Archive for January, 2010

A fascinating article in the New York Times provides a perfect object lesson for young entrepreneurs on the subject of Executive Foot in Mouth (FIM) Disease.

The background: There’s a very cool program in Boston, Inner City Entrepreneurs, that helps small business owners who are new to entrepreneurship figure out how to grow their businesses. The group of 25 entrepreneurs meets like an MBA class and has lectures, projects, and sharing of ideas. Read more

The New York Times has a sad story on seven small businesses that shut their doors in 2009. The owners were brave enough to talk about what went wrong and offer up valuable lessons for all small business owners:

  • A 12-year-old concierge service that peaked at $2.5 million in revenue fell to $80,000 in 2009 and closed its doors. The owner reflected that she should have sold the company when it was flying high, and in fact had interest from buyers.The lesson: When you’re in a business that is dependent on the economic cycle and not recession-resistant, look to sell when times are flush, or diversify. Read more