Innholdsfortegnelse for Oct-15 i Entrepreneur Magazine

My first act of rebellion came in the fifth grade.OK, maybe it wasn’t pure rebellion, but it was the first time I did something that was against the rules. It was Mr. Saviano’s history class. We were studying the Depression and its impact on families. Our assignment for the evening was to capture our family’s history by drawing a picture of what our grandfathers had done for a living. This is great, I thought. I loved history. I loved drawing. And oh, how I loved the waxy smell of crayons. I jumped on my bicycle, pedaled my way home from school and interrogated my mom on the topic of my grandfather. This story needed a permanent place in the notebook of my childhood. It was clearly something that had to…

Entrepreneur 360TM Conference Meet and collaborate with the founders of the best U.S. entrepreneurial companies on Oct. 7 in New York City. Will.i.am and Reddit’s Alexis Ohanian will share their visions for the future. Go to entm.ag/e360 to purchase tickets. Masters & Mentors seminar Master the art of branding at the next event in our series, Oct. 21 in Boston. You’ll learn how to create a must-have name that attracts affluent customers. Register for free at entm.ag/masters. Seating is limited. GrowthCon 2015 Join Entrepreneur on Dec. 15 in Long Beach, Calif., for a day of how-to sessions and networking opportunities. You’ll come away with fresh ideas, hands-on tools, powerful insights and strategies that work. Plus, we’ll present a total of $50,000 to the winners of our Project Grow Challenge. Go…

It’s one of life’s great mysteries: Why do women carry such huge purses? One major culprit is distended makeup bags filled with forgotten tubes of lipstick, aging mascara and gloppy concealer. Cosmetics startup Stowaway aims to change that. Launched last February in New York City, Stowaway is looking to shake up the $60 billion makeup industry with a line of undersize cosmetics designed to go wherever the busy, modern woman goes. “Seventy percent of the makeup market is controlled by 10 conglomerates like LVMH and L’Oréal,” explains co-founder and CEO Julie Fredrickson. “They haven’t changed since the 1950s, but our lives have changed dramatically.” Fredrickson had served as digital brand manager for Ann Taylor and created digital and brand marketing strategies for Pepsi, Nike and Gap; co-founder and CCO Chelsa…

Q: The client of a close friend and member of my networking group approached me about a consulting project. If I take the project on, am I poaching? Should I give my friend a heads-up to give her a chance to revive what may be a fallen relationship? A: It’s not your job to perform CPR on a colleague’s business relationship, friend or not. However, before moving ahead, make sure everything in this situation is what it appears to be. Information will help clarify your ethical responsibilities. Ask the potential client where things stand. Did the previous project conclude naturally, with the scope of work completed, including a wrap-up meeting with your friend? If so, let your friend know her old client just tapped you for a project—but keep details…

Laptops typically require some compromise—portability at the cost of power. Not so with the new Apple MacBook ($1,299). Thanks to Intel’s new Core M processor, this Apple has no cooling fans, so while its rivals whir audibly during web browsing, the MacBook runs silently through its 8 GB RAM and adequate 256 GB solid-state hard drive, sipping from its nine-hour battery as it goes. Apple also managed to increase the display area of its smallest laptop while trimming almost an inch off the width. Even though it measures just 12 inches diagonally, the bright, clear, LED-backlit Retina display proved excellent for photo editing, digital illustration and presentation design. And then there’s the keyboard: It’s full-size, despite the MacBook’s svelte frame. Bloggers and other writers will have no issues typing all…

Red Hat began in the early ’90s as an open-source software provider to some of the world’s largest companies. Red Hatters have always used a variety of tools, with strong preference toward open-source formats and frameworks. Our engineers had been using a web development framework called reveal.js for presentations, mostly for technical conferences. Starting in 2013, a version called Slides came online, and it grew organically within our company as more people loved its fantastic set of design, presentation and analytics features. It also helps that the app is a web tool that allows Red Hatters to share their presentations online. We’ve used Slides presentations at events for audiences of 10 to 5,000 people. Basically, if you can express your ideas dynamically on the web, you can turn them into…

