Start ups
10 things entrepreneurs can learn from chefs
Mike | January 9th, 2012Who among us doesn’t love a great meal? Whether we choose eat at home or in a restaurant, all of us appreciate and respect the work that goes into preparing and presenting our food. We love the humble diner which serves up a phenomenal burger and fries and marvel over the lavish cuisine served up [...]
Five Tips To Improve Employee Performance Reviews
Ross | December 21st, 2011Last week, Mike wrote about Small Business and Startups: End-of-Year Mishegoss, 2011 Version. In that post, he briefly mentioned that the end of the calendar year is a good time to conduct employee reviews. I’m not a fan of end-of-year employee reviews. If you waited until the end of the year to give feedback to [...]
Small Business and Startups: For Great Service, Speed Counts
Mike | December 5th, 2011I have written several times about customer service and how important it is for small businesses and startups to deliver it effectively. Great customer service is about several things: accuracy, honesty, fairness, efficiency, and – perhaps most important of all – speed of delivery. How many times have you sat on the phone listening to [...]
10 things entrepreneurs can learn from athletes
Mike | November 21st, 2011Entrepreneurs can learn a great deal from the world of sport, and in particular we can learn from the professional athletes themselves. In the past year, I have written a number of posts about ways we can learn from others and from the world around us; I wrote about how much we can learn from kids, [...]
What It’s Like To Be An Entrepreneur – crowdSPRING
Ross | November 11th, 2011We’re thrilled to be part of a new web/TV reality series – Trep Life – giving audiences a unique, 360-degree view of what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur. Each episode focuses on one company or organization. The first episode featured our friends Matt Maloney and Mike Evans from Grub Hub – a terrific [...]
Secrets of The World’s Best Brands
Ross | November 9th, 2011Interbrand has released its annual ranking of the world’s best brands: Best Global Brands 2011 report. Interbrand’s report is considered to be one of the most influential benchmark studies on brand value. Let’s first look at some of the highlights from the report, and then look at some of the important trends and lessons startups [...]
Small business and startups: 5 great self-service HR resources
Mike | November 7th, 2011The everyday grind of running a business can be tough. I am not talking about wooing potential partners at fancy lunches, or drinks with clients after work, or even the whiteboard sessions that can fill our days. I am talking about the nitty-gritty reality of operating a business, paying the bills, washing the dishes, and [...]
Small business and startups: great reads from the business press
Mike | October 24th, 2011I have been spending some time recently with the online business press. Lots of great articles and information out there, so I thought it was time for another edition of the Business Press roundup! It is an incredibly dynamic time in the world of startups and small business: the economy continues to freak, but at [...]
Startup tips: 5 great tools for freelancers (and small businesses)
Mike | October 17th, 2011What is a freelancer if not a small business? Just like small businesses, freelancers must engage in marketing, manage payables and receivables and other accounting tasks, perform HR functions, direct production, and plan strategy. 1. Planning and strategy. There are lots of great tools and apps out there that will help you to plan and [...]
