Creating a recognizable brand should be a top priority of any business, no matter your size or budget. The branding of your business will either attract customers or it will drive them away. It's that simple. Branding should be one of the very first considerations of a new (or existing) enterprise - yet it is shocking how little many entrepreneurs focus on the branding of their company and their products or services. Nothing screams "small time"to me more than a business ow

In a family of 12 children, my father, the oldest of six boys, was told at the age of 14 he was old enough to be on his own. He found a garage apartment and began working as a mechanic. He worked to learn the business then opened his own shop in El Campo, Texas at the age of 17. Shortly after, he met my mother and married her two years later. I was the oldest of four girls and had an older brother. My mom worked in the family business too by keeping the books and handling

It depends. Remember this always - "Entrepreneurs bring value to an idea." One of the most common types of startup businesses is when someone decides they want to make their hobby into a business. But let's be clear here. Not all hobbies translate well into a business that creates an income. I always advise fledgling entrepreneurs to follow their "interests", which may not exactly be a hobby. For instance, if my hobby was collecting sewing thimbles or drink shot glasses fro

The emergence and popularity of the TV show "Shark Tank" has helped to crystalize the thought processes used by potential businesses to evaluate investment opportunities in early stage or start-up businesses. I've received business plans on a napkin (really!) and business plans that are hundreds of pages. It's really quite simple to grab an investor's attention with the right mix of quality information about your business or start-up. First, we need to clearly understand what

So, what is it that makes someone leave the security of a paycheck and a 401K plan to jump off the cliff into entrepreneurship? I can’t speak for others but I will give you my reasoning. I worked for a very large consulting firm for many years and the thing I found most incredible was the environment where everyone gets a trophy. The end result in this culture is it breeds mediocrity. The person who planned a party might get the same recognition as someone who identified a h

This is the time of year when I have to chuckle when people get excited they are getting their tax refund. It's like a gift from heaven our benevolent federal government sends you a refund, just at the right time when you need it! Few people realize if they are getting a refund they were paying too much in taxes all year long. Our brilliant lawmakers have saddled the American public with a tax code that is over 55,000 pages in which even the most astute tax professionals can'

​ ​Bootstrapping a business startup is an art. It can be a lot of fun if approached the right way. No matter how well-funded your business startup may be, the fundamentals of bootstrapping should never be forgotten - and should always be applied. Bootstrapping is not the same thing as being "cheap". Cheap is penny-wise but dollar foolish. In my second venture in the air freight forwarding business I needed a cargo van to pickup client shipments, but to also use it as a rol

​9:00 AM comes especially early for kids or young teenagers. It is even more debilitating when your father is the alarm clock that has a snooze button you don’t want to press. Today by 9:00 AM I have run a mile, been at work for an hour, and had my first cup of coffee. But back then, not so much. There was always something to do around the house and my father made sure that we were up to do it. Of course, we were never in the best of moods in the morning and this reaction wo

In a family of 12 children, my father, the oldest of six boys, was told at the age of 14 he was old enough to be on his own. He found a garage apartment and began working as a mechanic. He worked to learn the business then opened his own shop in El Campo, Texas at the age of 17. Shortly after, he met my mother and married her two years later. I was the oldest of four girls and had an older brother. My mom worked in the family business too by keeping the books and handling

​Aspiring entrepreneurs often ask me for my opinion on their creative ideas, and there have been a few instances where I have been very impressed with the ingenuity and originality behind them. Too often is the case, however, when asked the following five questions, aspiring entrepreneurs are not prepared to answer the real rubber-meets-the-road questions about their business model, strategies and their target audience: the customer. 1. Who will be the customers that will use