Why Complaints Are Gifts

By Rolfe Larson on March 6, 2012

Let’s face it; it’s no fun when someone complains. Some people, the saying goes, just like to complain. Best to give them what they want and send them away, right?  Not really.  Complaints can provide such valuable market feedback that you’ll want to include strategies in your business plan for dealing with them.  Most of [...]

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Business Plan in A Weekend?

By Rolfe Larson on February 8, 2012

There’s been a fair amount of interest lately in how to write your business plan quickly, say in a weekend.  The most well-known is called Startup Weekend, which promises to turn strangers into teams with a completed business plan in an intensive 54-hour weekend marathon.  Is this a good idea? There’s also a new book, [...]

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Why So Many Startups Fail

By Rolfe Larson on January 11, 2012

US Bureau of Labor Statistics research indicates that almost 60% of businesses shut down within the first four years of operation.  Why?  Most fail for one of these reasons.

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Congress Gets Crowdfunding (finally)

By Rolfe Larson on November 28, 2011

You might find this surprising, but last week a bi-partisan US House passed a bill that actually had some substance to it.  One that could actually help entrepreneurs and small business owners.  

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Case Study: Value Chain Improves Profitability

By Rolfe Larson on November 9, 2011

In a previous blog, I described “value chain” analysis, which is an analytical technique designed by Michael Porter to evaluate the sequence of business activities to improve profitability. Those five areas are: inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing & sales, and service.  That leads to a review of cost advantages and areas of differentiation for [...]

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Alternative Legal Structures for Your Business

By Rolfe Larson on October 17, 2011

There are now many choices in legal structure for a new business.  That’s both a good thing and bad thing. It’s great to have options, but sometimes the details can become overwhelming.  For a business with a social as well as financial purpose, there are different ways to set things up, depending on your motivations, [...]

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Gotta Have A Social Media Strategy

By Rolfe Larson on October 3, 2011

Social media has not been around that long; Facebook is barely seven years old, for example.  But in today’s business and social environment, for many companies that sell directly to the public, having a social media strategy is no longer an option.  You gotta have one.  

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Value Chain Your Way To Profitability

By Rolfe Larson on August 18, 2011

Ultimately, success in business depends on finding your competitive advantage, which is to say that which makes you superior to your competitors and is perceived as valuable by your customers.  One approach for figuring that out is through value chain analysis, as developed by Michael Porter.  The value chain is a sequence of activities that [...]

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Porter’s Five Competitive Forces (Part 2)

By Rolfe Larson on July 28, 2011

My previous blog identified the five competitive forces developed by Harvard professor Michael Porter, which should be addressed in every business plan.  This blog profiles each of these forces. 

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Porter’s Five Competitive Forces (Part I)

By Rolfe Larson on June 29, 2011

Every business has competitors for its customers, who, after all, get to choose.  Most business plans only focus on existing competitors.  While that’s necessary, it’s not sufficient.  You also need to look at the underlying structure of your industry, and assess the extended rivalry that exists within that structure.  One way to do that is [...]

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