If you are midcareer and have run things (divisions, projects, and so forth) in larger companies, like I have in my career, and feel they will serve you well in trying your hand at being a true entrepreneur—you are half right. While these skills and experiences will serve you well, they are quite different than […]
“Do what you love, and you never work a day in your life.” Every successful entrepreneur and every single book on the topic of ‘what’ to start your business in will recite this quote—and they’re right. The problem for me was that I never really knew how to filter what I loved to do. I did not […]
Read More… from Three Filters For Testing Your Business Idea
Sometimes you are so close to the business/issue that you need an outside perspective—a mentor. Finding a mentor (or two) who can bring some skills and experience to your situation can be helpful. While you might be fortunate enough to find a mentor who is willing to mentor you for free, you may also find […]
Here is the ONE question I advise you to ask at the end of every sales meeting, NO MATTER how successful you think the meeting was: “This all sounds quite positive, but let me ask you, is there anything that you foresee happening that would stop you from signing a contract to move forward?” Once you ask […]
Read More… from The Magic Question To Ask At The End Of Every Sales Meeting
In preparing to publish my first book, I found myself searching for a better subtitle than The Five Phases to Becoming a Midcareer Entrepreneur. While I liked the rubric of five phases, I found that using it as a working title was, quite frankly, boring. Recognizing that I was too close to the project and […]
Read More… from What It Means To Be Stuck In The Middle Seat
If you email a proposal that was not asked for, you can expect either a quick no or a prolonged no-answer (silence). My main goal in this quick blog is to share some real-life learnings and thoughts on providing written business proposals, as they might be a very important part of your success. For the […]
Read More… from Providing Written Business Proposals: Dos And Don’ts
I started a business after being in the working world almost twenty years. While I always nurtured ideas, had a few side-hustle starts and stops, and had a file in my home desk drawer labeled “Start Your Own Business,” I did not go for it until I was 40 years old and unemployed! Let me […]
It’s easy to get caught up in the quest to be the “next” big and famous entrepreneur. It’s sometime easy to think that an idea has the potential to be the next big business, APP or movement? The fact is there are few-and-far-between next-big ideas, and most entrepreneurial efforts take time to learn, craft and […]
I won’t belabor the fact that there are very few early twenty-something entrepreneurs like Zuckerberg, Gates, and Bezos … I hope you know that. And I won’t totally discourage you if you want to start a business right out of university. That said, if you are going to start a business (especially a professional services […]
Read More… from Midcareer Is A Great Time To Become An Entrepreneur
The catchword for adapting your business idea is “pivot”. I sort of hated this word years ago because I interpreted it as bending to whichever way the business-winds were blowing. I actually have grown to like it though, but the pivot has to be within reason. The idea here is that you come to market […]
Read More… from Adapting Your Business Idea… Nobody Gets It Right From The Start