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Showing posts with the label GrowingaBusiness

7 Best Christmas Tree Stands in 2022

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Believe it or not, a Christmas tree won't stay upright on its own. Instead, you need a stable Christmas tree stand that can accommodate the type and size of tree you have. We researched dozens of the best Christmas tree stands to help you find the right one for your needs, whether you have a real tree, an artificial tree, a small tree, or a behemoth. The stands in our guide have a track record of durability, performance, and easy setup. We also outline the size and type of tree each stand is meant for. Check out our guide to the best Christmas tree skirts once you've chosen the right stand for your tree. The best Christmas tree stands in 2022 Best Christmas tree stand overall: Krinner Tree Genie Christmas Tree Stand, available at Amazon, $82.79 The German-engineered Krinner Tree Genie Christmas Tree Stand is easy to set up in a couple of minutes and keeps trees up to 12 f...
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3 Tips for Women Entrepreneurs to Overcome Common Challenges

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. For many women entrepreneurs, success seems to come at a higher price — with more time, effort and sacrifices than men might have to make. If you feel that way, you're not alone. In fact, the majority of women small business owners say they have to work harder for the same level of success as their male counterparts, according to the latest report on small business owners from Bank of America. While the climb might be steeper, that hasn't deterred millions of women from starting a business. Women have been driving record levels of small business creation since the pandemic began in 2020, and according to Fairygodboss , women are now starting 1,200 businesses per day. There's plenty we can learn from those who've been down the road before. Acknowledging that everyone's path is different, here are three strategies to help women business owners overcome common hurdles: Related: 8 Qu...
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The Key to Becoming More Creative and Innovative

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Curiosity is a muscle — and that muscle needs to be exercised if you want to be more innovative or deliver on creative work. But as with anything that must be developed or worked on, most of us look for shortcuts. From workouts to productivity tools to grocery shopping … we're all attracted to time-saving hacks that offer fast results and immediate solutions. This can happen in creative work when we look for shortcuts or try fast-tracking the process by pulling inspiration from design galleries or others' websites. To be clear, there's nothing wrong with your team members trying to optimize their time by turning elsewhere for inspiration. Your team should be doing that. Often. But if that's all they're doing — if they're relying solely on inspiration from others' work — then they're stunting their curiosity's growth. Without a well-developed sense of curiosity, t...
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5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Ads

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Depending on the headlines you believe, we're either headed for a long, ugly recession , or parts of the world are already in one . Either way, it's not pretty — and consumers and advertisers are bracing for impact. Even in July, when the markets were momentarily showing signs of recovery, and gas prices were dropping, 54% of U.S. adults said they plan to pull back on their spending for the remainder of 2022. While that means budget cuts and even layoffs are a reality, it doesn't have to mean that your advertising dollars stop working for you. Lessons from the past give us a good idea of what consumers are thinking and what that means for how to advertise in the months ahead. Related: 6 Recession-Proof Business Marketing Strategies Consumer behavior during economic downturns and recessions A recent study from Stanford quantified how different consumers experience economic downturns and ...
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5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Ads

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Depending on the headlines you believe, we're either headed for a long, ugly recession , or parts of the world are already in one . Either way, it's not pretty — and consumers and advertisers are bracing for impact. Even in July, when the markets were momentarily showing signs of recovery, and gas prices were dropping, 54% of U.S. adults said they plan to pull back on their spending for the remainder of 2022. While that means budget cuts and even layoffs are a reality, it doesn't have to mean that your advertising dollars stop working for you. Lessons from the past give us a good idea of what consumers are thinking and what that means for how to advertise in the months ahead. Related: 6 Recession-Proof Business Marketing Strategies Consumer behavior during economic downturns and recessions A recent study from Stanford quantified how different consumers experience economic downturns and ...
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3 Adaptive Strategies to Better Navigate Uncertain Times Ahead

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Most business leaders can agree, the last few years have been anything but ordinary. From unprecedented circumstances like the global pandemic to record high inflation, the atypical has become typical in our everyday existence. The U.S. military coined acronym VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) is more relevant today than ever before. It represents the challenges teams, business leaders and organizations face as we navigate uncertain times. These unpredictable forces require a new approach. Instead of looking to the past to rewrite our future, we would benefit from paving a new path towards resiliency — one that takes a holistic approach in today's business environments. As we confront ongoing challenges without a manual, leaders are navigating conditions our predecessors have not yet laid the groundwork for. For many entrepreneurs, resiliency has not been an imperative leadershi...
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How Founders Can Improve Their Tolerance for Uncertainty

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Businesses, especially startups, are characterized by uncertainty. From the viability of a business idea to investors' decisions, as well as how users would respond to your latest product feature, you're never exactly sure what's coming. Externally, political, technological and competitive uncertainties are causes for worry as well. Studies have shown that uncertainties are constant in entrepreneurship, and a leader's ability to tolerate and manage them will greatly support the success of their venture. However, repeated exposure to high levels of uncertainty can send entrepreneurs into an emotional rollercoaster that could affect their self-image. Early-stage and first-time founders run greater risks of being broken by the twists and turns of rapidly changing business environments. More fascinating, though, is that some — especially serial entrepreneurs — are hooked to the uncertain...
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Should You Prioritize Growth or Profitability in a Recession? The Answer May Surprise You.