The Oct. 1 liability shift to the EMV credit card standard is a headache not just for big businesses but for the millions of solopreneurs and shopkeepers who process credit cards via plug-in dongle on their smartphones or tablets. Fortunately, Square, the company that brought credit card swipes to the masses, has them covered. Its $99 Square Stand works with its $49 chip card reader to transform an iPad into an EMV-compliant POS terminal—one that accepts all major credit cards and syncs with the Square Register app, which does everything from printing or emailing receipts to connecting to a cash drawer to managing inventory via SKU scanners. A separate wireless pad allows the system to take Android and Apple Pay, instantly upgrading the POS to state-of-the-art.…

Global celebrity, speaker, and prime-time radio and television host Jeffrey Hayzlett shares five core lessons you need to tie visions to actions, get ahead of the competition, and achieve your business goals. Your Way, Not the Highway. Believing there is one way to do business or that absolute rules exist distracts us from seeing opportunities in different guises and being ready to act on them. Rules should be questioned, tested, reviewed over time, and broken if they are not law or commandment. Imagine what you could accomplish by just being yourself and unapologetically owning your story. Be your story, live your story—that’s the first key to unlocking your success. Passion Makes Perfect, Not Perfection. Passion comes from our hearts and guts, not our heads. It’s a strong emotion and can…

1. In the face of opposition, what do you show? A. Courage (5 points) B. Fear (0 points) C. Nothing, because I. Am. Outta there! (-3 points) 2. Pick a status: A. Quo (-3) B. Other (0) 3. Which characteristic best describes your personality? A. Assertive (5) B. Timid (-5) C. Timid! (?) 4. I’m going to need you to attend this meeting for me. A. Sure! (-5) B. Why? (0) C. No. (5) 5. How many toes do you step on when carrying out a task? A. 0 (0) B. 1 (1) C. 2 (2) D. A few (5) 6. How many is a few? A. 3 (2) B. 4 (2) C. Who cares? (10) 7. If you had to be any elk on this page, which elk would…

Horace Luke hopes the electric Smartscooters from his Taipei-based company, Gogoro, will help snuff out some of Taiwan’s air pollution, as well as provide a fun and efficient ride for consumers. The industrial country has high levels of PM2.5 (particulate matter at 2.5 micrometers), pollution caused by decades of heavy manufacturing and unfettered vehicle exhaust—particularly from motorbikes. Gogoro, founded in 2011 by CEO Luke and CTO Matt Taylor, rolled out its scooters in July. The gorgeously designed, fully customizable bikes go from zero to 30 mph in about four seconds and top out at 60 mph, all without a single belch of emissions. Powered by an electric drive-train and a pair of swappable lithium-ion batteries, the scooter connects to the driver’s smartphone and the cloud so that its performance can…

• Determine that you know how to do pretty much everything that’s required in your work. • Realize that this is obviously absurd and that there is so much more you could do! • Pretend you are your own supervisor. Adopt another personality if you have to. Stern taskmaster. Benevolent mentor. Bumbling villain—Dabney Coleman in 9 to 5, say. Whatever you want to do here is fine. You want to put on a different outfit? Put on a different outfit. • Realize that you were really good in your high school production of Bye Bye Birdie and that maybe you should’ve stuck with that. • Enough with the wistfulness. • Answer common questions used in workplace self-assessments: “What am I good at?” “What do I need to improve?” “Do I…

Learn about the ways these entrepreneurs are setting themselves apart and getting the word out about their companies in the third installment of Comcast’s four-part webinar series. To watch the recorded event in full from this event and others in the series, visit entm.ag/comcast2015 Competitive Differentiation Standing out in a crowded, fiercely competitive field is an immense challenge, especially when time and money are limited resources. For 1Source Office and Facility Supply, online research plays a key role in positioning its employees as true experts who understand and respond to each customer’s unique needs. The business conducts online research on a daily basis, most often tapping free Internet-based tools to gather the data and intelligence it’s looking for. By building a culture that embraces the need for continual research and…

