Entrepreneur magazine
October 2011

Franchisees Who Grew Million-Dollar Businesses

With hard work and trust in the concept, franchisees can make it big. From a maid service, to a restaurant and a photography studio, here's how three entrepreneurs profited from their own spin on a franchise's business plan.

Spreading the Gospel on a Lean, Mean Startup Strategy

Eric Ries talks about the ideas behind his new book 'The Lean Startup.'

What Entrepreneurs Should Know About Estate Planning

When the time comes to deal with personal loss, it pays to be ready. Here's how to prepare yourself and your family.

Intuit Program Awards Grants to Help Spur Local Jobs

Need a nudge to hire a new employee? The financial software company is offering funding to small businesses that create jobs.

New Tools and Tactics for a Killer Presentation

While some of the traditional technology for presentations continues to change, compelling content and delivery are still key to making an impact on audiences.

CouponTrade Can Help Attract Customers Through Unused Deals

A new online marketplace can help companies sitting out the discount game pull in new customers through unused deals from other businesses.

ADP's New Payroll On-the-Go HR App

The payroll giant is offering a mobile app that lets employees of its U.S. clients check and manage their HR, payroll and benefits information from their smart phones.

How a Downsized Burrito Led to Franchise Success

A Moe's Southwest Grill franchisee's idea for a smaller, more healthful burrito was a hit with customers chainwide.

How One Craft Brewery Is Tapping Social Media

Chicago's Finch's Beer replaces signage with social media marketing and finds frothy fame.

Jargon: Meanderthal

How One Small Firm Replaced Its AWOL Site Designer -- Fast

A stationery boutique owner had to do some serious bargain-hunting when she needed a web designer to add a 'shop online' element to her company's website.

How SocialGuide Helps Drives Social TV

This new website to watch aggregates social media comments about TV shows as they air and links them to program listings in real time.

Financing a Second Startup on Cash Flow of Your First

With the success of one startup, Kiha Lee financed another.

Create Card-Free Rewards Programs with Apps

Cardboard punch cards and laminated key-ring tags are so last year. These apps can help you put your rewards program on smartphones.

How Rent-A-Grandma Got Started

For better quality child care, this franchisor turned to those with the most experience.

High Stakes: Launching a Startup at Harvard B-School

Going to business school is a job in itself. Trying to start a company at the same time can be even more daunting. Daniel Gulati of FashionStake did both.

A Guide to Generating Leads on LinkedIn

Facebook is for stalking old flames, and LinkedIn is for finding new jobs, right? Wrong. Here's a look at an old social media platform's new lead-gen value.

Hacking the U.S. Census for Market Research

The every-decade survey can offer insights on demographics and competition for determining potential markets.

How One Small Company Outsourced IT to a Cloud-Computing Platform

MindShift brings the cloud-computing concept down to earth, so that small firms like Salo can see big IT improvements.

How to Know When to Hire a CFO

More than the usual trouble sleeping at night is just one indicator that it's time to bring in an experienced executive to bring order to your firm's finances.

An All-in-One Mobile Marketing Tool

Advertisers can get check-in, discounting and social media marketing in one neat little package.

How One Small Company Is Using QR Codes

Why startups like Sacre Bleu believe quick response codes to extend its branding and deliver information at the point of sale. Are QR codes the next big thing in mobile marketing?

Why I Decided to Take the Money and Sell My Startup

The founder of 2-year-old digital card startup GiftZip.com decided to sell to gift-card behemoth SVM. He shares his views on the dangers of not doing the math.

A Business Traveler's Love-Hate Relationship with GPS

GPS is innovative and useful for showing you the way. Until it steers you wrong.

The Top Global Franchises of 2011

Franchising is exploding in international markets, from Latin America to Asia to Europe and beyond. Here's a look at the franchises leading the worldwide expansion, along with insight on how to succeed on the global stage.

Six Tips for Taking Your Franchise Global

Is your goal world domination? Here's advice on how to make your business concept a success outside the U.S.

How a Craftsman Turned His Handiwork into a Cutting-Edge Business

He was definitely cut out for this business: Quintin Middleton shows off his chops with high-quality culinary cutware.

