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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Law of Twos is a firm law for entrepreneurs, foreshadowing the journey you are either about to take—or are currently on! This law is like gravity! You might think you can change it, or even manage it, but gravity always wins. To this day, I continue to experience this law in many aspects of new ventures. Here […]
Stephen Gerard had 20 years of corporate experience in sales, accounting, and finance under his belt when he decided to change course and become an entrepreneur at age 40. He founded his first company in 2004 and has started, invested in, and bought and sold businesses around the world ever since. His new book, Stuck in […]
Just like the fabled Bermuda Triangle, there is a ‘business’ Bermuda Triangle of emotions to watch out for. This triangle is characterized by three competing mindsets: patience, persistence, and panic all balancing on the head of a pin, floating like a marine-compass or gyroscope on a boat. They are always in motion, swaying and gyrating, […]
Getting one client is easy and potentially an anomaly (argh). Getting the second client is the start of a trend. But getting the third one is the trick. Once you have your third client, you might actually be onto something! Getting three clients comes from my start-up experiences over multiple businesses over multiple decades! This […]