Pop-up shops seem to be going mainstream this year. A Time.com story, Why Pop-Up Shops Are Hot, looks at this new retail business model.

While pop-ups have had a dubious reputation in the past, of being fly-by-night outfits, they have recently been gaining respectability. The main indoor retail mall here in Eugene, Oregon has had kiosks for several years, modeled after NYC push-carts, positioned down the center of the main walkways. Some of those businesses, such as mobile phone sales, earrings, and sunglasses shops, have been in business a long time, month in and month out. Others have been seasonal, e.g., holiday decorations, and calendars, sprouting in October or November, disappearing in January, and returning again a year later.

This year some big-name retailers are experimenting with pop-up locations. Toys “R” Us, American Eagle, The Gap, and J.C. Penney have been taking advantage of the numerous empty retail storefronts to test product lines, or new target markets, or to maximize exposure for seasonal selling. Shop owners are realizing that even a short-term rent is preferable to no rent at all.

So, perhaps, a pop-up shop might be just the ticket for you to start your new venture, requiring less startup capital, no long-term leases, in potentially high-traffic locations. However, don’t think that a short-term, quick start eliminates your need to plan. Planning your cash needs up front and watching your monthly cash flow is still important.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Tags: news, pop-up shop, retail, start up, startup, store front
Posted on November 12th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

“Unconsciously, everyone expects a startup to be like a job,” says Paul Graham, programming language designer, author, and venture firm partner. “It explains why people [in startups] are surprised…and why the surprises are so extreme.”

Graham’s recent post, What Startups Are Really Like, talks about the surprises in startups. He sent an email to all the business founders who had been funded by his venture firm Y Combinator, asking what things had surprised them in their startup.

Over 100 responded and their lists were summarized into frequently recurring patterns, including:

2. Startups take over your life — “I didn’t realize I would spend almost every waking moment either working or thinking about our startup.”
4. It can be fun — “The best way to put it might be that starting a startup is fun the way a survivalist training course would be fun…”
6. Think long-term — “For the vast majority of startups that become successful, it’s going to be a really long journey, at least 3 years and probably 5+.”
12. It’s hard to get users — “I had no idea how much time and effort needed to go into attaining users. ”
13. Expect the worst with deals — “Deals fall through. That’s a constant of the startup world.”
19. Things change as you grow — “Your job description … is completely rewritten every 6-12 months.”

Says Graham, “These are supposed to be the surprises, the things I didn’t tell people. What do they all have in common? They’re all things I do tell people.”

The answer to the puzzle is that our prior experience in business is our jobs — working for someone else. Being a founder of a startup is orders of magnitude beyond our experience and ability to imagine. Despite our preparation, we can’t believe it is as intense as others tell us, hence we are surprised.

So, go to Paul Graham’s site and read this essay, What Startups Are Really Like, and think about what surprised these other founders. Print it out, and stick it up near your desk where you can re-read it often. Take the advice to heart.

My thanks to my co-editor Sara Prentice Manela for sending this essay my way.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Tags: job, news, Paul Graham, startup, startups, surprises, work
Posted on October 28th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

It seems that there is no human endeavor that will not be subverted by those with evil intent. The social-mediasphere is no exception. This recent Yahoo! News article, Injunction by Twitter: A Blogger Makes History Trying to Unmask His Impostor reports how the English High Court is using Twitter to serve an injunction against a Twitter user/identity impostor.

The case has many facets, including political campaigning, impersonation, possible slander, character assassination via misrepresentation, mainstream media reporting, and the impact on everyone’s use of Twitter through increased legal action and greater government regulation in social media.

The high-profile court action, says Time, “also highlights the increasing dangers of identity misappropriation” on social media sites. A cited example involved Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, when a Twitter impostor posted, “an elegiac tweet on Michael Jackson’s death [which] was widely quoted by credulous media.”

The plaintiff in this lawsuit is also considering a suit against Twitter, because he experienced Twitter’s own procedures slow to respond. Further legal action could force Twitter to reveal account holders’ identities, which would set a precedent for the wider social media environment.

