Category Archives: Finding your ideal niche

A heartbreaking story about time and money.

First, think about your time as money! We’ll get to my heartbreak in a minute. But first… There is a relationship between timeand money that is more complex than most managers think.  Fixed overhead for salaries, rent, equipment leases and … Continue reading

Posted in Depending upon others, Finding your ideal niche, Protecting the business, Raising money | 3 Comments

Are you meeting your customer’s expectations?

First customers are critical. Greatly exceed expectations at all costs. There is so much history behind this insight, and so many stories that illustrate this point.  Your first customers for any product or service form your reference base, the important … Continue reading

Posted in Finding your ideal niche, The fight for quality | 1 Comment

Have you found your “teacher customer?”

 Your customers know what they want more than you do.  Find one to teach you. This week’s insight came from personal experience and from a good friend who advanced the notion of the “teacher-customer” years ago.  I internalized this phrase, … Continue reading

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Everything changes from concept to release.

You can take this headline as a rule, not an exception.  You’ll recognize the truism, “No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy” first stated by German Field Marshall von Moltke in the 19th century. This variant of the … Continue reading

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Is your product ready for your market?

You might be here: You have a great new product or service that you and your associates love.  Early adopters should climb all over each other for a look. But are you HERE? But what have you done to test … Continue reading

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Ouch! If I had only learned this before losing millions!

Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. I love absolutes – statements with no wiggle room for gray-area responses.  Well, here is one of those, and it deals with market research first and foremost. … Continue reading

Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Growth!, Protecting the business | 3 Comments

So, what’s the plan?

It’s time to speak of some sort of business plan.   As a professional investor in early-stage companies, I have long discounted long, detailed business plans in favor of a concise “executive summary” followed by a believable spreadsheet-based financial forecast … Continue reading

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Can you guess 10 tests for your success?

Your success must be based upon data that is solid and sometimes flexible enough to pass several critical tests if it is to guide a business enterprise to greatness.  Here in brief are ten tests for your business success.  Try … Continue reading

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How are you at setting your goals?

We’ve spent several weeks discussing your vision for success, and whether you could be the next Ford, Jobs or Musk.  Now it’s time to make this more tangible, more real – by attaching personal goals to this vision we’ve created … Continue reading

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Is it YOU or your great plan?

So, what do you think is more important? There may be more choices here. But the most important ones for any size business, including start-ups, is: Do you believe it should be the quality of your management team, or the … Continue reading

Posted in Depending upon others, Finding your ideal niche, Growth!, Raising money | 1 Comment