The volume of paperwork facing small businesses is staggering: Beyond hiring and firing employees, HR encompasses the benefits that attract and retain staffers, like healthcare packages, investment options, vacation time, transportation subsidies and retirement plans. The field also spans everything from payroll management to regulatory compliance—state and federal tax laws, as well as reforms like the Affordable Care Act, each with its own nuances and complexities. In the absence of a dedicated HR manager—a luxury many small businesses simply can’t afford—all of this falls squarely on the founder’s desk. The impact is enormous. According to nonprofit entrepreneurial advisory Score, HR responsibilities devour between 25 and 35 percent of the average small-business owner’s time. Parker Conrad believes this is utter nonsense. The CEO of San Francisco-based software-as-a-service firm Zenefits knows firsthand…

“Upfitting” is the industry’s term for customizing a vehicle’s cargo area for handling the tools or stock of your trade. You can save a bundle as long as you know the configuration that will work best for you. Nissan offers upfitting as part of its sales process, baking the added cost of product and installation into the price of your lease, so there’s less out-of-pocket expense. Mercedes-Benz has a similar service with its Sprinter vans. There are a few standard upfit systems that are not tailored for individual businesses; the vehicles come pre-drilled for cargo and shelving units, so the designs can be easily modified after you take delivery. One of the oldest upfitters is Sturgis, Mich.-based Morgan Olson, which takes specialization to a higher level. It starts with stock…

Mileage Log+ ($10) is an elegant mileage-tracking solution for iOS. Toggles for round trips and the ability to select reimbursement rates quickly take the sting out of digital paperwork. When it’s time to file your report, you can export the data as a PDF or an Excel-compatible attachment. And with the ability to sync with Dropbox, your data will stay safe and sound long after the reimbursement check has cleared. The TripLog app for Android or iOS can help individuals (free) or fleet managers ($4 per month per driver, plus a free account for an adminstrator or accountant) keep track of vehicles and travel expenses. Compatible with OBD-II devices such as Automatic, it snaps to life as soon as it makes a Bluetooth connection with a vehicle. IRS-compliant reports can…

Growing up in rural Michigan, Jesse Vollmar watched as technology transformed the world around him, while life on the farm remained labor-intensive and stuck in the past. “There was a widening gap between what was possible and what was actually being applied to agriculture,” he says. In 2012 Vollmar and fellow computer science grad Brad Koch founded Ann Arbor-based FarmLogs. Their goal: to create web and mobile software that gives farmers instant access to soil maps, rainfall statistics and heat mapping and growth analyses to help make farming more efficient and profitable. FarmLogs partnered with a satellite operator to gather and analyze data from the past five growing seasons. Armed with information about rainfall, temperature and soil conditions, the startup created comprehensive maps of conditions in the fields—the type of…

In my prior life as an investment banker working in M&A, my objectives for any client were strictly transaction-based: Prepare the company for the sale, go to market and close a deal that puts the greatest amount of after-tax dollars in the owner’s pocket. I paid little (if any) attention to what happened to the client afterward. It wasn’t until I began working as a financial strategist for a number of people going through divorce that I gained a new perspective. After all, a divorce is essentially an M&A transaction, a divestiture of two entities that once merged. In both cases, a successful transaction is one that maximizes the net proceeds to the individual and preserves his/her net worth long after the court documents are filed. Too often entrepreneurs are…

Entrepreneurs: GrowlerWerks founders Shawn Huff, Brian Sonnichsen, Evan Rege and Chris Maier created uKeg, a portable, pressurized growler (a container for transporting craft beer and other beverages). “Aha” moment: The founders—who are based in Portland, Ore. (where else?)—were lovers of craft beer but not of traditional glass growlers, which can let brews go flat, warm and stale, leading to the discarding of limited-edition IPA (the dreaded “drain pour”). The team searched in vain for a pressurized growler that would keep beer fresh and cold. “I realized there was an opportunity to come out with a distinctive design and to improve the technology so we could offer something that people really need,” Huff says. Rough draft: The founders—all engineers—3-D printed a plastic prototype, self-funding the project to the tune of $80,000.…

