Entries from BizBox Blog on Slate tagged with 'Entrepreneurship'
Broadening the Definition of 'Entrepreneur'
When you are self-employed, you are your business. And this goes even when you're not incorporated, or even when you're not really a business under any ordinary definition of the word: an independent contractor of any kind, say (like a...
The NYT's Six--Make That Five--Small Businesses
Looks like we caught the Gray Lady. One year ago, the New York Times began following six New York City entrepreneurs to see how they were coping with the recession. Six months ago, the paper of record provided an update...
Didja Hear The Cops Finally Busted Madame Marie's?
Seriously, this New York Times article on the resilience of family-owned amusement parks puts us in mind of a Bruce Springsteen song (happy sixtieth, Boss!). Certainly it's interesting, though, that even as Six Flags finds itself filing for Chapter 11,...
Ladies and Gentlement, It's Generation Y!
The Entrepreneurial Mind's Jeff Cornwall notices an interesting dynamic in American Express OPEN's latest small business survey (OPEN is our sponsor, by the way). Namely, Gen-Y entrepreneurs--so current young people--seem more likely to hire, make capital investments, and in general...
To The Entrepreneurial Manner Born?
Scott Shane over at You're The Boss takes this entrepreneurial stuff pretty seriously--so seriously that, along with a couple other scientists, he has investigated the possibility of a genetic basis for entrepreneurship. And guess what? They've found one! Basically, he...
Some Advice For The Laid-Off
The New York Times reporter with the Baby Boomer beat--nope, we're not making that up; every Sunday it publishes a column called "Generation B" all about that lovely group of folks--wrote a couple days ago about the latest fad for...
Entrepreneurs: They're Not Who You Think They Are
Via Fortune Small Business, the Kauffman Foundation just published the fascinating results of a study, revealing that, contrary to the popular image of the entrepreneur as a young, loner, working-out-of-the-garage-type--say, a Bill Gates--most entrepreneurs started out middle- or upper-lower-class, are...
Spending Tops The Problem List
Looking at the results of the National Federation of Independent Business's July small-business optimism survey, Fortune Small Business concludes that the biggest problem affecting small businesses right now is spending: specifically, the lack of it. One-third of those surveyed said...
Taking the Pulse of Your Passion
In this fourth installment of my series on what makes great entrepreneurs, we continue analyzing the nine key personality traits that I believe increase your chances of success: big dreamer; natural leader and decision maker; obsessive passion and drive;...
Opportunity in The Big Easy
In the past, we've spoken earnestly about the potential for scrappy, low-cost entrepreneurs to revitalize urban areas that have been economically decimated by years and decades of deindustrialization, whether it's Detroit or Youngstown, or even New York's financial industry, decimated...
Going To School On Starbucks's Putt
We're feeling positive this Monday morning, and so thought we'd start with a story (much like this post from a couple weeks ago) about how small businesses can actually benefit from (rather than, say, be destroyed by) big ones. Via...
Whither Entrepreneurship?
We examined this question earlier this week: comparing a pessimistic post by Scott Shane of You're The Boss and a more optimistic one by John Tozzi of The New Entrepreneur, we concluded that while traditional small business owners may be...
Starbucks and I.B.M. Help The Smaller Fish
The New York Times runs not one but two stories highlighting ways in which big and small businesses can create a symbiotic, mutually beneficial dynamic, rather than one in which they are constantly at odds. One article describes how the...
Where To Put Your Money
The New York Times runs an exceptionally smart article on the proper investment strategy the small business owner should follow in his personal life. The short answer is: a conservative one, with specific picks made by experts. The problem is...
Don't Forget To Tip Your Waiter!
The New York Times runs a cute article on certain Monday nights at Philadelphia's Helium Comedy Club. Basically, think open-mike night, except substitute bad (or, on a good night, halfway-decent) jokes and routines for some serious entrepreneurial networking. Local...
The Business Side of Business. Plus, Dry Cleaning!
