Entrepreneur -- The economy is improving. Consumer confidence, although still volatile, has returned to pre-recession levels and business confidence has rebounded to near-record highs. A majority of small business owners anticipate revenue and profit increases in 2015. So, why isn’t small business access to credit improving accordingly? In that piece last year, I expressed concern about the "choke point" in small business financing. I'm still concerned. The 2014 Year-end Economic Report of the National Small Business Association cites an uptick in small business owners’ overall positivity about the economy, but also notes that “nearly one in five small firms cannot meet increased sales demand due to inability to garner financing.” Perhaps the most appalling statistic I’ve seen recently is that 50 percent of small businesses ($250,000 to $1 million) received none of the financing they had applied for in the first half of 2014. The relationship between credit and growth is particularly significant for small businesses. The NSBA survey reveals that 47 percent of the businesses denied credit were forced to delay business expansion. Twenty percent of small business owners relied on credit cards and business earnings to finance their credit needs. Other businesses delayed hiring. It confounds me that in a year…
Read more...
Entrepreneur -- Busy entrepreneurs: Treat your marriage like a business or it will fail. So what if it’s not the sexiest approach? It’s practical and it works, says Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary. (They don’t call him “Mr. Wonderful” for nothing, ladies.) “The number one reason for divorce is not infidelity or falling out of love,” the 61-year-old Canadian mutual funds magnate tells Entrepreneur on the set of the hit reality show. “It’s money. It’s one partner outspending the other. It’s going into debt. It’s not respecting the joint finances. If you avoid doing all of that, you’re in it for the long haul. If not, forget it.” The shrewd Canadian billionaire tied the knot with his wife, Linda, in 1990, all of a quarter of a century ago. He credits their lasting union with one thing -- and it’s not necessarily love, passion or sex. The real reason they’re still going strong: They’re on the same page about money, and they’d better be. O’Leary’s other half is an actively involved executive at their successful wine company. Together the pair have two grown children, Savannah, a college student, and Trevor, a music producer, neither of whom will inherit their parents’…
Read more...
Entrepreneur -- Some people, regardless of what they lack—money, looks, or social connections—always radiate with energy and confidence. Even the most skeptical individuals find themselves enamored with these charming personalities. These people are the life of every party. They’re the ones you turn to for help, advice, and companionship. You just can’t get enough of them, and they leave you asking yourself, "What do they have that I don’t? What makes them so irresistible?" The difference? Their sense of self-worth comes from within. Irresistible people aren’t constantly searching for validation, because they’re confident enough to find it in themselves. There are certain habits they pursue every day to maintain this healthy perspective. Related: Are You a Leader or a Follower? Since being irresistible isn’t the result of dumb luck, it’s time to study the habits of irresistible people so that you can use them to your benefit. Get ready to say “hello” to a new, more irresistible you. 1. They treat everyone with respect. Whether interacting with their biggest client or a server taking their drink order, irresistible people are unfailingly polite and respectful. They understand that—no matter how nice they are to the person they’re having lunch with—it’s all…
Read more...
Entrepreneur -- Q: What's your number-one tip to boost your social-media following? A: First of all, I’m going to state right there’s no one single way to boost your social-media following. It takes a matrix of methods and a continuous commitment to create, establish, build and maintain a social media presence and following. But if you are going to force me to give one single answer, for me it’s all about the content. Now I’m not the first to give this answer but hopefully I can give a meaningful perspective about it. We’ve all seen the tweets with offers to buy followers. Evidently you can get a new bargain on followers every day. I’m not interested. To me, it’s not about the volume of followers that I’ve attached to my social channels, it’s about my followers’ linkage and engagement to my “brand.” If I have to forgo the 100,000 bargain followers to get 100 committed people who engage with my content, then so be it. All the better for it.
Read more...
To maximize your driving power, no matter how busy you are, you need to slow down in order to speed up business. Take the time to create an accurate road map to lead you to the best route for your business. Take a good hard look at your business with the eye of an outside, unbiased consultant and gather honest answers to the hard questions on the High Performance Road Map below. Include your team, and keep their involvement ongoing. HIGH PERFORMANCE ROAD MAP What are our three greatest strengths as a business? How can we leverage our greatest strengths to grow our business? How’s our reputation in our community? How’s our reputation in our industry? Do we need to make a bigger effort to develop a reputation customer service excellence? Are our advertising, sales, and marketing strategies working? Do we need ads and visuals on our website that are more eye-catching than any competitors’? Do we have enough video on our site to draw traffic to our site and show customers what we can do? Are we obtaining business and inquiries from our website, or is it time to obtain the services of an SEO specialist? Are we using…
Read more...
Technology Review -- “Where would you like to go?” Siri asked. It was a sunny, slightly dreamy morning in the heart of Silicon Valley, and I was sitting in the passenger seat of what seemed like a perfectly ordinary new car. There was something strangely Apple-like about it, though. There was no mistaking the apps arranged across the console screen, nor the deadpan voice of Apple’s virtual assistant, who, as backseat drivers go, was pretty helpful. Summoned via a button on the steering wheel and asked to find sushi nearby, Siri read off the names of a few restaurants in the area, waited for me to pick one, and then showed the way on a map that appeared on the screen. The vehicle was, in fact, a Hyundai Sonata. The Apple-like interface was coming from an iPhone connected by a cable. Most carmakers have agreed to support software from Apple called CarPlay, as well as a competing product from Google, called Android Auto, in part to address a troubling trend: according to research from the National Safety Council, a nonprofit group, more than 25 percent of road accidents are a result of a driver’s fiddling with a phone. Hyundai’s car,…
Read more...
The Magazine
Magazine Quick Links
