Peter Drew, Artist: Art Can Help Explain The World To Concerned People

ABC?s hit show Shark Tank has not only inspired a new generation of entrepreneurs but has also inspired a genre of knockoff business reality shows like Restaurant Startup and The Profit on CNBC. The Discovery Channel?s version, Blue Collar Backers, premieres on August 26 at 10 pm / 9 pm

Legal Moves To Avoid Disaster For Your Business
Here’s a look at three steps you can take.

The Rapidly Increasing Influence of B2B Marketers

Celebrities at the 2016 Rio Olympics

What Crushed Noodles & Company’s And Shake Shack’s Stocks
Noodles & Company and Shake Shack are great franchises. For consumers who crave a “global menu prepared locally,” or a good burger, that is. But they have been poor investments for those who purchased shares of the two companies during the IPO days a couple of years ago.

This Week In Small Biz Tech: Facebook Foils Ad Blocking And There’s A New Way To Stalk Your Rivals
Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?

What Are “Rich Answers” And How Do They Affect SEO?
How do rich answers affect SEO, and how can you take advantage of them? You’re about to find out.

A Simple Guide To Finding The Right Speakers For Your Events
It?s easy to find yourself attracted to big names when you?re looking for speakers for your events or conferences, but I?ve been to enough conferences to learn that organizers can put themselves into some pretty bad positions by getting distracted by celebrity and not thinking through the right speakers for their events.

8 Tips For Staying Motivated When You’re Unwillingly Unemployed
After finishing my masters, I was stoked to land my first “real” job. I’d graduated from a prestigious program alongside seven others, one of only two who’d taken the thesis/M.A. track. I’d completed my internship at the most respected placement available. And so, confident and motivated, I set out to get hired.

Despite Global Economic Volatility, Small Business Borrowing Remains Strong
Loan approval rates at big banks ($10 billion+ in assets) declined slightly for the first time in six months in July 2016, according to the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™, the monthly analysis of more than 1,000 small business loan applications on Biz2Credit.com. Last month, big banks granted 23.1%, still a solid figure considering where we once were during the post-Great Recession credit crunch when approval percentages were in the single digits. Credit unions (41.5%) and alternative lenders (60%), providers of asset-based and cash advance loans also experienced a dip in their loan approval rates.

How Women-Lead Startups Are Taking The Reigns In The Taboo Industry
According to the inaugural Bank of America Women Business Owner Spotlight 54 percent of women entrepreneurs expect their revenue to increase over the next 12 months, compared to 48 percent of male small business owners. Additionally, 60 percent of women business owners expect to grow their business over the next five years (vs. 52 percent of men) and the two main sources of funding used by women entrepreneurs as they grow include their business credit card (28 percent) and bank funding (23 percent).

How Greg Mercer Started An Amazon Business That Raised $18k For Charity
In today’s world, filled with internet entrepreneurs and experts vying for attention in a cluttered online space, there is a prevailing trend of each person speaking louder than the next. The resulting cacophony is enough to leave anyone confused and disheartened.

What Is Agile?
The Learning Consortium comes to the Drucker Forum

7 Startup Pitfalls Can Kill Your Business Growth
In my role as an advisory board member for several startups, I’m always excited to see that initial surge of revenue from a great rollout campaign. Unfortunately, many passionate entrepreneurs read this initial surge as success, and charge ahead with more of the same passion, leading to a series of potential pitfalls that can quickly jeopardize the health of the entire business.

What Business Leaders Can Learn From “The Final Five”
When the Olympic fire is extinguished and we go back to our day jobs, take these lessons. Your teams will thrive as a result.

Customer Service Lessons To Learn From The Banking Industry
You don’t have to be in banking to appreciate customer service insights from the industry. A recent survey from Clarabridge on the banking industry is a customer service wakeup call for any and all types of business, in any industry. And, while the numbers shared below may not track exactly with your industry, many of them will, and the implications of the numbers surely do.

Black Lives Matter Targets The Tax Code
Black Lives Matter is calling for radical tax reform, adding its voice to the election season calls for changes to our tax system.

Hands-On Approach Put This Entrepreneur in the Luxury Market
Deborah Lippmann shares how she turned her passion for healthy nail care into a successful luxury nail polish company.

How Some Bosses Can Sabotage Progress
“How was your day?” he says.  “The usual, nothing extraordinary” she answers.

2016 Global 2000: The 25 Largest U.S. Companies

By The Time Wal-Mart Catches Up With Amazon, There Will Be No Neighborhood Stores
Wal-Mart is getting serious about catching up with Amazon. Very serious, forging the right partnerships and amassing the right talent and resources to compete effectively against the e-commerce leader. That would mean the eventual elimination of the last standing neighborhood store.

8 Questions You’ll Be Asked When Selling Your Business
One of the most intimidating aspects of selling your business can be facing the barrage of questions during the various management presentations you’ll be doing for potential acquirers. Be prepared to be grilled on all facets of your operations.

Lessons Learned: How To Go From Intrapreneur To Entrepreneur
Since I started writing this blog, I’ve had inquiries from more and more people who want to be entrepreneurs. Most of the time their first question is how do I get started?

7 Steps To Create A Workflow For Your Content Strategy
Even with a content marketing strategy in place, the actual work of execution can interfere with your bottom-line productivity. The solution to this is to create a workflow for your content strategy, but how can you go about this?

5 Ways To Improve Your Company’s Search For Talent

Middle Market M&A: Making Money After Your Sale — Part 2
The sale of the family firm might structured in a way that varies sale proceeds based on the post-deal success of the business. In such situations, sellers are keenly motivated to see that buyers are successful. In this installment, we talk about those things sellers might do pre-deal with an eye towards that post-deal success.

Are There Any Downsides To Content Marketing?
Are there any real downsides to content marketing that might deter you from the strategy?

Top 15 2015 Concert Tours At The Ticket Booth

This SoCal Startup Is Eliminating Risk In The Concert Booking World
FanFlex’s blend of Kickstarter and OpenTable is an inventive and necessary solution to the complicated, inefficient live music industry.

4 Things Entrepreneurs Can Learn From The Olympic Athletes In Rio
With the 2016 Rio Olympics in full swing, we’re watching history being made — staying up way past our bedtimes to catch the re-runs and laugh at the hilarious Olympic memes. Amongst all this fanfare, let’s not forget that the Olympics’ reach goes beyond just sports; there are key lessons founders, investors and entrepreneurs can learn from these world class athletes. Here are four in particular that stand out:

Citizen Investors — A 90 Day State-of-the Union On Crowdfunding
On May 16, 2016 the flood gates opened. That is when all American citizens were allowed a direct pathway to seed stage investing through a new type of security, technically called “Regulation Crowdfunding.”