Beginning Business Blog

W orking with prospective entrepreneurs that lack management training or experience has its joys, one of which is helping them develop a mindset that can lead them and their businesses to success. Mindset includes, to my way of thinking, learning to think like a business owner, keeping a rough P&L and Balance Sheet running in the mind, learning to think about their business as do their customers and prospective customers, learning to evaluate opportunity, how to capture it and use it to build their business without wasting time over analyzing the situation. Mindset involves attitude as well as skills, so in the workshops I lead, students spend time learning simple but useful attitude management practices based on the latest science. According to researchers PhD student John-Erik Mathisen and Associate Professor Jan Ketil Arnulf at BI Norwegian Business School, increased formal competence (business education) affects the mindset of people who are interested in becoming an entr...

Having worked in advertising and direct response for most of my career, I am very aware of how difficult it is to create an effective promotional piece.  It's about one half science and one half trial and error. So when a new science based technique is introduced that offers to increase response by a whopping 15%, professionals in the field sit up and take notice.  To put this in perspective, through dint of effort we were able to increase response by one or two percent, that was a major accomplishment.  Five percent and our clients thought we could walk on water.  Fifteen percent? Almost unheard of since the day N.W. Ayers invented the ad agency just after the Civil War. So what is this technique?  It's facial selection, not through trial and error, but through facial recognition software as used by law enforcement and security organizations. Here's the story: M erely changing the face of a model in an ad increases the number of potential purchasers by...

I f you're considering starting a restaurant, food cart or café, or will be catering, or any combination of the above, you should know that buying local can be a winning strategy especially if the food has a unique selling point that appeals to customers.  Just sourcing local is not enough according to newly released research from Penn State. Local foods must have a unique selling point "Past experiences will have an impact on buying local foods," said Amit Sharma, associate professor of hospitality management, Penn State. "Restaurant managers who buy local foods currently are significantly more likely to keep purchasing locally." In a study of the cost and benefits of purchasing local foods in restaurants, managers and chefs indicated that certain actions of local food producers stand out as reasons why they continue to buy local foods. For instance, managers said that a local farmer's or producer's response time -- the time it took a business to r...

A s a certified Baby-boomer(circa 1949) retiree (2012), I elected to "retire" young to pursue a career that I had long desired, combining my love of science and my avocation of working with prospective small business owners and entrepreneurs. My decision is far from uncommon as is the decision by many boomers to continue to work beyond retirement age either staying on a full-time job, working part-time or starting a business.  Other research shows that taking retirement and actually retiring tends to shorten a retiree's life, and that staying active and involved lengthens it, as well as keeping a retiree healthier and mentally sharper. As more baby boomers reach retirement age, employers such as state governments face the likelihood of higher workforce turnover. For example, in the state of Missouri, more than 25 percent of all active state employees will be eligible to retire by 2016. Such large numbers of retirees threaten the continuity, membership and institution...

The question is: should family businesses always keep it in the family?  From the Murdochs to the Hiltons, families have long sought to keep their businesses in the bloodline. But new research shows that's not necessarily the best method of management. The recent study, published in the journal Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, shows that if the family business is part of a traditional industry built on quality and reputation, a family member would make a good CEO. But  if it operates in an industry that values innovation, and the firm has to stay on the cutting edge, it's best to look elsewhere for leadership. The study's lead author, CIBC Distinguished Professor of Family Business Peter Jaskiewicz, says that in industries that prioritize pushing boundaries over preserving tradition, an aggressive attitude in the marketplace is necessary to lead. "Because family CEOs tend to focus more on family values, while non-family CEOs seek to innovate, that mean...

This study brings up an interesting point, especially when combined with a reading of current research that documents that women generally make better small business owners and managers than do men ~ in that women operated businesses tend to be more profitable and live longer. Dance is stereotyped as a female activity, and some of the newest management training programs work at teaching those skills that women typically are stronger at.  Empathy, fostering teamwork, gathering a wide range of input before making decisions, and now dance.  Something anyone thinking of starting a business should consider. C ould managers gain a new kind of understanding about their interaction with colleagues and employees by ‘dancing’?  That's the question arising from new research. Management is usually considered a stiff and rational business, decisions made based on fiscal studies, profit margins and market forces. However, researchers have studied whether creative movement ('danc...

The question for many employers large and small is whether making social changes or physical changes lead to better productivity or lower absenteeism.  Or would a combination of changes have the best outcome?  According to this research, an employer is better served by either making social changes or physical changes - but not the two together. Here's the report: C hanges targeting the social or physical workplace environment have some positive effects on work-related outcomes —- but at least so far, evidence doesn't support a combination of the two approaches, a new report concludes.  Social changes such as  group motivational interviews led to improved work task performance, while the  physical change such as establishing specific areas for quiet work, meetings, and recreation was associated with employees being more fully concentrated and immersed in work tasks. Researchers evaluated the effects of changes to the social and...