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The Resource Center has all the info you'll need From content to user feedback, the resource center has the information you need for every level of the entrepreneurial process.
Entrepreneurship means risk, writes the author, a veteran journalist turn dot-com entrepreneur who lived to tell the tale in a best-selling book. In an equally frank article, he speaks about teetering on the brink of financial and marital collapse before securing financing, and advises fledglings to assess their tolerance for risk and level with loved ones before taking the risk-laden entrepreneurial plunge.
Risk is the essential element of entrepreneurial life but it can and must be managed if company founders are to build profitable enterprises, writes the author, who has founded companies and is currently a venture capitalist helping others do the same. To control risk, he advises listening to instinct, managing to a plan, and working the financials so that there is enough money to fund the need.
Securing funding for a business, be it a startup or a growing company, involves establishing a reputation and building relationships, writes the author. Funding options multiply once the good word is out about an enterprise, she notes. Included are tips for getting loans and other financing for both new and established concerns.
An entrepreneur preparing to secure funding from private investors called "angels" describes in this advice-packed article her systematic plan for approaching a milieu about which she knew very little. Tips include checking for resources online and crafting a presentation that gets across the company's unique offering while adhering to the formalities demanded by investors.
For entrepreneurs, the importance of cash flow cannot be overstated. Simply put, no cash, no business. Perhaps it's a good time to re-examine a few concepts about accounting and finance.
An effective drug-testing program can make your workplace safer. Base your policy on legitimate business considerations and apply it fairly. Here's how to comply with the law, avoid litigation and encourage employees to seek treatment.
A culture of fun and respect for customers and employees pervades this family-owned furniture business that has been sold to legendary investor Warren E. Buffett, writes the author. Culture is what can't be taken away, even after a company is sold, as both the author and his brother are still actively involved, he notes.
Entrepreneurs confronting the unhappy task of having to downsize when business conditions change need to execute in a way that preserves the dignity of, and, ultimately, the relationship with, the employees, says an entrepreneur who laid off her entire staff in the wake of the dot-com crash. Downsizing well involves throwing away the rulebook and dealing with people on a personal level, she writes.
Service companies aiming to grow fast enough to attract financing need to address the weaknesses inherent in such business models, says the founder of a human-resources consultancy.
Effective business planning is critical to an entrepreneurial company's long-term success and its ability to raise capital and grow successfully. A properly prepared Business Plan should tell a story, make an argument and conservatively predict the future. All companies have different stories to tell, different arguments to make and different futures to predict, so they must resist the temptation to copy from others or to follow a rigid outline.
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