Category: Tools and Information

The finance metrics that matter most to startups | The Startup Magazine

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You don’t need to be an accountant to start a company but you should become intimate with key accounting metrics.  Lack of financial literacy is the greatest threat to a global surge in entrepreneurship.  Most companies fail because their founders had little or no financial acumen.

Such was almost the case with my first company.  Pockets filled with seed money, I worked hard on creating nice products and chasing down new customers only to be in deep trouble within a year.  The only financial focus I took was to deposit cheques and pay bills.  The only metric I looked at was my bank balance and as money ran dry.  The less I had in my account the more I looked at it. The disaster was avoided only after I brought in a great CFO and took classes on accounting.

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The Top Trends in Franchising Business Today | Getentrepreneurial.com

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When broken down, franchising simply represents methods of distributing products and services. For some time now, entrepreneurship has been the career path for many victims of downsizing and corporate layoffs. Despite the uncertain job market and the unstable economy improving considerably in recent years, business ownership remains a standard means of employment.

Franchising has become a major priority for people who seek the freedom of owning a business without undergoing the struggle of creating a concept from the ground. For that reason, franchising will continue to be a relevant part of the economy. Studies show that when done right, it can be a powerful business model for quick growth. Franchisees win through economies of scale, a defined system, mentorship, and support. As more entrepreneurs look at franchising as a viable path to success, it is vital to understand the emerging trends and how one can take advantage of them.

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5 Benefits of Having a Website for Your Small Business | Small Biz Trends

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Last week at SmallBizTrends I shared the statistic that 47 percent of small business owners still weren’t using social media because they didn’t feel it was important to their business. That post spurred a lot of strong comments, both on site here and on Facebook. Eventually the conversation went from whether SMBs should invest in social media to whether they even need a Website or an Internet presence at all.

I really wish we could stop having this conversation.

You probably know some businesses who are doing phenomenally well without a website. I do, too. But I often wonder how much better they could be doing if they took the time to invest in one. And when I say “website,” I don’t mean an electronic version of that brochure they’ve been handing out for the past 10 years. I mean a legitimate, well-thought-out site that is designed to inform, engage and convert their audience.

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How Chromebooks Are About to Totally Transform Laptop Design | WIRED

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GOOGLE’S FIRST CHROMEBOOK was the kind of laptop you’d design if you didn’t give a damn about laptop design. It was thick, heavy, rubbery, boring, and black. Black keys, black body, black trackpad, black everything. Everything about the Cr-48 was designed to communicate that this device was still an experiment. Even the name, a reference to an unstable isotope of the element Chromium, was a hint at the chaos raging inside this black box. “The hardware exists,” Sundar Pichai told a crowd of reporters at the Cr-48’s launch event in December of 2010, “only to test the software.”

Moments later, Eric Schmidt took the stage and preached about how the “network computer” tech-heads had been predicting for decades was finally ready to change the world. “We finally have a product,” Schmidt said, “which is strong enough, technical enough, scalable enough, and fast enough that you can build actually powerful products on it.” Apparently already sensing the skeptical feedback Chrome OS would get, he gestured toward the audience and told them “it does, in fact, work.”

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6 Features of Entrepreneurship We Tend to Over-Exaggerate | Entrepreneur

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Entrepreneurial preparation and education is interesting. For obvious reasons, preparation matters; the more informed you are about the logistics of business ownership and the interdisciplinary knowledge you need to keep things running smoothly, the better you’ll be able to manage an enterprise.

But at the same time, there are some things about entrepreneurship you can’t learn in business school.

To resolve this gap, many new entrepreneurs seek the mentorship and guidance of more experienced business owners. However, there’s a small problem there, one we’ve all faced at one point or another: Entrepreneurs tend to over-exaggerate some truths about entrepreneurship, which can lead to false expectations, unnecessary preparations and, in some cases, the prospect of scaring people away from business ownership altogether:

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7 Hacks for Getting Your Website Indexed by Google | Life Hack

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Whether you want to connect with others online to sell a product or to raise awareness of a specific cause, it is imperative to get your site indexed by Google. This typically takes a while, and there is also a long process to get your search engine ranking raised. However, there are a few specific hacks you can employ to cut your wait time and improve your ability to quickly be found by qualified leads. Utilizing these hacks is a fantastic way for entrepreneurs to have a more solid launch for each new business venture.

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The Top 8 Reasons I Said Goodbye to a Toxic Career In the Corporate World | Inc.com

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Please allow me to start this piece with a bit of real talk.

I started my business while getting an MBA and raising two kids. It wasn’t easy.

I went through a hard time financially and almost put my family in the poor house. It almost ended my marriage.

I developed a few health problems that my doctors attribute to this time in my life. I lost more that just sleep; I lost some good friends because I no longer had time for them.

Amazingly, two-and-a-half years later, I can say it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

Here’s why it was totally worth it:

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What Causes Motion Sickness? | Live Science

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The rocking momentum of a train, car or boat is soothing to some people, but for others, it generates feelings of extreme discomfort — dizziness, nausea and even vomiting.

This condition, known as motion sickness, can strike travelers of all ages, though it appears most frequently in children. The motion that is unique to travel is the most common culprit, but speedy loops and lurches in amusement park rides and the disorienting perspective of moving cameras in 3D movies or virtual-reality environments can also trigger queasiness.

While motion sickness isn’t life-threatening, its symptoms can be extremely unpleasant, transforming an otherwise pleasant journey into a stomach-turning nightmare. Why does this particular type of movement make some people feel ill?

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Marvelously Minimalist ZYP-ZYP Tape Dispenser | Design Milk

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Consider the average disposable transparent plastic adhesive tape dispenser, a design so common and recognizable, it’s exterior package is as synonymous with its content as a tissue box is to the tissues within. The upside down elephant profile design holds and dispenses the roll as needed, so it’s fair to say it’s a successful solution for a mundane task.

But in time those plastic teeth begin to fail and sometimes stop cutting strips effectively. What if you could minimize the form further while retaining these functional features, and in the process eliminate the plastic dispenser completely? The ZYP-ZYP Tape Dispenser is a solution to that effect.

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