of constraints that caused their demise – not enough money, time, customers, or support from the right players. Subtraction leads to simplicity, better usability, and easier education of your customers. It allows them turn resource constraints into stunning new businesses.

Startup 164

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Competition 164

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success. Test your innovation with at least a hundred customers.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2023

They need incentives to investigate market trends and competitive actions, as well as continuous communication of the bigger picture of the business and current objectives. A single marketing coordinator can accelerate your efforts by being the coach and mentoring key members of the team on soft marketing. Give credit.

Startup 95

Startup Coach Mentor Social Media 95

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2020

In reality, their effectiveness is usually more related to how well they develop their work relationships with peers and business leaders. More importantly, we all need to develop the right relationships, and actively avoid those types that are not right for the business, or not right for our career at a particular point in time.

Mentor 135

Mentor Competition Summary Coach 135

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2022

Be sure to encompass all your constituents, especially including customers. Whole Foods , for example, has built their business with a commitment to natural and organic foods, and have a culture of loyal employees and customers, resulting in 500 stores worldwide. Foster collaboration rather than competition.

Product 109

Product Training Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2022

In my experience as an advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs in business, one of the biggest failures I see is a lack of self-leadership. Salicru details several self-leadership development strategies, which I will summarize here, that I recommend for practice by every aspiring entrepreneur. Values are your most valuable assets.

Capital 114

Capital Coach Satisfaction Ideas 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2021

As a mentor, I’m regularly frustrated by people who try to cover their lack of confidence with ego and arrogance , rather than working on the base issue. Show that others are an inspiration, not competition. Develop a mindset of self-worth and ability to adapt. Never degrade others, including competitors.

Mentor 174

Mentor Satisfaction Competition Marketing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2023

Every business organization, large or small, has a variety of individual and team member types that factor into your ability to innovate and change the business to meet evolving customer needs and competition. Coach: force for stability and mentoring. As a result, these people often end up disheartened.

Coach 96

Coach Ideas Mentor Organization 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2022

Every business owner I know wishes that all team members were leaders, to proactively tackle the challenges of growth , interact effectively with customers on their needs, and eventually step into your role. Are you sure you know what to look for, or how to develop potential ? Focus on team members who develop relationships.

Customer 110

Customer Custom Coach Organization 110

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2019

Yet in today’s competitive and rapidly changing world, top notch sales and marketing skills are critical to the success of every business. Everyone inside your company, as well as potential customers, needs to be inspired by your message before they believe it. Stand tall - keep your fears and doubts to yourself.

Mentor 90

Mentor Startup Sales Examples 90

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. It’s the same for customers and products, where analytics have long proven their value.

Tool 121

Tool Statistics Entrepreneur Metrics 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed.

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2022

The first electric bulb was actually invented by Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, who demonstrated the concept, but gave up trying to develop a practical product after only three attempts. She is a former Fortune 50 executive and innovation thought leader who developed her own actionable system to overcome obstacles.

Startup 122

Startup Satisfaction Summary Coach 122

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2022

In my years of mentoring entrepreneurs, a problem I have seen too often is low self-esteem, and over-compensating through arrogance and ego. These entrepreneurs find it hard to respect customers or team members, and their ventures usually fail. Identify and redirect unhealthy competition and comparisons.

Startup 101

Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

Organization 92

Organization Incubator Startup Resource 92

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2020

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I often feel the frustration of someone trying to build a startup in the wrong place and time, and wrongly attributing their struggle to personal limitations. You need partners, mentors, and investors who can complement your own resources to make it a win-win for all involved.

Resource 131

Resource Startup Capital Mentor 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2021

Practice developing a business plan. Offer to help a couple of customers free, just to get your act together and your presence known. It will definitely show off your energy and vision, and will make you a more competitive candidate for any role. It shows everyone you are serious, and limits your liability on any mistakes.

Startup 156

Startup Social Network Activity Ideas 156

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

Innovative technologies require iterative development, while other ideas are primarily marketing and financial. Assess who you can get for value and mentoring. These relationships must be nurtured over time, balanced against your personal life, and grow to include major customers, competitors, and potential acquirers.

Startup 94

Startup Ideas Metrics Entrepreneur 94

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2019

Image via Wikipedia The challenge for all of us in business is to improve competitiveness by improving employee productivity and reducing costs. Sometimes this means working on less defined tasks, raising their level of autonomy, or requiring the development of new skills. Focus on role enrichment, not more work.

Tips 96

Tips Satisfaction Training Mentor 96

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up. The world today never stands still.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

Resource 159

Resource Startup Incubator Seed Funding 159

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

In the short term you need customers to find you at any price, and in the longer term you need revenue, profit, and return loyalty. That keeps people from pushing themselves to develop the kind of new solutions that will permanently change the business for the better, versus short-term band-aids.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

You need to build business relationships with partners, team members, investors, and of course customers. Asking someone to be your mentor is not a sign of weakness, and most mentors love to help. Develop and practice your business vision and story. Turn existing connections into productive relationships.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Here are some key strategies that I recommend to every worker today: Develop and highlight your competitive differentiation. Today, customers and future managers put a higher value on relationships, and expect to know you from industry conferences, social media, or recommendations from peers. Develop the courage to move on.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2022

This is a tough challenge for every coach and mentor. Embrace the real you as your competitive advantage. The support currently provided by product service can become inadequate to satisfy new customers, as your growth and image becomes better known. Accept the fact that authenticity is necessary for leadership effectiveness.

Entrepreneur 90

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Coach Mentor 90

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2019

In my role as a small business consultant and mentor to many entrepreneurs, I recommend the following key considerations for the best strategy to pursue for outside funding, if you choose not to fund the business yourself: Consumer products and trends need market validation. Business-to-business products need professional investors.

Funding 119

Funding Startup Platform Examples 119

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2019

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Customers demand more engagement and flexibility. People-centric leaders drive ownership and engagement down to their customer-facing team members.

Coach 94

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 94