Small Business Leadership

October 24, 2008

Four Mistakes Leaders Make When Downsizing

Back in June, I still believed our economy could finesse a soft landing, (BusinessWeek.com, 6/27/08) but it turns out I underestimated our ingenuity for screwing ...

September 16, 2008

Why Zappos Offers New Hires $2,000 to Quit

I met Tony Hsieh, CEO of billion-dollar e-tailer Zappos, on a shuttle bus at a CEO conference a couple of years ago. So I was interested when Bill Taylor posted a ...

July 2, 2008

The Case Against Vacation Policy

Michael Kirven, 38, and Eric Berridge, 39, didn't worry about a vacation policy when they started Bluewolf, their New York IT consulting firm, in 2000. As the startup ...

April 21, 2008

Taking Advantage of a Down Market

The U.S. has officially entered a recession. What's the best thing to do when times get tough? Hunker down, right? Wrong. I spent the last five years studying the ...

March 21, 2008

The Problem with Business as Usual

I was rock climbing near my home a few of months ago with two experienced climbing buddies, and I wasn't too shocked to learn both had hurt themselves (a broken ankle,...

February 15, 2008

Are You Losing Control of Your Business?

If you started a three-month sabbatical today, what would your business look like when you returned? Small business owners may shudder at the thought. But ...

January 18, 2008

When Failure Is Not an Option

In a ham-and-egg breakfast, the chicken makes a contribution but the pig is committed, the old saw goes. Have you ever noticed that when failure is not an option for ...

January 2, 2008

A Conversation with Yossi Vardi

Yossi Vardi is known as Israel's startup guru. For nearly 40 years he has helped to found and nurture over 60 companies in industries that include software, Internet, ...

November 26, 2007

Are You the Best Boss for Your Business?

The way Sean Perich tells it, the history of his company, Bakery Barn, is a typical entrepreneurial success story. He was a CPA and longtime weight lifter who turned ...

November 21, 2007

In Small Biz, There's No Small Stuff

Last week I called customer service at a major national retailer. After navigating the obligatory automated telephone routing system, I was given the option of leaving...

October 29, 2007

Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?

Richard Goossen wears many hats. Over the past 20 years, Goossen, a lawyer, businessman, and academic, has founded startups, acted as strategic adviser to high-growth ...

August 1, 2007

No Man's Land

One of the key questions for any entrepreneur is how to achieve growth. However companies often suffer the highest failure rate while making the transition from small ...

June 4, 2007

Rethinking How Women Build Businesses

Victoria Colligan, a former corporate lawyer and one-time executive at high-end wedding gown designer Amsale, and Beth Schoenfeldt, the founder of Learning Solutions ...

May 7, 2007

Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur

Stuart Skorman, a former 1960s hippie-turned-dot-com mogul, launched the online video store Reel.com in 1997 and sold it three years later for $100 million. Since ...

January 12, 2006

A Board of Your Own

When Daryl Rossman, president of Merco Manufacturing, wanted feedback about expanding his family-owned aerospace parts manufacturer or needed advice on strategy and ...

October 7, 2005

MBAs Team Up for the Battered Gulf

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, San Diego State University professor Michael Cunningham gave his MBA students a challenge: use their brains to come up with an ...

September 21, 2005

A Wealth of Experience on Tap

Russell and Gayla Bentley thought they were well-equipped to launch their own apparel company, specializing in upscale, extended-size women's clothing. Gayla brought ...

September 12, 2005

Seen the Worst, Found Their Best

While most of the economy-related headlines in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have focused on industry shakeups and major corporations with a presence in the Gulf ...

June 28, 2005

Tips for Going Palm on Palm

National Handshake Day provides a chance to examine one of the most overlooked aspects of business. Here's how to improve your move.

June 22, 2005

Failure Is Part of Success

Nicholas Hall has known success, but he's equally familiar with its close relative, failure. In the past eight years, the former president of the Silicon Valley ...

June 17, 2005

Don't Let Your Startup Kill You

If you ever feel like you're working yourself to death, it may be more than just your imagination. Running a business can take a significant toll on your health and ...

June 8, 2005

Big City Smarts for Afghani Women

angina finds it hard to stem her tide of tears. It's just after noon on a hot spring day in New York, and she has just heard that an acquaintance and supporter of her ...

June 7, 2005

Aiding Afghanistan with Style

t's dubbed the "Style Road Trip." In late May, some two dozen Afghani businesswomen arrived in New York to participate in an intensive three-week program designed to ...

June 3, 2005

Peace Through Entrepreneurship

hen women have an economic stake in their communities, they'll have a stronger hand in shaping their communities and ultimately in promoting peace. That's the main ...

May 19, 2005

Cultivating Biz Whizzes

Many people who decide to become entrepreneurs do so because they aren't satisfied with the options offered in the corporate world. Natasha Spedalle was no different. ...