A great column over at our Washington Post brother site provides a new perspective on small businesses: namely, that it's a business. What do we mean? Well, in all the talk about small businesses, and the passion involved, and...
Staying Out Of Court
Because we're never afraid to be service-y, we urge you to check out Entrepreneur's excellent guide to avoiding lawsuits, both as a small business owner and as a business. Really, is there anything you need less right now than a...
Silicon Valley Doesn't Need Investment
Via The Entrepreneurial Mind, we caught sight of this article from Silicon Valley Mercury News columnist Scott Harris. In a nutshell, the piece argues that even though venture capital and entrepreneurial investing is markedly down, innovation continues to thrive. "The...
India: Where The Entrepreneurs Are
The Washington Post (our corporate brother-publication) runs a good article on the entrepreneurs of India. It does a particularly good job at highlighting all the conflicting forces at play. On the one hand, India's projected 6% 2009 growth represents...
The Challenges of Independence
To someone who simply can't stand the thought of working for someone else anymore, striking out on your own is the most obvious and easy decision to make in the world. But the fact remains that in many practical ways,...
On Being Your Own Boss During A Pandemic
A few thoughts about being a small business owner as the H1N1 Virus--a.k.a. swine flu--dominates our consciousness this week: * Just a year ago, economists at the St. Louis Federal Reserve published a report on the economic effects of...
10 Things You Should Know Before You Launch
Few things in life are more thrilling than starting your own business venture, but we know just how overwhelming launching can be. Many--including many women--put off launching because the task seems daunting and complicated. Before you get lost in...
The Savvy of Funeral Homes
What better way to start the beginning of your week with...a story about funerals! But actually there is much to glean from the New York Times's report on the death industry, which, even in this economy, will likely grow...
Time Jumps On The Start-Up Bandwagon
We've known for some time now that the costs of starting a business can be at this point so low that pretty much anyone can do it. We frequently use developing an iPhone application as a typical example, but really,...
Of Video Games, iPhones, and Entrepreneurs
This New York Times article on the changes and flattening afoot in the video-game industry takes primarily the perspective of the established video-game companies--the Electronic Arts and Take-Twos of the world, as well as much larger corporations, such as...
Too Pooped To Produce?
In my first column, I noted that in my law practice representing business owners and my experience running businesses, it seems that entrepreneurs tend to lament, or feel sorrow or regret for, the following: o Focus. Pursuing new ideas...
This Is The Dawning Of The Age of the Entrepreneur
Like we said in the last post: would you like to bet that more than a few of the thousands, indeed hundreds of thousands, of the recently laid-off, are going to come up with exciting and important new ideas and...
Beat The Recession
Last week, we wondered whether the word "recession-proof" weren't practically non-existent. Today we'll try to be cheerier, with a look at some companies that actually are doing alright for themselves during these down times--and how you can emulate their success....
Creative Capitalism Hits The Small-Business World
Much attention has been given to this New York Times article on entrepreneurs who start businesses to do good. That is, they have goals that you would ordinarily think of as the province of non-profits, but that the entrepreneurs believe...
The Two Recessions
If you read the news, you probably believe that weʼre in a recession, bordering on a depression. Some people are fighting the news— such as those who wear buttons that say, “I refuse to participate in a recession.” Iʼm...
Entrepreneurship: The Get Out Of Jail Card
We tend to be suckers for stories about uplift and redemption, so please excuse us while we indulge that. We just came across this wonderful New York Times article on Houston's Prison Entrepreneurship Program. Basically, the lifestyle feature that just...
Welcome, New Entrepreneurs!
We don't actually know if there are any newbies to greet. But, according to the New York Times, several other outlets, and just plain common sense, the current climate of massive layoffs could actually lead to an influx of new,...
Entrepreneurship Is The New Retirement
As everyone who's read an alarmist story about America's looming entitlements crisis, or the New York Times's new Sunday column, Generation B, know, we're about to get a lot more old people. The Baby Boomers--that massive generation born in the...
It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.