Jimmy Odom and his co-founders at WeDeliver, a same-day delivery platform, had a lot going for them when they launched in 2013. The buzzed-about Chicago venture won the local Startup Weekend and quickly grew to provide deliveries for 100 area companies. WeDeliver also launched Locally, a stand-alone app that allowed businesses to sell products online for same-day delivery. But in June of this year, WeDeliver announced it was being acquired by California-based Deliv, a similar but larger service that crowdsources its drivers. The outcome was in part due to a failed funding round—money the company expected that never quite materialized. “We always wanted to build a national delivery company, but we just didn’t have the capacity,” Odom says. “Our angel investors believed in us, but angel investors cannot fund a…

There’s a giant letterpress at Chris Andrews’ AlphaGraphics franchise in Raleigh, N.C., along with three or four metric tons of lead type in an array of fonts. The 28-year-old has considered scrapping the stuff, which takes up a lot of space. But then again, he occasionally mulls the idea of getting the old printer working again to capitalize on the letterpress trend. It’s an unusual dilemma for a franchisee, but it’s fitting for a business that brought together the oldest and second-oldest printing companies in the Tar Heel State under the AlphaGraphics banner. Andrews’ great-great-grandfather started the Owen G. Dunn Co. in 1902 in New Bern, N.C., printing business cards, ledgers and brochures. About 15 years ago, under the leadership of Andrews’ father, Owen, the company began specializing in election…

With more than 1,000 franchise opportunities already out there, it takes guts for a new company to throw its hat into the ring. But many do each year. On the following pages, you’ll find 158 businesses that started franchising in the past three years, believing they have something special to offer aspiring entrepreneurs. And because standing out from the crowd is crucial to thriving amid so much competition, we’ve highlighted what we consider the 10 most innovative concepts on the list. One of these brave new contenders might be the next Anytime Fitness, Subway or 7-Eleven. Inclusion in this listing is not intended as an endorsement or recommendation by Entrepreneur. When considering any franchise business, new or old, do your own research. Read the company’s legal documents, consult with an…

Clothing, shoe and textile recycling bins Began franchising: 2015 Startup cost: $149.4K-$174.4K Total franchises/co.-owned: 0/0 Clothes Bin is putting a new spin on recycling. The company places its bright green bins for discarded clothing in shopping-center parking lots. Items are collected by franchisees—who are alerted by trademarked technology when a bin is near capacity—and sold to textile recycling businesses and thrift stores instead of ending up in landfills. clothesbinfranchise.com…

Organic laundry and dry-cleaning services, tailoring Began franchising: 2013 Startup cost: $229.7K-$375K Total franchises/co.-owned: 1/1 With stores that run on wind energy and utilize water-saving washing machines, biodegradable soaps and free reusable laundry bags made from recycled materials, The Eco Laundry Company is cleaning up a notoriously dirty industry. The first laundry business to be certified as a B Corporation, the company expects its franchisees to seek the certification as well. ecolaundrycompany.com…

“It doesn’t take a majority to make a rebellion; it takes only a few determined leaders and a sound cause.” H. L. Mencken “Any fool can make a rule, and every fool will mind it.” Henry David Thoreau “I wouldn’t have turned out the way I was if I didn’t have all those old-fashioned values to rebel against.” Madonna “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” Richard Branson “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” Katharine Hepburn Letters and comments may be edited.…

EVERY CITY GOGORO enters will need a network of battery-swapping GoStations to support it. “The GoStation is one of the things that we really focused on,” says Matt Taylor, CTO. “How could we build this machine to be much more cost-effective than [past] battery-swap efforts?” He likens the stations to soda machines; Gogoro will place them at various locations and service them regularly. “It’s what we think we need to get rid of the range anxiety that people have had with electrics to date,” he explains. The batteries in the Smartscooter start to degrade after about five years, just like the lithium-ion cell that powers your smartphone. So to keep its scooters running as long as advertised, Gogoro plans to pull power cells from circulation once the battery reaches 80…

