business plan Archives

How (and Why) to Continually Update Your Business Plan

“New year, new business plan.” Well, that’s not the exact saying, but in an increasingly competitive business world, it’s a nice catchphrase as we quickly approach the second month of 2020. Truthfully, you should always...

byEric Goldschein

January 27, 2020

10 Steps to Develop Your Winning Business Idea

You have an idea that you think could be a great business opportunity. You’ve run it by your friends, family and colleagues, and they all agree that this idea has merit. Now what? Before you...

byKeith Shields

January 20, 2020

5 Tips for Finally Starting Your Dream Business in 2020

Do you want to start 2020 with a bang? The beginning of the year is the perfect time to finally take the leap and open the business that you’ve always dreamed about starting. To make...

byRyan Gilmore

January 17, 2020

The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Food Truck Business

With careful planning and business acumen, epicurean entrepreneurs can make their dream of owning and operating a food truck a reality. The mobile food truck business is a more than $1 billion industry in America, with...

byAndrew Deen

January 12, 2020

How to Conduct a Financial Year-End Review

As business owners, we spend a lot of time looking to the future. Where are we headed? What are our goals for the next quarter, year or five years? What we don’t do a lot...

byGerri Detweiler

December 23, 2019

How to Prepare Your Startup for the Year Ahead

Most entrepreneurs dream big in the beginning, envisioning a company that not only meets but exceeds expectations. While the sky is the limit, you'll only make it there if you prepare yourself ahead of time...

byLexie Lu

December 11, 2019

How to Draft a Business Plan for Your Startup

You’ve determined that you have a viable business idea, and are ready to launch your startup. However, before you can begin selling your offerings or even consider incorporating the company, you’ll need to draft a...

byDeborah Sweeney

December 10, 2019

Ready to Become an Entrepreneur? Ask These 5 Questions First

Entrepreneurship, to an outsider looking in, may appear exciting and glamorous. Business owners get to set their own schedules, work at their own pace and follow their dreams. It’s so appealing that many envious individuals...

byMyCorporation

October 16, 2019

3 Tips for Starting a Business in the Hemp Industry

The hemp business is a budding industry, projected to more than double in revenue by 2022 to $2.6 billion. Since the federal ban on hemp was lifted in 2018, there has been a surge in...

byMatthew Wolf

October 12, 2019

How to Start and Fund a Coffee Shop

Coffee shops are a hot commodity, with a market value estimated at over $45 billion. America runs on caffeine, which all but ensures a demand for the product. Not only that, but a coffee shop...

byChris Motola

September 29, 2019

5 Creative Financing Tools to Kickstart Your Business

Traditional banks today aren’t typically willing to lend to startup ventures, unless you have a stellar track record and money already in the bank. Only 30 percent of businesses are bank-funded, according to Linda Jenkins,...

byMarcia Layton Turner

September 5, 2019

Think it Through: The First 3 Steps to Business Planning

The following is adapted from “Think it Thru: Business Planning,” available at select bookstores and on Amazon. The book has a corresponding Learning Management System (LMS) with additional tools and resources. "Think it Thru" proceeds...

byLaura Guillaume

August 6, 2019

5 Tips for Building a Scalable Startup from the Start

When it comes to starting a business, tasks like creating a product, assembling your team and chasing investments is challenging enough. Launching a startup, and making the transition from small, bright-eyed entrepreneur to a larger,...

byIan Clark

June 16, 2019

5 Steps to Take Before Making Your Side Hustle Your Main Gig

Starting up a side hustle has become easier than ever. Between the explosion of opportunities in the gig economy and the plethora of tools and resources now available to facilitate remote work, Statista reports an...

byBruce Hakutizwi

April 24, 2019

7 Steps to Starting a Side Hustle While Working Full Time

People with an entrepreneurial mindset often find themselves toying with an idea for a business that they can start up while still working their day job. Continuing to work your full-time gig while starting up...

byMeredith Wood

April 8, 2019

What It Takes to Start a Subscription Box Company

Subscription boxes are experiencing tremendous growth and popularity, and are also becoming increasingly competitive. According to a Forbes article, in April 2017, subscription company websites had about 37 million visitors. With approximately 5.7 million subscription...

byPhil Bagdasarian

April 8, 2019

How to Prepare Before Pitching Your Business to Investors

Several years ago, I was trying to raise capital for my business. I spent months working with a particular venture capitalist. After months of runaround, we ultimately got nowhere with the VC. Emails went unanswered...

byAustin Stofer

March 5, 2019

Show Me the Money: 5 Myths Keeping You From Getting Funded

Imagine you were an investor in 1977 when the average computer filled a room almost the size of an auditorium and was used only by large corporations. Then, imagine if two young technologists came to...

byK. Shelly Porges

February 4, 2019

Starting From Scratch: Advice From Real Entrepreneurs on Starting Your Own Business

Imagine this: You’re sitting at your desk at work, staring aimlessly out the small window above your desk that looks out into the parking lot. Just kidding, you don’t have a window! Anyways, you’re staring,...

byBruce Hakutizwi

October 26, 2018

How to Benefit From Your Fear of Entrepreneurial Failure

Failure. It’s a loaded word in the startup world. Eric Ries told founders to fail fast in his quintessential book, "The Lean Startup." Other entrepreneurs swear that failure is what led to their ultimate success. And yet,...

bySusan Guillory

October 17, 2018