“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller It never ceases to amaze me how much I learn when I travel. I have been lucky enough to go on a few international trips, and each time I return home I feel like a new part of me has been awakened. Travel sparks an insatiable desire in me to contribute to…
QUESTION: WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR IN A POTENTIAL STARTUP PARTNER? Question by: Ashley THE DATING GAME “When searching for a potential startup founder, you must search based on how you would if you were looking for a long-term relationship. You need to look for someone that can share the long-term vision of the company. Founding and running a business is like being married and having a child —…
Will the Federal Minimum Wage be Increased Any Time Soon?
by / ⠀Entrepreneurship• Startup Advice / May 28, 2013Uncertainty abounds amongst small businesses across the United States. Entrepreneurs in a wide array of industries, especially startups, find themselves challenged in making decisions for their short, intermediate and long-term futures because of uncertainty stemming from the economy. This includes concerns about everything from proposed tax increases and healthcare mandates to a hike in the minimum wage. The President proposed an increase in the federal minimum wage to…
Do You Have a LOFA Problem? (Lack of F*cking Adventure)
by / ⠀Entrepreneurship• Travel / May 28, 2013This Memorial Day I woke up feeling strange here in the States. I had no energy and the rainy 45 degree weekend must have had me down. I spent a quiet weekend in the suburbs on the couch, catching up on work… Answering a few hundred emails…. Yawn. Then the weather broke. Yet I still couldn’t quite snap out of the funk. I had no creativity and I…
Starting Your Own Business — Are You Ready to Be an Entrepreneur?
by / ⠀Entrepreneurship / May 27, 2013Becoming an entrepreneur is not the right fit for everyone. Unfortunately, there are many people who find this out when they start a business, and then end up with a ringside seat as it falters and fails. Experienced entrepreneurs who serve as mentors to aspiring business-owners cite one repeated issue as a reason this continues to happen. In short, the excitement of a new business idea and imagining…
It is safe to assume that, if given one wish, most entrepreneurs would ask for more hours to their day. No matter what stage in its start-up life a small business may be in, time is precious and must be used carefully to ensure that the company stays on track and focused with what it’s doing and where it’s going. This is where the small items that sidetrack…
Creating a Crash Course for Your Industry
by / ⠀Entrepreneurship• Finding Customers• Personal Branding• Startup Advice / May 25, 2013You don’t have time to keep up on industry trends. You’re an entrepreneur, marketing manager, or HR executive, with a schedule jam-packed with the day-to-day activities of your career — not sticking your head in whitepapers on your industry for hours on end. Believe me, I feel your pain. Running Influence & Co., I constantly felt that I was out of the loop on the overall trends in…
Google Plus: The “Ghost Town” that Helps Build Personal Brands
by / ⠀Entrepreneurship• Personal Branding• Startup Advice / May 25, 2013What If I told you Google Plus is no longer a “ghost town,” Would you believe me? I hope so. But don’t worry, this isn’t another how-to guide. This post is about opening your mind to how powerful a personal brand is. Specifically, how Google Plus can help you build a personal brand that makes people actually care about what you’re doing. How powerful is a personal brand…
You are busy. I am busy. Everybody is. Let me tell you why you should spent the next five minutes reading me. I have pitched to friends, family, investors, partners, consumers, at competitions and events, presented various works at middle-school, high-school and college, preached at multiple church services, bootcamps, sunday-school and real-time translated a dozen of preachers, and spoke at conferences in uni. From Portugal, to UK, to India, in different languages,…
Interview: Tiffany Tabar and UpSpring PR Focus on Design
by / ⠀Entrepreneur Interviews• Entrepreneurship / May 24, 2013Tiffany Tabar is the CEO and co-founder of UpSpring PR, a boutique public relations firm specializing in architecture, interior design and product manufacturing. She and her co-founder, Sarah Nelkin, the company’s President, have built a strong niche in the hospitality, residential and commercial design markets, precisely by targeting clients working in these areas, such as the design of new restaurants. Their current roster includes a nice mix…