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Become your own boss in three easy steps
Some people look down on simple business. They’ll say ‘you just own your job’ as if it’s pitiful. Don’t let them get to you: it’s still better than not owning your job. I’d argue that hiring yourself out is the original capitalism and the very foundation of America. But for self-employment to work...
Top 10 qualities that drive revenue
Why don’t companies grow revenue year over year or faster than their industry? By comparing the qualities of companies with sales growth of more than 20 percent per year with companies that are not growing, 10 qualities arise that serve to drive revenue (and not get stuck in maintenance), including: A sales and growt[...]
Get a clue, win the game
Across all industries, 25 percent of startups will fail in the first year. By the fourth year, it’s 50 percent. And the leading cause of failure? Incompetence. About 46 percent of firms go pear-shaped because leadership hasn’t a clue what they’re doing. More specifically, they suffer from at le...
Accidental excellence
My personal goal is to make everything easy. I don’t like problems—so I’ve built my business to achieve “simple” in three easy steps.The first key to trouble-free is being okay with leaving money on the table. I have a price I charge per foot for each style of fence, and it rarely changes.
Best of CoBiz: Create accountability
Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from business performance improvement expert Larry Valant’s book, Stop Breaking These Rules! 100 Hard-Hitting Truths for Business Integrity and Performance. Organization planning is 75 percent of the formula for successful business performance. While organization in terms of structure, function and staffing is not the entire answer to effective performance, it […][...]
Take the range out of your deals
I was fortunate that two of my early mentors were master dealmakers. They had different styles and approaches so I learned an incredible amount from each of them. Before I met them, I’d never made an investment, acquired a company or sold a company. In the years since I met them, I’ve done a ton […]
Never tire of telling your story
When we raised our first Foundry Group fund in 2007, I did 90 meetings in three months before we got our first investor commitment. By meeting 87, after hearing "no" a lot (we got about 30 no’s out of the first 90 meetings before we got a yes) I definitely had pitch fatigue. But every time I told...
Small businesses love Colorado
Colorado small businesses owners rated their state as among the most supportive in the nation, according to the second-annual Thumbtack.com Small Business Friendliness Survey. “In surveying thousands of small businesses across America, we found that clear and consistent licensing regulations and relevant training programs were[...]
All in the family
Our family has had the good fortune of owning and operating our business – McGuckin Hardware in Boulder – since 1955. We are well into our fourth generation of family members who work at the store, and while we do have our moments, we wouldn’t change the outcomes and experiences for anything. Her...
When failure is the best option
I strongly believe that there are times you should call it quits on a business. Not everything works. And — even after trying incredibly hard, and for a long period of time — failure is sometimes the best option. An entrepreneur shouldn’t view their entrepreneur arc as being linked to a single com...
The pay it your way model
Last summer, with the help of two interns, I put a pretty progressive business model into action. It was a complex “pop up” food and beverage operation with a minefield of issues: unskilled employees, fierce competition in a saturated market, little to no advertising efforts – and let’s not forge...
Made in Colorado 2013 Winners
Twenty-five companies were honored at the Made in Colorado & Colorado Manufacturing Awards on April 16: Consumer Manufacturer of the Year: Eagle Claw Commercial Manufacturer of the Year: Reynolds Polymer Technology Inc Re-Shore Manufacturer of the Year: Geotech Environmental Equipment Here are the other honorees: Albeo Technologies Aleph Objects, Inc. Ball Aerospace dpiX Gibson Athletic […][...]
