Innholdsfortegnelse for Sep-15 i Entrepreneur Magazine

@LindsayTampaBay: I like to keep a vision board as my desktop background with goals, quotes and things I am thankful for. @Sameerpeace: I read, write, code and dream. @RyanJamesLock: I meditate and constantly ask questions. @seanmmitchell: Hiking in the mountains. Glean from those executing in business and sales. @benbuie: Hearing stories of success and seeing my friends succeed. @krista_laree: I constantly challenge myself, I journal, and I make time for the little things in life that make me grateful. @bmuth: Putting four kids through college and leaving them a business they can be proud of. @CrossMyPlace: Stay inspired by always finding a new problem to solve. @emeliarae: I do everything I can to never stop learning. Reading, writing and taking it all in.…

In 2008, Ringo Starr released a video announcement on his website that he would no longer be signing autographs or accepting fan mail. “I am warning you with peace and love, but I have too much to do,” the former Beatle said, signing off with his signature catchphrase, “Peace and love, peace and love.” Which was a brilliant move. He used extreme positivity to express something deeply negative. He couched blanket recognition of his fans in a larger philosophical context. Hence: THE STARR FORMULA: State explicitly what you will not be doing + give brief reason why + wrap with soothing catchphrase.…

Q: We passed all inspections, but I am concerned that a machine due for replacement in 18 months might pose a safety risk sooner than that. Ideally I’d replace it now, but money is tight; I plan to address the potential safety issue another way. No employee has expressed concern, and my legal and compliance obligations are met. So why do I keep worrying that I’m not doing right by my employees? A: Operating ethically doesn’t mean putting yourself through guilt trips. That said, when a gut feeling keeps nudging you, pay attention. It is a signal that you need to ask yourself more questions. Here are some to consider: Can a reliable third party validate that your safety fix would work? Would you feel comfortable with your fix if…

There is an art to picking the perfect avocado—that is just one of the lessons Max Mullen learned in the process of launching his online grocery-delivery service, Instacart. “In the beginning, everyone said it would never work,” recalls Mullen, 29. He knew that several startups had tried and failed to develop effective means of delivering groceries to consumers. “But people shop for groceries all the time, and that made this a valuable problem to solve.” Mullen, who studied entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, set out to rethink those previous models. He and Brandon Leonardo, 29, and Apoorva Mehta, 28, launched Instacart in 2012 in San Francisco. Unlike other services that stock groceries in warehouses and make deliveries using fleets of branded vehicles, Instacart relies on…

We do social media, creative and platform management for clients such as Coca-Cola, 20th Century Fox and Mary Kay. We are a virtual company with a staff of 120 spread around the country, and like most companies, we started off using a mix of traditional word processing, graphics apps and instant messaging to manage everything. But about two years ago, we began to lose track of graphics revisions we were sending around for all that content. Then we found Mural.ly, and it instantly became the tool we could not live without. It’s a visual collaboration program that manages all the graphics revisions of a creative job and puts them in one place where everybody involved can see them. We easily spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on Mural.ly,…

THE FINE PRINT Before you scramble to take advantage of cheap debt, consider the risks. Like corporations, individuals who accrue low-cost debt levels today may be forced to refinance them at higher rates in the future, which could have a negative impact on future cash flow. Rising interest rates can also affect income, as well as the value of the assets used as collateral, especially if they trigger an economic downturn (see: the Great Recession). Consider yourself warned. Many personal-finance experts consider debt to be evil, whether they’re talking about a credit card charging 15.8 percent, an auto loan at 1.9 percent or a mortgage creating a much needed tax deduction. Their advice is always the same: Pay cash. But that’s an oversimplification. Not all debt is the same; taking…

Entrepreneur: Caroline Weaver, owner of CW Pencil Enterprise in New York City. “Aha” moment: Each day, Weaver—a self-described “obsessive” with a collection from around the world—brought five perfectly sharpened pencils to her college internship. When she complained to co-workers about not being able to find good pencils in the U.S., they joked that she should open a store. After researching the market on writing tools, in November 2014 she plunked down $85,000 from her savings to start an online business. She opened a brick-and-mortar store on Manhattan’s Lower East Side this past March. Getting the lead out: Minimal startup costs and overhead meant CW Pencil could get to the point quickly. Weaver, whose background is in production and design, built her own website and used Shopify to fulfill orders. Because…

