BusinessMakers Articles

Is Your Ego Overshadowing the Growth of Your Business?

Author: Esther Steinfield | Date: October 14, 2009

Every manager wants to have engaged, committed employees, but how do you get there? Employee empowerment is a term used to describe ways that non-managerial employees can make autonomous decisions. Find out why the traditional view of empowerment is all wrong.

The Perfect Companions when Working at Home

Author: John Whiteside | Date: October 08, 2009

If you are having trouble with adjusting to the less than social interactions of a work at home job, as compared to the traditional office jobs, some times the simplest solution might be right in your lap. John Whiteside explains how you can more the social interaction from the "water cooler" right into your own home.

10 Ways To Make More Money Than You Spend

Author: Gaurav Khandelwal | Date: October 03, 2009

Gaurav Khandelwal CEO of ChaiONE started his business at 24. Here he talks about recognizing opportunities and some of the basics of bootstrapping your business.

He’s a “Weird Cat”

Author: Karen Stearns | Date: May 14, 2009

That’s what Jason Pontin laughingly calls himself. Pontin, editor and publisher of M.I.T.’s Technology Review magazine, was Russ Capper’s featured guest on The Businessmakers Show this past weekend. Obviously, he has a sense of humor, but he’s also brilliant and he is brutally honest.

Why Downsizing is a Good Thing

Author: Don Minnick | Date: April 24, 2009

In the boom years of the mid-20th century American organizations grew with the assumption that bigger was better. The United States became home to some of the largest corporations in the world. At the time, these companies faced little or no competition from foreign firms or even from smaller American companies. There were ready markets for any goods or services that could be produced.

Thoughts From The Rice Alliance Business Plan Competition

Author: Karen Stearns | Date: April 19, 2009

The Rice competition is the largest intercollegiate business plan competition in the world, this year hosting 42 teams of collegiate competitors who each have developed a product worthy of prize money—more than $800,000—to finance future development and/or research. Any one of these products could change the world. Think I’m exaggerating?

2 Survival Instincts That Protect Your Job in Tough Times

Author: Don Minnick | Date: April 14, 2009

When asked who the go to people are managers will usually rattle off two or three employees who they depend on the most. In tough times companies build their organizations around these people. Find out what makes them different and how you can take advantage of those characteristics.

Conversation as the New Work Style

Author: Don Minnick | Date: April 01, 2009

The old days of simply transmitting information from top to bottom in an organization are over. Looking up the organization for answers and direction simply doesn’t work in an economy built around knowledge. Being able to bring meaning to the work for all involved has become the core competence in today’s leaner organizations.

5 Ways To Cultivate Corporate Creativity

Author: Kelsey Ruger | Date: March 07, 2009

Whenever I speak or teach people about creativity the most common question I have receive is "How can I/my employees be more creative at work?" The short answer is you can't make people more creative. What you can do is create an environment that encourages and fosters creativity. How do you go about creating this type of environment?

8 Ways To Really Empower Your Employees

Author: Kelsey Ruger | Date: March 07, 2009

Every manager wants to have engaged, committed employees, but how do you get there? Employee empowerment is a term used to describe ways that non-managerial employees can make autonomous decisions. Find out why the traditional view of empowerment is all wrong.