Most entrepreneurs want to stay positive and upbeat. If we don’t we might succumb to defeat, and let down those who are counting on us: our employees, our customers, and our business partners.   That’s where motivational books come in. A good inspirational book can be reassuring. It helps you see that other business owners […]

The parties often went late into the night, with up to 150 friends milling about their pool, gathered around the piano, singing, talking and laughing. Scott Jones and his partner, Kell Hicklin, loved entertaining. So when they decided to tank their respective careers in marketing and human resources, the couple determined it was time for […]

Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren’t sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer — that you […]

Becoming a successful entrepreneur is not just a combination of good fortune and being in the right place at the right time. A talented business person will be able to use a range of skills to identify what is the right business to move into (or out of) at key times in order to maximize […]

People buy more jelly beans when they’re offered an assortment of colors. This is true even if all the different-colored jelly beans taste exactly the same. After reviewing 50 experiments that involved more than 5,000 consumers, researchers at Switzerland’s University of Basel, Germany’s University of Mannheim, and Indiana University in the U.S. concluded that the […]

As 2012 unfolds and small-business owners continue to face an anemic economy, knowing the trends that will reshape how you do business can give you a critical edge. Here are 10 top small-business trends for 2012 and beyond: • Technology disruption accelerates: Web-based or “cloud” computing, mobile commerce and social-media marketing are three fast-growing mega trends […]