Ablade Odoi-Atsem moved to the United States from Ghana in 1984 and realized his long-held goal of becoming an entrepreneur when he launched Odoi Associates Inc. in 1998.
As founder and president of the construction, facility and energy management services company in Greenbelt, Maryland, he has overseen an impressive growth curve. Odoi-Atsem funded the startup by maxing out his personal credit, and the business has since grown into an $8.2 million venture.
His success formula is simple: “I [am] lucky to have selected the right group of people to work with.”
Government contracts are a huge part of what the business does. “Have a good relationship with the people who make the decisions in the federal arena,” Odoi-Atsem, 53, advises.
Networking and relationships are also important when it comes to government work.
And as for the future of Odoi Associates, he’s got big plans to venture into new frontiers. “The future of the company is to make sure that we diversify, go heavily into private sector work, and grow nationwide and internationally,” says the entrepreneur, who’s been able to focus his talent for construction and engineering on building a thriving business.
More at:http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/printthis/181886.html
Via-Dan Carlson
Saturday, August 11, 2007
What does it take to run a successful small business?
What does it take to run a successful small business?
The UK is a hotbed of entrepreneurial talent, but in today’s tough markets, not all small businesses make it. To understand the secrets of SME success, BT Business commissioned a report with Alain Samson and Thorsten Roser, from London School of Economics.
They investigated how and why key decisions made by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have contributed to some being significantly more successful than others.
The report analysed and compared the following businesses:
The Body Shop – the ethical cosmetics retailer which was sold to French cosmetics giant L’Oreal in a £652 million deal
Last FM – the internet radio and music community and one of the world’s largest social music platforms which in May 2007 announced a £140 million take over by American media giant CBS
Webvan – an online credit and delivery grocery business that was started at the peak of the Dotcom boom but went bankrupt in 2001
Key Report Findings
The Dos
1) Be Different
The Body Shop has proved that by being able to distinguish yourself from competitors you will increase recognition. They did this by setting up new business units across the world and in doing so, The Body Shop has come to occupy the niche of ethical retail in health and beauty.
Last FM also achieved difference by becoming one of the first websites to allow artists to have their music streamed online. They now make a profit through advertising and selling to affiliates.
2) Collaborate
Last FM had to make the public aware of their website and find a way for people to listen without involving the music industry. They realised they needed a partner to achieve this and by working with Audioscrobbler (a system that builds personal online music profiles by monitoring what users play on their computers) Last.fm were able to boost awareness and their profile.
3) Have The X Factor
There needs to be a reason why people would buy from your business, it isn’t good enough to be the same as others on the market, you need to be better. The Body Shop achieved this by combining an issue, which people feel very passionately about: the environment, with health and beauty products.
4) Get help from others
SMEs need to focus on their business, increase turnover, and improve quality and one way of doing that outsourcing services such as IT and telecommunications. This allows SMEs time to concentrate on building their business and not worry about tasks such as fixing computers.
The Don’ts:
1) Over Promise
Webvan’s marketing promised to deliver products to customers' homes within a 30-minute window of their choosing. Unfortunately, their operations could not adequately live up to that promise, which fundamentally let down customers and lost business.
2) Ignore Strategic Partners
The main mistake Webvan made was to try and build everything on their own, instead of partnering with existing supermarket chains, wholesalers, or a network of independent grocers. Even though Webvan was popular, the enormous amount of money spent on infrastructure far exceeded their sales growth.
The conclusion of the report showed any new SME has a number of factors to consider when analysing how to become successful. Having a dynamic and original idea is important, as is using the help of others where necessary.
“With so much entrepreneurial talent in the UK, many people are looking to start up their own businesses. Alongside having great ideas, businesses need a support team to help them concentrate on what they do best. At BT Business we’re dedicated to providing IT and comms services and solutions which are designed to help small businesses compete and thrive.” said Bill Murphy, Managing Director for BT Business.”
For further information regarding BT Business log onto www.businessclub.bt.com.
