Resources
For a more complete guide to my work as it was done check out my blog.
- Website: Forbes, Small Business Loans; A Great Option...Unless You Actually Need Money, Ryan Caldbeck, 11/14/12 http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryancaldbeck/2012/11/14/small-business-loans-a-great-option-unless-you-actually-need-money/
- This article gives an idea of what the advantages and disadvantages are of equity and debt capital to fund a business. It talks about how debt financiers care solely about getting repaid giving the owner more control over a business, but debt financing can be dangerous if the business is unsuccessful because the debt has to be repaid so the owner is at risk. Equity finances are beneficial because investors have a say in the business and generally can offer good insight because of a record of investing with companies, but they can be dangerous because priorities can change over time and disagreements between a business owner and his investors could lead to a broken business.
- This material was published two years ago. Even though that is a while ago the truths behind the finances are still true. Equity and debt financing and their characteristics have not changed so the information does not need to be entirely recent. The intended audience of this article is business start up owners looking for financial aid. Ryan Caldbeck is the founder and CEO of CircleUp which is an investment app, he received an MBA from Stanford and a BA from Duke and contributes to Forbes frequently. He has worked in private equity since his graduation from college and now runs a private equity app. The author did admit that his company, being an equity based financier does give him a bias, but the fact that he recognizes that bias shows that he does not want to be biased. The content was broken down in a way that was easy to understand and read, the sources he used came from his own personal experiences and what he had found people liked and disliked about the two types of financing. The evidence he uses it evidence he found while running CircleUp. As a contributor to Forbes his works are reviewed by the editors of the magazine. The original personal introduction to the two types of finances seems to have some emotional investment and a little bit of bias, but once he gets to the actual article it seems to be bias-free. The purpose of this article is to inform readers about the drawbacks and advantages of debt and equity based financing. What was most valuable was that the source gave me a more clear idea on what each type of financing does.
- Website: State of the Business Owner, The Pulse of Small and Midsize Business, SOBO Research Team, 2014 http://www.stateoftheowner.com/
- The State of the Business Owner report summarized the findings made by the SOBO research team after polling over 4,000 different small and midsized businesses across the country for two years. Some of the things that the team found were very interesting, they were able to establish a few signs of success for a business through growth, 10% revenue growth per year was a common characteristic of the best businesses, business owners who spent more time on sales and marketing had a massive business growth, business owners cannot prepare for the future on their own they need a team of advisers, and lastly people who have tried to open businesses before are more likely to succeed than first-timers.
- This information is very current seeing how it was published in 2014 and it was gathered for over two years. The intended audience of this report would be any small or midsize business owners trying to enhance growth and plan for the future. Some of the main authors were Cameron Madill, CEO of PixelSpoke he is one of the premiere entrepreneurs in the US and has been recognized at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Summit, Oleksly Osiyevsky is a professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Northeastern University he is also the author of many academic papers on leadership. Links were given to the sources used and to a more in depth version of the full report, there were not any weaknesses that I saw in this article. I did not see any biases, just alanysis of information that was gathered. The article was broken up into several easy to read categories and subcategories so all the information was presented in a well organized fashion. The information was reviewed by the E-Myth business coaching company. The language seems very free of bias. The writing was published to inform other business owners on what the team found worked well and did not work well for small businesses. The most valuable part of this source was that it gave me information directly related to what makes a successful business and I can use that information in my surveys.
- Website/Video: Education Portal, Behavioral Management Theory, Kat Kadian-Baumeyer, 2014 http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/behavioral-management-theory-understanding-employee-behavior-motivation.html#lesson
- The Behavioral Management Theory relates directly to my study of employee psychology. This lesson teaches about how employees will increase productivity when they feel like their well being is important to those in charge of them. The lesson uses something called the Hawthorne Effect to show that when a manager or owner is more interested and invested in employees will be more productive.
- The material was published this year and used studies that were conducted recently as evidence so it is a recent piece. The intended audience are students learning about business because the website is an educational one and the structure of the page is in the form of a lesson. The author of this article is currently a teacher of business at Monroe College, she has worked as a business advisor and business subject matter expert for several different companies. There is a link to the authors linkedin account on the article so there is in fact a way to contact her. I did not recognize any biases in this lesson, it seemed strictly educational. There was not an index for the source but it was easy to read and even easier to watch the video provided to give the same idea. Sources were shown and evidence was given, like the Hawthorne study and theories developed by psychologists like Elton Mayo. All information on the Education Portal Website must be reviewed before being published or taught so this lesson was reviewed by fact checkers and editors of the webpage. There is no bias or emotion in this lesson the author does a good job of explaining the findings made by studies and her knowledge without sounding biased towards anything. This lesson was made to teach students about business psychology. What I found most valuable about this source is how it tied into my search for a psychological aspect to my project, the findings made and shown in this lesson can be used to study other employees and what managers and owners are and are not doing right.
