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

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!

I recently had a chance to interview entrepreneur and Canadian native, Ben Yoskovitz, Co-Founder of Standout Jobs and the man behind ‘Instigator Blog’. Ben has been an entrepreneur for 12+ years in the Web space, working extensively in web and software development. I had a chance to ask Ben a few questions about his experiences as an entrepreneur. Eric: How did you start out as an entrepreneur? Ben: I started my first company in 1996 while I was still at McGill University. […] Continue Reading Interview with Co-Founder of Standout Jobs, Ben Yoskovitz

I started working on my first business when I was 18 years old. I have certainly learned some valuable lessons since then through my experiences and I am still learning. There have been many ups and downs but deciding to create my own job and become an entrepreneur is one of the most rewarding decisions I’ve ever made. If I could go back in time and give some advice to myself when I was starting my first business, these are the […] Continue Reading 10 Lessons I Learned from My First Startup

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