Keeping your day job while starting a business has its advantages. Aside from the steady income and free coffee, reliable full-time work helps you flesh out your résumé and portfolio and extend your professional network. Even better, working for someone else gives you a front-row view of the best (and worst) ways to run a company, from managing time and money to handling customers and employees. We asked some successful entrepreneurs who founded companies while holding down a 9-to-5 to share the lessons they learned. 1. FIRST, PROVE YOUR CONCEPT. Holding down a day job means having only so many waking hours to devote to your side venture. That’s why validating that your idea will work—and that people will pay for it—should be priority No. 1, says Shara Senderoff, co-founder…

This month is a big deal in the magazine world. Like the fashion glossies, our September issue is hugely popular among our readers (and advertisers). But our September issue isn’t about skirt lengths—it’s a look at the apex of success, ideas and what it really means to make it. So, we’re not a fashion magazine, but we do have this highly chic issue about young millionaires. (By the way, the name of this annual feature needs a do-over. It cheapens the subjects’ stories, which, frankly, have a richness that transcends the “millionaire” label. Check back next year.) What I love about the four profiles in this year’s feature is that, although they are unrelated, they have a common thread: finding the waypoints that can guide one to success, developing the…

Old Foghorn is a killer name for a stout from the coast of Northern California, thought Lenny Mendonca, who made the beer part of his lineup when he opened Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. in 2000. In short order, a letter arrived informing the fledgling brewer that Fritz Maytag’s Anchor Brewing Co. already owned the evocative name. A senior partner at management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, Mendonca knew the drill—the legal chain of events that occurs when one infringes on a competitor’s trademark. He received a letter. But it was not what he expected. “It was a personal letter from Fritz—not a letter from his lawyers—suggesting we find another name and wishing us luck,” says Mendonca, who came to understand that Maytag’s collegial, low-key style was the rule among…

Ask 30-year-old Emily Weiss whether she runs her skincare line, Glossier, as a product company or as an online media company with a merchandising arm, and she replies, simply, “Yes.” The former New York University art student, fashion intern at Teen Vogue and fashion assistant at W and Vogue started her website, Into the Gloss, in 2010 as a way to learn and share tips from women she admired, including Arianna Huffington, J.Crew creative director Jenna Lyons and the world’s top makeup artists. Weiss’ background in fashion editorial put her in touch with many of them, and her interest in their beauty regimens inspired The Top Shelf feature on her site, for which she and her team visit women in their homes and explore the products they use and why.…

Austin McChord is the master of disaster. His data backup, recovery and business continuity company Datto defends customers around the globe against the threat of network catastrophe, safeguarding information everywhere it resides. Datto’s Total Data Protection platform encompasses a suite of proprietary software and hardware alongside a 140-petabyte private cloud to store and restore data across a client’s physical and virtual servers as well as SaaS applications, promising near-instantaneous end-to-end recoverability if and when misfortune strikes. “We can restore machines faster than anybody else on the market today,” says the 29-year-old McChord, Datto’s CEO. “Most people are looking at a matter of hours to bring back a failed server, whereas our average restore time is about six seconds, regardless of the server size or complexity. Being able to bring systems…

If uBeam has its way, dead batteries and charging cords will soon be a quaint memory, much like rotary dial telephones. The Los Angeles-based company has developed technology that transmits ultrasonic waves (at a register well beyond what’s audible) that are translated by devices as a microscopic quiver; this vibration is converted back into an electrical charge to power anything with a battery, no wires or wall plugs required. Meredith Perry, who began tinkering with wireless charging as a paleobiology undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania, started the company in 2011. “Just think of my grandpa, who could have his pacemaker powered remotely, or my other grandpa, who can’t hear if he forgets to change his hearing-aid battery,” she notes of the technology’s broad potential. Areas where uBeam could reshape…

