‘Every dress that leaves here must be perfect to our capacity’: understanding the ingredients of success

This is another installment of thoughts and takeaways from our conversations with designer and entrepreneur, Selia Yang. We are focusing on Selia as a part of our inFOCUS series and are excited for the culminating soiree at the end of the month.

In addition to the focus on Business Direction and Goals (Selia’s decision to go bridal), we really admired Selia’s very clear understanding READ MORE »

This is a first installment of thoughts and takeaways from our conversations with designer and entrepreneur, Selia Yang. We are focusing on Selia as a part of our inFOCUS series and are excited for the culminating soiree at the end of the month.

During our talks with Selia Yang, several themes stuck out as not only noteworthy but as good lessons for other entrepreneurs. The first theme is the importance of Your Business Direction & Goals. (A favorite topic for us!)

Selia’s decision to go ‘bridal’:

It is so READ MORE »

Last week in the New York Times business section I was struck by the following quote:

“ That is the American way – to expand without really thinking”– Lydia Ezparza, co-owner of Great Lake Pizza Shop in Chicago.

The quote was take from an article, “Small by Choice, Whether Clients Like It or Not” by Kermit Pattison.

It is a great interview where the owners articulate their deliberate choice not to expand their business (as many would predict and encourage) despite their business’s booming success. I found the article incredibly refreshing as it is not that often that a small READ MORE »

I finished reading a great article this weekend in the New Yorker about John Mackey who is the CEO of Whole Foods. The article is fascinating on several levels: the contradiction behind the whole foods brand as the founder is not who you think he would be; the overall state of the grocery market, especially in light of the Walmarts of the world now carrying organic product and products; and the story behind the company.

What I found particularly remarkable was my reaction to John Mackey. Throughout the article I flip flopped from thinking that the guy READ MORE »

I was recently speaking with someone who was quite upset about a customer who didn’t seem to “get” or her business mission with same amount of fervor as my colleague would have liked. It seems that my colleague’s customer was supportive of the mission but was also very focused on the benefits of the service being offered. Pretty fair, I think.

Anyhow, it got me thinking….

Are customers who don’t “get” your mission really bad customers?

In the case of for-profit enterprises should READ MORE »

(photo courtesy of Megan Horsburgh)

In a recent consulting session I was struck by a client’s poignant statement. She said that after 8 years of running a successful business (in which she has supported herself and several employees), she finally feels like a “real-business owner”. Hum… I scratched my head and asked. “what do you mean?” She said that she had always felt like a fake and that it was mere luck that had been propelling her business forward over the years.

Ah ha, I realized she had suffered from the Business Owner’s Imposter Complex!

A quick and easy definition READ MORE »

There were two throught provoking articles in the New York Times magazine this weekend. The first, “Facebook Exodus” by Virginia Heffernan, was a great read as it articulated why many members are moving on.

Heffernan profiled several members who left facebook for reasons that included the discomfort of having facebook knowing too much about you, overexposure about your life to others, a waste of time, and a feeling that facebook is stalking them.

Facebook is still a growing giant, attracting 87.7 million unique visitors in July. The article made me think about the lifecycle of businesses and wonder if facebook, like READ MORE »

I would describe myself as an entrepreneur who has created meaningful work that allows me to think creatively and affords me the luxury of utilizing skills and talents that are natural, enjoyable, and at most times do not feel like work.

As I read Matthew B. Crawford’s “The Case For Working With Your Hands” in The New York Times Magazine, I felt that he was articulating a daily experience that many satisfied entrepreneurs could relate to. (I also think this article should be required reading for all career seekers.)

His experience details his path – for all intents and purposes – towards READ MORE »

While the economic uncertainties of the fall seemed to deliver an air of pause, caution, and consideration, the new year – and the resounding revelation that the soured economic climate is here to stay – seems to have helped usher in a call for action.The last few months have encouraged many of us entrepreneurs to recalculate and recalibrate. And now it is time to move. Ah, adaptation – the plan previously unforeseen, the unplanned path taken.

We have talked and worked with many who are in the process of adapting their company, product, service, offering – in other words creating the 2.0 version of their own company. Maybe, for your company, it previously made sense to do one thing, READ MORE »

One of the most appealing aspects of going into business for yourself is that you are finally your own boss. You can make your own schedule, work when you want, on your own terms. As an extension, your job can take into account what is important to you. Whether it be income, hours, flexibility, autonomy, the creative process, etc. How exciting! How refreshing!Fast forward to weeks, months or years after you launched your business to find yourself working 24/7, with no flexibility in sight, making less than you’d planned, managing operations instead of creating, knee deep in the weeds. And did we forget to mention, not feeling READ MORE »