Small Business
What I’m learning about sales.
As I’ve begun to sell products/services and packages I’ve come to realize how important the lesson of “The Paradox of Choice” is to selling. Take this case in point.
You have two sales man come to you to sell a widget.
Sales Person A – Tells you about 20 different things and how they can be customized [...]
New Book Idea – Market Research Something…
I am looking into a new book about market research. I have been doing so much over the past few years I thought it might be a good idea for an organized brain dump on the subject.
Basically as entrepreneurs we are always coming up with ideas for new businesses. There is always though a big [...]
Starting a business is not about home runs!
I was talking to my wife the other day and I realized without thinking about it, that starting a business is a lot like learning how to hit a baseball.
I remember back when my father was teaching me how to hit, I wanted to really really impress him and every time I tried to hit [...]
Looking for opportunity? Start with problems!
Back in 2007, I wrote of searching for a problem. It seems that in the two and a half years since, I’ve only come to this realization again; the realization that any business begins with problems, not with solutions/products.
If you are starting a business there are a few ways to decide what business to go [...]
Business Books and Personality Type
A few weeks ago I revisited the Myers Briggs personality test. Why? I am not sure, but this was something I remember taking a long time ago to find out why I think a certain way, and how I interact with others. I took three test, on one I came out as an INTP and [...]
The Introverted Entrepreneur
I don’t consider myself a hermit, I like being around people, just not all the time. But I especially like to go into my cave (basement/garage/home office) and work on a project and don’t like to be disturbed until I am either done with my project or I’ve achieved a significant milestone.
Entrepreneurship is about meeting [...]
Understanding The Market
Every time I talk to someone about starting a business or about my own business the central theme comes down to “market.” Market defined as a group of people that are your customers or your potential customers.
Fundamentally every business needs to understand their market in order to be successful. There also to be a sufficient [...]
It’s about the Individual, not The Team!
I am so tired of late hearing about how it takes great teams to succeed. Whether it’s software development, starting a business, or football, the dogma is the same: “It takes a great team to win!”. That’s baloney!
The one thing that’s often overlooked by the people preaching this non-sense is Pareto’s Law (80-20 Rule). Which [...]
The Resistance – The Reason Why You’re Stuck.
I recently read a post over at ZenHabits, that resonated with me. It was a guest post by Seth Godin which talked about a term coined by Steven Pressman, called “the resistance”.
The resistance is that little voice in the back of your head, the one that tells you that it will never work, the one [...]
Is Your Niche Too Small?
So you want to create a niche market because you read the Four Hour Workweek or are starting a business. You’ve done the following:
Listed your passions.
Listed the things your good at.
Consolidated the list and started to test.
Then you found out all the stuff you like or are good at doesn’t have the best performing indicators. [...]