Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2012

Porter proposed his Five Forces framework for analyzing the competitive environment which I think makes even more sense today. Every existing business, as well as every startup, needs to reassess their product or service in the context of these five forces: Intensity of competitive rivalry. Way back in 1979, Michael E.

Competition 94

Competition Startup Pricing Framework 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2010

Due in large part to the current economy and an ultra-competitive job market, a Gen-Y entrepreneurial tsunami is already upon us. And today, more than 2,000 colleges and universities offer entrepreneurship courses – up from the just 70 schools that Boomers and Gen-X had to choose from in 1970. Experience vs. Escape.

Competition 96

Competition Startup Technical Review IBM 96

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2021

Unfortunately, these goals are often mutually exclusive, and focusing on the wrong ones won’t bring you that business success and satisfaction you crave. Timing is critical for every startup. Of course, if you wait for the perfect time, you may never start. Should I start out alone, or assemble a team first?

Startup 159

Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur Equity 159

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs. Several good discussions take a whole chapter in the classic book “ Mind Your Business: Thoughts for Entrepreneurs ,” by international entrepreneur Toine Knipping: Investors favor startups that integrate social responsibility.

Startup 149

Startup Organization Customer Custom 149

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2023

In this context, even “satisfied” is only a “meets-minimum,” and does not put you ahead of your competition. With pervasive access to social media, customers no longer differentiate poor product repair and replacement from a poor shopping experience or customer usage satisfaction. Make sure non-contact experiences match face-to-face.

Competition 109

Competition Services Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2023

Porter proposed his Five Forces framework for analyzing the competitive environment which I think makes even more sense today. Every existing business, as well as every startup, needs to reassess their product or service in the context of these five forces: Intensity of competitive rivalry. Way back in 1979, Michael E.

Competition 88

Competition Startup Framework Pricing 88

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

This is part of my ongoing posts on Startup Advice. The world has changed much since I started my first company in 1999. Tim started to change our processes. Tim encouraged us to set up a blog and start talking openly about what we were doing as a company and inviting comments. Back then it seemed foreign.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

New business models that provide an ongoing revenue stream, or a secondary stream from advertising, raise your margins and can give you some additional satisfaction. Watch that patent provide a real barrier to competitive entry. This may also be the moment when you get your first big acquisition offer, rather than a clone appearing.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Customer Custom 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2020

For all entrepreneurs, starting a business is the route to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” no matter how risky. Personal satisfaction also ranked close behind, with 70 percent of respondents claiming it was a key advantage to running their own business. With a startup there are no rules, until you make them.

Entrepreneur 122

Entrepreneur Startup Satisfaction Competition 122

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Yet the average perception of customer experience has not improved.

Startup 154

Startup Training Customer Custom 154

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. You have no shelf life, so you can’t make money while you sleep.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2020

New business models that provide an ongoing revenue stream, or a secondary stream from advertising, raise your margins and can give you some additional satisfaction. Watch that patent provide a real barrier to competitive entry. This may also be the moment when you get your first big acquisition offer, rather than a clone appearing.

Satisfaction 174

Satisfaction Customer Custom Outsource 174

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

One of the most stressful and unanticipated challenges that comes with starting a new business is hiring and managing employees. While this approach appears to cost more on the surface, it often actually costs you less, when you consider the hidden costs of rework, poor customer satisfaction, employee management, and training required.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

One of the key sections of any business plan is the analysis of the competition. I especially love the ones that start and end by saying “We don’t have any competitors.” Investors take that to mean either 1) there is no market for your product, or 2) you don’t understand the concept of business and competition.

Startup 86

Startup Competition Pricing Framework 86

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2020

Having the best solution is a good start these days, but a solution alone is no longer enough to keep customer attention and loyalty. Start with feedback from real customers, set measurable objectives, and make sure rewards and incentives are tempered by customer experiences, rather than only internal thresholds.

Customer 168

Customer Custom Services Startup 168

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Track competition to stay ahead of copycats. Don’t wait for negative momentum to alert you to new competition – recovery is much more difficult than proactively making focused changes to retain customer loyalty and repeat business. Your long-term success and satisfaction depends on it.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep. A good fight in business is called healthy competition. Check all your emotions at the gate.

