Tag: start-ups

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Is there such a thing as a perfect business?

(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)
(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)

A few weeks ago I had breakfast with an old friend and asked him about a friend of his who had for many years searched for the “perfect business”. I was curious whether this business person had found the “perfect” business. My friend said that his friend had been successful at a small manufacturing business for several years until he went to live elsewhere and left the business to be run by a manager. Trouble happened with the manager and eventually the business had to close down. His friend is now trying to restart the business. Continue reading “Is there such a thing as a perfect business?”

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What else can you do in your start-up or small business this month to improve performance and profitability

(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)
(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)

I was with an entrepreneur recently discussing ways in which he could improve his business in 2015. One of the ideas that I had suggested for 2014 had worked well for him. It involved a method to help reduce his inexperienced staff from making errors. This one idea alone has helped save him time, money and frustration.

But you don’t need to have goals only for the whole year. You can also have goals for the month ahead in which you try to increase performance, better manage your finances and attract new customers. Continue reading “What else can you do in your start-up or small business this month to improve performance and profitability”

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Is creativity enough?

good ideas and problems - morning session brai...
good ideas and problems – morning session brainstorming (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Have you ever participated in a so-called “brainstorming session”? What has been your experience? If you have walked away from a brainstorming session feeling that there were some good ideas put forward but you sincerely doubt that they can be implemented, you are not alone.

The problem with brainstorming sessions is that many ideas are generated but how many of them are implemented. You see, often people who attend these kind of meetings come up with ideas as a sort of “public relations”. They wish to get noticed. But have they thought through their ideas and will they implement them?

Continue reading “Is creativity enough?”

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An often ignored way to ignite creative sparks

(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)
(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)

A young entrepreneur with a start up came to me recently to discuss how he could improve and grow his business. Like many other start-up entrepreneurs, he had been struggling to come up with new ideas and new approaches to solving problems and challenges in improving his value proposition to potential customers.

We spoke about many areas of his business, his customers and the market for about two hours. When we finished we had drawn up a brief checklist of actions he needed to follow up.

Continue reading “An often ignored way to ignite creative sparks”

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Without this, you won’t get your new business idea to fly

(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)
(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)

A small business owner has been running his service business for more than two decades and now wants to chuck it up and go into a niche in the tourism sector. It’s a promising new business idea which he has been working on for the past two years.

But will he ever get it off the ground?

There is a huge difference between coming up with a promising new business idea and implementing it. Virtually anyone can do some personal brainstorming and can come up with some promising new business ideas. But probably only one in 10 – or it could be far less – have the commitment to follow through. Without implementation, there is no innovation. Continue reading “Without this, you won’t get your new business idea to fly”

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How do you stare reality in the face and admit your mistakes (before the sheriff rocks up to collect and sell your motor vehicle, furniture and property)?

Failure (song)
Failure (song) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s not pleasant talking about failure. But if you want to start something you love, something that matters or to build a side income you have to be dead honest with yourself.

An article recently gave a brutally honest account of 33 start-ups that died and what the founders gave as explanations for the failure. This was straight-talking honesty that didn’t pull any punches. The reasons for failure are warnings for anyone who wants to come up with a new business idea and turn it into a product or service. Continue reading “How do you stare reality in the face and admit your mistakes (before the sheriff rocks up to collect and sell your motor vehicle, furniture and property)?”

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How do you find your best ideas for a start-up?

A woman in a bikini at a Beauty pageant 7 Marc...
A woman in a bikini at a Beauty pageant . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A student completing her law degree and her fellow student studying Spanish and finance have started a venture to sell dance shoes.

There is a new trend among the generation of millennials who say they don’t want to limit themselves and aren’t afraid to take risks as they start their own businesses different from their formal studies, according to a recent report.

Many have watched their parents lose their jobs during economic downturns and don’t dream of climbing the one-track corporate path. They have discovered the reality that job security is a lie, said a coach who helps students to start up their own businesses. “Millennials are really looking for meaning and purpose,” she said.

How did these two graduates find their idea for dancing shoes? Continue reading “How do you find your best ideas for a start-up?”

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What prevents you from starting something of your own?

BOOK 2 FLAT jpg cropped

What separates the doers from the talkers when it comes to implementing new business ideas?

Sometimes it could just be that some people like the idea of talking about an idea that they want to implement but never get around to doing something about it. Others may justifiably be uncertain about whether they could really pull off starting something of their own or from scratch. Yet others may not be able to handle the uncertainty that comes with entrepreneurship.

Take one would-be small business person who has a number of sideline activities yet has a brilliant idea for a food business but talks about it all the time. Yet he’s never actually taken one step towards starting the business that he believes has a strong potential market. It’s not that he’s lazy. It’s just that when you remind him of the reality of what he needs to do to start such a business, he backs off. Continue reading “What prevents you from starting something of your own?”

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How do you cope with uncertainty in coming up with a new product or service?

The Uncertainty Principle (The Spectacular Spi...
The Uncertainty Principle (The Spectacular Spider-Man) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An existing business owner needs to handle uncertainty: cash flow, keeping essential staff skills, supply cost increases and even power cuts to name just a few. For the start-up founder or someone starting something from scratch the level of uncertainty can be much higher. How do you as a start up business person handle high levels of uncertainty? Continue reading “How do you cope with uncertainty in coming up with a new product or service?”

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Are you experimenting enough?

(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)
(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)

You know what it’s like when you get a new smart phone. Once you’ve got the phone connected to the cellular network and tried to figure things out without the manual, you start looking for the smart phone apps. You might download a few of the apps and even buy one or two that you think will be useful or provide entertainment.

Flip forward a few months and you have not used many of those apps and wish the ones that you had bought you could claim a refund for. Some smart phones do provide an app refund but you have to request within 15 minutes of paying for it. Others offer refunds but it’s a hassle to go through the rigmarole to claim back your money. Continue reading “Are you experimenting enough?”