Enterprise news and opinion from Cobweb

To survive in business, an owner-manager will need to be competent at a number of things, such as selling, finance, stock and debt control and admin, as well as being proficient at their ‘job’ i.e. their profession, trade or technical background. Unfortunately, most owner-managers don’t have the right balance of attributes to make them effective or successful at running a business…

Conventional thinking (and often advice) given to prospective new start ups is to find a business idea (or create a product) first and then work out who you are going to sell it to later. But those dumbstruck new start ups who are encouraged to pursue the first idea, product or ‘opportunity’ that they see rarely prepare themselves properly for running a business venture. And they rarely survive for very long…

There are any number of reasons why a business project or an entire business might fail and it is generally a combination of factors which finally tips a business owner over the edge. Whatever the particular circumstances or stage of your business project here are five common failure factors which typically apply to new business owners, with some tips on how you can address them…

One particular debate which has become a perennial cause of divided opinion among enterprise professionals relates to whether entrepreneurship can or cannot be taught in a classroom setting. In the light of these differences in opinion the answer to the question is clearly yes, no, and maybe…

Typically, small business owners spend considerably more time on process activities than they do on being enterprising, and this, in the majority of cases, is an issue that will need to be addressed…

Conventional thinking (and often advice) given to prospective new start ups is to find or create a business idea (or product) first and then work out who you are going to sell it to. The problem with this approach is that more often than not it will result in novice business owners wasting their time, effort and money in creating a product, service or business idea that nobody wants…

It is an indisputable fact that there is considerable variation in small business owners’ ability and capacity to be enterprising. Some owner managers are very enterprising indeed and will often also be described as being ‘entrepreneurial’ in that they have a knack of finding ways to make a profit from their enterprising activity. But at [...]

In previous editions of EnterQuest we’ve provided you with some tips and ideas about how to improve your personal effectiveness as a small business owner and your ability to be more entrepreneurial. In the process of doing that, we’ve always been wary of the range of misleading and sometimes unhelpful advice in general circulation about [...]

Most small business owners start their new venture, or plan to start it, with a business idea or more likely a product idea. Often, but not always, this can be a very good idea. But even these good ideas are worth little or nothing if there isn’t a market, or the potential to find a [...]

There are many different reasons to explain why some people succeed with their small business venture, and the degree to which it happens for them. A combination of hard work, luck, plenty of planning, good timing and getting decent advice all play their part, but don’t tell the whole story. When it comes to the [...]