- Website: Entrepeneur.com, 25 Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur, James Stephenson, 8/10/14 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/200730
- This article summarizes 25 different things that the author has found all great small business owners have. The article is in the form of a list and gives characteristics like, Investing in oneself, become close with customers, doing what you enjoy, and many others. This information will all be utilized for my project be it in the form of survey questions or just extra information I could gather.
- This material was published just a few months ago. The intended audience was most likely all entrepreneurs looking for ways to be more successful. James Stephenson is a home based business consultant with over 15 years of consultant experience, he contributes to Entrepreneur Magazine. There is no contact information offered for Mr. Stephenson. From what I saw there may have been a slight bias towards entrepreneurs who were running very small businesses and against midsized businesses which tried to be a little more corporate. The weakness I saw in this article was that there was no real evidence behind his findings other than his 15 years of experience, which I do think is trustworthy, but I would have liked some examples. The content and organization was very good. The list formating made it very easy to read and then there was a graphic and video to go along with it that was engaging and visually appealing. The information has been reviewed by editors of the magazine. The language seems to be free of bias, there seems to be a lot of excitement in his writing so there is some emotion. The writing was made to inform young business leaders about things the author has realized make a successful business owner. What I found to be most valuable were a few of the characteristics I think I will try to incorporate into my owner/manager survey, those are; being involved in the community, be recognized as an expert, use technology to level the playing field, get to really know all your customers, and be a shameless self-promoter.
- Report: 2013 Restaurant Industry Report, Mazzone & Associates Inc., Dominic Mazzone, 2013 http://www.globalmna.com/announcements/2013RestaurantIndustryReport.pdf
- This 28 page report highlights the current situation of two different types of food industries, the fast food industry and the casual dining industry. While reading the report I focused primarily on the casual dining aspect because that is what pertained to my work. The report talked about what the expected growth and competitiveness of the industry would be in years to come. It gives the segment outlook of the industry, or what casual restaurant owners can expect going forward. Lastly the report talks about what they found to work well and what were the signs of successful restaurants, those things are a business expertise, proximity to key markets, access to a multi skilled and flexible workforce, and the use of technology for both customers and workers.
- This information was published in 2013 and it was designed to remain current because it gave an outlook on the industries all the way up to 2018 so it is very current. The intended audience is a very large group, all people working in the food industry. Mazzone & Associates Inc. is a mergers and acquisitions advisory firm in Georgia and has worked on over 300 transactions valued at over $50 billion, they have worked with IBIS World, Capital IQ and leading industry executives to create the report. There is a full address, phone number, email, and title given for Dominic Mazzone with this report. I did notice a slight bias towards the food chain industry rather than the small market restaurants, but information was given for both. There were no weaknesses that I saw to this report, sources were given an index is on the first page, the report was broken into three sections and there were a lot of easy to read graphs. Evidence was given from the IBIS World and Capital IQ companies. There is no evidence that the information has reviewed. The language does seem free of bias. The purpose of the writing is to inform those involved in the restaurant industry on what the current and projected state of their industry is. What I found to be most valuable of this report was that the report talks about what they found to work well and what were the signs of successful restaurants, those things are a business expertise, proximity to key markets, access to a multi skilled and flexible workforce, and the use of technology for both customers and workers. All this I can use in my surveys.
- Website: SBA.gov, Using Technology to Stay Competetive, US Small Business Association, 10/7/14, http://www.sba.gov/content/using-technology-stay-competitive
- This article published by the Small Business Association tells about what companies should use technology for in order for their small businesses to keep a competitive edge. The SBA says that companies should use software to conduct operations such as, scheduling, accounting, messaging, and meetings. While these operations should not be completely tech-based they should have some technology involved to help streamline the processes. The article stresses how technology can expand business operations and increase efficiency.