Monitors That Pull Double-Duty for Marketing

Monitors can be repurposed as interactive marketing kiosks, allowing your customers to see for themselves just how innovative you are. Here are three of the sharpest.

How 'Working Spouse' Rules Can Save a Company Money -- And Headaches

Employers can save money by creating 'working-spouse carve-outs' encouraging employees to use their spouse's health-insurance plans.

How Community Banks Are Wooing Small-Business Customers

The money is coming back in business borrowing-- so why don't businesses want it? Here's a look at what some innovative community banks are doing to try to be your lender.

How to Find the Best Local Lender for Your Business

Interested in working with a community bank? Here are a few tips for finding the right one.

Editor's Note: The New Food Chain

A head of lettuce from the farmers market isn't going to cut it anymore. Locally-sourced food is becoming a sustainable business.

How to Start a Business in a Recession

Economic cycles come and go, but businesses must thrive in good times and bad. Fat Straws Bubble Tea's Terry Pham launched during a recession and survived two downturns. Learn how Pham and other entrepreneurs made a go of it in tough times.

Lessons in Startup Survival from the Downturn

Startups large and small have sprung from downturns. Here's how they've managed.

How Two Small Companies Are Driving Revenue Using Social Media

A look at how a food truck and a veterinary practice are making virtual relationships online that translate into real-life dollars.

How the Company Behind the Money & Bills App Secured $15 Million in Venture Funding

Pageonce lands a new cash infusion to mobilize the 'wallet of the future.'

An Entrepreneur With a Cheeky Message and a Social Conscience

Sir Richard's delivers free condoms to developing nations, trading on the buy one, give one away model made famous by TOMS shoes.

How to Protect Your Business from Malware in Custom Apps

An expanding network of cybercriminals is taking aim at the hidden flaws lurking inside the custom-created apps on your company's website. Here's how to safeguard application security for your customers -- and your business.

What's the Secret to Better Brainstorming?

Ah, the brainstorming session--who came up with the idea for that, anyway? The Esquire guy offers up some advice on how to cultivate better concepts.

How to Buy a Fleet Vehicle for Your Business

Looking for a deal on cars, vans or trucks? If you need to buy in bulk, you may be able to arrange 'preferred pricing.'

Wheels: What Entrepreneurs Are Driving Now

Our annual report on commercial vehicles examines the full range -- and what their choices say about their personalities, their styles and their businesses.

Why Google+ Will Be the Next Big Thing for Your Business

Google+ has quickly become the place to be in social media. Here's why--and what your business should do about it.

To B-school or Not to B-school?

Going to business school certainly doesn't guarantee entrepreneurial success--but is it valuable? Entrepreneur went to experts from both sides of the lectern for firsthand accounts of the pros and cons of MBA programs.

Two Urban Farmers Test the 'Eat Local' Business

More people are exploring microfarming as a way to become their own boss. A look at two moonlighting gardeners in Cleveland.

The Farm-to-Table Founding Fathers

How a Silicon Valley veteran and an English-bred chef helped define the farm-to-table movement.

The Economist at the Forefront of the Farm-to-Table Movement

This business analyst is an unlikely leader in the economics of food localization.

How the Farm-to-Table Movement Is Helping Grow the Economy

Producing and using locally sourced food is becoming a sustainable business. Call it Foodie Inc.

TechTrek Professor Mentors IT Entrepreneurs

Boston College's John Gallaugher doesn't try to be an all-knowing mentor to his students. But he does lead them on their first trek into the galaxy of tech.

Babson's Candida Brush: Professor and Team Leader

Candida Brush knows the ultimate irony of successful entrepreneurship: It's not about doing something on your own.

For This Nanotech Professor, Science Means Business

Alain Kaloyeros pioneered nanotech research at the University at Albany. Now he oversees a program in which students are trained to be both scientists and entrepreneurs.

Puppets, Poetry and Other Entrepreneurial Studies

What do entrepreneurs study in school? Here's a look at some of the highlights that the leading schools boast about.