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Articles by Geoff Ficke

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By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Energy Independence? Yes We Can!

by: Geoff Ficke My Company routinely reviews more than 600 new product ideas, concepts, prototypes and models during most years. During a soft economy, such as today’s, we see even more as people become more desperate to chase a dream. Pursuit of the “American Dream” almost always involves entrepreneurial activity. During this business cycle we have been inundated with a slew of energy related offerings.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,545 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Unique Small Businesses Have Become Highly Desirable to Multi-National Companies

by: Geoff Ficke Unique Small Businesses Have Become Highly Desirable to Multi-National Companies

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,539 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Industries Pioneered by Immigrants Prove America Still World’s Center for Opportunity

Industries Pioneered by Immigrants Prove America Still World’s Center for Opportunity My first job after service in the Marine Corps was with the Revlon Cosmetic Company. Revlon was founded by the iconic business man and fashion arbiter of the day, Charles Revson. The business in the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s was totally identified with Mr. Revson; his lavish lifestyle, marriages, famous temper and hugely successful product launches were regularly trumpeted by the business press of the day. Charles Revson was a visionary.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,521 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

10 Reasons to Be Passionate About Your New Business Idea

by: Geoff Ficke One of the qualities that we look for when evaluating prospective clients for our consumer product marketing consulting firm is PASSION. If an entrepreneur is not passionate about the product or business idea they are attempting to commercialize we cannot help them. Passion is palpable, easily identifiable and crucial to success. The following are 10 benefits that every inventor or entrepreneur should consider when evaluating the passion they bring to their project.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,519 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

The Importance of the Unreasonable Man

Almost every person in the world takes a certain pride in being a reasonable person. They will make prudent choices based on their background and attitudes. The safe decision minimizes the chances of being wrong. No one likes to be wrong. The safe decision, however, carries little upside reward benefits. You are expected to pay your bills. Pay your taxes. Drive responsibly. Not yell fire in a theatre. Doing these things nets you no special extras. All of the great ideas or advances in history have evolved from unsafe, unconventional ideas.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,519 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Where Does the Money Come From?

Fact: In 2005 over 500,000 new business incorporations were organized in the United States. Fact: Of these 500,000 new businesses less than 1,000 received venture capital funding. There are vastly more entrepreneurs seeking start-up funding than there are available funding sources and investment pools. This is a fact. And yet, 499,000 incorporations occurred in 2005 without the cover of an investment funding commitment. Many of these new businesses will fail.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,510 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

How To Assure Failure In a New Venture

by: Geoff Ficke One of the great benefits we enjoy about the consulting work we do is having the opportunity to review the inventiveness of hundreds of entrepreneurs each year. It truly is amazing how many of these creative talents push the envelope of novelty. There is no such reality as the oft stated: “I have seen it all”. None of us have seen it all, as the volume of freshly executed innovative products and concepts being nurtured, is never ending. And yet, so few of the projects we review ever make it past our initial critique and pre-product development criteria.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,502 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

An Eccentric Lifestyle Popular in the Early 19th Century Has Left Us the Simple Graham Cracker and More!

by: Geoff Ficke An Eccentric Lifestyle Popular in the Early 19th Century Has Left Us the Simple Graham Cracker and More! The Presbyterian Reverend Sylvester Graham, an early 19th century proponent of an extreme, aesthetic lifestyle, is largely forgotten today. During his life, however, he was amazingly popular and many of the theories he espoused are actually popular to this day, though he is rarely credited with their acceptance. He was also widely reviled and a controversial figure of derision.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,500 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

The Most Under-Utilized Resource Entrepreneurs Neglect to Take Advantage of Is Local Universities

by:Geoff Ficke The Most Under-Utilized Resource Entrepreneurs Neglect to Take Advantage of Is Local Universities

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,500 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

The Great Department Store Visionaries Created Much More Than Vast Retail Palaces

by: Geoff Ficke The Great Department Store Visionaries Created Much More Than Vast Retail Palaces Before the middle of the 19th century retailing was a disorganized, semi-professional business. Small general merchandise stores carried minimal stock levels and were often limited to local goods and produce. Mass production created by the industrial age was just beginning, so quality and availability of product was uneven at best. Brand names were rarely seen on store shelves in different towns, and never in different countries.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,499 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Taking Shortcuts in Order to Secure Investment Funds Is the Pursuit of Fools Gold and Insures Failure

Taking Shortcuts in Order to Secure Investment Funds Is the Pursuit of Fools Gold and Insures Failure by: Geoff Ficke Just today, on a single Linked-In group I visit, I have seen at least five naked pitches seeking funding for a new consumer product, concept or invention. This occurs almost every day on these sites. The efforts are always clumsy, transparent, sophomoric, and can only lead to futility.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,496 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Which Business Structure Is Best For Your New Enterprise?

