People often start their businesses to be happier – to get more out of work and life.

Once they get going though, that focus, that determination to get more out of work, evolves into a determination to continually grow the business. In the world of entrepreneurship, ambition and the constant pursuit of more are rewarded and praised. The irony is that not only does a needless pursuit of growth not bring the happiness and satisfaction that people were after in the first place…it actually precludes them from having what they want. READ MORE »

As I launch my new consulting firm, The Sutter Company, I’ve been working with a talented designer, a friend of mine named Lauren Hammond (http://laurenhammond.weebly.com/), who is creating a graphic identity for me.

In the process, I’m getting a chance to play a new role, “The Client”.

Those of us who have only worked on the agency side of the client-agency relationship have a tendency to wonder what life is like on the other side of the equation. It’s been fun to be a client, but it has also revealed my shortcoming and has required me to learn a READ MORE »

There’s a time in every new business when you have to don at least a dozen hats. It’s perfectly normal and comes with the territory of owning your own company. “Chief cook and bottle washer,” as the saying goes.

Yet, most entrepreneurs aren’t very good at recognizing when it’s time to move out of this phase and spend their time more wisely. Most people claim it’s about budget, but digging a little deeper often reveals another culprit: a hesitancy and confusion about how and what to delegate.

For many, delegating is a thorny issue that gets READ MORE »

A couple weeks ago we moderated a panel on partnership at the Rock the World Conference in NYC. We discussed everything from formal partnership to strategic collaborations and the selection of investors. Our panelists were candid and funny about their experiences. Much of their advice rang true in our own experience. Here are five pieces of advice that are really worth sharing:

I’ve been talking a lot recently with aspiring entrepreneurs who are seeking to build wonderfully interesting businesses that are meaningful and engaging. I’ve also had tons of great coaching sessions with fabulous businesses that’ve got a good amount of experience under their belts but are taking an opportunity to evaluate their performance and trajectory. Interestingly, despite the differences in these two groups, my advice has been amazingly similar. I have found myself referencing something entrepreneur Jen Hill pointed out in our book, The Big Enough Company, “Don’t build a mansion when all READ MORE »

There are hundreds of people who have gone through my Revenue Breakthrough Program by now. And there is one thing many of them have in common – the need to be “prepared”, “ready” or “perfect” before they really put themselves out in the world.

Perhaps you relate? You have to change a few things on your website before you go to that networking event. Or you really want to get your newsletter done before you contact that potential referral partner. You are waiting on the right company name so you can create your logo and really start to go do workshops. Or READ MORE »

As an entrepreneur (or aspiring one!), you constantly hear about the value of expanding your network. But the truth is, when it comes to business relationships, it’s not quantity that matters—it’s quality. Having memorable, substantial relationships with people who understand your business and can help you over time is the real key to networking success.

So, instead of forcing yourself to meet and greet as many new people as possible, spend your time focusing on a few strategic relationships. You can get all the inspiration, information, resources, and connections you need to move READ MORE »

If you’re like most business owners, you’ve got a list of business cards sitting on your desk and a list of people you are supposed to call, but you just aren’t doing the follow-up that you should be doing.

Deep down inside, you just don’t want to bother people.  You’re worried about coming off as salesy or pushy.

Perhaps you’ve already contacted them once.  And if they wanted to work with you, they would have already written back, right?

Not quite.

So many times we take the “ignored e-mail” or “no phone call” as a sign that the person we are trying to reach READ MORE »

Yes. But that may be ok every so often.

I’m pretty clear about insisting that emoticons and multiple exclamation points undermine a writer’s professionalism.  Especially the ladies!!      See what I mean?

But there are three sides to every story, as a recent NY Times piece proves. In Emoticons Move to the Business World, the Times reports that the occasional well-placed smiley can be just the thing for a work email:

Lisa M. Bates, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia, has lately embraced the smiley — as READ MORE »

The prospect of giving a presentation or speech can be terrifying. Yet, we all know that speaking can be an incredibly effective way to bring awareness to ourselves and our business. Here are some wonderful resources that will help you warm to the idea!