Whether or not you're interested in offing the heroin dealer who tried to kil your Mafia Don father (as well as the police chief protecting him), it is very important to remember where what's business ends and what's personal...
Persistence and Experience Pay Off
The Harvard Business School and its research isn’t just for the big companies. In fact, a significant amount of research has been done in the area of entrepreneurship. New research in a just-published working paper, "Performance Persistence in Entrepreneurship"...
The Small Selling Advantage
The New York Times Business Section's weekly interview this past Saturday was with Dev Patnaik, a consultant and author of Wired To Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy. As that subheadline indicates, his idea is for companies...
Four Ways Blogging Helped Me Start My Business
We all know getting a business off the ground is a daunting task. Selecting a name, creating a business plan, and choosing services are only the beginning. There are also tax and business laws to consider, office equipment to...
Is Small Beautiful?
New York Times small business columnist Paul B. Brown has collated several pieces of advice from the blogosphere that together add up to the same thing: small business owners, both generally and especially right now in this dismal economy, should...
The Entrepreneur's Lament
Welcome to my first BizBox column about the challenges and the fun of creating and building a business. As I discussed in my Small Business Salon, in 1992, I broke free from the “golden handcuffs” of large law firms...
Six Entrepreneurs Tell Us How It's Going
We were there in October when the New York Times announced it would be following six New York-area small business owners over the next several months as they attempt to cope with the credit crunch and what we now know...
What You Should Be Reading
We'll be back full-time after the new year. For now, here's some recommended reading (and viewing): -The rise of Wonder Book and Video, a used book e-retailer, shows how a single man used the tools of the Internet to grow...
Why Down Times Are The Time To Start-Up
"Starting a business in a recession is like vacationing in the off-season," says Eric Ryan of Method Cleaning Supplies. "It's a little less crowded, and everything starts going on sale." And who doesn’t love a sale? It runs counter...
Symbiotic Business Relationships
Yesterday we discussed how now is actually a relatively opportune time to acquire another small business, if you're looking to expand, or sell, if you're looking to get out while the getting-out's possible. What we didn't discuss was the...
Obama's Pro-Entrepreneur Broadband Proposal
It was easier to be a telecommuting evangelist when oil was approaching $150/barrel, instead of, y'know, under $50/barrel. Still, its advantages--greater flexibility for employees (which is a nice enticement to get them to come work for you); lower overhead...
Ask and Ye Shall Receive
In a recent post about federal procurement problems--related to the mess in which nearly $5 billion in reported small business contracts last year actually went to some of the world's largest corporations--the owner of La Grange, Mo.-based Mark Twain...
The Potato Chip Rule, And Other Advice
MSNBC talked to two entrepreneurs, who have some very sound thoughts on how you can run your business. We won't give away what the potato chip rule is, except to say that it has to do with the gap...
Your Business As Your Investment
Here's a nice video (perfect for a Monday morning!) featuring just some generally sound small business advice. The first expert comes out of investment advising, but sees parallels between what makes a smart investor and a smart entrepreneur--which perhaps...
Keep Helping Small Business
Though we tend to be big fans of journalist and editor Michael Kinsley--he did, after all, found our sister site Slate--we're going to have to take grave issue with a post he recently wrote on The Daily Beast titled,...
The Times Follows Six Small Businesses
We have to admit, as small-business-news junkies, we're a bit excited. The New York Times has decided that how the recession, the credit crisis, and the rest affects small businesses is news fit to print, and will be following...
Socially Responsible Entrepreneurship: Now With Profits!
Entrepreneur.com runs a good article on young entrepreneurs trying to cash in on the New Big Thing: socially-conscious business. In other words, companies that aim both to do good while also very much turning a profit. Our latest BizBooks...
MSNBC On Small Businesses in the Current Economy
A lot of you out there are not feeling overly optimistic right now (it's admittedly hard to blame you). According to Discover, 51% of small business owners said their business's conditions were getting worse; Silicon Valley and its attendant...