- The information seems to be a little older, but it is relevant still as all the technology it talks about still exists and serves the same purposes. The intended audience was small business owners trying to take their business to the next level. The SBA has been providing support and guidance to small business owners for over 61 years. There is no contact information for the authors, but there is a phone number to contact the SBA. There were no biases that I saw in this article it was strictly informative. A weakness that I saw in the article was the there was not a lot of evidence shown in the article itself, the article was a part of a long report by the SBA on managing a small business and evidence was given there. The article was fairly short so there was not a real need for an index, the content was easy to read and the article was organized in a short and simple fashion. The information was reviewed by the SBA and its editors. The language in the article is very professional and does not have any emotion that would suggest any biases. This article was written to teach small business owners about technology and how it can positively impact their businesses. What I found to be most valuable about this source was that it gave me a really specific area of small business ownership and really elaborated on that giving me a good idea of what to look for in businesses.
- Video: TED Talk, What It Takes to be a Great Leader, Roselinde Torres, 10/13, https://www.ted.com/talks/roselinde_torres_what_it_takes_to_be_a_great_leader#t-492473
- This video by Roselinde Torres was great. It talked about how she has found that despite all the extra emphasis placed on business leadership development more and more leaders are coming up who are unable to capably lead once they are placed in leadership positions. She talks about how she went on a year long hiatus to study all over the world known leaders to see what it was that made leaders great and how to teach new upcoming leaders. What she found were three simple things. Where was the leader looking to anticipate change? So what the leader was doing either personally or professionally to prepare themselves for what might happen. Could a leader develop a good relationship with people that are just plain different from them. And Could the leader abandon a practice that made them successful in the past, but no long is effective. Torres stresses that new rising leaders mustn’t be afraid to try something that is unfamiliar and uncomfortable and to prepare for the realities of today and the unknown possibilities of tomorrow.
- This video was filmed about a year ago and Torres looked at leaders throughout history so it is relevant and follows a timeless trend. The audience at this talk was a large number of business leaders. Roselinde Torres is a senior partner and managing officer at the Boston Consulting Group. She leads the research team at BCG to find leadership trends. She has advised CEOs and senior executives for years. There is a full bio given for Torres. There seemed to be a bias towards bigger corporations, but I could still gather what information would still apply towards all leadership. It was a video so there was not a real way to show sources other than Torres saying that she gathered much of her findings from interviews and presidential libraries across the world. She presented it in a clear and very engaging way. She uses her interviews and year of studying across the world as her evidence. I don’t know if the information has been reviewed or not. Her speech seems to be condemning of current leadership practices and training. Her speech is to inform and entertain those who want to find out more about leadership. What I found to be most valuable about the source was the three things she used to express what leaders need to do better
- Report: US Small Business Administration Table of Small Business Size Standards, SBA, 7/14/14 http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/Size_Standards_Table.pdf
- This report is just one massive spreadsheet. What it is is a table to reference when looking to see if a business is classified as a small business by the SBA. The table shows what the maximum number of employees a business can have and what the total annual receipt total is. While the summary of the report says not all businesses have to meet these standards they do have to meet them in order to be recognized by the federal government as a small business.
- This material came into effect on July 14, 2014 so for a long time it will be the standard of the SBA so it is very current. The intended audience would be SBA businesses who are trying to continue to receive government recognition and help for themselves. The SBA has been providing support and guidance to small business owners for over 61 years. There was contact information for all six of the SBA national offices and names given for the leaders of the SBA. The source was entirely fact based so there was no bias. I did not see any weaknesses in the source, it was clear with the template and there was no real need for any extravagances in the article. The information is not supported by evidence because they are standards set by the SBA that are recognized on a national level. There is very little language in the source and what is there seems to be free of bias. The information was compiled through expertise and studies of small businesses and has most likely been reviewed by the SBA. The purpose of the writing is to inform businesses on what they need to qualify for recognition as a small business. The most valuable part of this article is that it gives me a reference to use when trying to classify the businesses that I am studying as small if that comes into question.
- Website: The Five Employees Every Small Business Needs, Nichole Spaight, Entrepreneur, 2/5/13 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225643
- This article gives five employees who although they are not required for businesses certainly help with the psych of other employees and the overall productivity of the business. The five employees the article says a business needs are, The Mentor, The Knowledge Seeker, The Renaissance Man, The Morale Booster, and The Challenger. These employees help to make new employees better, make themselves better, can handle more than one job, can make the workplace fun and happy, and provide opinions and ideas that offer a different perspective to the chief officer.