This is post 2 of 3 in an exploration of transferable business lessons. Last week we looked at parenting advice that also applies to entrepreneurship. This week our focus is on design. I asked several gurus with different backgrounds to weigh on what design has to teach us about business.

Cody McBurnett, Katie Fischer Cohen and Robin Horton share excellent advice and more at Forbes!

-Adelaide

Image credit: hto2008

There is no denying that social media has certainly changed the nature of networking. However, regardless of how many Twitter followers you have, old-fashion face-to-face networking skills are still a critical component of business success.

Here are some terrific resources that will help even the most shy and apprehensive network with ease.

Try Something New TuesdaysAt IGC, we love cultivating a community for  entrepreneurs to share their knowledge and experiences.  Our Try Something New Tuesdays series is the perfect invitation to take the plunge on projects & ideas  you’ve always wanted to explore!

Read, bookmark and share!

Just as Feng Shui’s Bagua Energy Map applies to a building or room, you can also use it to set up your desk to maximize your productivity, business relationships and success.

The Feng Shui Office Bagua Map

Download my exclusive READ MORE »

I’ve learned a lot about parenting from being an entrepreneur and vice versa. I detailed some of my lessons a few months ago here. I’m a big fan of crossover advice and transferable lessons. Really, who wants to have to learn the same thing twice? During a recent conversation that I had with a few pregnant entrepreneurs I found myself really driving home the value of leveraging the lessons that entrepreneurship has taught you for parenting. This made me curious about more “crossover” advice. What else do experts see to be true about not only their area of specialty READ MORE »

This past weekend I had two conversations with good friends about what it takes to cultivate a new adult friendship. Many of us have friends from childhood, college and our twenties but as we get older making new friendships can be the result of convenience (through work, an interest, children). I have found that I have become incredibly selective in new friendships as I feel my time is both limited and valuable. As a result, I have cultivated a few adult friendships that I let fizzle out. The reasons ranged from realizing we had little in READ MORE »

This column is all about creating and honoring “the big enough company”, that is – one that is grown purposefully and in accordance with particular goals, rather than one that pursues growth for growth’s sake.

In our super-sized culture we’re programmed to look at status symbols, accumulation, and consumption as markers of success. But the truth is that success is not about size, it’s about satisfaction. Instead of automatically continuing to grow, entrepreneurs today are getting wiser about identifying their unique goals and needs and then build a business that’s big enough to support them.

Exploring the rewards of entrepreneurship

Defining your READ MORE »

Bookkeeping is a task that is hated, or at least avoided, by most entrepreneurs. Many experts say this aversion comes from a lack of basic understanding and comfort with the principles and value. I thought it’d be helpful to start this tax year with the right attitude. So we are scaling it way back and starting at the very beginning with these helpful resources.

Who doesn’t love a fresh start? For many entrepreneurs the New Year ushers in renewed enthusiasm and determination to get organized and do things “right.” With visions of perfectly organized documents and plans, we set up new protocols for every aspect of our business, sign up for new courses and initiatives and, after much scrutiny, purchase a new calendar, which we hope will make us all the more productive.

Predictably, we overindulge, biting off more than we can chew. More often than not, the complicated routines and infrastructure that we’ve created causes us to abandon our efforts and within weeks we READ MORE »

Whether or not to: opt into an early layoff package at a big Wall Street law firm in favor of starting my own business.

Why I was tempted to say no: The Fear Factor.   Despite the fact that I had been unhappy in my job for a long time, fear of failure, fear of running my own business, fear of stepping into the unknown had kept me locked into private practice on Wall Street for a very long time.  The comfort of a steady paycheck, and a high-paying one at that, had been the excuse I had relied upon for years to justify the misery of my day-to-day READ MORE »