Posted by Jim Van on July 26, 2011 under entrepreneur, small business | 
2 Comments to Read
The current (August, 2011) issue of Inc. Magazine has an article stating that Small Businesses aren’t creating jobs at the rate they used to [see article]. They quoted a recent study from the Kaufmann Foundation. Fewer jobs? I think that Inc., the Kaufmann foundation, most of our politicians and media pundits miss what’s going on… Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on July 22, 2011 under entrepreneur, small business | Read the First Comment
Lots has been written about the Open Source ‘revolution’ (I hate the ‘r’ word, but that’s what it’s called..). It’s true that open source software has placed free and low-cost software within the reaches of the typical microbusiness, resulting many times in critical savings for typically budget-conscious companies. If LibreOffice does as good a job as MS Office, why spend the nearly $300 for a pro license, or $180 for a Small-Business edition? And SugarCRM has an excellent community edition that is great for smaller businesses and is free. So, what’s the catch? Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on July 15, 2011 under entrepreneur, eOffice, mobility, portability, small business | 2 Comments to Read
Ok, one more mention about Phil Simon’s ‘The New Small’ and then I’ll give it a break. Promise.
It’s just that the book is so spot on regarding how smaller business is out there succeeding these days by leveraging technology that simply didn’t exist, or was unavailable to small business until very recently. The Five Enablers: Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on July 8, 2011 under entrepreneur, small business | Read the First Comment
Last week I had a face-to-face meeting with a couple of summer interns at the RI Small Business Development Center. I need some help with a couple of onlne projects, and the SBDC is an excellent resource for such things…
One of the many things that impressed me, is that the students, both grad students with a focus on business and tech, asked questions. Good questions. Read more of this article »
Posted by Jim Van on July 1, 2011 under entrepreneur, security, small business | Read the First Comment
Last week, I talked about a great book, The New Small written by Phil Simon, a tech consultant who’s been around the track a few times and knows what he’s talking about. I was discussing his book with a client, who brought up an interesting point: “If we’re able to use free applications and do most of the computer maintenance task ourselves, then why would we pay for IT support services?” Read more of this article »