Great creative efforts begin with an idea. The idea for a novel. The idea for a sculpture. The idea for a movie. And, might I add, the idea for a business. Your startup is rooted in an idea. Not a compact, one-line idea. But a series of specific ideas which converge to form what we might call the IDEA – the singular Orchestrating Idea behind your business.
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This video gives small business owners practical guidance on how to avoid being pressed into the wrong roles in their company.
Continue readingThis video underscores the importance of robust management systems for a small businesses and prioritizes the order in which to develop them.
Continue readingThis video shows small businesses how to add value through innovation to make it more attractive for customers to do business with them.
Continue readingThis video shows small business owners how to prioritize their work so that a reactive management style does not consume vital proactive initiatives.
Continue readingFor encore entrepreneurs well-articulated vision and mission statement are a simple, but constant reminder of what’s truly important on their agenda.
Continue readingVision and mission statements should be developed as part of a process that also spells out the values on which your business functions. Moreover, there are three different tiers of values in your company. Each of these tiers interacts in a unique way with your vision and mission statements.
Continue readingFor businesses (or any other human enterprise) our values serve as our navigational buoys. They keep us in the right channel moving forward. As encore entrepreneurs, we’ve had enough life experiences that our values are well-established. And when we start a small business, these values flow into its operation.
Continue readingVision statements come in two varieties. One type describes what you want your business to become at some distant date in the future. The other describes what you want your company to be known for. Whichever type of statement you choose, your mission statement then lays out what you are doing currently and in the foreseeable future to carry the vision forward.
Continue readingFrom the moment of startup, small business owners must be concerned with establishing and exploiting their competitive advantage. The first step in this process is to determine the unique customer benefits which they provide and which their competitors do not.
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