It takes a lot of guts and spirit starting a business, and even more so when the business you’re taking over is already in debt. But that’s exactly what Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey, co-founders of Barefoot Wine, did. And they had spirit the entire time. The barefoot spirit, to be exact. Both business consultants, […]

We are always surprised by the number of startups that don’t use, or even know about, lines of credit. The first thing we hear is usually, “I need more money!” Sure you do. But the real question is how to get it. Today, with Shark Tank, Venture Capitalists, and term sheets, you’d think the only […]

If you are a recent college grad, you may be hitting the employment market about now. You may think you are searching for a job, but maybe you should be searching for a “customer.” “I need to pay my bills,” you say, or “I need some security,” but by changing the paradigm slightly to “I […]

What if you gave a back-to-school sale and nobody came? That’s what retailers are facing this year as many college students and grads face the frugal realities of their college debt. In the last recession we saw how interrelated the various elements of the economy are. Remember when they said, “Don’t worry, the recession will […]

As college students head off to school across the nation, it’s getting harder for retailers to ignore student loan debt. America’s student loan debt—which is currently more than $1.2 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve—may put a damper on spending for years to come. “Many young people are facing a college debt load that feels like an […]

It’s not how you get the entrepreneurial spirit. It’s how you lose it! Every garage startup must have the entrepreneurial spirit to survive. Many successful businesses were once garage startups, and they once had that spirit. But somewhere between the four stages of businesses growth, our friend Jim Canfield of Renaissance Executive Forums calls “startup, […]

by Dr. Mark Goulston – Contributing Writer The world increasingly belongs to Gen Xers and millennials, who are becoming exceedingly impatient with baby boomers. They think the boomers talk too slowly, re-tell old war stories too much, and refuse to let go of it being their turn. Not to mention their resentment towards boomers for killing […]

The purpose of a question is to solicit an answer. But an answer to what? Just the question on its face? Or the deeper misunderstanding posed by the question? In business, when you are building a team, you must pay very close attention and read between the lines to ascertain not just what your new […]

We were interviewed on the Maggie Linton Show on Sirius XM Radio. To listen to the interview, click the play button below:    

We have met many inventors with great ideas who think they should get paid just for coming up with the idea. There’s a ton of patent attorneys out there who gladly take money to file a patent, ostensibly to license it to the big guy who can’t live without it. They’ll even write up licensing […]