Garage Entrepreneurs

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

For young entrepreneurs, it’s difficult to take that first step – but it doesn’t have to be. That first step doesn’t necessarily mean assembling a business plan, and it doesn’t even have to mean committing to an idea. In fact, the first step for some (and perhaps most) could be getting in the entrepreneurial mindset and staying on top of current trends. But where do you find entrepreneurial resources? There are a number of resources that we use on a daily […] Continue Reading Resources for Young Entrepreneurs

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)

I recently had a phone conversation with an entrepreneur who had a fantastic story to tell. He had grown up in the Netherlands working as an engineer, moved to Canada and earned an MBA from a world-renowned business school where he met a few like-minded business partners and went on to start a renewable energy company. This company has emerged in a booming industry and is on track to be extremely successful. I love talking to entrepreneurs, people who don’t follow […] Continue Reading Listen to Your Critics

Entrepreneurs come to us all the time asking how they can find that golden idea, their “key to success”, the next “big thing”. Unfortunately, I’ve got to say that there is no easy way to find the right idea – there is no secret sauce, no series of steps that can guarantee the right idea falls into your lap. In my opinion, creativity is not something we were born with, after all it’s not just the creative masterminds who come up […] Continue Reading Garage Entrepreneurs Business Planning Blog Series: Part 1 (Ideation)

While doing research and reading blogs by some of my favorite entrepreneurs/business people, I realized that I’d often make a small note on a post-it and stick it on my desk.  The note more often than not moved around the desk a bit, blew to the floor a few times, before eventually being cleared off and either making its way to the garbage or into a bigger pile of old post-its.  I find that when reading non-fiction books I also tend […] Continue Reading The Entrepreneurs Notebook

Occasionally we watch videos on TED Talks: Ideas Worth Spreading.  They’re amazing, inspiring, hilarious, though-provoking, different, and free!  We love these videos because they’re 10-20 minute video clips of some of the world’s greatest thinkers, and do’ers.  These speakers come together and are challenged to give the best speech of their life.  The speeches are compiled on TED.com, a global community welcoming people from every discipline and culture with just two things in common: they seek a deeper understanding of the world […] Continue Reading TED Talks

I’ve had it easier than a lot of other entrepreneurs. I started my first business when I was very young; I was just a kid. Other entrepreneurs start their first business when they have bills to pay, a mortgage, and a family. These factors stop many other would-be entrepreneurs from starting a business at all. Regardless of the situation you are in, being an entrepreneur means taking that first step and getting that idea off the ground. Recently, I spoke with […] Continue Reading Take the Plunge