Faith & Prosperity Nexus Blog
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Top 10 Reasons Companies Fail
I read some time ago that nearly six in ten businesses shut down within the first four years of operation. Why is that? Based on my own experience, I’d say… Top 10 reasons companies fail: Pride – number one enemy within any company and organization Execute slowly – speed matters more than anything else Don’t’ raise enough investment – dilution is your friend- it means you’re sufficiently capitalized Don’t tell anyone what you’re up to. NDAs do not create excitement; high impact marketing does Do it alone – people, teamwork, partners and networking is like oxygen for a startup Don’t focus – a laser-like focus is essential – define what you won’t do as much as what you do Think like a xenophobe – business is global these days, and single country focus stunts your growth Make a five year business plan – but be brief and to the point Just copy an idea – me too approach won’t make gorillas or gazelles Lack of a goal and motivation other than money … and there are of course many other top 10 lists out there, like the one at Squidoo and About.com. Scot Lipsky has a very good list and… Read more
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New Community Corp in Newark and FAME Assistance Corp in Los Angeles – two faith inspired companies…
Keeping the faith is an article about church involvement in economic development. They feature two companies in particular: New Community Corp. in Newark – (they have a great video with its story on the site) was started in 1967 by William J. Linder, a Catholic priest, after civil unrest decimated the community. The 1,600-employee nonprofit organization has no affiliation with the Catholic church, but Monsignor Linder sits on the board of directors, and clergy from 15 religious orders work in capacities ranging from CFO to school director. One of New Community’s first endeavors was establishing a supermarket in a shopping center it had built. It took a while to find a partner who would be willing to move into the community and share equity, but the organization persevered. In 1990, Carteret, New Jersey-based grocery store chain Pathmark came on board. Today, the grocery store’s annual sales are $35 million, and two-thirds of the proceeds are plowed back into the community. New Community now also owns franchises of Dunkin’ Donuts, Pizza Hut, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, Taco Bell, Mail Boxes Etc. and Magic Fountain Ice Cream. FAME Assistance Corp., a nonprofit organization founded by the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, also sprang… Read more
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Social Entrepreneurs?
I like this quote on social entrepreneurship by Christian Seelos of the IESE University in Barcelona Spain. He writes: “We were the first European Business School to teach an MBA level course on that topic. But we found the term misleading and constraining rather than enabling. I always show students a slide with different mission statements from “regular” entrepreneurs and their organizations and “social” entrepreneurs – they soon realize that every entrepreneur attempts to create much value for society – through their products/services and by creating jobs, tax revenues, enabling suppliers and other spill-over effects etc. We now call our course “Innovative business models for social and economic impact.” I agree. There is a danger in the fact that social entrepreneurship has a kind of “halo effect” and thus an “anything goes” mentality that i think should be challenged, or we’ll soon have to invent a new term yet again to define entrepreneurs who don’t abuse or cheat the system. I like to just call them “entrepreneurs” and then call the immoral ones cheaters and exploiters instead of abandoning the name and creating a new one for the good guys. Discussing this is crucially important but still a bit… Read more