Another legal response to questionable blog and Twitter activities was posted by Tim Berry on his Planning Startups Stories blog in FTC vs. Social Media Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing. This governmental action concerns people who accept payment to post advertisements in the guise of “personal” reviews, recommendations, and conversations.

Social media, which started out as an unfettered, community-gathering-place-of-sorts is becoming as hazardous and risky as any other commercial or political arena. And as regulated and litigation-bound. Be aware, be paranoid, be skeptical of what you read. Be prepared to defend your good name.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Tags: blogs, courts, identity theft, impostor, legal, social media, Twitter
Posted on October 8th, 2009 | No Comments »

Since start-up funding and growth financing for small- and medium-sized businesses has been in such short supply these past couple years, I thought posting about this CNNMoney.com / Fortune Small Business article on finding novel local investment would be a welcome change.

The article, originally published earlier in September, is about owners of several types of small businesses which opened, recovered, or expanded during the current economic crunch because local patrons were willing to invest in their favorite local businesses. Several types of money raising programs are discussed, including VIP cards/treatment for shareholders, $600 store and restaurant certificates sold for $500 (20% is a pretty good ROI), as well as “shares”.

Businesses showcased include restaurants, bookstores, pub/bar, and a fair-trade retail gift store. The focus of these financing efforts is on encouraging customers to become patrons or shareholders. And shareholders are a loyal customer base. Local shareholders feel vested in the company and want you to succeed.

Look to your customer base and your community. Including them as participants in your business and fostering a buy-local awareness could bring you that shot-in-the-arm financial boost to success.

Read the entire Love a local business? Buy a share article.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Tags: community, existing business, financing, funding, investment, new business, news, patronage, shareholders
Posted on September 29th, 2009 | No Comments »

The marketing potential of social media has been recognized since its inception. And, for just as long, there have been those people who are willing to manipulate that potential. One of those ways has been the posting of fake reviews. This involves filling blogs and sites full of ostensibly genuine, satisfied-customer-written reviews, extolling the excellence of a product or service, when in fact, the reviews are churned out in-house, or by a review-generating mill. Another is stuffing the ballot box, as it were, by sending a flood of fake good reviews to the review listings for your own product, or fake bad reviews lambasting a competitor’s, on retailer websites, such as Amazon.com.

In his Social Media Safety Warning post of 15 July, Andy Sernovitz reports in the Huffington Post on the New York Attorney General fining a company $300,000 for fake reviews.

[The company] employees published positive reviews and comments about the company to trick Web-browsing consumers into believing that satisfied customers were posting their own stories. These tactics constitute deceptive commercial practices, false advertising, and fraudulent and illegal conduct under New York and federal consumer protection law. The settlement marks a strike against the growing practice of “astroturfing,” in which employees pose as independent consumers to post positive reviews and commentary to Web sites and Internet message boards about their own company.

“This company’s attempt to generate business by duping consumers was cynical, manipulative, and illegal,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “My office has and will continue to be on the forefront in protecting consumers against emerging fraud and deception, including ‘astroturfing,’ on the Internet.” —excerpted from the NY Attorney General Media Center

Sernovitz points out that this ruling now makes false reviews illegal. It’s no longer a gray area, open for broad interpretation. This is a boon for ethical social media marketers, businesses, and customers. It is now a time to rebuild trust and establish brand integrity.

Sernovitz lists six ways for businesses to market safely in social media:
1. Never pay for posts or reviews.
2. Stay away from fake-review or mass-blogging services.
3. Create a formal, public policy.
4. Train your team.
5. Bind your agencies.
6. Monitor.

A recommendation from a satisfied customer can be one of the most powerful marketing messages you can use. It is in your very best interest to collect them, and use them, but only if they are real!

Steve Lange
Senior Editor
Palo Alto Software

Tags: branding, customer reviews, ethical marketing, fake reviews, illegal, legal, Marketing, news, social media
Posted on July 16th, 2009 | No Comments »

John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing is hosting a live panel webinar Wednesday, May 20th at 9am PDT/Noon EDT.