There are 29 million people living with diabetes in the U.S.—more than 9 percent of the population—at an annual cost of $245 billion. Even with an array of devices and drugs available to manage the condition, diabetes is the seventh-leading cause of death in the country. Rick Altinger, CEO of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Glooko, calls it an unnecessary pandemic. “Properly controlled, with the technology and devices we have today, you can live a healthy life,” he explains. “You don’t need to die from diabetes.” Managing the disease means careful monitoring of numerous variables, including blood sugar, medication and direct impact of food and exercise. “Today, there are people with Types 1 and 2 diabetes receiving suboptimal care. We don’t need to spend more money caring for them,” Altinger says. “We…

Massages, manicures and other health and beauty treatments, once considered indulgences, are increasingly becoming part of everyday life, made available and affordable to the masses by a number of rapidly growing franchise systems. “There’s been a shift in consumer attitudes,” says Debi Lane, CEO of Boise, Idaho-based Lunchbox (A Waxing Salon), which has sold 113 units since it launched in 2010. “These types of things used to be a luxury. Now they are a commodity, something we put on our to-do lists, like picking up the dry cleaning. Except now people put on their list ‘Go to Whole Foods’ and ‘Get a quick wax.’ They don’t want to spend half a day in a spa. They want to schedule the service so it suits them.” That’s where franchising comes in.…

If you’re considering buying a franchise, it makes sense to start with what you love. And if your passion is people, you’re in luck—the franchise world offers a variety of businesses that are all about serving members of your community, from tots to seniors, and everyone in between. You’ll find 111 opportunities here on our list of the top personal-service franchises. These companies are listed based on their ranking in Entrepreneur’s 2015 Franchise 500®, which is based on objective, quantifiable criteria, including system size, growth and financial strength and stability. This list is not intended as a recommendation of any particular company, but merely as a starting point for your own research. Before investing in any franchise, read the company’s legal documents carefully, consult with an attorney and an accountant…

Progress report I subscribed to Entrepreneur a year ago with the hopes of tapping into new opportunities for my clients and myself. I work in PR and marketing, so staying on the cutting edge of news and trends is a non-negotiable requirement for the job. It never exhausts me though; I love what I do and, at 27, I know I’ve done a great deal to be proud of. But in a world dominated by men in suits, it can sometimes be a little intimidating. Not because I lack confidence, but because it would be nice to have more than a handful of women in a room who are steadfast on being business-minded. Things have changed for me and my generation; we see a lot of women (especially women of…

Twenty-five years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Patrick Hughes Jr., founder and CEO of Inclusion Solutions, still hears of gaps in its coverage. In a recent meeting, Hughes learned that Joe Martin, an alderman with quadriplegia, can’t get through the doors of 95 percent of the businesses in his town of Appleton, Wis., even though most are ostensibly ADA-compliant. “These companies are thinking they’re compliant because they’re meeting the minimum requirements,” Hughes explains. “People are going to the minimum standards as opposed to looking at the spirit—and the spirit has been missed.” Helping business owners obey both the letter and the spirit of the ADA is the mission of Inclusion Solutions, an Evanston, Ill.-based manufacturer of cost-effective products that make commercial spaces, drive-thrus, gas pumps and…

HOW TO BAIL ON … … meetings Make sure everyone understands that you’re not bailing because you’d be better served by not attending the meeting. You’re bailing because the company would be better served by you not attending the meeting. Be candid, honest, authentic. No white lies. Provide more information than the other person needs. Don’t tell people what you’ll be doing instead of the meeting—ask for their blessing to do it. But don’t actually ask for a blessing. Unless you’re trying to get out of a meeting with the Pope. … favors Never immediately say yes to a favor. Place your rejection of the favor request in a larger philosophical context. Seem accountable through body language. Eye contact, especially. Be sympathetic yet clear and unwavering. Repeat until incredulous favor…

