Entrepreneur Tips

As entrepreneurs, we have a low tolerance for boredom and a high drive for opportunity seeking. It’s how we got here in the first place. The problem is it can also get us in a lot of trouble. The last few years, I’ve gotten into flying airplanes. It’s something I always wanted to do, but…

We do reviews of businesses for sale all the time, and one of the most common things we see outside of ecommerce businesses is very low spending on advertising. I’m talking about numbers of 1-2% or less of revenue. Why is that? When I look into it further, there are some common thread explanations: These…

I got a call recently from a prospective client who wanted some help with his tax returns. As we talked more, it turned out he actually needed help with almost five years of taxes he had never gotten around to filing. It also became clear that he was doing his own bookkeeping, but admittedly didn’t…

I got a lot of good feedback from the first part of this newsletter, so I wanted to follow up with a second part. I didn’t actually know there was going to be a second part, but after the questions I got I thought it made sense to add. Most of the questions revolved around…

Well, not right this second, but coming very soon! I reactivated my CA Real Estate License, which is what is required to be able to directly broker businesses in CA (and for other states that require a license, there is a reciprocal agreement). So now we can directly sell a business in any state! Before…

I talk to business owners all the time about how they can improve their businesses, and many of them assume that at the start, it’s going to be a complex and difficult process. Very often, it’s a lot simpler than they realize, but they are either too close to it or just don’t think about…

This past week, I was on the East Coast and chatting with my cousin James, who is also an entrepreneur. In fact, he started his business the same year I started CapForge, meaning we’ve both been at this for 26 years now. I asked him how things were going, and he told me everything was…

What’s the one thing you simply can’t afford an hour before a wedding reception if you are the caterer? For the van you are driving that contains nearly all the food to break down on the way to the venue. It simply can’t happen. But that’s exactly what happened to me. Back in 2004, I…

Nothing in business happens unless you make a sale. Before that, it’s just an idea, and expenses, and time, and effort. Once someone decides they’re willing to hand over their hard-earned cash for what you are offering – then you have a business. It may still not work, but it’s at least a lot closer!…