The type of business structure you organize for your new enterprise is greatly determined by your personality, realities, needs and experience. Millions of people in the United States never enter into any type of formal business structure. This includes the bulk of the black or underground economy. It is estimated that the underground economy consists of about 10% of all commercial activity in the United States. This includes legal and illegal activities. A kid cutting your grass for $20 is technically working black. The handyman that repairs your patio for cash might be working black.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,494 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

The Cincinnati Native Who Created the Pet Food Industry in the Mid-19th Century

by: Geoff Ficke The Cincinnati Native Who Created the Pet Food Industry in the Mid-19th Century

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,489 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Imagine What the World Would Be Like Without the Simple Screw

by: Geoff Ficke We take the simplest devices for granted in our modern technologically advanced world. We turn a tap and water is delivered, hot, temperate and cold. We hit a wall switch and darkness is overcome by light. We open the refrigerator door and peer into a compartment that contains climate controlled stored foodstuffs. These conveniences are omnipresent in the developed world in the early 21st century. And yet, we reflect little on the simplest, most important inventions that make all forms of product possible. Consider the humble screw.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,485 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

How Do Investors Read Business Plans?

There are hundreds of thousands of business plans floating around and attempting to find a funding home. I receive hundreds of business plans annually myself, and can definitely state that 99% of these documents are laughable as presentations of an exciting investment opportunity. I am not referring to the value of the product being described, rather the presentation that purports to describe an exciting investment situation. One of the reasons that so many plans are so poorly written, and there are many, many additional reasons, is that the writers do not understand how plans are read.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,476 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Selling Is the Most Important Job For Every Entrepreneur

Let’s consider the example of an entrepreneurial inventor attempting to market his newest creation: a portable hydrostatic body fat test appliance. Design is complete, testing is finished and results exceeded initial assumptions, several working prototypes have been built, UL Approval is in hand, patents filed and a business plan has been customized. The wellness aspects of the unit make it timely and potentially very lucrative if handled properly. Most entrepreneurs would consider the status of the above-described project to be advanced and well positioned.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,476 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

A Case Study in Very Bright Successful People Making Really Bad Product Marketing Decisions

by: Geoff Ficke A Case Study in Very Bright Successful People Making Really Bad Product Marketing Decisions As my readers know I run a Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consulting Company. We review hundreds of Inventions, Innovations and New Product Concepts each year. These are submitted by individuals, small and micro-businesses, occasionally multi-national Companies and run the gamut from Foodstuffs to Sporting Goods to Giftware to Cosmetics. If it Sells in Retail Stores or is marketed to consumers we have probably worked in the space.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,474 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Business Plan Mills Turn Out Documents That Are Expensive--and—Mostly Useless to Entrepreneurs!

by: Geoff Ficke Business Plan Mills Turn Out Documents That Arer Expensive--and—Mostly Useless to Entrepreneurs!

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,472 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

How a Cool Food Product Lost an Important Marketing Advantage - and Died

How a Cool Food Product Lost an Important Marketing Advantage - and Died Recently I was interviewed by a national small business magazine about a topic that is all too real; and very problematic for small businessmen. The author of the story was trying to solve a simple problem that many of us have faced, and face every day. How to protect a product concept that cannot be protected by patents or copyrights? Here is the problem and some thoughts on the best ways to protect your work product. The product in question in this case was a cake.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,469 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Converting an Idea to Income Is a Process That Requires Planting and Fertilization, Not Hope and Dreaming

by: Geoff Ficke Converting an Idea to Income Is a Process That Requires Planting and Fertilization, Not Hope and Dreaming Under the category of inexperienced blind hope, a surprising number of people that approach my Consumer Product Development group with a new business idea want us to find someone who will buy the concept in its undeveloped form. This always amazes, even after so many years of hearing these vapid elevator pitches. A person has an idea, they have performed little or no due diligence, and they believe it has commercial value. Daffy!