- The information is a little over a year old so it is fairly relevant and it is about something that does not really go out of date. The intended audience of this article is entrepreneurs who are hiring new employees. Nichole Spaight works as the VP at Adecco Staffing US, she primarily works on developing workforce strategies for small and midsize businesses, she contributes regularly to Entrepreneur.com she primarily writes on employees and workforce strategies. There is a contact page for Ms. Spaight. There did not seem to be any biases in the article, she never mentioned having a productive employee, but I think that that would be considered a given. There were no sources shown in the text, but the article was easy to read because she gave the names of the employees then a summary of them almost like a dictionary. The evidence she used was her experience working with businesses which are building workforces. The information was reviewed by the website editors. I think the language is unbiased and honest. The purpose of the article is to inform small to midsize business owners about what types of employees they should have. What this article did for my project was it gave me an idea of what types of employees I should look for in businesses.
- Website: SBA.gov, Developing a Marketing Plan, US Small Business Administration, 10/21/14 http://www.sba.gov/content/developing-marketing-plan
- This article talks about the importance of developing a marketing plan. The SBA wants all small businesses to have a marketing plan so those businesses can reach their target market. The article says that a plan needs to be set yearly and with a flexible budget aimed specifically at the target market. It also talks about finding a marketing strategy that has a great Return on Investment.
- There is no given date of publication on this article so I have no idea how current it is, however the information does not seem outdated and marketing is a time tested practice. The intended audience is business marketing employees and business owners. The SBA has been providing support and guidance to small business owners for over 61 years. There was contact information for all six of the SBA national offices and names given for the leaders of the SBA. There was not an index or sources show, but the SBA is the federal administrator of small businesses so it definitely knows what it takes to make a good marketing plan. The article was fairly easy to read, it was a little boring, but it had good points. There is not any evidence offered with the source, but it is not really necessary. The article was reviewed by SBA publishers. The language is very professional and seems to have no bias or even emotion in it. The purpose of the article is to teach business owners how to plan a marketing plan. What is most valuable to me in this article is that it gives me a source on marketing which I have not found yet and I can use the knowledge from here to develope some questions on marketing.
- Website: Bankrate.com, Boss, It’s Time to Pay Yourself! Here’s How, Jenny McCune, 2013 http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/biz/Cashflow_banking/20001102a.asp
- This article talks about what owners of small businesses should do to pay themselves while still maintaining a fair pay for their employees and funds for their business. All different types of businesses are addressed from S Companies to Partnerships and LLCs. The main point the article tries to make is that the boss of the company should pay themselves a salary that is similar to that of the bosses of other companies in their industry. Another thing the article addresses is taxes and how businesses should be weary of trying to play games with the IRS through strange payment methods.
- The article is a year old so it is not very outdated. The intended audience is small business owners trying to find out how to pay themselves. Jenny McCune is a contributor to Bankrate.com, there is a contact page for all Bankrate contributors. I think there was a bias against the IRS that colored this content and made it seem like paying yourself as an owner was a hopeless endeavor. The article was very good despite its bias, there were good sources and evidence from professionals McCune had talked to and the article was clear and went from one type of business to the next seamlessly. The information has been reviewed by editors at Bankrate.com. Like I said earlier, the author seems to be very against the IRS and makes them out to be the bad guy in this article which is a little misleading. The purpose of the writing is to inform owners on ways they can pay themselves. What was most valuable about this information is that it gave me an idea of what I should look for in how owners receive their salaries and if they are receiving them in a totally legal or fair manner.
- Website: Intuit QuickBase, 10 Ways You’re Making Your Employees Less Productive, Allison Green, 9/24/13 http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2013/09/24/10-ways-youre-making-your-employees-less-productive/
- This article is about how managers and owners can decrease productivity without even trying to. According to the article managers can decrease productivity by trying to increase it in ways that are not optimal for employees. Ten different methods that decrease productivity were given. Some of those methods were, making sure employees had your approval for every little detail of projects, not conveying clear expectations, making employees accessible at all times of the day with no alone time, and thinking that all your teams needs have been met.