Why Now--Yes, Now!--Is The Time For Internet Start-Ups
Here's a bit of counterintuitive advice, courtesy of Entrepreneur.com: now is the time to launch an Internet company! No, the author isn't unaware of what's been going on in the economy (although the article was published last week); and,...
The Merits of Specializing
We were going to write about the Paulson plan and its help to community banks. But the plan appears up in the air now that the U.S. House of Represenatives narrowly rejected it. So, instead we're going to talk...
Generation Entrepreneur
The New York Times carries an interview today with Patricia Martin, the author of RenGen: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer--and What It Means to Your Business. Among other things, Martin predicts that the RenGen--that's Renaissance Generation, the group...
A New Model For Investing in Start-Ups
While we're gushing about too-good-to-be-true programs for linking venture capital with start-ups or generous credit lines for small businesses, we thought we'd also praise Union Square Ventures, a VC firm profiled today in the New York Times. Hip, helpful...
Creative Destruction: How This Week's Disasters Can Help You
Boy, that New York Times piece telling entrepreneurs to "Turn Back," which we covered here, has really created a stir. The Wall Street Journal's Independent Street blog countered it; so did, at least implicitly, our own Michael Taylor; and...
Connect: Helping San Diego Stay Classy
Here's a remarkable venture: Connect, a San Diego-based nonprofit that has served as a catalyst that links start-up capital with the many burgeoning entrepreneurs in San Diego, which has increasingly been known worldwide as a hub of innovative telecom...
The Hardest Workers
According to a new Rasmussen poll, small business owners are considered harder working than CEOs, employees of big corporations, and (especially) government employees by a substantial majority. The findings: -70% think entrepreneurs work harder than those three groups. -78%...
Cash Is King: Why, Right Now, Small Is Better
Note: see BizBox's previous post for a discussion of whether the economy's dire straits are a particular advantage or disadvantage for small businesses. The financial headlines this week threaten to turn small business owners into Chicken Littles. In fairness,...
Our Lousy Economy: Good Or Bad For You?
While the awful economic news you're hearing about today doesn't directly concern any small businesses--the whole problem with the utter collapse of Lehman Brothers is its utter bigness (the fourth-largest investment bank goes bankrupt! this is not good!)--it is...
It's Time For The Weekend...
...and so it's time to play a game! But not just any game: we recommend Johnny Money, which simulates running a small business. (Register, and ignore the stuff about "Class Code".) Each month is a turn. You have to...
Winning The Hearts (And Votes) Of Small Business Owners
The New York Times runs a phenomenal article on the 16-23 million (depending on your estimate) people who own small businesses, who represent at least around 15% of registered voters. The article specifically explores what these voters would like...
The Best Places To Study Entrepreneurship
College prep agency The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur.com teamed up to publish a 2008 list of the 50 best schools for entrepreneurship--25 undergrad, 25 grad. The rankings purport to measure both the academic programs as well as the business...
Fannie and Freddie Leave The SBA In The Dust
Among the constituents of the U.S. government, “Homeowners” and “Small Business Owners” both seem to rank highly. The words evoke virtuous Americans who watch baseball, bake apple pies, and call their mothers regularly; possibly all three at the same...
Failing Upward
Two recent articles tackle one of the most ubiquitous features of the entrepreneurs' world as well as the current economy as a whole: business failure. Not to get you down, but if you're beginning a start-up, well, there's a...
You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream For...Gelato?
The New York Times reports on a newly successful class of small business: makers of gelato, that delicious, gourmet, and lower-fat alternative to ice cream honed by the Italians for years. "Gelato seems to be catching on," the Times...
What Makes an iPhone Application Awesome
We've talked about the tremendous opportunity presented by Apple's iPhone (and, soon, the T-Mobile Dream, powered by Google's Android!) for inspired entrepreneurs to design applications that can form the crux of a successful start-up. All well and good, you...
Google To Open App Floodgates For New Phones
We wrote earlier this week about the iFund, a venture capital group looking to invest in start-ups that make applications for Apple's iPhone. Noting the potential for young companies that Apple is providing, we further observed that such opportunities...
