Startups and Business Owners: The ‘Have to Do’ Factor is Infinite

By Tim Berry

This should be so horribly obvious: Your business exists to make your life better. Not vice-versa. Don’t live to make your business better. Obvious? Sure. But people forget. Do you use what you “have to do” for your business as the constant recurring excuse for missing things that matter to people you love – soccer games,... Read More »

Love, Sex, and Small Business. Wait … What?

By Tim Berry

I received an email today, Valentine’s Day, with this juicy data from a Manta survey on marriage and business: … a new study … shows small business owners are mixing business with pleasure. The survey of more than 1,100 small business owners shows one in four work with their significant other and nearly 60 percent... Read More »

A Must-Read Piece on What Really Matters

By Tim Berry

This morning I’m just plain grateful for what I just read. Towards the end it includes this quote containing two quotes: In his beautifully crafted The New York Times article, You Are Going To Die, Tim Kreider writes, ‘You are older at this moment than you’ve ever been before, and it’s the youngest you’re ever... Read More »

Biggest Mistake? Mistaking Business for Life

By Tim Berry

(Note: I’m posting here my latest column for the Eugene Register Guard Blue Chip monthly magazine. These are not new themes for this blog, but I like what I say here. This is reposted here with permission.) Let’s put startups, entrepreneurship and life in proportion. A webinar participant asked me last week about what I... Read More »

A Marketing Expert’s Must-Read Advice on Living Better

By Tim Berry

I’m proud to say John Jantsch, the world’s number one expert on small business marketing,  is a friend of mine. I’ve worked with him for years and I’ve learned a lot from him. For example, I still use his definition of marketing (“getting people to know, like, and trust you”) almost daily. His wisdom has... Read More »

5 Blogging Mistakes And A State of Wonder

By Tim Berry

Yesterday while flying cross country I read State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett. It’s about real people in an almost-but-not-quite magical Amazon jungle, and, although the plot moves steadily forward, it’s more of a spell, woven with words by a great writer, than just a story. As I got off my first plane, I was... Read More »

Heartfelt Advice for Young Fathers

By Tim Berry

My five kids are all grown up now, doing well thanks, and as I look back on things related to parenting I think I’ve discovered something worth sharing. It’s about dad time with young kids. Our oldest was born in 1972 and our youngest in 1987, and in our case, during those 15 years a... Read More »

Pam Slim’s 10 Keys to Startup Sanity

By Tim Berry

I was sorely disappointed to miss Pamela Slim’s keynote speech for the Willamette Angel Conference 10 days ago. I’m a member, but I had to be away, and had to miss it. I hear she was great. Eugene and Corvallis startups are still talking about it. She called her talk 10 Keys to Maintain Your... Read More »