- This material is about 13 months old so it is fairly recent. The intended audience is both employees and managers. Allison Green is a business employee and manager expert, she has written several books on management including How to Get a Job: Secrets of a Hiring Manager. There is a link to Allison’s contact page. There seemed to be a little resentment towards bosses who like to be very involved. Sources were not given, but I found the article itself to be very informative and it was presented in a very simple list format. The evidence given was the authors expertise on the subject. The article was reviewed by the website and its editors. There does not seem to be a lot of emotion in the language, but as I said earlier there does seem to be a little animosity towards the more involved managers. The purpose of the writing is to teach managers what not to do when working with their employees. What I found most valuable about this source is that I can use these ten ways to ask both employees and bosses the same questions to see if they are really on the same page.
- Website: MyOwnBusiness.org, Top Ten Do’s and Don’ts When Starting A Business, Business Resources, 10/28/14 http://www.myownbusiness.org/business_top_ten.html
- This article is fairly simple. It literally is just a list of 20 things that owners should and should not do when starting up a business. It talks about how owners should work for a business like their intended business first and that they should never choose a field that they do not enjoy.
- I do not know when this material was published, there is no date given. The intended audience was businessmen looking to create their own businesses. My Own Business is an organization focused on helping owners of businesses grow and develop their companies. There is an email address given for the company. There was no bias or points of view that colored the content because it was just a quick list. The information was very clear in the order that it had, but sources and evidence were not given for the information. The information has been reviewed by the website’s editors. There did not seem to be any biases or emotion in the language. The purpose of the writing is to inform owners about what they should and should not do when starting their businesses. What was most valuable to me about this source is that I can use the information for questions on my survey.
- Website: New Methods.org, 12 Psychology Concepts For Improving Employee Motivation, Bradley Gauthier, 8/17/11 http://newmethods.org/archives/psychology-concepts-employee-motivation/
- This article gives several psychological concepts that managers can use to make sure they are motivating their employees. The article gives examples like the Pygmalion Effect, the VIE Theory and the Equity Theory. These theories are that employers who expect high performance get it, employees want to know what it takes for them to get raises and bonuses, and make sure that employees feel that rewards are equal.
- The material is three years old, but it is based on human psychology which takes a little longer than three years to drastically shift. The intended audience is business owners and managers who are looking for new ways of approaching employee motivation. Bradley Gauthier is considered a serial entrepreneur and is the co-founder of New Methods which provides new and creative ways of running businesses and being an entrepreneur. The article gives links to his Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ accounts. There did not seem to be any biases in the content, the author seemed to just want to convey what the psychological aspects were. Sources and evidence were given through the names of proven theories and how they were found. The article is clear and easy to read because each aspect is titled then a brief summary of the aspect or theory is given and then a use for it with employees is given. The information has been reviewed by New Methods editors. There does not seem to be any bias in the language. The purpose of the writing is to show readers there are some very interesting ways to motivate employees that they might not know about. What I found to be most valuable about the source was that employees often times perform better when they know exactly what it would take for them to move up. That and several other theories I found are going to be things I can ask employees in my survey to get a better psychological piece on the project.
- Website: Forbes.com, The Surprising Secret Behind Small Business Success, Tom Post, 3/13/14 http://www.forbes.com/sites/tompost/2014/03/13/the-surprising-secret-behind-small-business-success/
- This is a very cool article. It talks about how small business success can be related to unconventional things rather than the basic growth, income and capital. The article talks about how being in a community where entrepreneurs want to flock to could have just a great of an affect on a business as anything else. Some of the things given include, investing in the engagement of the business in the community both online and offline. The article presents the information through examples of several businesses in a couple different cities.
- This article is only a few months old so it is very current. The audience intended to read this article is all people who consider themselves entrepreneurs and want to have business success. Tom Post is the head of Entrepreneur writing for Forbes and has been working in the company for 14 years. He has gotten a lot of experience in start-ups and wall street businesses during his rise to his current position. There is a button text to send Tom an email to contact him. There seemed to be a bit of a bias towards the tech industry as most of his examples were small tech startups. This was probably one of the strongest articles I have read in terms of evidence and source because every other paragraph has a new example and business the is being examined. The article was fairly easy to read, although it did drag on just a bit towards the end. The information has been reviewed by editors at Forbes. There does not seem to be much of a bias in the language and it is in no way emotionally charged. The purpose of the writing was to entertain readers with an interesting idea and then to make them think of the validity of that idea. The most valuable thing I took from this article is a lead to a small business in San Francisco called Radius. It is an online company that studies exactly what I am studying, the aspect of a successful business. I am going to look at what radius does and maybe even use some of their methods and information to help conduct my project.