To supply his Los Angeles-based jewelry company The Pearl Source, Leon Rbibo makes frequent trips to Tahiti, Japan and Hong Kong, importing about 10,000 pearls per month. He also visits distribution markets from New York to Hawaii. About five years ago, overwhelmed by the logistics of planning at least two trips per month, he made the switch from organizing his own travel to using an agency. “As I travel more often, I need to travel more comfortably,” says Rbibo, who, at 6 feet 8 inches tall, is keen on maximizing airplane legroom. “Often travel agents have more knowledge when it comes to seating. They can get special placement on a plane or get better deals [on upgrades]. We lost an enormous amount of time tracking and using miles. While some…

Encouragement has two parts: pointing out potential and challenging the person to succeed at a specific goal. You have to point out what it is you believe the other person could do. And you have to challenge him or her to do it. Which is why it’s so much more meaningful than motivation. You can motivate anyone. You can encourage only someone you actually believe in. Encouragement requires specificity. You don’t encourage someone to succeed. (That’s motivation.) You encourage someone to succeed at a specific task or job. You don’t encourage people to “do it.” (That’s a potential criminal charge, depending on what “it” is.) You encourage people to do that thing you think they are prepared to do but that has never occurred to them. Behind every successful person…

Q: What’s the best way to produce an effective press release? A: Conrad Egusa, founder and CEO of Publicize, a Westport, Conn.-based PR firm that serves primarily tech startups, offers this approach. Lead with the big story. Don’t just tell the world your news—tout the ramifications and your overall aspirations. When Egusa and a partner opened Espacio, a co-working space and incubator in Medellín, Colombia, he announced that it was part of a bigger mission—to turn the former drug capital into the Silicon Valley of Latin America. It worked. Espacio got coverage from the BBC and Financial Times. Define your company in terms of the problems it solves. “Describe how your product or service serves the needs of the market in ways that the market doesn’t.” Use supporting data. When…

Abe Issa trudged up the walkway to another suburban front door, sweat sliding down his back in the blast furnace of a Fort Worth, Texas, summer. He had a pretty good idea of how he’d be received on the other side of the locked screen: “Not interested.” “Don’t need it.” “Don’t waste your time.” Take your pick. “Whenever I got rejected, it would sting,” admits Issa, whose family immigrated to the U.S. when he was 5 to escape the civil war in Lebanon. Everyone knows that door-to-door sales went out with the Fuller Brush man. And what Issa sells is even more of a challenge to the established order: In Texas, the heart of oil and gas country, he offers non-fossil-fuel energy solutions. His company, Global Efficient Energy, provides foam…

Whether you run your own business or commute to someone else’s, you are highly dependent on your vehicle. Automatic, a free app combined with a $100 wireless adapter, can help optimize this costly and essential part of your operation. The Automatic adapter plugs into a vehicle’s onboard computer via its ODB-II diagnostics port and connects to an iOS or Android smartphone via Bluetooth. With built—in GPS, the device keeps track of where your vehicle goes or–perhaps even more useful– where it’s parked. An accelerometer detects impacts, helping Automatic monitor for accidents and alerting the company to call for help on your behalf. The device pulls together a treasure trove of data on your vehicle and driving activity. Every trip gets a tally for miles, minutes, miles per gallon and fuel…

Terminal rental adjustment clause leases let you keep less capital tied up in your vehicles. At the outset of the loan, you negotiate for a higher end-of-term value for the vehicle, meaning you finance less on a monthly basis but will owe more at the end of the term. But you still get to deduct the higher true-market value of the lease on federal taxes. At the end of the term, you can buy the vehicle for the negotiated amount, trade up to newer equipment or refinance the lease for the remaining value of the vehicle, essentially extending the loan so you can continue to manage costs. In general, given the tax advantages, a TRAC lease is more cost-effective than other financing options.…

