Entrepreneur

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Are Britain’s Black entrepreneurs being underserved by banks? According to a new report from Lloyds Banking Group, that appears to be the case. The study - Black. British. In Business and Proud - suggests that just 30 percent of Black business owners approach banks to inquire about finance, with only 20 percent going on to take out loans. As the report sees it, the consequent reliance on other forms of funding - such as family and friends - acts as a drag on the growth potential of many ventures. So what can be done? Well, first you have to understand the problem. Gary Lapthorn is Head of Sustainability and Responsible Business at Lloyds and as he explains, the bank's research has provided a means to gather data on the the Black business community that was not, hitherto, easily available. Prompted by the killing of George Floyd in the U.S. and the rising importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, the bank began to … [Read more...] about A Question Of Trust – Why Britain’s Banks Are Failing To Attract Black Entrepreneurs

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Being a business owner is exciting. But, it also comes with some other not-so-exciting things, like the dreaded burnout (aka, exhaustion). And if you’re not careful, burnout can kill your business. If you’re starting to feel swamped and aren’t sure what to do to get back on track, I’m here to help you with a few tips I’ve learned along the way. 6 Ways To Escape Entrepreneurial Burnout As an entrepreneur, it can be easy to burn yourself out quickly. After all, you’re wearing many hats and (if you’re like me) are constantly on the go. So, how do you know if you’re burnt to a crisp? Some signs of burnout include low energy, lack of motivation, and irritability. You may also find yourself feeling a tad bit (or a lotta bit) stressed or overwhelmed. These feelings are normal, especially for busy entrepreneurs. But, the good news is that you can escape. How, you ask? By following the six tips and tricks below. 1. … [Read more...] about What To Do If You’re Burnt Out As An Entrepreneur

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin More Americans are turning their brainstorms into businesses. The total entrepreneurial activity rate—which measures the rate of new and existing business ownership—hit 16.5% in 2021, up from 15.4% in 2020, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2021/2022 Report by Babson College and a consortium of academic institutions found. More than half of the entrepreneurs are starting businesses in professional services and technology, the report found. Other hot areas are finance, real estate and business services (28%), and education, government, social and consumer services (21%). Most established business owners in the report are solo operators or owners of tiny businesses with five employees or fewer. “What we know about entrepreneurship is you can get started with very few resources,” says Donna Kelley, a professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College. “You can use what you have.” Many of the entrepreneurs are … [Read more...] about U.S. Entrepreneurship Boom Accelerates

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin By Meeta Vengapally Debt is what everyone, and no one, wants to talk about. As an entrepreneur, I know that taking on debt as a tool to grow your business can be helpful, if not fundamental. Debt is sometimes necessary for artists, too. As a mother of two young performers in Hollywood, I know just how expensive it is to get them the right training, mentorship, wardrobe, and other necessities. Let’s face it—to make money, you need money. It’s a hard reality for many of us in pursuit of anything—especially those endeavors that require creativity, as entrepreneurship does. We need training, capital, goods and services, and a team to accomplish any worthwhile venture. Also, with our current climate, it’s obvious that many need to take on student loan debt to even be competitive in their field. Professionals suggest that there is such a thing as “bad” and “good” debt. Does this hold up for artists and entrepreneurs? … [Read more...] about Does Good Debt Exist For Artists And Entrepreneurs?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Not all supplements are the same, Henrietta Norton argues. Over ten years ago, she had the idea of a food-based supplement company, Wild Nutrition . She started it in her garden shed; today, it’s selling across the UK and Europe, and now hoping to make more of an impression in the US market. Trained as nutritionist, Norton was formulating supplements for British and European brands in 2010. While working for commercial supplement companies, she also advised individuals in a one-on-one setting with their specific concerns. Seeing hundreds of women in her private clinic, she started focusing on women’s health, particularly hormonal health. Meanwhile, Norton had been writing a book on endometriosis. When her editors asked her to make recommendations for readers on what supplements could help, she was stuck. “I just couldn’t make any recommendations with integrity. That’s when I knew I had to create them.” Food-based … [Read more...] about British Brand Works To Transform The Supplement Industry

