Most startups fail for one of the following reasons:
Poor Management Acumen
Many entrepreneurs start relatively early and consequently do not have a lot of management experience under their belt. Often they are technical experts and lack business acumen, and either cannot or will not bring in the resources necessary for success. This one is key, because [...]
Delegate or dump? Sometimes its hard to distinguish the two. Often managers delegate the work they like the least as opposed to strategically assigning it. In doing so, they’ve dumped the problems on others and walked away – its human nature after all, to avoid doing things we dislike. But risks exist with simply passing [...]
I’ve long bitten my tongue when I see entrepreneurs outsourcing the writing of their business plan because they are speaking with (insert as appropriate) the VCs, the bank, other investors in two weeks, but no more. I have some things I must get off my chest. This document – a business plan – is [...]
Feedback is essential to our development as professionals. Yet for both the givers and receivers it can be painful. For the receiver hearing their performance is less than stellar can be hard to take, and frankly is at odds with most companies rating systems of a bell curve, which by definition means that the majority [...]
I came across this quick idea from Harvard Business School adapted from “Trouble Shoot Your Way to Recovery” by John Baldoni, and thought it very appropriate. Too often we get caught up in coming up with an elaborate plan for resolution when what we really need is a simple, practical, methodical approach to resolve the [...]
The Small Business Administration (SBA) just released their report to the President on the state of the small business economy -
Topics include, in no specific order:
employer firms and employment by firm size and industry
business turnover by State and select territories
macroeconomic indicators
common stock IPO offerings
link between internal finance and small firm growth
disbursement of capital pool in [...]
This list of 4 tips on asking questions came from a Harvard Business School newsletter and they struck a nerve with me. Asking questions is such a powerful tool in developing ideas, and some of the best ideas come out of a dialog that starts with “This may be a stupid question, but…”
Here’s the four [...]
Given the Persian New Year is around the corner with its use of 7 S’s, I thought the discovery or rediscovery of The Seven S’s Framework to be serendipitous. The Seven Ss is a framework developed a few decades back for analysing organisations and looking at the various elements that make them successful. The [...]
When I consider the economic environment that is our reality, I cannot help thinking of the television series about the bionic man and woman, complete with the cheesy music in the background as they jump over seemingly impossible hurdles. Both overcame devastating circumstances to come out better, stronger, faster. I believe that will [...]
My first company was MFS Network Technologies. I loved that firm, they did so many things right from an employee’s perspective. MFSNT was a telecom construction company with offices around the world. We experienced constant churn as projects started, finished and advanced. Management struggled with the question of promoting worthy candidates for success on future [...]
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