All Articles Tagged "business ideas"
Keeping Ideas Secret Could Hurt Your Business
(New York Times) — You’ve heard of high-tech start-ups being in “stealth mode,” meaning they’re not telling anyone what they’re up to yet. It has a glamorous aura to it, conjuring up images of a brilliant project in the works that will soon be sprung upon the world, disrupting established players and leaving everyone scrambling to catch up. All smart companies with really great innovations keep those ideas hidden away until they’re ready to release them, lest competitors steal them. Look at Apple, which has perfected the art of secretiveness, to enormous profit. You can tell people about your great idea — but only if they sign one of those nondisclosure agreements you keep in your briefcase at all times. No exceptions!
All this is what Jason Freedman (no relation) learned at Dartmouth’s Tuck Business School four years ago. And, according to a terrific new post on his blog, it’s also what led his first company straight into failure. That’s why when he started his next company, he told everyone what he was up to — with the result that it was a hit and was acquired for a nice sum (I can’t give details) three months ago.
Cultural Values That Will Make Your Office an Idea Factory
(Fast Company) — Building a Playful Culture: It’s unfortunate; when people speak about a playful office environment, they often describe Nerf darts, beanbag chairs, and funny hats. This stereotype, reinforced by lavish dot-com and web 2.0 spending, comes from poor consulting cultures that positioned juvenile behavior as necessary for those coming up with new and novel ideas. This only serves to reinforce the view of designer as magician — that somehow, while playing hours of foosball or XBox, designers are busy dreaming up the next Twitter, Apple, or Nike.
11 Businesses to Start from Home
(Inc.) — Kene Turner understands the value of building a better business. After all, that’s his job. The mission of EpiLife is to help organizations achieve social responsibility by implementing special project-based initiatives within their communities. Before launching EpiLife, Kene worked for the YMCA of New York, where he taught youth entrepreneurial programs. EpiLife is based out of Turner’s home in New York City, and represents his desire to give back to the community that helped him in his own childhood. “When I was a teen I lost my mom to cancer,” he says. “I never knew my father. I was a child in transition. I had family, but not much. The ones that really helped me were members of the community…and it was that message that I want to implement into a venture or business.”
Finding The Perfect Business Idea
(Entrepreneur) – Many people believe starting a business is a mysterious process. They know they want to start a business, but they don’t know the first steps to take. In this chapter, you’re going to find out how to get an idea for a business–how you figure out exactly what it is you want to do and then how to take action on it.
But before we get started, let’s clear up one point: People always wonder if this is a good time to start their business idea. The fact is, there’s really never a bad time to launch a business. It’s obvious why it’s smart to launch in strong economic times.
Business Idea: Fundraising Consultant
(Entrepreneur.com) — Acting on behalf of charities as a fundraising consultant can earn you as much as $100,000 per year, of course providing you have the skills and abilities to raise funds for the charities that your service represents. The first step required for establishing a fundraising service is to build alliances with local or national charities to represent the charities as a fundraising specialist…
