SmallBusinessExecutiveInforming, Inspiring and Connecting Businesses
Resolve to create wicked success in 2012
Business owner Vickie Milazzo offers advice to women entrepreneurs on finding success. Photo courtesy of Vickie Milazzo. By Vickie Milazzo Guest columnist 2011 is drawing to a close and for many recession-wracked American women, it feels like just another mile marker in an endurance race going nowhere. Buck up, girlfriend. You can do a lot more [...]
Good planning starts with stakeholder input
By George Brown Jr. Guest columnist As businesses look toward 2012, many are developing ambitious plans to achieve their growth and profit goals. In conversations with many organizations, I hear four themes: globalization, expanding capabilities, acquisitions and investments, and sustainability. Globalization Globalization has been going on for quite a few years, but many firms are planning [...]
How to plan for and measure success in 2012
By Doug and Polly White Guest columnists The economy has been tough for businesses, especially small businesses. Funding is tight ― OK, really tight. Government at all levels seems to be staying up at night thinking of new ways to make “doing business” more difficult, and consumers are more reluctant than ever to spend. This is the [...]
The Chance to Work Tops Chicago Entrepreneurs’ Holiday Wish List
By Elizabeth Milnikel Guest columnist What do Chicago’s entrepreneurs want for Christmas? That is the question posed by the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship to small businesses throughout the city. Located at the University of Chicago Law School, the IJ Clinic serves low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs across the city who need legal assistance but cannot [...]
Last-minute surge in IPOs points to uptick in 2012: PwC report
Submitted by PricewaterhouseCoopers NEW YORK - Dec. 20, 2011 – A number of new offerings in the fourth quarter – spurred by Groupon – helped to jump-start the U.S. IPO markets in November after a significant drop in third-quarter pricings due to high market volatility, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers US (PwC US). The market reignited in December with the [...]
Emerging markets gain traction for IPOs: PwC
Submitted by PricewaterhouseCoopers Emerging market activity in public offerings has increased during the past seven years, according to PricewaterhouseCooper’s report, “Capital Markets in 2025, The Future of Equity Capital Markets.” About 55 percent of 2011 year-to-date global IPO listing volume took place on exchanges located in emerging markets, a significant increase from less than 25 [...]
Are customers always right? Applying the 80/20 rule to boost loyalty, profits
Business consultant Betsy Kruger tells why it’s OK to give priority to your most profitable customers. Photo courtesy of Strategic Power. By Betsy Kruger Guest columnist In business, the squeaky wheel almost always winds up getting the grease. No one likes hearing a complaint, so when a customer complains, a business quickly rectifies the complaint. [...]
Seasoned entrepreneurs forecast disruptive technology will fuel new startups
By Ann Meyer For SmallBusinessExecutive Expect to see rapid change in Chicago’s business community in the coming year, as technology disrupts old industries. “Think about what the Internet has done in the last 10 years,” said Matt McCall, partner at New World Ventures. It has created companies, while putting others out of business. “I also [...]
Forecast for M&A activity remains mixed
Submitted by PricewaterhouseCoopers NEW YORK, NY – December 12, 2011 – Volatile equity markets slowed mounting U.S. deal activity in the third and fourth quarters, following growing deal momentum in the first two quarters of 2011. In light of concerns over European debt and a pullback in financing, U.S. merger and acquisition (M&A) activity [...]
As small businesses grow, so goes the economy
By John Byrne Guest editorial Greece and the worries of the European financiers dominate the news headlines these days. To be sure, the problems are serious for many nations, including the United States. But something else is equally certain: While anxious bankers and many world leaders are pacing, there are small businesses that can’t get into motion fast [...]
