The Freestyle Entrepreneur

The award goes to Badger Wholesale in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  Here’s why:   I was chatting with Dean Tenor last week, when his phone rang.  Dean is the owner of Dairy Deans, a small ham ‘n egger eatery overlooking Lake Michigan in Algoma, Wisconsin.  Dairy Deans is the kind of place where the coffee is [...]

I am unemployable.  People laugh when I say that, but it’s frighteningly true.  I escaped from corporate America in 1984 (exactly at midnight, December 31st), when I took the plunge into ruining my own life (rather than letting some quasi-competent manager do it for me).  I never looked back.    No, I’m not all that [...]

  I’ve been called a control freak and an egoist.  I generally reply, “Thank you.”  I’ve also had people try to get me to make decisions by committee.  The result has always been warm and fuzzy failure.    Any entrepreneur must have a healthy dose of self-love, confidence, a my-way-or-the-highway sense of conviction, and an [...]

I hadn’t seen Marty in a few weeks, not since his restaurant failed.  The news had left me sad. It’s never fun to watch a hard-working fellow lose not only his money, but also his dream.  Fortunately, he still had his base business: a small tavern, with quarters upstairs for him and his wife.  But [...]

  Let’s call it like it is:  Tough times ahead!  No, I’m not a doom-and-gloomer.  Far from it.  I am an optimist.  Besides, I truly love the challenge of tough times.  They seem to bring out all the best business instincts in me.     All I’m saying is that it pays to be ready … mentally ready.  [...]

  It’s early in the downturn, and I’m already seeing some companies — mostly the new kids on the block — going under.  It’s a shame.  How can you guarantee you won’t be next?  You can’t.  There are no guarantees in business!  But there is one thing you can do — work like a dog. [...]

  Odds are that business will get a whole lot tougher before it gets easier.  And that doesn’t matter who wins the election.    If McCain pulls off a miracle, let’s face it, the Republicans today are ill-equipped to truly lead.    If Obama strolls into the White House in January, you as a business [...]

(The following article first appeared in the August 2008 edition of Corporate Report Wisconsin.)  If challenging times bring out the best in people, then these are great times for small business owners.  Those who thrive amid today’s darkening economy are those who are prepared.  Fortunately, if you’re a small business owner, you’re in a unique position [...]

Dissatisfied?  Far from content?  Good!  Leave the search for that warm ‘n fuzzy safe place for the cubicle-dwelling wage slaves.    As a business owner, your dissatisfaction is your motivator, the lifeblood that gets you up and out in search for a new product, a few pennies saved per item on expenses, a new market [...]

I know a family in Algoma — a husband and wife team — who are true entrepreneurs.  They have ten ideas, find that three are worth pursuing and end up with one that works.  They explore, they dream, they probe, they learn … and they have no time for naysayers who point out their failures [...]

 Mort, an accountant, stomps the snow off his boots after a day of skiing in Colorado, stokes the fire, pours a cup of coffee and settles down at the kitchen table to work on tax returns for his clients back on Long Island. John, a business writer living in the Caribbean, punches a button and [...]

John R. Ingrisano here with ten tips to help you launch a business. Are you thinking about starting a business? Working for yourself? Whether that means turning your picture-framing hobby into a full-time business; pulling your professional skills out of the corporate world to set up shop on your own; or tackling a mid-life career [...]

Successful business owners aren’t so much unruly as they just don’t see why it is important to stay within the lines. They’d rather be ahead of the crowd than stuck somewhere in the middle, even if it means they are the first ones to go flying over the cliff. Or as I’ve often said, business [...]