Garage Entrepreneurs

As an entrepreneur, or EIT (entrepreneur-in-training) do you sometimes find it difficult to stay on track? If you don’t set limits on your time, you’ll quickly become overwhelmed.  I’ve come up with a technique that helps me stay on track, it’s called “Buckets”. About every four months I come up with a list of buckets that are most important to me.  This list is short and sweet – and currently consists of five buckets: 1) Spending time with family/friends. 2) Physical fitness. 3) […] Continue Reading Entrepreneurial Buckets

Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy. You’re often on your own, making your own schedule, setting your own goals, and holding yourself accountable. It can sometimes feel like you’re spinning your wheels, doing a lot of work but not going anywhere. And finally, when you do move your business forward, you take another step back. As an entrepreneur this is going to happen – I can guarantee it. You’re going to make great progress one day, only to realize that the very […] Continue Reading Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

As an entrepreneur, your schedule is bound to overload. There are times when you’re in a normal routine, getting up early, working hard, managing your time well and (most importantly) getting stuff done. There are other times, however where demands on your time become tighter and you’ll having a hard time getting up earlier, and staying focused on your business. Here’s how you can battle through: Lean on your business partner. Fortunately for me, I have a fantastic business partner who […] Continue Reading Staying Motivated as a Young Entrepreneur

In an early-stage, cash-strapped startup, entrepreneurs are constantly looking for opportunities to keep their business afloat. Maybe your core business isn’t generating revenue right now, and you need to do other things to offset your short-term losses. In a previous post on scope creep we mentioned not differing from your core business too much, but it is sometimes inevitable. Perhaps there is a family friend who needs some consulting work done, or a friend offering you a cut of every deal […] Continue Reading Tempt, Fall, Recover

Hustle is is doing something that everyone else is absolutely certain can’t be done. Hustle is getting the client because you got there first or stayed with it after everyone else gave up. Hustle is show leather and elbow grease and sweat and missed lunch. Hustle is getting prospects to say “yes” when they have said “no” twenty times. Hustle is doing more for your clients than the next guy is doing for his. Hustle is believing in yourself and the […] Continue Reading What is Hustle?

Most businesses are started by bootstrapping entrepreneurs in a garage or home office -like Microsoft, Google and Hewlett Packard. The majority of businesses never raise capital from a venture capitalist or angel investor. We hate to be the bearers of bad news if you were banking on receiving funding from a venture capital firms but they fund less than 1% of businesses. The good news is that bootstrapping and starting a business with your own money or with a business loan […] Continue Reading Bootstrapping It

Can someone learn to be an entrepreneur? Whether or not someone can learn, in a class room setting, the skills to become a successful entrepreneur is intensely debated. There are those who say you cannot learn how to be an entrepreneur, you simply have to learn by doing. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are those who say you can learn basic entrepreneurial skills, and you can study the mistakes of others to avoid making them on your own. […] Continue Reading “Learning” Entrepreneurship

Marketing for entrepreneurs isn’t as simple as it used to be. Marketing media is changing daily, and under the influence of social media, marketing will never be the same. This post is not a cutting-edge way to advertise your new business, it’s a look at the information you need to know to make marketing decisions. Marketing is the connection that you have with your customers. You need to understand your customers in order to reach them effectively. To change things up […] Continue Reading Garage Entrepreneurs Business Planning Blog Series: Part 6 (Entrepreneurial Marketing)

Twitter is the fastest growing social networking platform. Businesses are quickly learning that they have to be on Twitter. It is perhaps one of today’s most important (and free) platforms for building your brand. Once you have a twitter account it’s time to get your name out there and get creative. Here are 13 suggestions for your business: · Customize your twitter page with your brand’s logo and colours so that your page doesn’t look like every other twitter page. · […] Continue Reading 13 Things Your Business Can Do On Twitter

Whether you realize it or not, cash is the lifeblood of your business. During the ‘prove it’ stage having no cash could be a godsend. Having little cash forces you to make tough decisions, and really think about how you spend every dollar. However, you must also ensure that you have enough money to cover the cash demands of the start-up phase: Can you pay your website developer on time? Can you repair your lawnmower to continue providing your lawn care […] Continue Reading Garage Entrepreneurs Business Planning Blog Series: Part 5 (Managing Cash Flow)