The UK is a hotbed of entrepreneurial talent, but in today’s tough markets, not all small businesses make it. To understand the secrets of SME success, BT Business commissioned a report with Alain Samson and Thorsten Roser, from London School of Economics.
They investigated how and why key decisions made by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have contributed to some being significantly more successful than others.
The report analysed and compared the following businesses:
The Body Shop – the ethical cosmetics retailer which was sold to French cosmetics giant L’Oreal in a £652 million deal
Last FM – the internet radio and music community and one of the world’s largest social music platforms which in May 2007 announced a £140 million take over by American media giant CBS
Webvan – an online credit and delivery grocery business that was started at the peak of the Dotcom boom but went bankrupt in 2001
Key Report Findings
The Dos
1) Be Different
The Body Shop has proved that by being able to distinguish yourself from competitors you will increase recognition. They did this by setting up new business units across the world and in doing so, The Body Shop has come to occupy the niche of ethical retail in health and beauty.
Last FM also achieved difference by becoming one of the first websites to allow artists to have their music streamed online. They now make a profit through advertising and selling to affiliates.
2) Collaborate
Last FM had to make the public aware of their website and find a way for people to listen without involving the music industry. They realised they needed a partner to achieve this and by working with Audioscrobbler (a system that builds personal online music profiles by monitoring what users play on their computers) Last.fm were able to boost awareness and their profile.
3) Have The X Factor
There needs to be a reason why people would buy from your business, it isn’t good enough to be the same as others on the market, you need to be better. The Body Shop achieved this by combining an issue, which people feel very passionately about: the environment, with health and beauty products.
4) Get help from others
SMEs need to focus on their business, increase turnover, and improve quality and one way of doing that outsourcing services such as IT and telecommunications. This allows SMEs time to concentrate on building their business and not worry about tasks such as fixing computers.
The Don’ts:
1) Over Promise
Webvan’s marketing promised to deliver products to customers' homes within a 30-minute window of their choosing. Unfortunately, their operations could not adequately live up to that promise, which fundamentally let down customers and lost business.
2) Ignore Strategic Partners
The main mistake Webvan made was to try and build everything on their own, instead of partnering with existing supermarket chains, wholesalers, or a network of independent grocers. Even though Webvan was popular, the enormous amount of money spent on infrastructure far exceeded their sales growth.
The conclusion of the report showed any new SME has a number of factors to consider when analysing how to become successful. Having a dynamic and original idea is important, as is using the help of others where necessary.
“With so much entrepreneurial talent in the UK, many people are looking to start up their own businesses. Alongside having great ideas, businesses need a support team to help them concentrate on what they do best. At BT Business we’re dedicated to providing IT and comms services and solutions which are designed to help small businesses compete and thrive.” said Bill Murphy, Managing Director for BT Business.”
For further information regarding BT Business log onto www.businessclub.bt.com.
Jjot is an online tool that lets you take down “sticky” notes
Jjot is an online tool that lets you take down “sticky” notes.
This basic tool lets you create boards on which your sticky notes are placed. Add as many sticky notes as you’d like. Individual notes can be printed and emailed to others, or you entire note board can be printed and emailed out to others as well. There are a couple of options for your notes: text can be made in bold print, you can include hyperlinks, and you can add bullet points. You can also change the size of the notes on your board from small, medium and large, though this won’t change the size of the text inside your notes. There’s also the option of rearranging the notes on the page, and this function is similar to moving modules on your Netvibes start page. Note boards can be kept private or made searchable by the Jjot community.
More at:http://jjot.com/
This basic tool lets you create boards on which your sticky notes are placed. Add as many sticky notes as you’d like. Individual notes can be printed and emailed to others, or you entire note board can be printed and emailed out to others as well. There are a couple of options for your notes: text can be made in bold print, you can include hyperlinks, and you can add bullet points. You can also change the size of the notes on your board from small, medium and large, though this won’t change the size of the text inside your notes. There’s also the option of rearranging the notes on the page, and this function is similar to moving modules on your Netvibes start page. Note boards can be kept private or made searchable by the Jjot community.