Vacation's All I Ever Wanted
David Mammano, the founder and CEO of college- and life-counseling company Next Step Publishing, has a nice post on Inc.'s Start-Up Blog about nice times: the one-month vacation he just took (in Sicily--great choice!). For wealthy higher-ups at larger...
Europe Feels The Venture Capital Chill
The New York Times reported this morning that in the 2008 second quarter, European venture capital firms invested 35% less money in 42% fewer companies than in 2007's second quarter. This is an even more dramatic decrease than the...
Now THIS Is Entrepreneurship
We wrote a post a couple of weeks ago called "Cashing In On The Campaign" advising you to take advantage of the heightened interest this year in the presidential election and in politics more broadly. But never did we...
Columbia's Nascent Small Business Program
Very cool news out of Columbia University, where some of us at BizBox used to go to college. The university's undergraduate engineering school--commonly known as SEAS--is offering a new minor in "technological entrepreneurship," beginning this year. (H/t: Bwog.) The...
The iPhone's Platform For Small Businesses
The New York Times has a report today on the so-called iFund, a $100 million venture capital project whose goal is to invest in start-ups that make applications for Apple's immensely popular iPhone. The idea is to invest somewhere...
Happy Fiftieth, Ben's!
A small business grows while staying small and retaining a core of customers who love it and a vital, organic connection to its neighborhood. Only in dreams? Nope--this week, Ben's Chili Bowl, the famed cafe on Washington, D.C.'s historic...
Fun With The Census!
Let's take a look at two different extrapolations on small businesses from recent U.S. Census reports. One of them we find legit, and troubling; the other we take issue with, and aren't as worried by. First, via Sharon McLoone...
Small Businesses: Boarding Up For the Storm
The National Federation of Independent Business has released its July survey for small business confidence and it's, er, not good. Recession-level, actually. Some specific findings: -Investments Barely one-fifth of those surveyed said they planned to make capital expenditures over...
From Small Businesses to the Olympics
Kudos and thank you to Business Week for a phenomenal feature on six U.S. Olympic athletes who say they derive much of their competitive drive from their "day job"s: running their own businesses. Some of their companies relate closely...
The Entrepreneur’s Mind: It takes Ignorance and Optimism
A few months before I started Cedarcrest Capital LLC in 2004 I sat down for lunch with a college buddy who founded E-chalk, a company which supplies a technology platform for schools to link parents, students, and teachers online. Eager...
Real Estate and Mortgage Crisis Part IV: Ways Your Small Business can Profit
If your small business generates excess cash-flow (aka profit) every year, you should know that a real estate and mortgage slump can be a great opportunity. The basic idea is that if you generate investable cash, every time an asset...
Real Estate and Mortgage Crisis Part III: Ways Small Businesses Can Get Hurt
While I don’t think most small businesses should be concerned about the housing slump and mortgage crisis, at Cedarcrest I have seen signs that some entrepreneurs will be hurt badly. One indicator is the number of businesses for sale having...
Real Estate and Mortgage Crisis Part II: The Link Between Home Ownership and Entrepreneurship
Let’s say you are a twenty-something entrepreneur just started down the road to owning your own business, and lets suppose I was your grizzled-veteran thirty-something entrepreneur adviser. Further, let’s suppose you wanted to know the #1 most important thing you...
Real Estate and Mortgage Crisis Part I: How Does This Affect My Small Business?
Every time in the last six months I have met someone new who a) Reads a newspaper, and b) Knows I own my own business, I am asked a version of the same question, namely “How does the housing slump...
The Biggest Risk
My favorite travel guide in high school and college was Lets Go: Mexico for my frequent trips South of the Border. I recall two pieces of travel advice from the guidebook: 1. Lay out the clothes and money you think...
Entrepreneurship - Is it inside everyone?
It’s a New Year. Hooray! What happened to 2006? 2006 felt like one of the fastest years on record—for me anyway. Twenty years ago, I first jumped into the entrepreneurial world. My obsessive personality wanted to learn everything. I ordered...
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