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin If I googled your name, what would I find? A few old pictures and a dormant Twitter account, a fully-fledged portrayal of you as a person and professional, or something in between? Perhaps you’d be absent from the internet all together. But which is best? If you’re trying to build an impressive company, should you be active and present or does it make no difference? Mike Winnet has an opinion. In 2017 he sold his business, Learning Heroes, for $11million and now shares insights about sales and marketing on his Contrepreneur YouTube channel (with 90,000 subscribers) and in his Views Are My Own membership community of 6000 members. Within the community, Winnet and members explore topics such as building personal brands, whether paid networking events are worth it, anti-marketing methods and sales strategies for marketing professionals. I spoke to Winnet about how necessary having a personal brand is to building a … [Read more...] about Does Every Business Need A Front Person?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin While not all startups are high-tech, almost all of them include some kind of technology. This is usually where their innovation and scalability (hence huge upside potential) come from. So, handling the technological side of your business effectively is crucial for your overall success. This doesn’t mean just understanding the actual tech, but also understanding how it integrates into your business and how to handle and invest in it strategically. Here are some basic rules of thumb which are important to understand for both technical and non-technical founders. 2. Building Something For Too Long Without Customer Feedback If you are a tech founder, your zone of comfort would often be to close yourself to the outside world and build the best possible version of your idea. This, however, is the cardinal startup sin. Wasting a lot of money, time, and effort on something you are not certain the market wants is a … [Read more...] about 3 Common Tech Mistakes For Early-Stage Startups

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin By Oscar Moncada , co-Founder & CEO of Stratus10 Cloud Computing. He’s worked in AI, software engineering, and led teams at Fortune 1000s. When you’re planning to migrate your internal applications, DevOps or databases to the cloud, one of the top considerations remains to ensure data privacy and integrity. And, in most cloud implementations, your cloud provider assumes some—but not all—responsibility for cloud security. Cloud security is what works to ensure data privacy and security. In the cloud, security is built across multiple layers and effectively monitors your infrastructure. We’ve all heard about major security breaches in the news, but the fault in these cases involves misconfigurations of cloud services and are, in fact, the fault of the user, not the cloud. The cloud requires a “shared responsibility” model, with a whole host of parameters set forth by cloud providers that enterprises … [Read more...] about Outsourcing, In-Housing And Finding The Right Provider For Cloud Security

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin By Shay Harel, founder of Rank Ranger , an industry-leading SEO and digital marketing platform. Every business is designed to do one thing: make sales. This is the goal of everything we do. Pretty obvious, right? This should inform all your decisions from here on out. Therefore, if your business creates content, you must understand how your content will bring your business sales. In this post, I'll explain how to create a content strategy designed to connect to your audience at every stage of the buyer's journey. But first, let's understand your buyer's journey itself. Understanding Your Buyer’s Journey In order to create a winning content strategy that generates leads and sales, you must first understand your buyer’s journey. Your buyer goes through a series of steps before hiring or making a purchase. Usually, this starts with the user encountering a problem in their life or business. At … [Read more...] about How To Create Compelling Content That Generates Leads And Sales

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard announced on Sept. 14, 2022 he has given away his company in an effort to do more for the planet. Photo taken on April 26, 2019/ Ben Gabbe / Getty images North America/AFP/ File photo NEW YORK – Yvon Chouinard built an empire with his outdoor gear brand Patagonia, but the nature enthusiast has never done business like anyone else. And now, aged 83, he’s just taken his most drastic step: he has decided to give away the company to fight climate change. It’s an unusual move in the United States, a thoroughly capitalist society, but it’s completely on brand for the California resident. “I’ve been a businessman for almost sixty years,” Chouinard wrote in a book in 2006. “It’s as difficult for me to say those words as it is for someone to admit being an alcoholic or a lawyer.” “Yet business can produce food, cure disease, control population, employ people, and generally enrich our lives. And it can do these good things and make a profit without … [Read more...] about Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, the reluctant businessman