Welcome

Risk comes with the territory in early stage companies. All questions asked by potential investors when considering an opportunity can be simplified along the lines of the old risk/reward paradigm: how much reward is possible, and what are the risks? Company founders often view the risks section as an obligation rather than an opportunity – […]

For many entrepreneurs selling is the stuff of nightmares. But it may be because you’ve bought into some of the common myths about what selling is. Effective selling is not about building a relationship, not about identifying a need, not about doing a certain number of calls, not about closing techniques and it’s not about being […]

Working for yourself as an entrepreneur is a dream shared by the majority of people who have worked for someone else and I know because I was one of them. I was working in a windowless office in a dead-end job working for an organisation that cared little for me. I’m incredibly lucky that I’ve […]

Each month, entrepreneur mentor Sandy Geyer answers a question from #nzentrepreneur readers… I’m not sure if it’s just me that feels this way but why is it that most employees are so lazy and don’t use their common sense? What’s the point in hiring people when I just end up having to do their jobs […]

What’s your picture of what the average entrepreneur is like? Here’s 12 facts from a report titled The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur. It’s based on a survey done by the Kauffman Foundation for Entrepreneurship, of 549 company founders across a variety of industries. The average and median age of company founders when they started their current companies was 40. 95.1% of respondents themselves had […]

As an entrepreneur it is your job to build a profitable, replicable and scalable business, providing a solution to a problem or need people want to solve. By definition, your business can have no value, if there are not enough people who value what you offer. This is just basic logic. Nothing new here. And this […]

This is a follow-up from an article in our May 2015 issue which discussed results of interviews with high profile entrepreneurs and their experience of Tall Poppy Syndrome. Jodyanne Kirkwood & Tarja Viitanen from Otago University have now surveyed 217 business owners about Tall Poppy Syndrome (TPS) and how it affects them in their decision […]

Then learning this one skill is non-negotiable for entrepreneurs I ASKED ABOUT twenty business owners and CEOs to name the one skill they feel contributes the most to their success. What did every one of them say? Sales skills. Each and every one felt success is almost impossible – in any field – without solid […]

As entrepreneurs, one thing that we have in common is we’ve all chosen the path of starting our own businesses as a way of fulfilling a dream, a passion or solving a problem. Whether it was a vision or a compelling purpose, it inspired us to take action and make it happen. Sometimes getting started is the easy part. The initial excitement creates the energy and momentum […]

A lot of hard work and sacrifice is needed to build a business. Each month we talk to an inspiring entrepreneur to show you that really, anything is possible. NZ Entrepreneur: Tell us about your business. What is it exactly that you do? Danny Ing: Cin7 is a cloud based Inventory and POS system. “CIN” […]

To attract outside investment in your business, you may need to radically alter some of your thinking in regards to your business and also the nature of outside investors. While banks may require financial statements and keep a close watch on your progress, the level of intrusion in your business from outside investors is likely […]

Strategies to help win customers without breaking the bank. Back in the late 90s, working as a marketing consultant, I would always hear the managing director of a risk insurance brokerage I was assisting tell his team “activity equals success”. Without a doubt he was right. The sales you make today are generated from the marketing activities you have done […]