Posts Tagged ‘Strategy’
How To Choose A Market For Your Startup Or Small Business
Ross | November 27th, 2012I’m rarely surprised when a young entrepreneur or small business owner hasn’t fully identified how their new business will make money. But I’m always surprised when that entrepreneur or small business owner has a tough time describing the potential customers for their new business’s products and services. After all, without customers, there is no [...]
Small Business and Startup Tips: Hire and be Human
Mike | November 12th, 2012Last week ago I discussed a great yiddish word in one of my posts and today I want to share another. This is a word many of you may already be familiar with, and that may even inspire some of you in how you live your life. The word is mensch and it describes a good [...]
Small Business and Startups: Slice & Dice Your Customer Service Data
Mike | October 29th, 2012After every quarter I delve into our customer service data to have a look at a few things: first (and foremost) are we effectively meeting out goal of providing world-class customer service to our community? Next, what is the demand on our system and do we have capacity available to meet it? Third, have we [...]
Is The Only Purpose of Customer Service To Change Feelings?
Ross | October 25th, 2012Seth Godin, in a recent post on his Blog contends that the only purpose of customer service is to “change feelings.” Here’s what Seth wrote: The only purpose of customer service … is to change feelings. Not the facts, but the way your customer feels. The facts might be the price, or a return, or [...]
Startup Tips: Ask Your Customers For Feedback. Then Act.
Mike | October 15th, 2012A few months ago, veteran crowdSPRING Buyers may have noticed something new when they completed wrapup on a project. Instead of just asking them to rate their experience with the winning Creative in their project, we started asking them to also rate us. It’s a simple survey – just 4 questions and a comment box [...]
Small Business and Startups – 13 Great Reads From The Business Press
Mike | September 24th, 2012One of my daily pleasures is to read the paper, the blogs, and the magazines. I typically scan the major stories domestic and international, take a dive into the political coverage, read the opinion pages top to bottom, skim the sports and entertainment sections and then head over to the business section to see what’s [...]
7 Habits of Highly Effective and Successful Entrepreneurs
Ross | September 12th, 2012Some entrepreneurs invent only excuses, while other entrepreneurs are highly effective and successful. Success and failure doesn’t happen by chance. Highly effective and successful entrepreneurs share common habits. Here are seven habits of highly effective and successful entrepreneurs (plus a bonus at the end): 1. Measure progress. It’s very difficult to succeed unless you are [...]
Small Business and Startups: The True “Lean” Movement
Mike | September 10th, 2012Last week, Ross was contacted by an old friend, Ron May, who publishes an industry newsletter in Chicago and writes extensively about technology, startups, and small business in our region. Ron gets in touch periodically for updates on crowdSPRING so this was no great surprise. Ron’s email asked, “What the heck is going on with crowdSPRING? [...]
