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Casual Articles - Lessons Learned From An E-Commerce Adventure
American manufacturers are turning away lucrative business because they can't attract or retain enough qualified workers. Productivity diminishes when there are not enough skilled employees, and the situation convinces – or forces – many employers to lower their hiring standards while simultaneously canceling profitable contracts.The Jacksonville Business Journal, for example, recently reported that Atlantic Marine Holding Company in Florida has passed up millions of dollars worth of new business due to a lack of productivity based on too few employees. As alarming as that might sound, the incident is not an isolated one. Businesses across the manufacturing sector are experiencing significant shortages and rates of attrition that directly affect the bottom line. In fact, a recent survey by the Manufacturing Institute, the research arm of the Washington D.C. based National Association of Manufacturers, revealed that 90% of manufacturers report a moder
In mid-1998 we launched a
Maybe you have relied on things like Customer Dinners or Customer Appreciation Days etc... These are events that bring groups to you, with referrals in hand. Think of the beauty of having a referral come to a function, of seeing a whole bunch of happy campers. The "safety in numbers" syndrome will alleviate all of the skepticism they may have brought with them, I assure you. People will correctly assume that if all these others like you, then you must be legit.Get the objections out of the way, right away. There is a very common, but erroneous, assumption in marketing that you should never bring up anything that's negative. That you must always be "perfect." Well, I got some bad news for you. You aren't, and your prospects know it.Therefore, one of the best things to do in any marketing piece is to admit your faults and explain why they will not be a problem. For example: The "professional" thing to say about an independent, smal
That is what I keep telling myself after having invested the time and cash equivalent to a Harvard MBA in an e-commerce start-up that has stalled and is winding down. Not a happy prospect in light of all the media pre-occupation with e-commerce success stories and the young millionaires watching their IPOs rocket into cyberspace. But the headlines ignore the more frequent stories of new e-commerce businesses that do not hit the stock market jackpot. Many of them either settle into a low-key niche or exhaust their resources and fold.
This is the story of an Internet venture that did not make the headlines, but offers some useful insights for entrepreneurs evaluating their own initiatives. The lessons learned are applicable to your own new venture or to an investment in someone else’s.
In mid-1998 we launched a
A letterhead is a part of a very effective business package. You see the letterhead has a great influence on your image, specifically on how your company is viewed by your potential customers. It is your initial move to introduce your company to your prospects. For this reason, it is essential to design the letterhead with the right image of your company. It is the letterhead that conveys to your customers who you are and what products or services you have. You think that they only provide the address of your company. But it’s more than that. Letterheads have great marketing potential that business persons can take advantage to make it to the industry.If you want to make an impression it’s the letterheads that you should capitalize on. What does a letterhead can do to your company? Well, the letterhead can enhance the credibility of your business. It implies your corporate identity, which means it’s the one responsible for convincing your prospects t
This is the story of an Internet venture that did not make the headlines, but offers some useful insights for entrepreneurs evaluating their own initiatives. The lessons learned are applicable to your own new venture or to an investment in someone else’s.
In mid-1998 we launched a
Work ethics is a hot topic in today’s business and educational worlds. Yet, how do we define this hybrid phrase with the word work meaning more than a specific outcome and the word ethics being more than the values that enhance that outcome?When we say we are going to work, work becomes the place of employment. When we say we are working, the implication is that we are engaged in a work-related activity and should be performing one or more specific tasks. However, the word work in today’s global economy does not easily denote specific outcomes much less measurable ones.Years ago when our economy was agrarian based, farmers said they were going to work the fields. Their work or more specifically the outcomes of their work could be viewed from the plowed fields to the stacked bales of hay. In today’s technology and service driven economy, workers outcomes are not as nearly recognizable, but what is noticed is their behavior.Now, ethics
This is the story of an Internet venture that did not make the headlines, but offers some useful insights for entrepreneurs evaluating their own initiatives. The lessons learned are applicable to your own new venture or to an investment in someone else’s.
In mid-1998 we launched a
If you've come to this article, chances are you are looking to buy printing for some project either in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Canada or the Eastern United States. I can look up in the yellow pages and get hundred of printing company's names so what's your shpiel?My shpiel, is simply to make you think about what it is you are really looking for. Printing although thought of as a commodity it is really very specific to each persons needs. If you wanted a bottle of coke, you could buy it at Walmart, Shoppers Drug Mart, your local grocery or convenience store or even get it at a vending machine. The coke from all these places is manufactured at the same place with the same ingrdients and packaged the same. Your choice now comes down to either location, convenience or price? Printing though is specific to your needs. Your letterhead, business card, invoice, envelope, label, all have your logo on it. Paper stock for each item is countless. The type of
This is the story of an Internet venture that did not make the headlines, but offers some useful insights for entrepreneurs evaluating their own initiatives. The lessons learned are applicable to your own new venture or to an investment in someone else’s.
In mid-1998 we launched a
Normally shareholder agreements or buy sell agreements are written by the majority shareholder's very smart and experienced attorney and are totally favorable to the majority shareholder/Corporation. The minority interest shareholders are required to sign these agreements and often do not understand all the implications of what they are signing until it is too late. I will define too late as when they are trying to exit the business and get a liquidity event at a value that is reasonably close to the value of the company multiplied by their percentage ownership in the company.There are several approaches that we see used in determining the Purchase Price for shares of selling shareholders. The most common is Net Book Value. What net book value means is that you take all the assets and subtract all the debts and you get the shareholder equity or net book value. To the untrained observer that would seem fair and logical. In reality, it is simply an
In mid-1998 we launched a new company called nxtNet (www.nxtnet.com) with the slogan … "taking you to the next level on the Internet".
My partner and I both had prior successful entrepreneurial experience in computer products and wanted to start a new venture together. We decided to develop a business that would catch the next wave of e-commerce services for mid-sized companies seeking to do business on the Internet. After long discussions, searches for a unique service offering, and many draft business plans, we developed a market strategy and then chose Intershop Communications as our software development platform. This product had the advantages of being suitable for single or multiple online storefronts, and offered a flexible, economic and comprehensive solution. We committe
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