Hampton Creek Throws Eggs at the FDA | Bloomberg Business

September 9, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Ask U.S. food regulators, and they’ll tell you that mayonnaise has to contain eggs, as it has for the past two centuries. But Josh Tetrick, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur hellbent on disrupting a host of food staples with his plant-based substitutes, gives a far different response: Who cares? “I think it is stupid we can’t call our product mayonnaise,” Tetrick says of his two-year-old Just Mayo eggless spread. “I think it’s ridiculous. We’re definitely not changing the name.”

That defiant stance seems to put Tetrick’s company, Hampton Creek, on a collision course with the Food and Drug Administration. The agency on Aug. 12 issued a warning letter listing a litany of rules broken by its Just Mayo and Just Mayo Sriracha products, including the use of “Mayo” in the name and the image of an egg on the label that may imply it meets the agency’s standard definition for mayonnaise—eggs and all. “This is one of the most blatant violations of the standard-of-identity rules that I’ve seen in a long time,” says Elizabeth Campbell, a former acting head of the FDA’s office of food labeling, who now works at EAS Consulting Group.

5 Scenarios Where Panic Can Destroy Your Startup | Entrepreneur

September 9, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Want your business to appear in Entrepreneur magazine? Tell us how you’re empowering employees, and you could be selected for a full-page promotion provided by Colonial Life.

Staying calm in a crisis is often easier said than done. When an emergency or unexpected and disruptive situation hits, your adrenaline rises, your thoughts start to race and your body and mind both go into reaction mode. Those fast, impulsive reactions are beneficial in some types of emergencies, like that of an older world where a predator was chasing you. But in the modern business world, such reactions usually create more problems than they solve.

The following five scenarios are especially sensitive to anxious reactions. So, instead of resorting to panic and instinct, take your time to approach these dilemmas carefully and methodically:

Our Entrepreneur’s Journey | Peter Mehit

September 8, 2015September 17, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Peter was interviewed by Australian Michael Pullman on Franchisee Connection about he and Lydia’s journey from the corporate world to their own business. In particular, the interview focused on the challenges they faced and the attitudes they needed to overcome them. The interview also covered tips for those considering starting a franchise.

Click the play button on the far right of the yellow bar

Listen here

How to Respond to, “Why Should I do Business with You?” | SmallBizTrends

September 8, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The title of the article says it all when it comes to leading effective meetings. As the sales executive, you are the leader when meeting with clientele.

False Start

On occasion you may hear someone say, “I can talk to you now, but I only have a few minutes. In a snapshot, tell me what you’ve got.”

Many people fall for this, and proceed to tell everything they’ve got in a two-minute verbiage vomit. The only thing this produces is a mess, and hearing “not interested.”

A far better approach is to ask to schedule a meeting where you may have a give and take to get to know one another better. This lets the other party know you are serious and potentially trustworthy. This normally promotes a scheduled date.

Blame Game: Does Firing ‘Bad’ Employees Really Solve the Problem? | Business News Daily

September 3, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Businesses shouldn’t be so quick to assign blame to employees when problems arise, new research finds. Rather than dismissing a problem as the result of one employee’s incompetence, businesses should look deeper to find the root of the problem, according to a study recently published in the Academy of Management Journal.

“Concentrated failures prompt narrower attributions of responsibility, which, whether accurate or not, ultimately lead to less thorough investigations and fewer of the system-wide changes that are typically required to address organizational performance problems,” wrote Vinit Desai, the study’s author and an associate professor of management at the University of Colorado, Denver.

Thinking About Buying a Franchise? Know the Limits! | All Business

September 2, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Starting your own business is both an exciting and terrifying prospect. Many people choose to take a more financially secure path by purchasing a franchise. Purchasing a franchise buys instant brand awareness and a ready-made system of operations that offers real benefits to first time business owners.

But like any business decision, it is important to think about potential problems when you consider buying a franchise. Here are some of the limits of franchising that any potential business owner should consider:

3 Strategies to Give Positive Customer Service | Getentrepreneurial.com

September 2, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Article Contributed by Dr. Joey Faucette

The relationships you have with your customers are the most important assets you possess. Easy to understand and take care of, right?

But do you?

As I travel, I encounter a great deal of customer service and disservice. I discovered 3 Strategies to Give Positive Customer Service from some positive and negative experiences.

Listen

As my assistant made reservations for my stay, the Marriott property had obviously listened to previous patrons and anticipated my needs. They asked,

–“May we pick him up at the airport?”

–“Will he want a ride to his meeting?”

–“May we return him to the airport?”

It was if they anticipated my every need. “We care” was the message.

15 Critical Habits Of Mentally Strong People | Forbes

September 1, 2015August 31, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

We all reach critical points in our lives where our mental toughness is tested. It might be a toxic friend or colleague, a dead-end job, or a struggling relationship.

Whatever the challenge, you have to be strong, see things through a new lens, and take decisive action if you want to move through it successfully.

It sounds easy. We all want good friends, good jobs, and good relationships.

But it isn’t.

It’s hard to be mentally tough, especially when you feel stuck. The ability to break the mold and take a bold new direction requires that extra grit, daring, and spunk that only the mentally toughest people have.

It’s fascinating how mentally tough people set themselves apart from the crowd. Where others see impenetrable barriers, they see challenges to overcome.

When Thomas Edison’s factory burned to the ground in 1914, destroying one-of-a-kind prototypes and causing $23 million in damage, Edison’s response was simple:

“Thank goodness all our mistakes were burned up. Now we can start fresh again.”

Edison’s reaction is the epitome of mental toughness—seeing opportunity and taking action when things look bleak.

There are habits you can develop to improve your mental toughness. In fact, the hallmarks of mentally tough people are actually strategies that you can begin using today.

How to Use Salary Caps to Sustainably Scale Your Small Business | Page19

August 28, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

How can a small business grow sustainably? Greg Crabtree and Beverly Blair Harzog think that in a growing business, staffing costs can quickly balloon out of control. When small businesses are making the transition to medium-sized businesses, it’s possible to fall into a dangerous feedback loop of borrowing and spending. As you scale your business, your costs grow, and it’s tempting to see breaking even—your previous measure of success—as sufficiently safe growth.

However, medium-sized businesses have vastly larger costs, and can’t afford the breakneck growth speed that smaller, more agile operations can attain. As your costs grow, it’s important to retain control over those which you have the power to influence—and the biggest of these is labor costs.

Authority Marketing: How To Measure Up In Front of Customers | Small Biz Trends

August 27, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

You’re a liar. At least, that’s what you’re afraid people will find out about you.

The smaller your business, the more likely you are to have had this thought at one point: My product/service is just the latest form of snake oil and everyone is about to find out.

First off, take a deep breath.

Dealing with this thought (often referred to as ‘impostor syndrome’) is completely normal. Some of the most talented people in the world have suffered from it. (Tina Fey and Maya Angelou are just a few of the celebrities that have admitted to suffering from impostor syndrome.)

Generally speaking, the harder you’ve had to work in life to succeed, the more likely you are to feel that fear of being exposed as a fraud.