• A Czechoslovakian pastry baker, Anrej's European Pastry (case study), is able to do business using the Internet, without even taking credit cards online. It sells its pastries by getting orders via the Internet and then putting the invoice in the box when the pastry is shipped to the customer.



• The owners of an organic fabric business, Wild Rose Farm (case study), are able to have the lifestyle they want, living on a farm, yet reach out beyond their local area. "[The Internet] gives us access to the world and gives the world access to us. But also we work hard at what we do, and because of how we live and where we live we were able to stay in business. We maintain a fairly low overhead by working here on the farm."



• A recycling container manufacturer, Pro-Tainer (case study), was able to pick up the federal government as a customer because of the Internet: "Without the Internet and without our web page, I don't think we could have done business with the United States government. That's probably what got us in the door. We were one of the frontrunners in getting involved with them (in the products that we supply). Not having that, I don't think we'd be in there today. It really is that important to them. They do everything that way."

5 June 2005 - Blogging About Incredible Blogs
12 June 2005 - AllBusiness Blog Center
19 June 2005 - Small Biz Sense
26 June 2005 - New Millenium Minds
3 July 2005 - Innovation.net
10 July 2005 - Joseph's Marketing Blog
17 July 2005 - Kiger's Notebook
24 July 2005 - Landfair Furniture
31 July 2005 - AutoMuse

"Some of our recent small business cases include a pediatric medical practice that referred an office manager. An animal clinic sent a technician, and we received a request for executive coaching for an important Neurologist whose bedside manner was problematic."

Call me a "serial entrepreneur." Call me a free agent, micro business, or better yet, call me a Soho. But please, do not call me a "small business." I think BIG! I am a property owner, a graphic designer, a web mistress and now, a publisher. I am poised for growth. I am constantly looking for ways to offer excellent customer service. I "work my net" while paying it forward.

But to say that I am small is to imply that I do not have purchasing power. Don't let the budget decisions of a few define us all. I have spent thousands of dollars on marketing, advertising and building my business -- especially in office supply stores; they love me! I am a growing business. I am a Soho.

I know of other Soho's across the United States; better yet, right here in the state of Wisconsin. These are the businesses that will never make the "million dollar income stream," yet vigorously provide services for large companies through private, local and government contracts. Most importantly, Soho's contribute to our economy via jobs, services, products and inventions.

It is because of these vast contributions that I am launching this magazine.

Instead of boxing their customers into one profile, large companies are segmenting customers into ever-narrower lifestyle profiles and categories to understand their core values. They're targeting the 20 percent of customers who generate 80 percent of their business, says James Chung, founder of Reach Advisors, a Belmont, Massachusetts, strategy and research firm. Electronics retailer Best Buy, for example, now focuses its business on five customer profiles instead of trying to broadly tailor its marketing to fit every customer profile.

Most entrepreneurs, however, still try to be everything to everyone by targeting a wide demographic. "Most small businesses are afraid of planting a flag and saying that their business focuses on a specific, high-value target audience," Chung says. "[But] it's a lot easier to focus on a profitable target, then do everything you can to engage them."

"Triton has a whole new and improved interface, as well as taking into account that instant messaging now goes beyond simple PC-to-PC text exchanges and also includes video and audio communication, as well as connections with wireless devices," he explains. "Some of Triton's features includes multiparty voice chat and an IM catcher feature that intercepts messages from senders not on the user's contact list, allowing the user to preview the message and decide whether to accept it, ignore it, or report it to AOL as an unsolicited commercial instant message."

• 20-something or 30-something entrepreneur - This person has a strong desire to be a business owner, but faces financial commitments -- because of a young family perhaps -- that require taking a job. Our thirties tend to be some of the heaviest spending years, because of buying homes and raising children. So it is no surprise a person may feel financially-pressed, and feel he or she has to take a job out of necessity.
  
  This person may have started a business previously, and found it did not grow fast enough to provide a reliable income, or wasn't successful for whatever reason. The lessons this person learns during an initial foray into entrepreneurship can be put to use the next time around the startup cycle. Often the aspiring entrepreneur in this situation will be putting aside money while employed, so as to have a stake for starting the next business.
  
  See my example of this type of on-again off-again entrepreneur.



• Lifestyle-necessitated entrepreneur - This person is someone who was employed, but due to life commitments needs a more flexible work schedule for a period of time. Typically this might be a stay-at-home-Mom who has babies or young children. (And let's not forget the stay-at-home Dads.) Or it could be a person caring for an elderly parent, or having health problems that make long commutes unfeasible. A full-time, high-pressure job is not compatible with their life responsibilities.
  
  In the past this person might have gone to a part-time job or become a full-time "housewife" for a period of time. Some still do.
  
  But today, attitudes toward entrepreneurship are changing. The maturation of the Internet, the availability of mobile telephones and inexpensive long distance rates, and the ready access to so many resources for entrepreneurs, makes running a business at home an ever more viable and attractive proposition.
  
  Just search in Google for the acronym "WAHM" which stands for "work at home mom" to get a glimpse into this world. Visit some of the sites. One site will lead to another and then to another.... You will discover an entire subculture of lifestyle-necessitated entrepreneurs.



• Older entrepreneur - This entrepreneur may be someone who was employed for most of his or her career. Then he or she leaves employment and becomes self-employed. Often the kind of business this person runs is consulting, writing, speaking, and other skills that leverage knowledge accumulated over the years.
  
