5 Reasons Why Your Business Idea Will Never Take Flight

Dogs Don

How To Make Sure Your Business Idea Will Fail We've all heard the saying that ideas are a dime a dozen. Guess what?  Cliches are often true. The hard part about an idea is the execution, the implementation, the acting upon that idea and bringing it to reality.  There are many reasons why business ideas never see the light of day.  Some are obvious and some are not so obvious.  You launched too late in an already over-saturated market. Or, you launched too early and the market wasn't ready for your offering. Here is one that makes me cringe.  Your idea doesn't pencil out --- as in, it's a « Continue »

How To Keep Customers Coming Back

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CARE About Them I used to work in the real estate industry and for many years the Brokers held the keys to the kingdom, meaning that only THEY had access to the listings. Today, the power lies in the hands of the customer with access to mountains of information on the internet.  Yes, the business world is continuing to change at lightening speed. With information being indexed, categorized, organized, systematized, ranked, tweeted, posted, podcast, videoed, etc., it is the customer who now sits on the almighty throne with access to all this data. Not a day goes by that I don't receive a « Continue »

Book Review: Rework is Redefining How We Build a Business

Rework, 37 Signals, and 3 Million Customers Rework is a  powerful reminder of the importance of keeping things simple as you grow your business. I  read Rework in 2 hours, which tells you how easy of a read it is.  It is written by Jason Fried and David Hansson founders of 37 Signals. 37 Signals has over 3 million people using their software. Perhaps you have heard of Basecamp and Highrise, a couple of their most popular online software tools. Keeping Business Simple I had the good fortune to meeting Jason in person earlier this year at the SXSW interactive media conference in Austin « Continue »

Is It A Good Idea To Be Business Partners With Your Spouse?

Chuck and Brenda Horton at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort April 2010

About eighteen months ago, Hware's business model was redesigned and I became a business partner with my spouse, Chuck.  While our business relationship is young, we have nevertheless been together as a couple for nineteen years. Being familiar with each other's idiosyncrasies has prepared me for a journey of perseverance and patience. Let's face it, there is no denying it. It is HARD, especially if you have two people like me and Chuck, who are long-time entrepreneurs; and whom neither one of us ever seem to be lacking with opinions about how we should go about building the business.  Yet, « Continue »