The dirty little secret about entrepreneurship is that most people who start a business had no idea what they were doing when they began – myself included. Oh sure, they may have read some books and articles, gone to seminars, or maybe have even written a business plan. But actually knowing what to expect, what slings and arrows would come their way – no. The good news about that, as one intrepid entrepreneur once told me, is that you don’t know what you don’t know. That is – you don’t know...

Last year during the holiday season, my daughter decided that she wanted to get my wife a nice tea set because my wife had recently gotten into drinking all sorts of exotic teas. I thought that was a super idea.  One Saturday during the height of the shopping season, we bundled up, gave my wife some lame excuse  about where we needed to go, and headed to the mall where I knew there was a store that sold nothing but tea and related accessories. I had been in the store once before and found...

Despite the youth obsession of our current culture, baby boomers represent one of the keys to economic prosperity in the coming decade, according to industry pundits as varied as marketing guru Faith Popcorn and economist Harry Dent.  Born in the post-war period of 1946-1964, baby boomers are now in their peak spending years of 47 to 65.   Small businesses may be wise to tailor some of their products and services to a segment that is 78 million strong.  As you think about doing so, there are...