All The Entrepreneurial Mind

Entrepreneurs are paying a lot more attention to the cultures they create in their businesses. Culture is important, but it should never take precedent over a company's financial viability. 

The ability to start a new business does not make an entrepreneur successful. In many ways starting the business is one of the easiest parts of the entrepreneurial process. Building and growing it into a sustainable venture is the hard part. But, it is also what determines true entrepreneurial success.

How two first-time entrepreneurs managed the risk of giving up a steady paycheck to pursue their new business.

Starting your own business is tough enough without knowing why you're really doing it. Prospective entrepreneurs, think carefully about what your 'big reasons' are to dive into entrepreneurship, Dr. Cornwall advises.

There is a widely held notion that the qualities of good entrepreneurs don't translate to management, but that's not always the case. 

Entrepreneurs should set their minimum salary based on a number of factors, including what the company's revenue is like during both the ups and the downs and what their lifestyle demands.

First-time entrepreneurs who are getting ready to launch a new business face many steps, including creating a corporation. Dr. Cornwall, speaking with an attorney, breaks down how you should go about doing it.

While it may have begun as a means of economic survival during extremely challenging times, entrepreneurship in the Baltics is now the engine that has created a pocket of growing prosperity while the rest of Europe continues in a recession, Cornwall writes.

The vast majority of entrepreneurs engage in 'creative opportunism,' Cornwall writes. Change creates numerous opportunities for entrepreneurs to fill small gaps or find little niches in the market.

We should really use the business model to guide our launch and early development of the venture, Cornwall writes. It is a tool that makes change and updating simple and highly effective.

You never know when you might run across a potential investor or customer, Cornwall writes. So you always need to be prepared to give a clear and concise pitch of your business.

Every entrepreneur benefits by getting help from battle-scarred industry insiders, Cornwall writes, and mentors can get intrinsic and financial rewards from guiding young entrepreneurs. 

Washington tells us that if only we could make more debt available to small businesses they would be able to export more products outside the US, Cornwall writes. But most surveys of small business owners tell us that the weak economy and sluggish sales are their biggest problems, and not the availability of debt.

Finding a market niche is not always enough to build a sustainable business, Cornwall writes. Adjustments in the business model are often necessary to be able to grow a business to the point that it can provide a consistent paycheck.

The road to business growth can be both narrow and treacherous, Cornwall writes. There is not a lot of room for error, and when you make a mistake it can lead to serious consequences for the business.

Meeting a wide array of customers is manageable while a business is small, Cornwall writes, but, as it grows, it becomes impossible to be “everything for everybody.”

American small-business owners face many barriers in seeking customers from other countries, Cornwall writes.

Character, culture, and family are key to a successful career as an entrepreneur, Cornwall writes.

Just because nobody has started a particular type of business is by no means an indication that the market needs that type of business, Cornwall writes.

A business plan is great once entrepreneurs have tested the market and know what they're going to sell. But for starters, they really need to model their business.