Starting a Business

How to Start a Property Management Company in 2024
There is often a great deal of confusion about the difference between business plans and strategic plans. And, frankly, they are similar in many ways, and since each plan has to be tailored to the organization it is prepared for, one can easily blur into the other. In both cases, you begin with internal and …
Working in construction gives professionals the chance to earn good pay, enjoy stable employment, and work outside, away from an office setting. Construction jobs are usually in high demand, so starting a construction business lets you manage your own work time and create employment opportunities for other construction workers.  Discovering more about starting such a …
Starting your restaurant is an exciting endeavor with various crucial elements. As a food entrepreneur aiming to turn an idea into reality, mastering culinary basics, understanding business principles, and having marketing skills are vital.  Persistence and determination are necessary. Below are twelve steps to ensure the smooth opening of your restaurant, control business costs, and …

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It’s been widely reported that the company co-founded by Michael Porter, the famous Harvard Business School professor who wrote The Book on business strategy, was forced into bankruptcy protection. We’ve written several blogs about Michael Porter’s insights. How could a business started by the guru of five-force analysis, possibly one of the most widely-adopted competitive …
The Drivers Model is Leadership Strategies' methodology for strategic planning and the ultimate tool for masterful planning. The Drivers Model process covers seven key principles for masterfully planning any activity. The seven principles are summarized below. Let’s break down each one.
Want to start a small business, but missing some skills? Here’s one option: take some online classes, where you might learn what you need, for a fraction of the time and cost. Improve your business plan AND your business. There are 100s of web-based business classes, many of them free (open source) or for a …
When considering whether to invest in a company, bankers and venture capitalists look first at the entrepreneur, then at the plan. They invest in people, not plans. It’s not the content of the plan that matters, but rather what it says about the entrepreneur — how she thinks, how she collects confirming and disconfirming data, …
The Drivers Model is the tool I have been using for over two decades to provide a robust yet simple method for taking an organization through strategic planning, project planning, program planning and numerous other planning activities. The Drivers Model is fully scalable and applies to Fortune 500 companies, non-profit organizations and government agencies, as well as an entire enterprise, a business unit, a field office, an individual department, or a work team. Let's start with the four key strategy questions the Drivers Model answers.
With the emergence of so many “social businesses,” there’s been a widening distinction made with what many people are now calling non-social businesses. The distinction is that social businesses are built around a heroic mission to make the world a better place, while their non-social cousins exist for a crass purpose — solely to make …
Owner Director Dilemmas: Navigating Tough Choices Sam is an experienced manager and has worked for over twenty years in his industry. He has also sat on two not for profit boards and enjoys the governance role. Now he has an opportunity to buy an equity stake in a small business that has a product and …