Cyber Monday Sale! 50% Off All Access

Four For Friday For Entrepreneurs

By Mikal E. Belicove

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Q1 - Inspiration: What was the inspiration for starting your current business?

Q2 - Hiring: What are the three most important things you look for when hiring new staff/employees?

Q3 - Personal Politics: Do the personal or political leanings of third-party vendors play a role in determining who you choose to work or partner with? For example, if you learned that a potential business partner was strongly opposed to a socially-charged issue that you were strongly in favor of (e.g., universal health care, gun control, abortion, etc.), would that information in and of itself be a determining factor in your potential or continuing business relationship?

Q4 - Dogfooding: When a business owner or leader says their company "eats its own dog food," what they mean is that the company and its employees use the company's own products and services in preference of or in replacement for like or competitive products or services. So for example, if you manufacture nutrition bars, the only nutrition bars you eat are your own. Or, if you're Microsoft, you use your own software in-house on a daily basis. To what extent do you go to encourage 'dogfooding' within your company?

Mikal E. Belicove is a market positioning, social media, and management consultant specializing in website usability and business blogging. His latest book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Facebook, is now available at bookstores. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

Elon Musk Still Isn't Getting His Historically High Pay as CEO of Tesla — Here's Why

A second shareholder vote wasn't enough to convince Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick.

Leadership

Leadership vs. Management: How to Understand the Difference and 6 Ways to Bridge the Gap

Here are the key differences between leadership and management, highlighting their complementary roles and providing six strategies to develop managers into future leaders.

Growing a Business

Her Restaurant Business Is Worth $100 Million — Here's Her Unconventional Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Pinky Cole, founder of Slutty Vegan, talks about going from TV producer to restaurant owner, leaning into failure and the value of good PR.

Legal

How Do You Stop Porch Pirates From Stealing Christmas? These Top Tips Will Help Secure Your Deliveries.

Over 100 million packages were stolen last year. Here are top tips to make sure your stuff doesn't get swiped.

Business News

'Something Previously Impossible': New AI Makes 3D Worlds Out of a Single Image

The new technology allows viewers to explore two-dimensional images in 3D.

Business News

'I Stand By My Decisions': A CEO Is Going Viral For Firing Almost All of the Company's Employees — Here's Why

The Musicians Club CEO Baldvin Oddsson fired 99 workers at once over Slack for missing a morning meeting. But there's a catch.