Primordial marketing guru Dan Kennedy likes to say that "One is the worst number in business." I agree with this, and I'll take it a little farther. If there's an important "one" in your business, you don't have a business. You have a project that may or may not continue to make money. Especially in times of rapid change and uncertainty, "one" is … [Read more...] about Dumb Things Small Businesses Do #5: The Worst Number
Dumb Things Small Businesses Do #4: Thinking It’s About You
Remember my hapless entrepreneur from last week? He dug himself a giant scary financial hole because he was so in love with his vision of his product that he didn't bother to get any feedback from actual customers. In fact, he tended to think of his customers as an annoying necessity. They kept calling with their stupid support questions, keeping … [Read more...] about Dumb Things Small Businesses Do #4: Thinking It’s About You
Dumb Things Small Businesses Do #3: Getting Upside Down
A few years ago, I did some consulting for a business owner. We were throwing around some ideas for PR and word of mouth marketing. (I didn't end up working with him, for a variety of reasons.) He was dead sure he was creating the next Amazon. He'd built his product from scratch. He had some experience in the same business as his customers, and he … [Read more...] about Dumb Things Small Businesses Do #3: Getting Upside Down
14 Must-Have Resources to Get Your Small Business Off the Ground
The hardest thing about small business is getting started. In the past few weeks, I keep getting email from lovely people who want to launch a business, but they don't know where to begin. They're overwhelmed, confused, and in a lot of cases, pretty scared. Since I've obsessively looked at dozens (maybe hundreds) of resources on just this topic, I … [Read more...] about 14 Must-Have Resources to Get Your Small Business Off the Ground
