Koble an exchange helping small companies connect to bigger companies is out with it's 2nd annual small business survey. One of the findings of the survey is that for small businesses one of their biggest challenges is getting new customers. I see this quite a bit as I travel around the USA, speaking to thousands of...
Last week I was on a short 2 hour flight from Orlando to Newark. I was sitting in the aisle in the exit row. Spacious and comfortable seating. In the raw was a child, who was not allowed to be in the emergency exit row. The flight attendants were having a tough time shifting people around, so...
I was recently speaking to a friend of mine who said he wanted to go to the gym. But two things were keeping him back. The first thing was his fear of this particular gym. He didn't like some features of the gym and was afraid that it wasn't safe. Second, he didn't like the position...
One of the pleasures I have in traveling the country speaking to thousands of business owners is hearing many of their challenges. Of course the desire to get more customers and keep the ones they already having buy more is ONE big challenge. However, I also hear from business owners who are FRUSTRATED in growing their...
We hear the constant chatter about AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning and sometimes wonder, is this “hype” or for real? Of course larger companies are investing quite a bit in using these technologies for their businesses, but what about smaller companies? Meet, Ideas. At SXSW, I spent some time with Microsoft to see how they’re...
Josh Cohen, founder, and CEO of Junkluggers took a “garbage” idea and turned it into a business that’s booming. Starting a business is challenging, and when it’s a niche business, those intricacies become even more complex. Josh faced this challenge head-on when he took the mainstream offering of hauling junk and made it environmentally...
You might assume that keeping employees happy would require more money or time off. And while both those things are certainly appreciated, employee happiness is a bit more complex. Employers are starting to recognize that keeping their employees happy and fulfilled at work means getting a little creative. “To make customers happy, we have...
ReadWrite, Inc., a technology and business publisher, has acquired the small business technology publication smallbiztechnology.com. The two sites will retain separate leadership teams to ensure editorial independence while cooperating to cover trends in the tech and business sectors. Entrepreneur and author Ramon Ray launched smallbiztechnology.com in 1999 as a resource for all things small business. Founded as a paper newsletter for Ray’s...
Millions of people order millions of things from Amazon.com. It's the default "app" we use to order just about everything. One pair of socks. 3 bundles of paper towels. 50 baseballs. Whatever we want we order it from Amazon. But there's not many people, comparatively, who've been INSIDE of an Amazon fulfillment center to see how...
I made my annual trek to SXSW 2019 and had a great time. I'm glad I went. For attendees, SXSW is a great place to learn and connect. The investment is about $3,000 - flight $300 - $500 dollars, hotel $1,000 or more and food. Plus the SXSW badge. If you just make ONE great connection or...
