ShawnHessinger commented on the following stories on BizSugar
10 Small Businesses Make It Big With Royal Wedding
"Just glanced over the post a minute ago, Alastair. I see your point. Here in the U.S. the SBA's definition of a small business might surprise you. We define big business as REALLY big, like MIT and General Electric big. May depend on the cultural context and that of the author. Still a useful discussion. Many of these kinds of businesses can often be described as small business...at least excluding income. Just my brief take. "John Warrillow – The Glenn Beck of Canadian Business?
"Hi, Sean, Interesting take on the author of "Built to Sell", named the 2010 Best Book for Business Owners by Inc Magazine and a guy who, according to his bio, has started and sold four companies and is today a celebrated speaker and angel investor. Though I haven't gotten around to reading it myself, I understand the book is sort of required reading in some business circles. You can check out the listing over at Amazon which is where I got all this info. My point is that John's something of a celebrity and revolutionary and while I have no doubt some of what he says is deliberately provocative and perhaps over the top, some of it may have at least some merit. No, I wouldn't judge someone on the basis of an MBA alone, but it is a fact that there is a difference in the basic way a professional manager is trained to think and the way an entrepreneur thinks. And, yes, it may be unwise to spend huge amounts of time drafting a lengthy business plan before you've gone out and talked to some people and maybe even closed some sales at least of a prototype so you can be certain there really is a market and that it doesn't just exist in your head. I guess my point is that while guys like Warrillow may sometimes say things for shock value their real purpose is to test assumptions. And let's face it, some business assumptions could certainly stand a bit of testing. I've read some interviews, watched some video and have really found some of Warrillow's thinking to be quite worthwhile. Like the idea of increasing the value of your business to sellers by making sure it can run successfully without you. Just my two cents. Thanks very much for participating. "5 Simple Tips For Customer Profile Success
"Hi Susan, Agree with everything you're saying in the post but I'm surprised sometimes how many customers or clients seem to defy these profiles whenever you make them (or how well you make them?) I'm not saying it's a useless exercise. Quite to the contrary, I think it will help you more clearly define the things you do well, simplify your basic products and services and even take the personalities and superficiality out of the equation. The only thing you should remember to avoid missing huge opportunities that, for whatever reasons, don't meet your carefully crafted customer profile. "7 Free Business Tools to Help You Make Your Mark
"Nice list and thanks for adding BizSugar. I think we all know about some of these simple tools but perhaps don't use them in the way we should. Strategy usually isn't about finding that one perfect tool or technique that changes everything about your business but about slowly over time assembling a set of tools that helps you do what you do more effectively. It's a slow process and requires planning and resolve. "The Myth of the Dying Sales Professional
"Hi Jeff, I'm generally pretty skeptical when someone talks about the death of [insert the profession, medium or practice here] because of changes in technology. In another life, I was a newspaper reporter and then managing editor for a couple of weekly newspapers, another profession expected to disappear with the coming of the Internet. Of course, the practice of reporting, writing and relating information continues regardless of the means used. What these people usually really mean is that the profession as you know it is about to change. And so what? Doesn't everything change? But, in fairness to the fear gurus, I suspect they've come into contact with one too many folks who don't want to budge one single inch from the way they've always done things...even if it's clear the way they've always done things doesn't work anymore. There's a happy medium, it seems to me, between accepting that everything changes and running around prophesying the end of the world. Those who are successful in any pursuit find this reasonable middle ground and get on with the business at hand. "Subscribe
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My First Pitch
"Hi Ben, Think it's a great idea getting into the practice of pitching and probably something many more entrepreneurs should do instead of just pitching when they really need the money. "