Business Benchmarks

Is it better to have a business partner or am I better off alone? This is a common question of someone who’s starting a business. There are merits and pitfalls of entering partnership: First let’s define partnership. It’s an agreement between at least two people to fund and to run a business. It has two types – general and limited. In general partnership, the individuals involved all take ca

My father, an entrepreneur like me, lived in no less than fourteen different places during his lifetime. As a divorced businesswoman, I never imagined I would follow in his footsteps, yet here I am. After a bitter court battle in Chicago, I packed up and left the windy city for the warmer climate of California, bringing my business and my children with me. Moving to San Francisco gave us a strong sense of beginning

Every business, no matter if it sells wood bar stools or deals with selling stock trading software, is in it for profitability. This means that while they’ve got their hands full with the short-term, they don’t want to ever forget about the long-term. Long term planning is essential for any business to stick around for a long time and find a comfortable place in its market. However, this is the sort of

The question is one that is important, though rarely ever answered. After all, it seems like some of the major innovators and “masters of the universe” didn’t get college degrees. It would be hard to argue that a handyman who mostly does things like fixing New York City heating systems is going to need a Bachelor’s degree, since his practical skills will be more important in his day-to-day o

They say business is a like a locomotive… it’s hard to get up to speed, but it’s smooth sailing once you get going. Unfortunately, this ignores the realities of maintaining a business and a train: you need constant effort to keep both running. To keep the locomotive chugging, you need to keep shoveling in coal. To keep your business running, it’s a little more complex than that. In any field

There are many businessmen who think that most business meetings – especially those that don’t involve a huge sum of money – should be carried out in a very casual manner. But even in a very “casual” business meeting you should still have etiquette. Acting inappropriately or in a rude way will create a bad impression of you, and by extension, your company. They might even think that you’

When you go into business, you need to know exactly what you are getting into. This means no fast cars, no drinks on the beach, no throwing hard parties, etc. You have to admit that these are things that are in young people’s heads when they get into business for the first time. Well, it will be a long while before your business would have a big enough profit margin for you to buy that Ferrari or that beach h

Every company has a “back office.” These are the departments and jobs that handle functions that are required for the business to operate, but aren’t necessarily connected to its core competencies. These include accounting and human resources. The cost of keeping these departments in-house is something that has a tendency to become a burden when the company is pressed for finances because of econo

Most of the time, people are told to avoid being overly negative because it can be detrimental to their performance or success. This is, to an extent, true. However, what most people don’t realize is that the right amount of negative thinking can actually be very helpful in a business.  Yes, this sounds like the complete opposite of any sensible advice about keeping a business going, but there are solid reas

When everyone seeks to make a buck, there will always be a wealth of business tips. Some offer advice on how to profit, others on how to grow and leave a lasting legacy. Sometimes the advice themselves can be contradictory. Regardless of which advice you follow, remember that not all business owners are the same. Even the most general of so-called “best” business practices can’t take into account