More at:http://jjot.com/
Edgeio has created a widget that lets you distribute content and enables you to sell content directly through the widget as well
Edgeio has created a widget that lets you distribute content and enables you to sell content directly through the widget as well.
This makes it easier to distribute content because it allows customers to purchase the content via the widget, and view it immediately through the widget as well. It removes steps for paid content, and allows publishers to expand on the places their content can be seen. What’s more, is as a widget distributor, you can take a cut of the sales made. This is like earning ad revenue, but for direct sales of content, instead.
The widget can be used by any publisher, from a newspaper to an e-zine or a blog. Pick and choose which content will be sold through the widget (podcasts, text, images, etc.) and place it on your site or encourage others to place it on their site as well. It’s a good way for publishers to retain their branding while spreading full access to their content. I consider this a good way of taking what Scribd has made popular and applying it to branded, paid content distribution.
More at:http://www.edgeio.com/
This makes it easier to distribute content because it allows customers to purchase the content via the widget, and view it immediately through the widget as well. It removes steps for paid content, and allows publishers to expand on the places their content can be seen. What’s more, is as a widget distributor, you can take a cut of the sales made. This is like earning ad revenue, but for direct sales of content, instead.
The widget can be used by any publisher, from a newspaper to an e-zine or a blog. Pick and choose which content will be sold through the widget (podcasts, text, images, etc.) and place it on your site or encourage others to place it on their site as well. It’s a good way for publishers to retain their branding while spreading full access to their content. I consider this a good way of taking what Scribd has made popular and applying it to branded, paid content distribution.
More at:http://www.edgeio.com/
ElephantDrive is committed to providing individuals and businesses simple but powerful tools for protecting and accessing their data
ElephantDrive is committed to providing individuals and businesses simple but powerful tools for protecting and accessing their data. We want ordinary people to enjoy the peace of mind that comes from the type of enterprise-class backup, storage, and data management that has historically only been available to big corporations. And we've made it so simple.
The smallest plan is free if you are looking to store anything less than 1 GB, the next step up saves 100 GBs for only $10 a month, and a whopping 1 TB of space for $35 a month. Some information is too valuable to keep on the computer, if it crashes you may lose everything. At first this was mostly for big companies, but now with it becoming so affordable, it is for average consumers as well.
More at:http://elephantdrive.com/
The smallest plan is free if you are looking to store anything less than 1 GB, the next step up saves 100 GBs for only $10 a month, and a whopping 1 TB of space for $35 a month. Some information is too valuable to keep on the computer, if it crashes you may lose everything. At first this was mostly for big companies, but now with it becoming so affordable, it is for average consumers as well.
More at:http://elephantdrive.com/
Extend Your Blogsite's Reach Through FeedMB On Your Mobile Internet And Earn More Revenue
You invest so much time on your site, why not extend its reach to the mobile internet and earn more revenue? If your blog is not mobile ready, you're missing out on a huge opportunity. Using FeedM8, you can turn your blog or feed into a mobile site with just one click. Your current readers can catch up from their mobile phones and you'll find new readers you never had before. We'll also find advertisers for your mobile site so you can start making money right away.
your readers will thank you for letting them read your blog wherever they are, whenever they feel like it. FeedM8 will also provide advertisers so you can start raking in the cash. Their 40/60 cash split favors you the blogger, and their service is absolutely costless. You’ll get paid at the end of each month via check or PayPal once your account adds up to at least $50. Get mobilized today and make some cash while you’re at it.
More at:http://www.feedm8.com
your readers will thank you for letting them read your blog wherever they are, whenever they feel like it. FeedM8 will also provide advertisers so you can start raking in the cash. Their 40/60 cash split favors you the blogger, and their service is absolutely costless. You’ll get paid at the end of each month via check or PayPal once your account adds up to at least $50. Get mobilized today and make some cash while you’re at it.
More at:http://www.feedm8.com
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