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,468 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

The Most Useful Funding Technique for Funding a Business Startup Is the Oldest: Bootstrapping

by: Geoff Ficke The Most Useful Funding Technique for Funding a Business Startup Is the Oldest: Bootstrapping My Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consulting firm is approached almost daily by entrepreneurs seeking to launch a new enterprise. For many of these aspiring business owners their primary conce is the funding requirements they believe will be required to enable execution of a proper launch. Many assume they need to raise funding from angel investors, venture capital or banking sources. Very few will succeed by taking this path.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,465 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Making a Minor Product Usage Change Can Propel Major Sales Advances

by: Geoff Ficke Making a Minor Product Usage Change Can Propel Major Sales Advances In the middle of the 20th century pre-packaged foods and mixes were not as ubiquitous as they are today. Typically, a middle class home had a housewife present and preparing her families meals from scratch. The advent of mass-market consumerism would rapidly change this tradition.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,460 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

You Can Only Succeed at Life or Business If You Keep Moving

by: Geoff Ficke You Can Only Succeed at Life or Business If You Keep Moving

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,460 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

An Alte ative, Inexpensive Way to Penetrate the Market For a New Product

An Alte ative, Inexpensive Way to Penetrate the Market For a New Product My consulting firm receives an average of 2 new product submissions from entrepreneur’s each day. Last year we viewed almost 700 such offerings. They ranged from the silly to the spectacular. The majority of these concepts actually possess some commercial merit. Nevertheless, fewer than a dozen of these will ever make it to market. There are many reasons for the paucity of successful product launches. The process is challenging and many people are not up for the fight.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,459 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

5 Questions That Must Be Answered Before Attempting to Fund or Launch Your Consumer Product

5 Questions That Must Be Answered Before Attempting to Fund or Launch Your Consumer Product I am constantly amazed at the naivety of first time entrepreneurs and inventors when it comes to the due diligence they must conduct in order to get their idea, concept or prototype to market. Even with the amazing information tools at hand in the 21st century, so many still try to fake out the marketplace by taking shortcuts. This is the equivalent of death by neglect.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,458 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

A Simple 20-Step Test That Will Confirm Whether or Not a Product Development Project Is Market-Ready

by: Geoff Ficke A Simple 20-Step Test That Will Confirm Whether or Not a Product Development Project Is Market-Ready For almost four decades my Consulting firm has worked with entrepreneur’s to design, develop, package, Brand, Market and Sell a vast range of Consumer Products. Our job is to save clients time, money and mistakes. This goal is best achieved when we are involved in a nascent project from inception. Unfortunately this is not always the case.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,457 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

How One of the Fashion World’s Earliest Great Innovators Lost Everything by Lack of Innovation

by: Geoff Ficke How One of the Fashion World’s Earliest Great Innovators Lost Everything by Lack of Innovation

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,455 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

The Simple Wisdom We Learn from Studying Ancient Greek Rhetorical Form Chiasmus

by: Geoff Ficke The Simple Wisdom We Learn from Studying Ancient Greek Rhetorical Form Chiasmus The ancient Greeks perfected and gifted to us the unique rhetorical form known as chiasmus. Simply stated, chiasmus is a figure of speech in which two phrases are inverted to display a parallelism. There are many examples of this device that have become famous and have entered everyday usage. One of my favorites is attributed to Ben Franklin, America’s first great Entrepreneur, Innovator and a Founding Father of the country; “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,451 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Make Color & Style Indispensible Elements to Sell More Products

Make Color & Style Indispensible Elements to Sell More Products Have you never visited a Williams Sonoma store? Notice how the toaster they sell for $300 per unit is always displayed so prominently. Have you ever asked yourself who needs a $300 toaster when a perfectly acceptable bread toaster can be purchased for under $20 at any big box mass merchandise store? What is the impulse that makes a consumer spend such a premium on an otherwise mundane, everyday small electric appliance? Simple, color and style!

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,446 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Our Demise is Greatly Overstated The United States’ Future is Incandescent

by: Geoff Ficke As we slog along under the full weight of the current financial calamity, there is much weeping and gnashing of teeth about the future of the United States. Many of our countries fiercest enemies and critics are gloating over their perception that our wave has crested and we have entered a period of steep decline as an economic, military and cultural power. Amongst the citizenry, there is a palpable sense that the country is on the wrong track.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,441 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

…And We Want the Government To Do What?

