Garage Entrepreneurs

We’ve assembled some top tips for young entrepreneurs from a few of our dedicated members. We asked them: What would be your best advice for a young, passionate entrepreneur or would-be entrepreneur? Joe Ornato – Founder, Ornato Group Create a backstage process.  Write down all the steps that it will take to give your customer the ultimate experience.  Natural sales people tend to “do” what they “know” intuitively, without getting into a well-defined process.  Building a process allows for: consistency, duplication, […] Continue Reading Best Advice for Young Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs experience failure an average of 3.2 times before finally being successful. From working with many entrepreneurs, especially young entrepreneurs, I believe a major factor in not being successful the first time is not truly knowing yourself. Every year I update a personal inventory as part of my overall personal strategic plan. This strategic plan is separate from the strategic plan for my business. Having an updated personal inventory is helpful when I need to make tough decisions as an entrepreneur. […] Continue Reading Three Self Assessments for Young Entrepreneurs

Laurie Hawkins is an energetic, world-class Certified Business Coach and leader, with an extraordinary range of business expertise. Laurie is the owner of Hawk Inspired, FocalPoint Coaching. As a FocalPoint certified coach, Laurie can transform your business, as well as your professional and personal life through long-term, one-on-one coaching – the most effective method in which to affect lasting business improvement and skill development. Eric: Laurie, tell me about yourself and your business background. Laurie: I have spent twenty years in […] Continue Reading Garage Entrepreneurs Interview with Small Business Coach Laurie Hawkins

Recently we’ve been receiving quite a few member requests for more information on how to manage the online presence of a new business. A major component of that online presence would be building a website. To help our members, we asked expert Avery Swartz (www.AverySwartz.com) to write a TWO PART series on Website Tips for Entrepreneurs. Avery is an award-winning print and web designer. Avery works with entrepreneurs to ensure that their message is conveyed simply, clearly, and elegantly through their […] Continue Reading Website Tips for Entrepreneurs Part Two

Recently we’ve been receiving quite a few member requests for more information on how to manage the online presence of a new business.  A major component of that online presence would be building a website.  To help our members, we asked expert Avery Swartz (www.AverySwartz.com) to write a TWO PART series on Website Tips for Entrepreneurs.  Avery is an award-winning print and web designer.  Avery works with entrepreneurs to ensure that their message is conveyed simply, clearly, and elegantly through their […] Continue Reading Website Tips for Entrepreneurs Part One

As the holiday season comes to an end, we wanted to share with you a few observations that we made. All of the following ten pictures were taken on our phones over the past few weeks: 1.  If you’re going to offer ‘on line’ shopping, can you please spell it correctly? 2. This is a picture of a Staples employee carrying a computer chair across an intersection, into a grocery store parking lot for a customer.  Talk about great customer service! 3. […] Continue Reading Our Holiday Observations

Joining me today is young entrepreneur, Ashley Bodi, the Vice President and creator of Business Beware. She majored in Communications and Marketing while also playing volleyball in college. After coming back from working on a documentary in Los Angeles she remembered the idea Robert told her when she got out of school and was ready to pursue Business Beware. While working on the site, she started her own business doing editing and design work. She also worked for her family’s business. […] Continue Reading Interview with Ashley Bodi of BusinessBeware.biz

The holiday season is a great time for young entrepreneurs. It’s a time to brush up your skills, take some time to think about the upcoming year, and who knows, maybe even relax a bit. Here are our top ten suggestions for young entrepreneurs this holiday season: 10. Ask for a magazine subscription. Although blogs are great resources, a magazine that you can throw on your desk or at your bedside makes for a great gift. Try Inc. Magazine or Fast […] Continue Reading Ten Tips for Young Entrepreneurs for the Holidays

In my experience, I’ve observed two very different “types” of entrepreneurs.  Let’s call them Generals and Explorers. The Generals start with a given set of means (military training, political power) and seek to identify the best way to arrive at their goal.  The entrepreneurial Generals begin with a set of means: their abilities, their education/experience, and their networks (who they know) and use this set of means to come up with new ideas/solutions to problems.  They start with a goal (to […] Continue Reading Are You an Explorer or a General?

The absolute best way to find a good idea is to look for a good idea. As an EIT (Entrepreneur-in-Training), you need to realize that a great business idea will never just ‘fall into your lap’.  In my experience, and from speaking to successful young entrepreneurs, you must actively partake in an ideation process. There are many places that you can look for a good idea, but some of my favorites have been included in a past post that I wrote on Entrepreneurial […] Continue Reading Young Entrepreneurs: To Find a Good Idea, LOOK For One!