Testing…. Crucial for Small and Large Companies

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Last year I wrote a blog on Testing. . .Reduces Risk and Maximizes Success. It was geared to small Business. I said, “Large companies can absorb a failed product. Small company failures can be fatal. Now I would like to focus on two very large entities who neglected to test their ideas and paid a […] Read more »

An Open Letter to Management of Major US Companies

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Dear Managers: The NY Times on May 26th, 2013, in their lead editorial titled “A Is for Avoidance” with a sub-headline of “Apple Is the Latest Example of how American Multinationals Avoid Taxes” continued the demonizing of American business. They specifically mention Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Starbucks, Hewlett Packard, and General Electric for using aggressive […] Read more »

Partner with Established Brands to Build Your Own

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You are known for the company you keep (as well as the company you are). There are several ways to bask in reflected glory. For example, you can run an ad for your product featuring your most prestigious customers. There’s some chance that those customers will kick in some money to support your ad, but […] Read more »

Product Knockoffs— One Idea to Combat

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If your product is very successful and if you have no legal way of protecting it—which is true, in most cases—then why not knock yourself off before someone else does?  Put yourself in the knockoff artist’s shoes. How would he or she copy your product? In most cases, they will look to make it less […] Read more »

Publicity: A Wild Card for Small Business

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Publicity is the great wild card for small businesses. Certainly, advertising can be effective. However, a story in the media about you, your product, or your company generally carries far more weight and legitimacy than any paid for ads. Such a story is likely to reach both consumers and any intermediate customers, such as retailers. […] Read more »

Finding Ideas to Start a Business

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One of the most asked and difficult to answer questions I get when I speak to MBA students is “How do I get the right idea to start a business?” In approaching a reply, I would say at the outset, that there are no simple magical answers or formulas. I would add that most successful […] Read more »

Building Trust

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The single most important thing you can do in starting and building a business is to get people to trust you. Trust needs to be earned and takes time, although you can lose it in a second. Telling people to trust you doesn’t cut it. In fact, when people I just meet tell me to trust them, my antennae is up to watch my back. The benefits of being trusted are enormous. People have confidence in those they trust. Read more »

A Letter to My Blog Subscribers

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To: All Subscribers to my Bootstrapping 101 Blog From: Bob Reiss   First, thank you for subscribing and reading my blogs. Second, I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and fulfilling New Year. When I started writing these blogs over 15 months ago, I was told by the Internet experts (of which I am […] Read more »

WHY THE $5,000 TAX CREDIT WON’T WORK

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The President has proposed an up to $5,000 tax credit for Small Businesses for each employee they ADD in 2010, and an additional tax break for salary increases given to employees making under $100,000 a year. The purpose of this is obviously to add badly needed new jobs. Read more »

MYTH – ENTREPRENEURS LOVE RISK

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A rejection is not a failure. It should be viewed as an opportunity to learn. Successful entrepreneurs have the self-confidence to face all these ego risks and to put their energies into reducing or avoiding risks to the business. Read more »