IvoireNatureFm

The bigger they are… small biz v big corp

Think you’re too small to go up against the major competitors in your industry? Well, think again Gary Hirshberg is waging war. Armed with an overdeveloped sense of guerrilla marketing, he has taken his battle for market share to the densely populated hills of corporate America. Slipping in under the pretext of attending a business meeting, he invades office buildings and strikes a blow for his brand, Stonyfield Farm yogurt. “We’ve made appointments with one attorney

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Secure the bag & stop courting disaster

Don’t wait until the process servers are at your front door to fend off a lawsuit. Protect yourself and your business by planning for the worst You never expect that one of your decisions will lead to your first lawsuit. Ellen Toplin thought she had made the right choice. A young public-relations practitioner in the Philadelphia area, Toplin decided to take on a partner – a writer who had come to her on the recommendation of

Accessories

Shopping for a handheld PC used to be easy

It used to be that shopping for a handheld PC was easy. That’s because there was just one: 3Com’s PalmPilot. But success begets competition, and now there are literally dozens of new handheld personal organizers from which to choose, including two new Pilots and several color Windows CE devices. Ultimately, the decision as to which device to buy is a matter of personal preference and budget, but here’s a handy list of factors to consider before

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Capitalizing on the X Factor

Growing up and making more money, Generation Xers are your ideal consumers. But do they know who you are yet? David Stillman, a 30-year-old Minneapolis business consultant, recently went furniture shopping with his wife. At their first stop, a large department store, the sales staff ignored them. So they left and went to a small, family-owned business, where the employees seemed genuinely excited about helping a young couple outfit their first living room. Feeling appreciated, the

Success

Two start-up ventures are at war

Their start-up ventures are not just duking it out for market share; they are fighting to change the very way America watches television. It’s the ultimate lesson in competitive battle practices One evening in 1991, Anthony Wood came home late from work. That he was a few hours late was not so significant; but that he1d failed to ask his wife to tape his favorite show, “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” set off a spark that

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Business-to-business franchises are booming

Companies outsource services they once performed in-house Long ago, U.S. corporations used to handle their own public relations, their own accounting, their own hiring. They had work crews to address equipment failure; some even did their own printing. Then downsizing swept through corporate America like an Old Testament plague. Companies grew lean and mean; outsourcing became the name of the game. And suddenly the hills were alive with the sound of pink-slipped middle managers typing their

Success

When to consider bankruptcy and how to survive it

On average, 129 American businesses file for bankruptcy every day. In addition, personal bankruptcies, some of which are tied to business failures, are clocking along at more than a million a year. Experts say that the high numbers are attributable to the easy availability of credit during an economic boom, but that’s no comfort if you face becoming one of the statistics. Take Gene Maddalena. When he placed that first call to a bankruptcy attorney, Maddalena

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Multilevel marketing is experiencing a rebirth

Through a series of strategic alliances, multilevel marketing is experiencing a rebirth As anyone involved in network marketing and direct selling already knows, it’s not just about getting your product out there and building a successful business. You often have to overcome the stigma associated with the multilevel-marketing (MLM) industry. But because of a series of strategic alliances between big-brand companies and network marketers, the industry is currently poised to reach a new level of credibility

Success

One of the steepest growth curves in franchising history

Piping-Hot Performance: How Papa John’s founder John Schnatter negotiated one of the steepest growth curves in franchising history Recently, patrons of the Papa John1s pizza franchise in downtown Louisville got a big surprise. The man serving them their pies wasn’t just any old chef. It was John Schnatter himself, the highly visible CEO and founder of Papa John’s. Seems he’d dropped by to say hello to the store1s owner – his wife, Annette – and discovered

Success

How to network like a champ

You’re headed for Europe on a vacation. Should you (a) get a good guidebook, (b) brush up on your romance languages, or (c) make a plan to meet people for your downline? Sure, vacations are supposed to be relaxing, but top distributors explore every avenue they can. Georganne Goldblum even got in touch with Henry Kissinger’s oƒce before her trip abroad, and she was hooked up with an ambassador. Unfortunately the ambassador wasn’t interested, but, as