Entrepreneur

ENTREPRENEURSHIP is an endless series of hard decisions. I’m sure you’re facing one right now. Sadly, I can’t give you the right answer—but I can offer you something new to consider. To really appreciate this, I first want to tell you about someone w

John Mackey is cofounder and the longtime CEO of Whole Foods. But in the early days of his business, he was called something else. And it wasn’t meant as a compliment: Wacky Mackey. One of his cofounders came up with the name, as a way of mocking Mac

When starting a business, having a great idea is just the beginning of the process. To bring that idea to life, you need to find market fit, consider funding or financing, and perhaps most importantly, to decide where you’ll set up operations to ensu

“I underestimated the importance of discernment. Early on, we had what seemed like a dream client—but red flags started to emerge. They were going through some internal strife, and their executives were contradicting each other, which bled onto our t

In today’s fast-paced retail landscape, having a great product is essential, of course. But smart business owners know at least two other things are crucial for success as well: efficient inventory management and streamlined distribution processes. W

Will people buy cheap food to help save the planet? The answer is yes—and no. This was the idea behind Flashfood, an app-based marketplace that aims to divert food away from landfills, and to families in need. It collects food nearing its best-by dat

You may have heard this question before: “What advice would you give your 16-year-old self?” I know this is a popular way to package the “wisdom” of someone with experience or success, and as Google’s first chief innovation evangelist, people asked m

By now, everyone knows search engine optimization (SEO) is important. If your content isn’t optimized, then your website isn’t being found—which can make or break your business. But many of us are also keenly aware of what we don’t know. SEO is a com

Sam Parr and Shaan Puri think in millions. They’ve both had notable exits for many millions (Parr sold his newsletter company The Hustle to HubSpot, and Puri sold his video streaming company Bebo to Twitch). Together, they cohost the chart-topping po

When Ben Witte launched his brand Recess in 2018, his mission was simple: He wanted to make nonalcoholic relaxation beverages. CBD was hot at the time, thanks to the recent passage of the Hemp Farming Act, so he launched a line of CBD-infused sparkli

Want to meet the people who can accelerate your growth? You might need to make $1 million in revenue first. “I think there’s something magical about a million dollars in terms of just showing progress and scalability of the business,” says Laura Held

Noah Kagan was the 30th employee at Facebook, the fourth employee at mint.com, and has started many successful businesses of his own. Now, his company AppSumo does nearly $100 million in annual revenue. Along the journey, he says he’s discovered some

Yes, you can make a million—and more—without paying taxes on it. The wealthy do it every day, and the formula is simple: Take a business or investment idea that’s separate from your “day job,” combine it with a Roth IRA structure, give it a little ti

Short of running an online scam, how do you get someone to willingly fork over $1 million? The magic happens somewhere between dumb luck and intelligent strategy, says Wanda Urbanska, who does it regularly. She’s the director of philanthropy for Nort

Six years ago, Michelle Brown (pictured above) met with a major funder of her literacy nonprofit. She’d been counting on them to renew their grant, and there was no reason they shouldn’t. But as the meeting began, she had that sickening, slow-motion

Franchising is full of decades-old brands that have proven themselves—so why would someone consider buying a franchise from a brand-new franchisor instead? There are many reasons: Although newer franchise concepts may come with higher risk, you can u

Kayla Opperman made good money at her engineering job. But when her daughter was a baby, she got tired of long hours in the office. She also recognized there was a limit to how much she could make working for someone else. “I’d worked hard to get an

When Cuban immigrant Nicolas Estrella Sr. started selling auto insurance in Miami in the 1970s, he had an opening line: His last name meant “star” in Spanish, so he and other Latino immigrants could bet on the same shooting star—the American dream. “

I love franchising. This industry helps people achieve their dreams of business ownership. It helps founders scale their brands into national or international successes. It can be a pathway to personal satisfaction and financial freedom. To achieve a

A franchise is most successful when it reaches a wide variety of communities—and to do that best, it needs to bring a diversity of voices and experiences into its franchisee and corporate-level ranks. That’s why, for the third year, we’ve chosen the

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When I began my career in marketing, a mentor told me this: Resilience is key. I nodded at the time, thinking I understood what he meant—that nothing is easy, that the strongwilled survive, and so on. I struggled with confidence during my early caree