Another article on family businesses with a different perspective. This is an article suggesting that modern day family businesses have been smarter and more adaptive, thus lasting until the third generation.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ey/2014/04/14/family-businesses-are-making-their-own-succession-rules/
This is an article providing some advice to family businesses that hope to last to the third generation.
Interesting stuff. Nothing gives widespread cred like green.
By now, we shouldn’t be surprised that artists are among the most entrepreneurial people on the planet – even when they don’t (and most of them don’t) see themselves as “business people.” But of course, many of them go on not only to be “business people,” but actual titans of industry!
Here’s a link Armando sent in …
An interesting perspective on how to reinvigorate the small business model America is known for.
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/growth/restarting_the_us_small-business_growth_engine
Interesting article discussing why Ireland is becoming a world leader in social entrepreneurship.
It has become apparent that traditional philanthropic support for countries suffering from widespread poverty and lack of infrastructure has failed to achieve goals of long term self-sustainability. While many of the efforts by countries and charitable organizations have been noble in intent, they appear to only be treating the symptoms rather than the causes. Of course there are many different theories as to how best to approach the root problems, but many agree that economic development plays a critical role in self-sustainability and long-term economic and social empowerment.
In recent times, “capitalism” has become a “dirty word” associated with greed and fraud, but one must not forget the tried and true benefits as well. The goal of capitalism is to maximize profits, and while not perfect, capitalism does indeed promote accountability, efficiency, and fiscal responsibility. Add ethical values into the mix, and it’s hard to argue with this model. The question then becomes, can capitalistic values be applied to social causes? It appears it can…
We can theorize and conjecture all want, but what we want to see a model that been put to the test and has produced some of the positive results we are looking for. Take First Step for example. This non-profit, a subsidy of World Hope International (a charitable organization) has created a special economic zone in Sierra Leon which attracts what they call “ethical investment.” The organization is out to make a profit using a capitalistic model, but creates local opportunity, attracts foreign investment, and then ultimately re-invests its profits toward further development. One of the successes that have resulted from First Step and its special economic zone is a juice company called Africa Felix Juice. They are the first company to successfully export a product since the civil war 10 years ago; a huge accomplishment.
See below for a few articles about them:
Making Profit in Africa: A Transforming Role for NGOs and Development Organizations
“The First Step example demonstrates how NGOs and development organizations can leverage their assets, including networks, in for-profit ventures that still meet their organizational objectives and actually can accelerate economic development. It is possible for non-profits to develop successful for-profit ventures for the social good… ‘the mindset of an entrepreneur needed to do this is much different than the humanitarian and development mindset.'”
This is an interesting article that talks about the future growth of the social entrepreneurship model and the required scaling that is entailed.
It seems that US small businesses are not paying enough attention to their data security. As this article informs us, 53% of US small businesses are spending more time changing passwords than backing up their data. About a quarter of the businesses leave longer than a week between backups. At the same time, adapting good security practices can be very difficult for small businesses. It is very expensive to take into consideration the full possible threats against data security, such as malwares, viruses, natural disasters, and disgruntled employees. To maximize security, small businesses should spread their data to both traditional and nontraditional devices. US firms should learn to appreciate the need to protect data, because their existence often depend on it.
For more information, see:
