Blog
Gordon blogs only when he sees a need either among our members or within a business transaction in which he is personally engaged. Content rich and highly insightful, Gordon's blogs are like an advanced course in business success.
There is a chasm between the ways wealth was created in the 20th versus the 21st Century. In the 20th, it was essentially invention of devices followed by well managed traditional assets, (real estate, plants, machinery, equipment etc.) leveraging large labor forces. In the 21st, it is development and management of intellectual property leveraged through…
Read MoreI received and email from a college student who wants to be an entrepreneur. He was concerned that after graduation it would then take years to get the operational experience he believed would be necessary to start or buy his own business. Here is the pertinent portion of my response to him. I started a…
Read MoreWho is your customer? What is their income level? Age? Gender? Family status? Race? National origin? Industry & Occupation? How many and where do they live? Trends over time? These are just some of the elements that form the basis of evaluating the marketplace you intend to master. When starting, buying or expanding any business,…
Read MoreOne of my apprentices purchased a small regional candy manufacturer. The company had some non-descript products that for the most part were similar to products of other larger candy manufacturers who enjoyed substantially more robust channels of distribution. One of their products was the texture of a gummy bear, the shape of a jelly bean…
Read MoreA good bank lending officer can be an entrepreneur's most important ally. Yet most fledgling entrepreneurs have unrealistic expectations of their banker. Expect your banker to play it by “the book.” “The book” divides your business entity's history into two segments: 1) before two years of successful operation; and 2) after. To the uninitiated, dealing…
Read MoreCultivate relationships with early stage financing sources, even if you don’t need their money. Angels - Capital Finders - Venture Capitalist - Even if you never raise a dime from any of these sources, as an emerging entrepreneur they are worth, to you, their weight in GOLD. In fact, they have something more valuable to…
Read MoreMost people believe they need a mountain of cash to start a business. Not true. You can start your own business with little or no cash of your own. How? Go virtual. That means outsource everything. Here's an example of how it works and how you can do it for yourself. Someone called me a…
Read MoreHere is a great example of how to be self-employed by using "Sweat Capital" or "Sweat Equity" to quickly propel yourself into ownership of your own successful business with no cash. Several years ago I was visiting a friend when his 34 year old wanna be self-employed son also stopped by to visit. Let’s call…
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