The Internet of Things, or IoT, is a term that describes the ever-growing world of connectivity between the internet and everyday objects. IoT generally refers to any object embedded with software, electronics, or sensors that have network connectivity. This marketplace is exploding. With this explosion arise opportunities and concerns.
For businesses, IoT offers a new horizon of technological support that facilitates opportunities to grow and creates challenges to overcome. Continue reading
Though there are many exciting, new businesses to partner with, it’s easy and more profitable to choose the right one. Here’s how.
2014 was a great year for startups geared toward enhancing consumer convenience through mobile devices. In fact, consumer tech was the obvious business focus that startup founders seemed to take the most interest in. Continue reading
Starting or expanding a business takes more than just a good business plan and product. It also requires avenues for getting your products to the right customers at the right time. Finding channels of distribution that allow you to accomplish your business goals involves building deep strategic alliances with the right partners.
Strategic alliances create a quicker path to growth. Continue reading
No man is an island applies to the relationship between manufacturers and partners in their channels of distribution. Whether manufacturers choose wholesalers, distributors, value added resellers (VARS), agents, dealers, or retailers, they also need to consider that not all channels of distribution are created equal for their particular business objectives. Not only does a company need to choose the right distribution channels, but they need to know how to use them to get the most out of their product. A creative approach always comes in handy. Continue reading
“8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months. A whopping 80% crash and burn.” According to Entrepreneur there is only one thing you need to succeed as a startup, so don’t panic. “Your startup can still succeed. But it will depend on one thing and one thing only. Customers.”
However, developing your product, bringing it to market, finding customers, and keeping Continue reading
As a business owner, you should always be looking for a way to increase your bottom line. There are different strategies claiming they can help you increase your business, but one that is often overlooked is forming business alliances. This term might be complete Greek to you, so here’s a quick breakdown of what it is. Continue reading
There’s an interesting story about the partnering of the ice cream giant, Baskin-Robbins.
According to a post in Entrepreneur, Burton Baskin and Irvine Robbins each began their ice cream stores as separate companies at the advice of Robbins’ father. Dad thought that the men would take too much time making compromises and “kill the product’s potential.”
So only after each had launched successful separate businesses did they subsequently become business partners. Continue reading
As an Entrepreneur what is the one resource you wish you more of right now? I’d be willing to bet the answer is most likely time. If you’re running low on energy there’s always more coffee, right? But, if you find you just don’t have enough time in the day to get everything done what do you do? You can’t add more hours to the clock.
So how do you free up more of your time? Continue reading
You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. When you form a strategic alliance with another company, you get the benefits of leveraging an expertise, product, service or asset that isn’t even yours. Yet, they call on the same customers you do.
Big businesses have been reaping the rewards of these relationships for years. Continue reading
When it comes to their growth strategy, most entrepreneurs have some variation on the same theme: produce a good or service, market it, and supply that good or service to as many people in as big of a geographical area as possible. It’s called organic growth, and it’s a great strategy–but it also has its limits. There is a point in the lifecycle of every business where the company has three choices for continued growth: build, borrow, or buy. A new book out Continue reading
There seems to be a growing trend. The number of entrepreneurs is increasing. People, whose life are in an upheaval, discover that their real passions become the fuel that drives their work. This work becomes their source of revenue. There are several reasons for this:
You’re a talented and innovative thinker planning to launch a ground-floor venture. Should you go it alone or bring in a business partner?
As we mentioned in our earlier blog, “Is it Too Much to Ask for the Perfect Business Partner?” a number of business pairings throughout the years have turned into great successes. Primarily because of the skills and traits each partner brought to the pair. However, a lot had to do with the actual relationship between the individuals involved.
Not Everyone Should Be Your Partner
This seems like an obvious statement. However, Continue reading
In a recent press release, Hallmark, the world’s leading greeting card brand, announced a strategic alliance with Shutterfly Inc., a leading Internet-based digital photo site. The goal is to have “exclusive Hallmark-designed customizable cards featured on Shutterfly’s new personalized greeting card site, Treat.com.”
According to Investopedia.com, a strategic alliance is… Continue reading
For the under-30 crowd, a career isn’t about graduating college and working for a Fortune 500 company anymore. It’s about finding a passion, usually involving social, economic, or environmental issues.
In the May 2012 The Tennessean article, “Young entrepreneurs blaze their own trail,” writer Duane Marstellar suggests that more and more young adults are becoming entrepreneurs for economic and personal reasons. Marstellar cites:
Joblessness among 18- to 29-year-olds nationally Continue reading
If you’re standing on the precipice of making the decision to become an entrepreneur, it’s time to jump in. There are too many opportunities to wait any longer. And the longer you wait, the harder it is to make that leap of faith.
First, there are a number of experts out there who will tell you about Continue reading