Restaurants, Bootstrapping, Good Stories, and Divine Intervention

By Tim Berry

This is a great look at one example of a successful restaurant business. Jonathan Fields calls it “bootstrapping with a bit of divine intervention.” That story is about four minutes in. The whole interview is interesting, and a good background look for anybody curious about the restaurant business, particularly one successful restaurant business, not stylized... Read More »

Beware of One-Size-Fits-All Business Advice

By Tim Berry

Last Tuesday I had the privilege of taking 10 half-hour appointments with student entrepreneurs developing business plans. The idea was listening, talking, suggesting, and maybe helping with a thought or two. What a kick that is. No wonder I love what I do for a living. I started each of these sessions with a warning... Read More »

Nice People Can be Bad Bosses. Way Too Often.

By Tim Berry

I’m troubled. The problem, in a nutshell, is that saying jerks and idiots are bad bosses is a bit too easy. It implies that not being a jerk or worse makes you a good boss. And that’s not always true. Nice people can be bad bosses. I like Bob Sutton’s work a lot. He blogs... Read More »

Don’t Underestimate Beachhead Strategy

By Tim Berry

I like beachhead strategies. The term comes from military strategy, meaning that as you invade enemy territory, you need to focus your strength and concentrate on winning a small border area (the beachhead) that becomes the stronghold from which you’ll advance into the rest of the territory. That’s what the allies did, successfully, in the... Read More »

The 6 Most Expensive Words in Business

By Tim Berry

I saw this on Twitter yesterday, posted by Meghan Biro: Remember that the six most expensive words in business are: “We’ve always done it that way.”–Catherine DeVrye She makes a good point. In my 30+ years in business I’ve seen way too much of “we’ve always done it that way” and I’d like to think... Read More »

Relationship Cluelessness Celebration Day

By Tim Berry

What's wrong with this picture? Or maybe I should ask how many different things are wrong with it? I read about Spouse 2.0 day in the New York Times. No, it's not a joke. The Times says: To celebrate, founders... Read More »

About Marketing Yourself

By Tim Berry

Marketing yourself requires an abandon that's hard to get right. Have you ever read the one about "sing like nobody's listening" or "dance like nobody is watching?" Do you get my point? When I lived in Mexico City, an ex-brother-in-law... Read More »

For Great ROI, Sell More to Existing Customers

By Tim Berry

That -- the title to this post -- might seem obvious, but we forget so easily, as we struggle to grow the business, and especially as we contemplate an economic downturn (free-fall?). The best ROI is selling more per customer... Read More »