DEFINE YOUR BRAND FIRST—BRAND STRATEGY IS MORE THAN A CATCH PHRASE

It’s common for businesses to try and focus on many things simultaneously once they have a business plan: things like sales, getting a website, keeping current customers happy and prospecting for new ones. This can and does work, it is in fact critical for growth, but to maximize the return on all those efforts, you have to have a solid brand strategy for customers to connect with.

The hard truth is that 90% of startups fail. Not even the internet has changed this. Despite the plethora...

25 LESSONS LEARNED IN 25 YEARS

Confessions of an Accidental Entrepreneur

After 25 years in business, I decided to share what I learned by writing a series on the lessons that I felt deemed themselves worthy of the top 25 I have learned. This is the first in the series.

I was going to be a potter and sell ceramics for a living and yes, they have degrees in that and I did get one—Bachelor of Fine Arts. At the time, my father told me that it’s good to have a Plan B career as you never know when you will need it. I took his advice...