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Governmentium
I'm not sure who to credit for this or where to source it from, since it seems to have suddenly appeared everywhere on the Internet and no one seems to claim authorship, but it is too good not to share -- especially in light of the fact that our government is bent on continuously expanding its •••
- October 3, 2008
Price Is Not the Problem
Given the current market conditions, it is entirely understandable why a small company might question its pricing strategy and consider lowering prices in attempts to maintain their sales volume and keep pace with a lower overall market. The article below explains why pricing is not the •••
- October 3, 2008
Lessons from Little House on the Prairie
I recently had breakfast with NVL member Don Dalrymple and really enjoyed his perspective on entrepreneurship and the Biblical mandate to take risks and work diligently as we follow God's will. Below is a recent blog post from Don about entrepreneurial lessons from Little House on the •••
- October 1, 2008
Don't Wait Too Long to Become an Entrepreneur
Good advice from a professor in the Entrepreneurial Management unit at Harvard Business School...Are you one of the many executives who'd love to leave the corporate battleship to skipper a speedy, nimble start-up? And are you using a variety of rationales for why it's not yet time to go? Reasons •••
- September 20, 2008
Expect Negative Surprises from the Seller
While it may not be statistically significant in terms of all the deals ever done, in my experience of negotiating with roughly 200 prospective sellers, signing approximately 40 letters of intent (LOIs) and acquiring about a dozen companies, I can confidently state that there were •••
- September 12, 2008
Strategies for Exceptional Business Growth
What entrepreneur does not want more growth for his business? Sometimes we need to change our thinking and our strategy to spur growth. This article extract from the Harvard Business Review examines a few different strategic frameworks for doing just that.The IdeaYou can’t outperform rivals •••
- September 8, 2008
7 Steps to Successful Cold-Calling
Any sales and marketing professional will tell you that cold-calling (calling up a customer prospect that does not know you or your business) is usually an important part of any sales and marketing strategy. But it is typically the activity that sales professionals try to avoid like the plague •••
- September 8, 2008
Wichita Christian Family Entrepreneurship Conference Report
I was blessed to participate as a sponsor and speaker at the recent Christian Family Entrepreneurship conference in Wichita where over 300 attendees learned more about entrepreneurship and building God-honoring businesses. I really enjoyed the warm hospitality of the Keith and Sherri Hayden •••
- August 29, 2008
The Blessing of Working with Our Children
Including our children in our work can be such a blessing in so many ways -- and as I found out recently -- there are additional benefits I hadn't even counted on. I recently took my seven year-old son Adam with me to the board meeting of a software company in Denver that I am involved in •••
- August 29, 2008
Equipping Sons: Lessons from David and Solomon
Most men in our generation leave their sons pretty much on their own to make their way in the world. After all, "I pulled myself up by the bootstraps, so why shouldn't my sons?", the selfish man asks, eager to hit the golf course or motor around the U.S. with the bumper sticker that proclaims •••
- August 21, 2008
Top Ten Myths of Entrepreneurship
Scott Shane is the A. Malachi Mixon Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University and is the author of seven books, the latest of which is The Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths That Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By. (For an •••
- August 14, 2008
How to Sell Services More Profitably
Have you ever noticed how value tends to migrate from products to services over time? Product costs tend to get pushed lower and lower and manufacturing goes offshore in search of the lowest-cost region of the world. Successful companies mitigate this normal trend by adding •••
- August 6, 2008
Transitioning From a Corporate Layoff to an Entrepreneur
Do you find yourself in a situation where you have recently stepped out of the corporate rat race and you are now wondering what to do next in order to build your own business? Take comfort in that you are not alone and that through prayer and seeking God's will, you can create •••
- August 6, 2008
Equipping Sons: A Father's Job
We all desire to equip our sons for the future; to equip them to be good leaders, protectors and providers. A big question among the faithful remnant is "how best to equip them?" Is it a formal academic program? Is a mentorship program? Is it online classes? As I've •••
- August 2, 2008
Guest Blog: How One Son Was Equipped by His Father
As a homeschooled graduate who entered the business sales world at age 17, there is no doubt in my mind of what was most influential in launching me at such a young age: the mentorship training of my father. During my final two years of high school – at ages 15 and 16 – my dad would take •••
- August 2, 2008
Startups: Not Just For The Young and Restless
Take heart if you are in the last half of your life: more and more of graying America is trying their hand at entrepreneurship. Check out this blog post for an example of how easy it can be for a highly-seasoned veteran to launch a new web-based startup given the tools of today's web •••
- July 30, 2008
Making the Decision (or not) to Franchise
Multi-unit organizations often turn to franchising as a way of growing their enterprise. If you've ever considered franchising, you will no doubt glean some nuggets of wisdom from the research by two Harvard Business School professors after looking at how 420 convenience store chains •••
- July 28, 2008
Investing At The Point of Maximum Pessimism
John M. Templeton was a wealthy man by the world's standards and his investment strategy in laying up treasure on earth paid off handsomely for him. Unfortunately, it would appear that he was not vested in the Kingdom of God based on this short bio piece. At least we can learn from his •••
- July 28, 2008
Understanding The Customer
The best startup ideas usually come from someone that knows an industry inside and out and recognizes and unmet need or they have the need themselves and know that no one is properly filling that need. The following story is about a disabled entrepreneur that built a company to better •••
- July 24, 2008
Monitor 110: Turning Failure into Learning
As a student of business I like to study lessons learned from failure -- my own failures as well as other's failures -- because these are the lessons that are so powerful. As I often remark, I learned very little from my smash successes, but learned nearly everything from my failures. •••
- July 24, 2008
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