Blog Posts by Owen Linderholm

Guide

It's been a couple of weeks since we last did a weekly roundup of good business reading - and there is a reason. We were taking the time to launch our new series: The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business. This is an ongoing series of articles that is going to tackle every aspect of a small startup business. We will be running it for most of the rest of the year and you should expect to see a new part come out every week or two. So far we have parts 1 and 2 live - covering everything from the original idea to refining a business concept.

Each part consists of a solid introduction to the topics to be discussed along with practical examples and advice, plus a very concrete worksheet that walks you through the issues, problems and solutions for that topic - and finally a set of resources - background reading, courses and more that you could think of as extra credit or homework.

Here are the first two parts - six articles in all.

Is it time to start up that startup business?

Read More »from Our Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Small Business and more: Small Business Reading for March 29th

[Part two of a series – The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business. Part one is here: Is it time to start up that startup business? and The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business: Part 1- Goals, Values and Ideas and Resources for the Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business: Part 1- Goals, Values and Ideas]

These resources are to provide more in depth information and material to accompany our introduction to business concepts and our worksheet on how to create your own business concept. The background reading and articles range from the simple and practical (using your 401(k) to fund your new business) to two in-depth, free online courses by reputable teachers. These are ALL good background reading before you start your business and are important for helping you consider the topics and issues in this section of the Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business.

Using 401(k) to fund business

Business innovation requires successful execution – not

Read More »from The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business: Resource guide for Part 2: Defining your business concept

[Part two of a series – The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business. Part one is here: Is it time to start up that startup business? and The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business: Part 1- Goals, Values and Ideas and Resources for the Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business: Part 1- Goals, Values and Ideas]

The key to creating a solid foundation for your business is not your idea or even how innovative you are – it is your business concept. This is much more than your idea – it is your idea transformed into practicality – something that will work in the real-world business environment in which you will operate. You can get an introduction to the topic here and also a resource list for further reading here. You can also download a worksheet version of this article with some additional tables and guides for working on your business concept here.

Innovation or increment?

Look at your business idea. Is it an innovation or an increment? Keep that in Read More »from The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business: Part 2: Defining your business concept.

This companion article to our introduction to finding your startup goals, ideas and values is a practical exploration of these issues and can be used as a worksheet to help you find the answers to these questions for yourself as you go about starting up your own business. We’ve also got a list of resources and background reading to help you explore these topics in more depth if you need to go deeper on any aspect of your business and planning. Finally, if you really want to complete this worksheet we suggest you download this PDF version - it has formatted with spaces to write in and will make the process easier for you.

Goals Worksheet

This worksheet is to help you think clearly about the foundation of your business – your goals, values, inspiration, ideas, challenges and Strengths.

Goals

In this section you need to think about why you are starting this business. What is the goal? Where do you want to end up? How will it affect you and your family and friends? Where will it take you in

Read More »from The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business: Part 1- Goals, Values and Ideas

The final part of this first week of our Smart and Simple Startup Series is a resource list. If you missed the first parts, here is the introduction and here is the worksheet to help you with understanding the goals, values and ideas for your business. The following articles all have information about planning and thinking about your startup business. Read them for more background or for additional information to help you flesh out your ideas. We also recommend the books in the book section.

Books

The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future

The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

Articles

http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4979/10-Good-Goals-for-A-New-Business.html
http://www.businesstune-ups.com/List-Of-Small-Business-Ideas.html
Read More »from Resources for the Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business: Part 1- Goals, Values and Ideas

The Perennial State of the Business Owner - Worry

Some of the best stories from the past week on Advisor - in no particular order.

Networking is Dangerous: Never go alone. [Great article from TJ MCCue about how to really focus and succeed when networking to build your business relationships.

Tax day advice; and 6 tips for next year. [At this point it is last minute for your taxes - but just in case - here is some last minute advice and some for next year...]

Private companies' health heading into sequestration. [really worth reading this and especially the full report linked to in the article.]

Small business rising. [a nice infographic about the strains small business is under]

11 Common mistakes small businesses make. [great straightforward advice about what NOT to do.]

Ten things really amazing employees do. [These traits should help you value the great employees you already have and help you look for the great employees of the future when you hire.]

7 Brand Storytelling lessons you can learn from Ron Howard. [Don't let the

Read More »from Networking, mistakes and great reads: Small Business Reading for March 8, 2013

There is an accepted belief in politics and generally in the economy that small business is the engine of the American economy. But recently there has been a backlash with people trying to make a case that larger corporations are really the economic engine – creating more jobs and driving larger revenues. And sometimes it seems like government agrees – for all the rhetoric from both parties, very little is actually done to make things better for small businesses specifically. So who is right?

This infographic from OnDeck Capital has some of the answers. But it also highlights how much small businesses are in fact in danger from big business moving in and homogenizing local markets throughout the US. Here at Yahoo! Small Business Advisor we are obviously small business partisans – but every big business was a small business first. And the new legal and political rules categorically do favor larger businesses which can afford to support SuperPACs and lobbyists to drive regulation that

Read More »from Small Business Rising

Growing WisdomSome of the best stories from the past week on Advisor - in no particular order.

Baby Boomers' say they are more entreprenurial than their offspring. [There is evidence to support this and also evidence against it. Certainly more older people are starting more businesses and are they tend to be more successful at it than younger people - but more younger people are also starting more businesses.]

Shaking the Bode Tree: The Value of Knowledge. [Another great post from Chris Myers of Bode Tree discussing how much better it is to make decisions from a position of knowledge than pretending not to hear bad news.]

How funding mompreneurs is good for Kimberley-Clark. [Taking word-of-mouth to a whole new level and enabling some entrepreneurial activity at the same time.]

Three ways personal financial advisors mislead you. [Ramit Sethi has some counterintuitive financial advice that is also useful for helping you set priorities.]

Global Trading Tips: The Fivefold Path To Quality Control.

Read More »from Entrepreneurship, Boomers and Knowledge: Small Business reading for March 1st, 2013