Business
Entrepreneur
Why Can't We Act Faster?
Companies are often resistant to change…until a crisis like COVID-19 forces them to think differently. Here’s why we’re so bad at making changes before we have to.
5 min |
September 2020
Entrepreneur
Building the Future
What does it take to create change? Just ask these 17 founders, all age 27 or younger, who are doing it every day.
10+ min |
September 2020
Entrepreneur
Are We Productive, or Just Busy?
Not everything your team does will push your business forward. Here’s how to refocus that time and energy—and get on a path toward long-term success.
3 min |
September 2020
Entrepreneur
STOP TALKING ABOUT Empathy AND START ACTING ON IT
Consumers say they prefer buying from empathetic brands. Employees say they want to work for empathetic brands. Companies put “empathy” high up on their list of values. So why aren’t we seeing more empathy?
10+ min |
September 2020
Entrepreneur
The Future of DTC Is…Boring?
Brandless was a hot company with a bad business model, like many of its direct-to-consumer peers. Now it’s back as a quieter company focused on slower growth. Is this what DTC needs?
5 min |
September 2020
Entrepreneur
The Beauty of Being an Outsider
Senreve is a luxury fashion brand, but it wasn’t created by luxury fashion insiders. Here’s how its founders came to dominate a very insider-driven industry.
2 min |
September 2020
Entrepreneur
How to Win Friends and Influencer People
SHAUN NEFF builds the hottest brands for the hottest people, including Kendall Jenner, Shay Mitchell, and Millie Bobby Brown. His secret to creating a hit: It’s all about the vibe.
10+ min |
September 2020
Entrepreneur
There Is beauty in These Dark Times
I have suffered, both personally and as an entrepreneur. I have been the target of racism and nastiness. But I have also learned to see hopefulness— because these are not just times of darkness. They’re times to make things better.
6 min |
September 2020
Entrepreneur
How Fast Should You Grow?
Investors wanted SpotHero to grow rapidly, but its CEO had a different vision. He wanted to beat his competitors… by moving slower than they did.
3 min |
September 2020
Entrepreneur
HOW TO OWN A CULTURAL MOMENT: WITH PERSONALITÉ
YES WAY ROSÉ began life as a playful Instagram account. Now it’s one of the buzziest wines in America. What happened? It’s a case study in spotting the cultural moment before it explodes…and giving it a voice.
10+ min |
September 2020
Entrepreneur
Lessons from Past Crises
Yes, it’s possible to come out of the pandemic stronger. Here’s how seven entrepreneurs thrived during the recession, 9/11, and other terrible events.
5 min |
July - August 2020
Entrepreneur
“HELP ME, OR DESTROY ME”
What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken? For Angela Gennari, whose company provides security and event staff at the University of Georgia, it was putting her fate into the hands of a competitor.
3 min |
Startups Summer 2020
Entrepreneur
WORK SHOULD NOT BE CRAZY
What if working long hours, living on Slack, and growing as fast as possible isn’t the best way to run a business? The founders of Basecamp are pretty sure they have the answer.
9 min |
Startups Summer 2020
Entrepreneur
WHO BREAKS THE TIE?
How do cofounders settle disagreements when they have an equal say in the business? Six entrepreneurs share their methods.
2 min |
Startups Summer 2020
Entrepreneur
THE POWER OF PERSONAL GROWTH
SpeedPro president and CEO Larry Oberly learned to lead by making mistakes.
3 min |
Startups Summer 2020
Entrepreneur
SHOULD I SPEND BIG ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
Paid ads on social platforms can get your business in front of a lot of eyeballs. But don’t overlook the many other (and cheaper) ways to grow your customer base online.
3 min |
Startups Summer 2020
Entrepreneur
Crisis Management - SHARING THE PROFITS
The sports drink company O2 is thriving during the pandemic, thanks to a counterintuitive decision: It started giving money away.
4 min |
Startups Summer 2020
Entrepreneur
NAILING THE VIRTUAL INVESTOR PITCH
When seeking money these days, some things are different—and some are exactly the same.
3 min |
Startups Summer 2020
Entrepreneur
DON'T SAY IT'S IMPOSSIBLE
If you think something is impossible, it will become impossible. It’s time to think differently.
3 min |
Startups Summer 2020
Entrepreneur
BUILDING A FAMILY'S FUTURE
After his corporate career, a father wanted to set up his family for generations to come. Now he and his daughter run a Real Property Management franchise—together.
3 min |
Startups Summer 2020
Entrepreneur
How We'll Thrive
Nothing will ever be the same, we’re told. The world is forever different. That may be true in some ways. We may want and create new things; we may engage with new technologies; we may be focused on new problems to solve. But let’s not forget: We can flourish in this new world, just as we did in the old. There’s still a bounty of possibilities, and an open sky for our ambitions. We do not need to settle for less. We can thrive. We will thrive. Here’s how.
10+ min |
July - August 2020
Entrepreneur
Pivot Now, Thrive Later
Few things will look the same on the other side of this crisis, so don’t hang on to yesterday’s ideas. Here’s how five businesses ditched their original concepts and discovered even greater opportunities.
6 min |
July - August 2020
Entrepreneur
How We'll Connect
Entrepreneurship is not a solo experience. It’s a collective effort—building a team, finding partners, fostering relationships with consumers that could last days or decades. So while the pandemic has changed the way we connect, it hasn’t changed the simple fact that we must connect. With new tools, philosophies, and work-from-home strategies, we’re setting ourselves up for an interconnected future—whether by screen, in person, or a bit of both.
10+ min |
July - August 2020
Entrepreneur
“Incredible Innovation Comes Out of Dark Times”
Sara Blakely has steered Spanx through 20 years of ups and downs, including personal devastation and global catastrophe. It has taught her a lot about the value of adversity.
7 min |
July - August 2020
Entrepreneur
The World's Best
Our list of 200 franchises that are expanding (and thriving!) around the globe.
1 min |
July - August 2020
Entrepreneur
Solve Tomorrow's Problems Today
We can still build sustainable businesses. But it’ll require thinking far ahead—and acting now.
3 min |
July - August 2020
Entrepreneur
HOW WE'LL FRANCHISE
As the pandemic has unfolded, questions have swirled around franchising. Can food service, its biggest category, survive in a time of social distancing? Will people continue to buy franchises in uncertain times? And can brands make large, expensive changes across hundreds or thousands of units? So far, the answer seems to be: Yes! The pandemic has shown just how resilient and adaptable franchising can be. Here’s what comes next.
10+ min |
July - August 2020
Entrepreneur
HOW WE'LL BUILD
In the pandemic’s early days, celebrated investor Marc Andreessen wrote an essay about the power of entrepreneurship. “Every step of the way, to everyone around us, we should be asking the question, What are you building?” he wrote. “What are you building directly, or helping other people to build, or teaching other people to build, or taking care of people who are building?” On the following pages, entrepreneurs offer their answers.
10+ min |
July - August 2020
Entrepreneur
The Wizard of Whopper
Fernando Machado is the marketing genius who turned Burger King (and Popeyes!) into a buzzy, relevant, always-on-point brand. Here’s how he pulls it off.
10+ min |
April - May 2020
Entrepreneur
Business/Unsual – Schmidt's Naturals – “Naivete Can Be Really Helpful”
Jaime Schmidt built and sold Schmidt’s Naturals for millions. Her advice: Don’t focus too much on the challenges ahead. Just get going.
6 min |