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. This year has seen economic slowdown, inflation and war combine into a cocktail that's now fueling fears of a recession across business sectors, driving uncertainty in everyone from business leaders to investors to employees. Such uncertainty is forcing business leaders to reprioritize and scale back their once-ambitious growth plans. And now, as interest rates go up and valuations go down, more and more businesses are returning to prioritize what was once the only way to ensure a business's success — positive free cash flow. All of this is a very strong reminder for all businesses, but particularly startups and small businesses, that it's vital to build a company to make money — in both good times and bad. Prioritizing free cash flow is the only way to manage against forces outside of your direct control. Related: Never Worry About Cash Flow Again by Using These 5 Strategies Positive fre...
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5 Lessons I Learned From Starting a Company at 19 Years Old

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. I had no intention of creating my own software company. I was kind of forced into it. You see, a few years ago, I was a full-time YouTuber. All was well until my channel got demonetized. This means that I was making $0 from the ads being placed on my videos. There was a point where I was getting 2-3 million views a month on my channel and didn't receive a penny. As a way to bounce back from this low, I decided to put my life savings ($5,000) into starting a creator economy software startup at 19 years old. I dropped out of college to work on my SaaS startup full-time, and I have learned valuable lessons along the way. Here are five of the most important lessons I have learned so far: Related: How to Start and Grow a Business: A Digital Guide for Young Entrepreneurs 1. Done is better than perfect I had no experience in coding — let alone creating and growing a startup. Despite these challenges, I ...
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Why Having a Great Plan Isn't Enough to Grow Your Business

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. If you're familiar with the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry saying: "A goal without a plan is just a wish," you've probably only heard the TL;DR version. Here is the full version: A dream written down with a date becomes a goal . A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan . A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true. This is why your plan isn't going to be enough. A plan in itself is just a piece of paper or a bunch of 0s and 1s that make up words. Luckily, I have had experience with failing and succeeding in business (more of the latter), and these are the five things I focus on to turn my plans into realities. Related: Planning To Grow Your Business? Five Tips That Can Help You 1. Focus Focusing on one primary goal per quarter is crucial. As much as we like to brag that we can multitask, we can't. When was the last time you saw a population that throws 10 balls in the...
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As Inflation Soars, Consumer Habits Are Changing. Here's How to Adapt

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. The current uncertain economy, coupled with rising inflation, is driving consumers to seek money-saving tactics, including cashback rewards, discounts, and online coupons. Economic pressures are driving the broad adoption of shopping rewards programs, which are "crossing the chasm" from coupon clippers and early adopters to mainstream consumers seeking to cut costs any way they can. In a survey commissioned by Wildfire and conducted by the research firm Big Village, we examined mainstream consumers' attitudes and expectations toward rewards and other shopping incentives. The findings revealed that 90% of respondents are more interested than ever in getting discounts, using coupons and earning cashback rewards when shopping online, precisely due to rising prices. Related: 3 Secret Reasons Why Your Brand Needs a Rewards Program Rewards and discounts affect online purchase behavior Regard...
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5 Characteristics To Help You Succeed in the Toughest of Times

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Times are tough; there is no doubt about it. Just as we thought we were "done" with years of stress from the pandemic, we are faced with daily worsening news about inflation, the war in Ukraine, climate change and an imminent predicted recession. However, it is possible to take these things seriously, make appropriate life adjustments, ignore the negative energy they can bring and keep our hope. How can we do that? From my experience, here is how people have not only survived extreme stress and disruption, but thrived because of it. We can all foster these characteristics in our friends and family, celebrate them in our colleagues and, most importantly, emulate them. Related: Having A Work-Life Balance is Nonsense. To Reach Your Goals, Follow Another Approach 1. A higher purpose or cause John D. Rockefeller once said, "If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it....
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What the Downfall of Web Cookies Means for Advertising

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. With initiatives to prioritize consumer privacy by companies like Apple , app trackers and third-party cookies are disappearing, which is impacting the efficiency of traditional methods for performance advertising. How does paying 25% more to reach the same audience this coming year sound? While nobody wants to spend more to get less or the same, that is going to be the reality for 44% of marketers , according to GetApp. Perhaps this increased cost is a fact that you have accepted already. Maybe you're not ready to make drastic changes to your advertising approach, or your company has decided to reduce its advertising budget. But what if you have to spend 50% or more for the same audience the following year? At what point will the pain become too much that you are forced to make a complete baseline paradigm shift? What's really at risk here? Related: Data in 4 Flavors, and the Demise of the C...
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This Pitch Scored a $250,000 Investment -- And It Almost Didn't Happen