by: Geoff Ficke I am always amazed when I see well educated, seemingly worldly people make themselves look and sound silly by promoting ever more aggressive expansion of government. We are currently in our national election cycle, admittedly the silly season for politicians. This year, however, the “nanny state” prescriptions on offer seem particularly vacuous. The one absolute I KNOW about government is this: Government is not in business to solve problems, government is in business to institutionalize problems! Bureaucracies evolve to protect and expand their turf.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,436 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Words Used to Present Your Business Proposition Must be Carefully Chosen

by: Geoff Ficke Words Used to Present Your Business Proposition Must be Carefully Chosen This week I was forwarded a Business Plan from a Venture Capital principal for whom I perform consulting services. This gentleman had read the elevator pitch for the product and had initial interest in the proposition. He requested that I review the document in detail and mark up the key points that would be of much, or of no interest to his firm and make a recommendation as to the viability of the project.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,434 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

How An Immigrant With Just a Few Canaries Builds a Vast Fortune

In the 1920’s Germany was in tatters. The formerly great empire was dismantled, the powerful army humiliated by its defeat in World War I and the population starved, cold and living in despair. Businesses that had been successful before the war were decimated by the outcome. There was no way to earn a living. For many Germans the only reasonable option available to pursue a better life was to immigrate to America. Before the outbreak of World War I, Max Ste had operated a successful textile business.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,433 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

How a Pre-Sell Campaign Will Mitigate Financial Risk and Confirm Market Acceptance for New Consumer Products

How a Pre-Sell Campaign Will Mitigate Financial Risk andr Confirm Market Acceptance for New Consumer Products by: Geoff Ficke Our Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consulting firm typically works with two types of clients. One is a startup requiring total support and guidance from conception through market launch. The other is to provide re-boot services for already existing product that has been unsuccessful in the marketplace. The startup is a far easier project to control and nurture.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,429 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

5 Tips for Small Businesses and Start-ups to Use To Appear Bigger tha They Really Are

by: Geoff Ficke 5 Tips for Small Businesses and Start-ups to User To Appear Bigger tha They Really Are For many years I have worked almost exclusively with entrepreneurs, inventors and small businesses seeking to start, or grow a business against daunting odds and competitive disadvantages. We specialize in Consumer Products, packaged goods that are marketed in every category and sales channel. Despite the deck seemingly being so stacked against these micro-enterprises it is amazing how many succeed.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,421 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Why Is the Right To Fail So Important?...and, Why It is Mostly Unique To America

The American economic system of capitalism is unique in the industrialized world. Forms of capitalism exist in many countries, and the one general statement that applies to its usage is that capitalist countries are always more prosperous than non-capitalist states. That being stated, why is American capitalism so advanced, successful, admired and feared? We all know that America offers the most dynamic advanced economy in the world.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,419 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Bootstrapping Your Way to Success

There is no more accurate American descriptive phrase of the rags to riches success then: “He pulled himself up by his bootstraps”. The pioneers, backwoodsmen, cowboys, whalers and other prototypical American hero classes all possessed an air of courage, self-reliance, and belief that they could beat the odds. They are wonderful samples of entrepreneurs at the most elemental level. My favorite method of starting a business, launching a product or service is the old fashioned, do it myself, Bootstrapping.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,412 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Entrepreneurial Creativity Is Still Rife in the Fashion Jewelry and Cosmetic World

by: Geoff Ficke Entrepreneurial Creativity Is Still Rife in the Fashion Jewelry and Cosmetic World

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,408 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Differentiation for a Small Brand Is Essential - Consider Organic Tea

Recently my marketing consulting firm was approached by the owners of a young organic tea company seeking guidance in piercing the retail product distribution channel. The entrepreneur’s behind the venture were hard working, passionate and fully committed; both personally and financially. They had an excellent product.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,406 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Problems Are Arriving In Great Batches And That Can Be a Very Good Thing!

by: Geoff Ficke William Shakespeare” famous quote from Hamlet, “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions”, is particularly relevant today. All of the news seems bad. The negative numbers are huge. The human devastation seems interminable. Governments everywhere seem to have lost control. Debt is perverse on a personal, corporate and governmental level. This glass seems to be mostly empty. It is not! From the depths of disaster grow the seeds of opportunity.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,402 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

What Modern Marketers Can Learn From A 100 Year Old Artisan Auto Maker

H. F. S. Morgan launched his eponymous car manufacturing company in England in 1909. For a century, through world wars and great economic turbulence, Morgan Motor Company has produced some of the most stylish, desirable automobiles ever produced. Unless you are a classic car enthusiast, you probably have never heard of Morgan and more unfortunately probably never seen one of these magnificent machines on the road. They are exceedingly rare and that has gone a great distance in cementing the desirability of the mark. Morgan’s initially were 3-wheeled cycle cars.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,399 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

The 5 Personal Traits Essential for Achieving Entrepreneurial Success

by: Geoff Ficke The 5 Personal Traits Essential for Achieving Entrepreneurial Success I have worked with Entrepreneurs, Inventors and businesses large and small all over the world in my career as a Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consultant. For every 20 opportunities we review, possibly one will take the plunge and commit to the arduous processes required to successfully launch a new product, service or business. Why is it that such a small percentage of possible new enterprises ever even attempt to become a start-up, much less succeed?

