Entrepreneurs can sometimes become so enamored with their own business idea that they don’t know if it’s viable. Recent statistics from the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy show that about 20 percent of small businesses fail during their first year, and a third make it to the 10-year mark. While it’s good to be passionate...

Are you writing (or rewriting) your company’s mission statement? It’s a task that can take almost as much time and thought as constructing your business plan. A company mission statement is an abbreviated version of what your business does. The best ones do wonders for the brands and corporate cultures they represent. Your mission statement...

Many people come to America to fulfill the dream of a better life. They want better access to education, employment, housing, and, at times, improved health care and a more developed infrastructure. Often, immigrant entrepreneurs start businesses, work in professional services, retail, restaurants, real estate, technology, healthcare or construction. They sometimes own franchises and small...

The vision statement and the mission statement may sound similar. They are both important aspects of business planning, branding, and goal-setting. However, they serve very different purposes. The mission statement is about your company’s commitment to its existing (or soon-to-exist) relationship with customers. Your vision statement is all about your company’s future dreams. Where the...

The executive summary is a staple of every business plan. Typically, it makes the first impression on an audience and is critically important for capturing the reader’s attention. No matter how strong the rest of your business plan might be, a weak summary can dissuade a potential investor or stakeholder from reading further. So your executive...

In the past, education systems all over the world used traditional, one-size-fits-all learning environments. Researchers eventually realized people don’t process information the same way, and teaching methods have evolved to fit how students best learn new information. Anyone can determine their individual learning style. Once you know it, you can figure out the best learning...

One of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs involves staffing and delegation. It can be hard to know when to hire full-time or put extra help in place and how to do it the right way. Small businesses and new entrepreneurs might want to consider the virtual assistant, or VA. A VA is basically an independent contractor or freelancer who performs support-staff tasks and functions, often...

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: You need to delegate if you want to be a more effective leader. Delegating to the right people is important to entrepreneurs and business owners for many reasons. Yes, it saves you time that you can then spend on more high-value tasks. However, that’s not the only reason proper...

Most ambitious entrepreneurs have the same major objective — for their startup idea to become the next big thing. It may be hard to imagine, but Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerburg were once in the same position as most business owners. Coming up with an idea for your startup business should be approached with the same dedication as...

All of us have been in this embarrassing situation. We meet someone for the third or fourth time, only to realize we can’t remember what that person’s name is. Some of us are great with names and remember right away, but the rest of us don’t. Sure, we may find ways to disguise that we’ve...