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Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is the show where contestants get into an elevator and have just 60 seconds to pitch their business to a video camera. Our board of investors is watching, and if they like what they hear they open the doors and the entrepreneur steps into the boardroom to try to seal the deal. If they don't like what they hear, the entrepreneur gets sent back down. staff In this ongoing article series, we're celebrating the entrepreneurs who walked into the boardroom and came out with a win and sharing their tips for pitching success. Who are you and what is your business? I'm Alicia Tulsee, founder of Moxie Scrubs , the first direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand for nurses. I went on the show seeking $500,000 and walked out with a $250,000 investment from Kim Perrell. How did you prepare for the show? I sought the help of our existing investors to come up with a one-minute pi...
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4 Money Beliefs That Are Holding Your Business

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. As business owners, many of us like to create a clear boundary between our personal and professional affairs. And with good reason! It's not healthy to intertwine the two in a lot of ways. However, it's also unhealthy to consider them to be oil and water. Whether you like it or not, your business is an extension of you. Your personal beliefs about money could hold your business back without you even knowing it. "Waste not, want not" "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves" We're drip-fed these lines over our formative years, usually with good intent. It's hard to see at the moment how these words of 'wisdom' could do any harm…but their cumulative effect can have a tremendous stunting effect on your growth as an entrepreneur. Remember that these beliefs take root in your subconscious long before you set foot on the professional stag...
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5 Ways to Make Journalists Actually Want to Publish Your Brand's Stories

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Companies can solve different tasks through media publications: increasing recognition, attracting new users, finding partners or investors, strengthening their founder's personal brand and so on. But writing a story is only half the job: You should pitch news or columns to journalists so that they want to publish them. According to one study , journalists respond to 3.3% of pitches they receive. So, how can an entrepreneur make an editorial board interested? Here are a few tips: Put yourself in their shoes Treat journalists like regular people. I encountered situations where companies or agencies expected editors to respond to emails on the same day or asked correspondents for editorial plans. Some even ended their pitches by saying, "If you don't answer me within 24 hours, I'll send the topic to another media outlet." Establishing benevolent relations with editorial staff wit...
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An Existentialist Guide to Feeling Nothing

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I recently watched “ the greatest film of all time ,” and the most boring one. In retrospect, the title alone should have been a sufficient warning: Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles . Alas, I’m old enough to be a bit nostalgic about massive telephone address books. And massive it is. Clocking over 200 minutes, Chantal Akerman's 1975 dreary drama follows three days in the monotonous routine of Jeanne, a widow, a mother, and a prostitute. I watched Jeanne’s autopilot existence, until, staring at her back as she washes dishes, I decided to fast-forward a couple of minutes, only to discover she was still at it. And Jeanne is equally thorough when she’s busy baking, cleaning, folding laundry, or shining her son’s shoes. She speaks so scarcely and mechanically, that it’s impossible to detect any emotion or volition beyond her carefully controlled chores . Watching Jeanne Dielman is what the word “painstaking” was invented for. Chantal...
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What Are SQL Stored Procedures and How Do You Create Them?

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Stored procedures: like functions for your SQL. A stored procedure is a batch of SQL statements created and stored on a database. You can reuse a stored procedure over and over again. A stored procedure can accept parameters, run a query, and return results. Many users can call a stored procedure and different applications can call it with different parameter values. What Are the Benefits of Using Stored Procedures? Apart from allowing multiple users and applications to reuse it, a stored procedure has other benefits. It is easy to modify. You can change a stored procedure when necessary and these updates will be reflected for all users. Furthermore, you don’t need to redeploy your application when you modify the stored procedure. It reduces network traffic because the server only passes the procedure’s name over the network and not the entire query. It improves database security since users don’t have direct access to tables. To make...
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7 Best Christmas Tree Stands in 2022

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Believe it or not, a Christmas tree won't stay upright on its own. Instead, you need a stable Christmas tree stand that can accommodate the type and size of tree you have. We researched dozens of the best Christmas tree stands to help you find the right one for your needs, whether you have a real tree, an artificial tree, a small tree, or a behemoth. The stands in our guide have a track record of durability, performance, and easy setup. We also outline the size and type of tree each stand is meant for. Check out our guide to the best Christmas tree skirts once you've chosen the right stand for your tree. The best Christmas tree stands in 2022 Best Christmas tree stand overall: Krinner Tree Genie Christmas Tree Stand, available at Amazon, $82.79 The German-engineered Krinner Tree Genie Christmas Tree Stand is easy to set up in a couple of minutes and keeps trees up to 12 f...
Read more