entrepreneurship

Apr 26, 2010

Olympic Athletes Do Not Achieve Greatness Without a Coach

At a recent keynote address, I found myself asking attendees if they noticed the one thing that all of the athletes at the winter Olympics had in common, “ A coach.”

It is amazing how many growing companies do not have a support system (formal or informal) in place to support the founders, owners and C-suite. Why is it that we expect ourselves to have all of the answers when world leaders in performance (athletes and businesspeople) regularly have advisors to turn to in the form of individual coaches or formalized boards of advisors or directors.
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By Ken Tencer Blog, business, Entrepreneurial Thinking, Innovation, strategy 2 Comments Tags: business, Entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Innovation, leaders, management, owner, Profit, strategy

Jan 5, 2010

The New Entrepreneurial Climate

Note: Our Blog post was inspired, with thanks, by a recent article in Entrepreneur Magazine, The Entrepreneur Economy, by Jason Daley.

Mega corporations are no longer the backbone of our economy. An entrepreneurial climate is taking hold as small enterprises become more competitive, and are starting to beat out their larger scale counterparts. Smaller, more adaptable, and more innovative businesses are using an economic downturn as a leg up.

By Ken Tencer Blog, business, Entrepreneurial Thinking, Innovation, The 90% Rule 20 Comments Tags: business, competition, entrepreneurship, Innovation, recession, small business, The 90% Rule

Dec 14, 2009

The question isn't "if", but "how"

“Whether you think you can, or you can’t, you will probably be right.”
~ Henry Ford II

I had an interesting experience at a recent marketing roundtable that I was leading for a fast-growing manufacturer of branded and private label products. The founder and CEO was in the session, along with members of the management and sales teams. One of the “sticky” points brought up by management was that the entrepreneur did not share enough of his ideas in advance. In essence, he consistently held his cards close to his chest. This made it difficult for managers to make the day-to-day, tactical decisions that would contribute to the firm’s long-term strategic direction. In response, the owner’s candid and somewhat surprising opinion resonated with me. And it still does to this day.

By Ken Tencer Blog, business, Entrepreneurial Thinking, Innovation 4 Comments Tags: business, entrepreneurship, Innovation