  More people over 50 are becoming entrepreneurs these days -- see this USA Today article profiling this phenomenon.
  
  But retirement planning goals, need for health insurance, or an especially attractive job opportunity may entice this person back to the ranks of the employed for periods of time. In fact, the website Not Yet Retired outlines "working retirement" strategies that may involve entrepreneurship or getting a job.
  
  At this stage of his or her life, the entrepreneur doesn't have expectations of being employed for a long time. A year, perhaps 2 or 3 years, may be all this person expects, fitting in nicely with certain employers' needs. Often this person will attempt to keep the business going part-time while being employed.

• "Accelerating Your Growth" is all about growing a business during the good times, by capitalizing on your firm's opportunities.



• "Returning Your Business to Growth" is about growing in turnaround situations or during times of problems.



• "Growing Your Business During Succession or Transition" is about growth during periods of change.

"In today's world each of us is likely to go through periods of being self-employed, and being employed by someone else. No longer is it a question of either/ or. We have to prepare for both kinds of work status, because we never know when our status will change. Some of today's free and low cost online tools can help us be in a constant state of readiness for either kind of work situation. I will help you present your best face for your own business - and at the same time make connections with prospective employers and signal your readiness for that next job opportunity. I'll also show you how to avoid common pitfalls of blogging that might turn off prospective employers. Don't get caught unprepared. Ready yourself for that next unexpected opportunity, whether it is growing your own business or getting a job offer."

"The Panel interviewed owners and managers from 300 firms, each of between one and 10 employees in size, and found that most were baffled by the latest communications terminology. Just 16 percent were able to accurately say that 3G was a high-speed mobile technology, while 17 percent gave a wrong answer and 67 percent said they hadn't heard the term.

Wi-Fi fared even worse: just 8 percent understood that Wi-Fi was a wireless technology that provided fast Internet access at hot spots, with 7 percent giving an incorrect answer and 85 percent not able to give an answer. And awareness of voice-over-IP services was lower still, with only 3 percent defining VoIP accurately, another 3 percent giving a wrong answer, and 95 percent admitting total ignorance."

1. Have a very detailed plan.

2. Understand how the data going in is going to be information coming out.

3. Be cautious of custom fields that offer too many choices.

4. Include the expected need to change things six months down the line.

5. Definitely be very aware of everyones expectations.

"Bill Ives (Portals and KM) read my blog and posted a comment. He was writing a book on blogging and was going to visit his daughter attending school in Seattle. I introduced Bill Ives to Robert Scoble, Microsoft's #1 blogger, and Bill interviewed Robert for his book. Bill, in turn, introduced me to his publisher and co-author Amanda. Amanda was a tremendous resource for me when I was seeking information on publishing a book I co-wrote."

"I am convinced that being virtual is the best way to start a company. The benefits go beyond cost (although the culture of frugality can go a very long way). In our case, it improves the product. But generally it is more productive. When the bandwidth for collaboration is constrained at times, you gain a certain focus."

• Kawasaki once produced an ad featuring spiked haired, inappropriately dressed guys with the performance bikes in a setting that could have come from any "war zone" in a big city.



• Yamaha produced a video ad showing a bike accelerating wildly between rows of people then zooming in on chunks of burning rubber left in the bike's wake. Both ads were roundly criticized in the consumer press.



• Harley-Davidson, on the other hand, has carefully avoided that image, while some of the custom bike makers have embraced it.

Like this article? Read more by John Wyckoff. Get the full list of articles on our Experts directory.

• How much of the growth of microbusinesses was due to the dot com bust and recession of 2001? Much of the growth was among the self-employed.



• Is this a long-term trend? Will microbusinesses continue to grow in 2003 - 2005 and beyond? Or will some of these mirco-entrepreneurs return to employee status with an improving job market?



• How many of these microbusinesses are part-time, with the owner also holding down a job?

"Most successful, growth-oriented entrepreneurs I know are voracious gatherers of information. By combining their own internal trend data, their external scanning efforts, and understanding of potentially disruptive weak signals, they are prepared to take their forecasting to the next level."

• The more irreverent and upsetting a new idea is to the status quo, the more chance it has of reaching a level of macro importance.



• The more often you hear, "That's just a fad," the more likely it's not.



• Identifying and monitoring weak signals should be an ongoing, systematic process in any organization interested in sustained growth.



• If you hear about a new "thing" in a popular magazine or on television, you are probably too late to capitalize on it.



• Weak signals often grow by joining forces with other weak signals. Or, in other words, weak signals often need reinforcement from other ideas floating outside the established boundaries before they can be seen or heard.

• This week's edition of Carnival of the Capitalists is now appearing over at Incite. Lots of fine articles -- check out Barry Ritholz's article on petroleum prices. (And by the way, did you know that Barry is a noted markets and economic commentator? I catch him occasionally on CNBC.)



• A roundup of legal articles, called the Blawg Review, is now appearing over at Law and Entrepreneurship News. Don't let the word "legal" put you off. Quite a number of the articles are at the intersection between business and legal issues. For more information, visit the Blawg Review site.

• ability to set up categories and excellent built-in search functions, so that business information can be found more easily -- chronological archiving is better for personal diaries and not very useful for business blogs


• features that are more like commercial websites, including "About Us" sections, press room pages, and better navigation functionality


• easy ability to build customized RSS feeds for individual pages such as press rooms


• search engines that target business blogs specifically


• plug and play integration of eCommerce features such as product catalogs and shopping carts on sidebars