by Daria Steigman on October 7, 2010
Anyone who has built a successful business knows that entrepreneurship involves more than just identifying a sellable product or hanging out a consulting shingle. It takes a business mind, long hours, lots of sweat equity—and a healthy dose of financial risk management.
My latest column for CW Bulletin is all about financial management 101. It features advice from Anita Campbell, CEO of Small Business Trends, and offers seven tips to get organized, be smart, and seize the right opportunities. It’s not sexy stuff, but it is designed to reiterate the importance of some things you’re hopefully doing already and maybe give you some new ways to think about managing your cash flow and taming your business expenses.
Read it here, and then come back and add in your best financial management tip.
Photo by Steve Snodgrass (Flickr).
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financial management,
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by Daria Steigman on July 13, 2010
My latest column for IABC’s CW Bulletin is out, and it is about time: how we claim it as business owners, and how we can manage it to keep ourselves from being overwhelmed or letting critical tasks and projects slip through the cracks.
It can be a challenge for even the most organized. I’ve written before that it doesn’t take a superhero. While I wish I had a time turner, like Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter books, I live in a world where the wizardry is really just a product of hard work.
The column looks at 9 strategies for managing your business. They range from identifying the five business buckets to prioritizing the big stuff to understanding cash-flow cycles.
You can read it here. Then come back and tell me: What would you add?
Photo by Laffy4k (Flickr).
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Workflow
by Daria Steigman on June 4, 2010
This blog turns 2 today. It all started with a 74-word post about communications, business, and unique selling points. But the blog is here because of you — my community.
So in honor of our second anniversary, let’s talk about you:
- Who are you? I know who some of you are — but not all of you. Whether you’re new or a seasoned reader, please take a minute to introduce yourself to the Independent Thinking community.
- What do you want me to write about? I’ve tried to stay true to my pledge to write about business, entrepreneurship, communications,social media, and how technology is impacting the way we work. But what kinds of posts resonate with you? Is there something you’d like to see me write about more? Something that’s missing from this blog?
Thank you. The comments are yours.
Photo by mischvelente (Flickr).
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community,
Entrepreneurship,
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Social Media,
Value Proposition
by Daria Steigman on June 1, 2010
There’s a LinkedIn discussion going on right now in one of my groups about the books that have made you the person you are today. While I knew many people would cite inspiration texts, philosophers, and business gurus, I had to stop and think whether there were any media that resonated that much. I scanned all the books on my shelves. Nothing popped out.
Then I realized there is one documentary and one poem that did make a difference:
- I saw Harvest of Shame when I was 13 (props to an amazing teacher), and it made me want to do something to help migrant workers. Ten years later, when I knew I needed a graduate degree to break out of my dead-end job, I chose labor relations.
- Wordsworth’s The World Is Too Much With Us is 14 lines long, and it turned my 17-year-old self upside down. I came to college planning to study economics and business so that I could live and work overseas. But then I found poetry and my passion. And that took me into that dead-end job, which took me to labor relations–and eventually to that blowtorch that helped shape who I am today.
The rest of my library? Some really great stuff that’s made me an educated woman and/or given me great ideas and insights. But made me who I am? That’s a much smaller list.
What about you? What media have helped forge your path?
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Wordsworth
by Daria Steigman on May 11, 2010
For years I thought I was an accidental business owner. I mistakenly believed that I’d fallen into business ownership out of a determination to avoid bosses and office politics, which eventually led to an aha moment when I figured out that—yes!—I like the business of running a business.
What really happened was that I identified a market need and the appropriate universe of prospects, created services and pricing, developed a marketing strategy, and got to work selling. In other words, I had a plan.
And that’s the short secret to business success–and the topic of my latest column for IABC’s CW Bulletin. It features wisdom from Tim Berry, entrepreneur, founder of Palo Alto Software, and author of The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan, who talks about misconceptions about planning and offers three planning essentials.
Read the complete article here.
Photo by w00kie (Flickr).
Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!
Tagged as:
Business,
IABC,
Palo Alto Software,
Strategy,
Tim Berry
