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This Jewelry Store Boosts its Holiday Traffic with Google My Business
Werkheiser Jewelers began serving the Lehigh Valley with custom design, restoration and repair in 1992. Employees take pride in fine jewelry sales, creating custom jewelry—including wedding bands and engagement rings—and in restoring cherished family heirlooms. They have a laid-back, customer-oriented shop where you’ll be greeted with a smile—and maybe even by one of their dogs....
The Undeniable Power of Honesty (and How it Can Make Your Pizza Taste Better)
Why don’t people do the “honest” thing? Mostly, it’s because they’re afraid. Afraid, somehow, that the truth will hurt. And it does... except that, in retrospect, honesty is always the best policy. We know that because we have another phrase that we repeat to ourselves throughout our lives, which is, “the truth always comes out.”...
The Naming Book: A Lesson in Branding from Evol Foods
The following is excerpted from "The Naming Book: 5 Steps to Creating Brand and Product Names that Sell" by Brad Flowers and is reprinted with permission of Entrepreneur Media, Inc. ©2020 by Entrepreneur Media, Inc. All rights reserved. It may go without saying, but, yes, the name of a business is pretty important. It is the...
GoDaddy’s State of Entrepreneurship Study Shows Millennials are Leading the Pack in 2020
It's inspiring to reflect on how the state of business has evolved over the years. There has been a generational shift in how people are approaching their career paths. For many, working for one company until retirement is becoming less popular as more and more people are choosing to become their own boss. At GoDaddy,...
How Google Transformed This Party Planner’s Business
As a single parent, Gladys Hurtado worked several jobs throughout her son’s childhood to ensure that they always had a secure income. One of those jobs was as a manager at a banquet hall. When her son graduated from college, she took a risk and turned her 14 years of event-coordination experience into Everything For...
Why Two Marines Moving is One of the Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America
Nick Baucom served his country honorably for six years as a U.S. Marine. When he came home, he wanted a way to keep his fellow veterans gainfully employed and away from the challenges of adjusting to civilian life. He founded Two Marines Moving in 2008 to give Virginia businesses and residents a moving option they...
How HalloweenCostumes.com Boosts its Business with Google
The Fallenstein kids were the envy of their neighborhood, thanks to mother Jenice’s creative, homemade Halloween costumes. In 1992, sisters Lisa, Heather, and Julie started renting out their old costumes from their garage. Brother Tom joined in part-time while studying computer science in college. After graduation, he decided to scare up new business by selling...
Girls Who Code: Building Opportunities Out of Obstacles
The following is excerpted from "Legacy in the Making" by Mark Miller and Lucas Conley, p.19-26 (McGraw-Hill Education 2018). Reshma Saujani isn’t fazed by failure; she’s inspired by it. The founder of Girls Who Code, a nonprofit on a mission to equip girls with computing skills, and the author of "Women Who Don’t Wait in...
Harry Barker Shares its Secret to Double-Digit Annual Growth
New York fashion model and Broadway fire-eater Carol Perkins began hand sewing dog beds, robes and toys while recovering from a life-threatening brain tumor. “She was homebound and looking for a positive distraction,” marketing director, Sarah Lovingood, says. “She started caring for her neighbor’s dogs while they were away and noticed their old, tattered dog...
How This Law Firm Bootstrapped its Way to Success
John Pascoe is the founder of the Pascoe Law Firm, a dual-practice law firm in the Houston area that specializes in car, truck, and motorcycle accidents. Instead of keeping up with the “Joneses” of other large local law firms, Pascoe focuses on providing excellent customer service rather than outspending competitors. Starting out Why did you...
Who or What is Your Brand’s Nemesis? A McLaren Case Study
The following is adapted from "Wild Thinking" by Nick Liddell and Richard Buchanan ©2019 and reproduced with permission from Kogan Page Ltd. StartupNation reader exclusive! Save 20 percent on the book with code WILDCARD20 at www.koganpage.com Marty Neumeier is a big fan of picking fights. “Zag” is his recipe book for making brands radically different, and in...
How This Detroit Startup Built a Company to Keep Athletes Safer
“A relentless pursuit to protect athletes” is what drives Xenith, an industry leader in football helmet technology. Before Xenith, decades passed with only minimal innovation in helmet design, president Ryan Sullivan says. The company’s mission, he adds, is to “develop the most advanced protective equipment, from helmets to shoulder pads and other accessories.” They proudly...
Pie Junkie Uses Google to Bring Customers in for a Slice
For Oklahoma moms Darcy Schein and Leslie Coale-Mossman, business began with one homemade pie at a time. "Leslie and I started out just spending time cooking for our kids," Darcy says. "We quickly figured out that we had a lot of friends who wanted help in the kitchen. So in 2010, we started a small...
How the Eco-Friendly Natural Baby Company Achieved 32 Percent Annual Growth
When Kim Ormsby was pregnant with her second child, she realized how difficult it was to shop for organic baby products. “There was no physical place to buy cloth diapers or wooden toys, and even online stores were pretty nonexistent,” she recalls. Kim launched The Natural Baby Company out of her home on Earth Day...
How This Entrepreneur Made Monday the Happiest Day for Employees
Shaun Savage is the founder and CEO of GoShare, a company that considers itself “your friend with a truck.” GoShare connects truck and van owners with businesses and people who need help with moving or delivering on demand. Currently, the company offers services in 12 markets across the country. GoShare is growing fast and looks...
How a European Startup Increased Revenue by 14,315 Percent
Let’s be honest, the mattress business may not seem like the most fascinating niche in the startup world; especially at a time when industries like technology and tourism are transforming so quickly. But statistics show an undeniably interesting story about a mattress company called Emma, recently confirmed as the fastest growing startup in Europe. How...
What Airbnb, Uber and Etsy Can Teach You About Acquiring Your First Thousand Customers
The following is excerpted from "Unlocking the Customer Value Chain: How Decoupling Drives Consumer Disruption" Copyright © 2019 by Thales S. Teixeira. Published by Currency, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Let’s consider how Airbnb acquired its first one thousand customers. In 2008, three friends—Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk—were living in San Francisco...
UrbanStems Delivers Fresher Flowers and Better Customer Experience
Long-distance relationships can be tough, especially if the flowers you send your loved one arrive dried and dead. Massive overhead costs and a disjointed business model mean that huge, multi-national florists can't always guarantee consistent quality, undermining the impact of a loving gesture. After experiencing this firsthand, Ajay Kori and Jeff Sheely saw an opportunity...
4 Signs Your Business is Growing Too Fast and What to Do About It
A growing business is a great thing, and it is what we all strive for. Rapid growth can also be a pandora’s box of problems. Daniel Lubetzky, founder and CEO of KIND Snacks, knows the pains of entrepreneurial ups and downs. In a FastCompany interview, Lubetzky said: “Fast growth can hide a lot of weaknesses...
The Gen Z Frequency: Content Strategies and Marketing Tips
The following is excerpted from "The Gen Z Frequency: How Brands Tune in and Build Credibility" by Gregg Witt. First published in the U.S. in 2018 by Kogan Page Limited. All rights reserved. Perhaps the most important content goals, when marketing to Gen Z, is to attract and keep their attention, and help them look...