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,394 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Why Don’t Business Schools Produce more Entrepreneurs?

by: Geoff Ficke Why Don’t Business Schools Produce more Entrepreneurs? For most of my life I have been a serial Entrepreneur. Even as a kid growing up I knew I wanted to control my own destiny. In order to be free and self-supporting I was constantly seeking opportunity in every way possible. This ambition has lead to a lifetime of interesting challenges, ups and downs, adventure, travel and an array of experiences that I could never have experienced if I had gone the corporate job route. I am always amazed that more people, especially in America, do not take the Entrepreneurial path.r

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,386 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

In Defense Of Success

During a January 1980 television interview, then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher stated, “No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions. He had money as well”. Our current times make this keen observation particularly relevant. We continually are bombarded with facts and figures conce ing fai ess, income distribution, giving and sharing the wealth. I am a capitalist. In certain circles that assertion is met with derision, claims of selfishness and images of Dickensian hoarding. I plead guilty.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,382 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

The Most Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make And Why Markets Tolerate No Shortcuts

The questio I receive more often than any other is: “What is the mistake you most frequently observe inventors or entrepreneurs making?” The answer is an easy one. Most unsuccessful entrepreneurs try to get to market by taking shortcuts. We live in a commercial maelstrom. The marketplace is constantly chu ing, changing, adapting. Successful marketers are constantly adjusting, anticipating, re-inventing.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,381 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Adding Features to Products Can Create Blockbuster Opportunities

by: Geoff Ficke I have written in the past about the huge commercial opportunities afforded divergent products and inventions, as opposed to convergent features added to existing products. Divergent products are truly groundbreaking, destructive, disruptive breakthroughs. However, very few truly innovative divergent technologies are invented and make it successfully into the marketplace. The original light bulb, the phonograph, the radio and the steam engine are examples of innovations that set the standards in their respective product categories and are still in use today.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,377 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Is Now the Best Time to Start a New Business?

I am often asked if these are good times for new enterprise opportunities? Should I wait? Is the economy down? Is it a good funding market? Is competition too intense? These, and dozens more stated conce s are nothing more than self-imposed hurdles to movement. Now is the best time in history to start a business, launch a product or offer a cutting edge new service. More people than ever before have jobs. More people than ever before own homes. More business incorporations are established each year than the previous year.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,372 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

A Baseball Player as an Entrepreneurial Role Model

Watching the Chicago White Sox win the World Series for the first time since 1917, I was struck again how wondrous this beautiful sport still can be. The purest American game, baseball teaches so many of the values we appreciate in all areas of life. Hard work, doing the little things, hustle, overcoming adversity and never quitting are lessons we learn playing Little League baseball. My firm specializes in small business development and boot strapping entrepreneurs. The virtues we see in every baseball game are directly applicable to success or failure for inventors and companies.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,369 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

Sourcing and Defining Volume Pricing Is an Absolute Must for Aspiring Consumer Product Entrepreneurs

by: Geoff Ficke Sourcing and Defining Volume Pricing Is an Absolute Must for Aspiring Consumer Product Entrepreneurs I have been mentoring a young female entrepreneur for several months. She is not a client of my Consumer Product Branding and Marketing Consulting firm. This earnest lady has a very interesting concept in the Infant and Juvenile product space. Like so many aspiring first time business owners she is confused about how to best organize her enterprise and move from a hobby project to a fully commercial model.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,368 views

By Geoff FickeRecently published1 topic

How to Snatch Commercial Failure From the Jaws of Victory

by: Geoff Ficke As readers of my articles well know, I run a marketing and product development-consulting firm. We review hundreds of novel consumer products, new service concepts and prototypes each year. The level of creativity contained in some of these offerings is truly stunning and always amazes. Entrepreneurs have always found the United States to be the mother lode of places to birth ideas and bring them to successful fruition in the worlds most aggressive, cluttered marketplace.

Primary topic: Business Consulting

Business Consulting

1,364 views

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