John will be joined by Ken Yancey, Jr, CEO of SCORE, Tim Berry, founder of Palo Alto Software, and Rich Sloan author of StartUpNation to talk about starting a business.

Collectively, this group has poured over thousands of business plans, seen great successes and great failures and advises many a fledgling start-up on the strategies, resources and regulations involved in going out there on your own.

Don’t pass up this unique opportunity to get first hand information from this amazing panel of experts.

More information, including a link to register, can be found on the Duct Tape Marketing Blog

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager

Tags: information, startup, Tim Berry, webinar
Posted on May 19th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Are My Sites Up? is a relatively new free web-based service that helps you keep track of up time for your websites.

The service will send you a SMS alert if your website goes down to help you respond faster and get your business back on line as soon as possible. Vital if you depend on online sales. Every minute your online business is down is money lost.

After being featured on Lifehacker and Webware, Are My SitesUp? have temporarily closed down new signups, but with a service as useful as this, they should be on your “watch” list. You can subscribe to their blog which will alert everyone when the service is open for signups again.

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager

Tags: business, Small Business, tools, website
Posted on January 13th, 2009 | No Comments »

A quote in one of my email newsletters caught my eye today.

 ”As you grow in this business, you learn how to do more with less.”

–Morgan Freeman,
recipient of 2008 Kennedy Center Honors Award

If you drop the “this” out of the quote, those words can hold true for small businesses.

“As you grow in business, you learn how to do more with less.”

Fantastic words to think on for the day.

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager

Tags: business, business success, quote
Posted on December 30th, 2008 | No Comments »

For those of you who attended Monday’s Back to the Fundamentals webinar, you heard a lot of references to some websites, books and blogs.

For the reference of those people looking for more information and for those of you who weren’t able to make it to the webinar, I’m going to put a reference list here.

If there are any that I fail to include here, please leave a comment and I’ll track it down and get it for you.

Tim Berry

Blogs : Planning, Startups, Stories, Up and Running,  Tim’s posts at HuffingtonPost, Tim at Anita Campbell’s Small Business Trends, Planning Demystified at AllBusiness.com

Books:  The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan book and website, Three Weeks to Start-up

Slides: Download the slides from Monday’s webinar as well as other presentations Tim has given over the years.

The webinar itself will be available for download starting today at our video site   eta: This link is fixed now, sorry about that!

Resources: Palo Alto Software products,  Business and Marketing calculators, more planning video’s.

I hope that was helpful, again, if I’ve missed anything or you’re wondering about a particular resource or website, just comment!

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Tags: backtofundamentals, business planning, global entrepreneurship week, resources, smart planning, Tim Berry, webinar
Posted on November 18th, 2008 | No Comments »

On their Small Business page CNN.Money.com has published some interesting stories on small businesses in the U.S. who are feeling the credit crunch and how they are responding.

One page has a series of vignettes of small business efforts to cope. Business owners discuss many problems and solutions from moving their business locations, late accounts receivables, stunted growth, evaporating markets, to loss of lines-of-credit.

A longer article also discusses the problems businesses are facing in the current credit freeze. One family business was forced to close, another small business found local funding when big banks balked, and still another has had to turn away sales because no bank will fund their facilities expansion.

For many years home equity provided start-up and working capital for millions of U.S. businesses. In Hurdle: The Book on Business Planning, President and Founder of Palo Alto Software Tim Berry says:

Why do we say that banks are the most likely source of small-business financing? Because small-business owners borrow from banks. A great deal of small-business financing is accomplished through bank loans based on the business owner’s personal collateral, such as home ownership. Some would say that home equity is the greatest source of small-business financing.

However, this may no longer be the case as another article on CNN Money discusses how home equity as a source of small-business financing has recently changed.

All of this points out how absolutely necessary it is for business owners to focus on their planning processes every single month in managing their companies’ cash flow.

Steve Lange
Senior Editor
Palo Alto Software

Tags: , Cash Flow, credit, financing, loans
Posted on October 27th, 2008 | 2 Comments »