Q: What elements are absolutely essential for my company website? A: Gabriel Shaoolian, founder and CEO of New York City-based digital agency Blue Fountain Media, offers the three must-dos for an effective website. State your message concisely. Shaoolian cites the example of Zappos, whose website promises “fast, free shipping.” Three words (how’s that for concise?) that define company values. “A lot of e-commerce sites are selling something, but you don’t know what’s different about them,” he says. Provide a call to action. Your home- page should allow customers to take immediate steps—request a quote, inquire about a product, make a purchase. Integrate social media. Put “share” buttons on content-rich pages. “You don’t share CNN’s website,” Shaoolian says. “You share an article on CNN’s website. When CNN has a great article,…

PASSION IS EVERYTHING. Max Mullen knew he wanted to launch a startup, even if he wasn’t fully enthusiastic about the idea. In 2010, he introduced a social networking tool called Volly. The business failed within a year. “I didn’t have a passion for it,” he admits. “Passion drives a sense of urgency and tenacity; without it, when you reach a stumbling block, you give up. It made me realize that if I’m not passionate about something, it’s not worth doing. I’m passionate about Instacart, and that has driven its success.” SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES CAN RISE FROM THE ASHES OF FAILURE. “I was working on a startup for about a year and a half,” says Taso Du Val. “It didn’t go very well. It went nowhere. No one believed in the idea.…

School isn’t for everyone. Richard Branson dropped out at 16, and he’s doing just fine. David Karp quit school at 15, and 11 years later he sold his blogging platform Tumblr to Yahoo for $1.1 billion. Hell, Benjamin Franklin’s formal education concluded when he was just 10, and he’s enshrined on the $100 bill. Now we can add software savant Taso Du Val to the list. After dropping out of high school to pursue his passion for technology, he gained real-world experience as a lead engineer at photo-sharing startup Fotolog, which ad network Hi-Media purchased in 2007 for $100 million. From there he accepted a lead engineering position at another early-stage tech firm—PayPal co-founder Max Levchin’s social media company Slide, acquired by Google in 2010 for $228 million. Du Val…

When Charlie Emery set out to build Spooky Pinball, his Benton, Wis.-based company, he ran into a snag: finding a resource to manufacture the circuit boards that power each of his custom-made, $5,995 pinball machines. His only options were to line up prohibitively expensive one-off production in the U.S. or deal with high minimum orders and suspicious quality from manufacturers overseas. “I was doing everything out of my own pocket,” Emery says, “and I only needed 10 circuit boards at first.” Enter MacroFab, the Houston-based manufacturer started by tech industry veteran Chris Church and electrical engineer Parker Dillmann. Church launched MacroFab after enduring similar pain manufacturing a time-lapse security camera as head of another company he founded, Dynamic Perception. “Being from software, I wanted to make manufacturing hardware more like…

As our business grew aggressively, our sales of SkySocks, the socks our customers wear while jumping, followed suit, to the tune of almost 10 million pairs sold in 2014. To meet the demand, we were shipping SkySocks orders from our warehouse on the West Coast. Based on our freight expenditures and fore-casted growth on the East Coast this year, we needed to find a more efficient way to distribute them. We signed on with a third-party logistics provider in Ohio to fulfill orders for the Midwest and East Coast, covering roughly 78 percent of Sky Zone parks. Our analysis showed an approximate savings of $228,000 per year in freight costs. The estimated annual distribution fees and incremental cost to move inventory is $106,800. Therefore, our annual savings pencils out to…

In 2009, three software engineers, a CFO and an HR exec came up with a savory idea: They would create a platform that lets shoppers make purchases from multiple artisan food producers and have everything delivered in a single order, along with certain big-brand staples. “To be successful, we knew we had to work with artisans in each city and build an online farmers market filled with local products,” explains Lior Lavy, co-founder and COO of Dallas-based Artizone. Today the company works with hundreds of purveyors who sell everything from pancake mix to sea salt in three markets. We talked to Lavy about how he’s helping small food businesses expand their reach. —Jodi Helmer HOW DID ARTIZONE GET STARTED? Our initial conversations were focused on creating an online supermarket. The…