Startup 106

Startup Case Study Entrepreneur Competition 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2022

As with most investors and advisors, I always look first at some key personal characteristics and leadership strategies that I find often make you a more likely survivor and winner in the highly competitive world of businesses, both new and mature. In my view, too many businesses fail, simply because founders give up too early.

Startup 143

Startup Competition Coach Satisfaction 143

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. Some startups do nothing to prepare for the due diligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 152

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2015

Social media is so pervasive in today’s world that every entrepreneur believes instinctively that they know how to use it for their startup. Many soon find that what you do in a personal context doesn’t necessarily translate to your business, and measuring business value is quite different from measuring personal satisfaction.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Startup Tips 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2013

Porter proposed his Five Forces framework for analyzing the competitive environment which I think makes even more sense today. Every existing business, as well as every startup, needs to reassess their product or service in the context of these five forces: Intensity of competitive rivalry. Way back in 1979, Michael E.

Startup 80

Startup Framework Competition Pricing 80

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2013

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. Some startups do nothing to prepare for the due diligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 97

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

In my experience with startups, that is still necessary, but not sufficient. This book is focused on strategic customer support jobs in every company, but I believe the hiring rules apply equally well to every job in a startup, since customer focus has to be pervasive from the beginning in modern new companies.

Startup 135

Startup Customer Custom Tool 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2013

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Know your customers intimately. Involve, empower, and inspire.

Customer 92

Customer Custom Startup Services 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. This is the first business process that every startup needs, that I wouldn’t expect to find for a hobby. Managing to specific goals, priorities, and a plan. Solution development and delivery.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2012

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. Some startups do nothing to prepare for the due diligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves.

Technical Review 98

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Training 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2011

For all entrepreneurs, starting a business is the route to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” no matter how risky. Personal satisfaction also ranked close behind, with 70% of respondents claiming it was a key advantage to running their own business. With a startup there are no rules, until you make them.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Startup Satisfaction Competition 95

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 29, 2013

I’m sure you can think of better examples, but here are some comments that we have all heard from people who are trying to avoid accountability before the fact, who are setting themselves up for failure: “I’d love to start a new company, but nobody will invest in me.” Exceeding customer expectations is my competitive advantage.” “I

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Outsource Satisfaction 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above.

Startup 130

Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 130

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2010

Related reasons, like personal satisfaction also ranked close behind, with 70% of respondents claiming it was a key advantage to running their own business. This indicates that lifestyle and satisfaction factors are often more important than financial ones. With a startup there are no rules, until you make them.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Startup Competition 92

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Most of you business professionals that I know have at least thought about or talked about starting their own business, to get more control, make more money, or to get more satisfaction out of their life. As a mentor to young aspiring entrepreneurs , I often get asked for tips on a strategy to get started.

Startup 114

Startup Tips Coach Satisfaction 114

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2020

Most entrepreneurs start from a base of one or two co-founders, and their vision and focus is on developing an innovative solution, rather than developing people. They do believe it can be accomplished, with the six specific steps paraphrased here: Culture starts by thinking different and thinking big at the top. Marty Zwilling.

Organization 160

Organization Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction 160

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2013

But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs. To legally facilitate startups who want to give top priority to socially conscious solutions, seventeen states, starting with Maryland in 2010, have passed legislation allowing incorporation as a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp).

Startup 101

Startup Organization Entrepreneur Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2013

This indicates that lifestyle and satisfaction factors are usually more important than financial ones. Entrepreneurs love the continuous challenges of a startup, and the satisfaction of tackling them. With a startup there are no rules, until you make them. Beat the competition. High level of excitement.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Satisfaction Study 101

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2022

Trying to do everything is a sure way to maximize stress, lower job satisfaction, and minimize productivity. I will outline here his six required activities of every successful business to get you started down the right path for you: Wonder: identify the value and need for change. I recommend that you start online to find data sources.

Activity 108

Activity Satisfaction Metrics Startup 108