A year after the launch of Apple Pay and five months into Google’s Android Pay service, it seems like mobile payments have finally caught fire with the public. Thousands of banks and retail giants have jumped onboard, yet small businesses—which account for more than 90 percent of businesses in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau—are so far responding with a collective meh. “I would say it’s been a fairly negligible adoption rate so far,” says Jordan McKee, senior analyst covering mobile payments at 451 Research in Boston. “There hasn’t been a tremendous amount of interest given the cost of upgrading terminals to accept NFC payments.” Near field communication is the technology behind the new contactless payment systems. Long a feature of Android handsets, the chip lets consumers put…

Cabeau is a fast-growing travel-comfort accessories company. One of the main drivers of this growth was the implementation of our enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. We use it primarily to manage our accounting, supply chain and sales departments, since each day our company generates a high volume of purchase orders and business information. It’s a huge data-management challenge. But with everything organized and integrated into one central ERP, our system has aided our rapid sales growth without the need for additional overhead—which we project would have cost $200,000 in each of the next two years.…

With fast-evolving consumer technology and a broadening palate, the franchise world today looks very different from that of a decade ago. Cell-phone repairs. Hawaiian barbecue. Lobster food trucks. They’re all part of the movement toward anything new and everything mobile. Opening a burger franchise is not easy, but at least there’s a template: Do what the other guys did before you, but do it better and don’t make the same mistakes. Pulling a whole new sector into the franchise industry or creating a concept from scratch? That’s a different challenge altogether. Marcel Fairbairn knows this well. He recognized the potential of LED lighting more than a decade ago, despite underutilization by consumers and lackluster marketing by retailers. The problem? People were using LED bulbs like incandescents—a 100-year-old technology—which is a…

For the entrepreneur at heart, innovation is a life-long mantra. It involves following new twists, turns and opportunities in the marketplace, and seeking out emerging pockets of potential. Find new areas for growth—and ensure your sustained success—by learning more about the innovative practices used by these businesses. Universal Windows Direct // Home Improvement Kumon North America // Tutoring Bricks 4 Kidz // Enrichment Program CruiseOne // Travel Orangetheory Fitness // Fitness Pinot’s Palette // Paint-and-Sip Studios…

Ignition interlock devices for DUI/DWI offenders Began franchising: 2015 Startup cost: $144.9K-$230.8K Total franchises/co.-owned: 0/1 Blow & Drive franchisees lease and install ignition interlocks, breathalyzers that prevent a car from starting if the driver’s blood-alcohol content exceeds the legal limit. With such devices now allowed as sentencing alternatives for DUI offenders in all 50 states—and mandated in some states— the company’s mobile services are sure to be in demand. blowanddrive.com…

Senior moving and real-estate services, consignment sales, auctions Began franchising: 2015 Startup cost: $323K-$551.5K Total franchises/co.-owned: 0/1 Crowning Touch is more than a moving company; it’s a one-stop shop for seniors who are in the process of transitioning to a new home. Specialized services range from assistance with downsizing—unwanted belongings can be sold through the company’s consignment shop or at auctions—to finding buyers for houses, securing new homes for pets, providing breakfast and transportation on moving day, and resettling seniors in their new environment. crowningtouchusa.com…

Stroller and car-seat cleaning, repair and installation Began franchising: 2015 Startup cost: $50.6K-$132.6K Total franchises/co.-owned: 0/3 Did you know the average car seat may collect up to twice as many germs as a toilet seat? Yikes! Tot Squad helps health-conscious but harried parents get peace of mind by cleaning car seats, strollers and other baby gear (using natural, nontoxic cleaners, of course). They also offer installation and repair services, and they even make house calls. thetotsquad.com…

Acupuncture, yoga, massage, teas Began franchising: 2014 Startup cost: $275K-$570K Total franchises/co.-owned: 0/1 Health and wellness boutiques are big in the franchise world, but Serasana sets itself apart with a unique combination of services—all in the name of pain- and stress-management. Inspired by ancient wellness practices, the spa offers yoga classes, massages, acupuncture treatments and Chinese herbal remedies. And if that’s not relaxing enough, there’s a tea bar, too. serasanafranchise.com…