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When new technology appears, there's always someone who sees the potential and runs with it.  Here is news out of Germany about a new, potentially much more efficient way to manufacture automotive and aircraft parts, just waiting for someone to recognize the potential. Following years of research, the technology involving thixoforming, or the shaping of metals in a semi-solid state, is yielding results.  Shown here, two of the same parts for the auto industry, one created through a traditional four-step process, the other by the one-step thixoforming process .  (Credit: Image courtesy of Basque Research) Following years of research, the technology involving thixoforming, or the shaping of metals in a semi-solid state, is beginning to yield results. CIC marGUNE, the Co-operative Research Centre for High-performance Manufacturing, is exploring the possibility of modifying the current process to manufacture parts for the automotive industry, thanks to thixoforming ...

One of the more popular posts over our first year is The Seven Characteristics of a Creative Employee  along with a post on the "Messy Desk Clean Desk" Phenomena that reveals people with messy desks tend to be more creative.  Imagine that. Now, a team of researchers led by Michigan State University neuroscientist Jeremy Gray has created a quick but reliable test that can measure a person's creativity from single spoken words. The "noun-verb" test is so simple it can be done by virtually anyone anywhere -- even in an MRI machine, setting the stage for scientists to pinpoint how the brain comes up with unusually creative ideas. *  *  *  *  * Sample Noun - Verb Responses from the study To the noun, "leaf", 43.7% of participants replied, "fall."  Other common noun-verb responses include, taxi => drive 38%; coal => burn 45% and so on.  These results should lead to the development of a standardize...

You're an entrepreneur in an important meeting that could mean a big contract or create a connection important to your success. And your smartphone beeps, rings, or vibrates. Do you answer it? A new study published today in the journal Business Communication Quarterly, co-authored by Peter W. Cardon of the USC Marshall School of Business and colleagues at Howard University, is the first to provide an empirical baseline for how attitudes towards mobile phone use actually break down across gender, age, and region. With a national sample of more than 550 full-time working professionals, the study reveals what business professionals perceive as acceptable, courteous or rude use of mobile phones in the workplace. Among their findings : Three out of four people -- 76 percent -- said checking texts or emails was unacceptable behavior in business meetings. 87 percent of people said answering a call was rarely or never acceptable in business meetings. Even at more informal business lunches,...

A problem for all small business owners is getting their message out to current and prospective customers.  It is expensive, especially against larger competitors with bigger budgets. This means that any small marketer has to look for every and any advantage they can find. Such as adding or turning on captions in your video promotions, whether television ads, on-line or in-store videos. Why? New research shows that adding captions improves comprehension, not just a little, but dramatically.  And isn't that what you want your video communications to do?  Capture a prospect's attention and impart a message that the prospect remembers? According to Robert Keith Collins, an assistant professor at SF State college, discovered that captions add to student comprehension and ability to remember during a two-year tracking study of the effect of adding captions to educational videos.  " Not only were students talking about how much having the capt...

Finally, the high risk alternative is to introduce something wholly new and untested.  From talking with hundreds of prospective entrepreneurs - inventors and people with ideas for innovative new products - I realize that many people feel that this is the way to go: to invent and cash in on something the world has never seen before.  Some people I've met seem to be addicted to building better mousetraps in the misplaced hope of getting rich.  Misplaced because the sure way to get rich isn’t with a new product or service.  It's through a sales job, but that's another story for another post. The history of new product introductions is a history of abject failure, even new products from huge, multi-national firms that specialize in innovation.  The reality is that with a new product or service you are treading unknown ground from beginning to end, and any number of very minor occurrences along the way can trip you up and cost you everything...

Starting a business selling currently available products and services, or an Unstructured opportunity, is a very attractive option to many people, and is probably the most frequent alternative entrepreneurs try. People who do well in an Unstructured Opportunity tend to fit a profile best described as a Natural Entrepreneur.  These are people who are hard working, educated with a commitment to life-long learning, are well organized, and work well with others.  They tend to be most comfortable in free-wheeling situations where they make their own decisions and create their own road map to success.(To better understand whether a structured or unstructured opportunity is best for you, take my quiz,  What Form of Business is Best for You . The risk of going it alone is greater than working with a franchise or direct sales business, but it also means that you, the owner, create your own business, make your own decisions and feel that the business i...

Distributorships are Unstructured Opportunities, and are as old as commerce itself.  People who independently "rep" other people's products and services for a commission have been around since the first bead makers and flint knappers traded their goods for a share of the hunt.  Undoubtedly, some enterprising hunter gatherer thought, "this is good stuff.  I can swap some of these for a profit with the people in that next tribe over."  And the distributorship was born, which is why some of the independent reps I know say they're in the second oldest profession, after you know what. The business is working as an independent sales representative for a one or more firms in an industry, and includes import-export business.  This opportunity requires a mastery of sales technique and a good knowledge of the specific industry into which you are entering.   People who do well in an Unstructured Opportunity tend to fit a profile best described as a Natural E...

Direct Sales, also known as  Multi-level Marketing (MLM) or Network Marketing, are a very popular alternative for many prospective entrepreneurs looking for a full or part time business.   A Direct Sales business is a Structured Opportunity, called by some the poor-man's franchise. People who do well in a structured opportunity tend to fit a profile best described as a Natural Franchisee.  These are people who are hard working, are educated with a commitment to life-long learning, are well organized, and work well with others.  They tend to be most comfortable taking direction from others and working in situations where tasks are laid out step by step.  (To better understand whether a structured or unstructured opportunity is best for you, take my quiz,  What Form of Business is Best for You . How Direct Sales Businesses Work  In a Direct Sales, MLM, or network marketing system you have two ways to earn money ~  ...

Undoubtedly, the business type with the greatest surety of success and financial return (and the least management freedom) is the franchise.  This is why they are described as "Structured Opportunities" in my workshops and in my book. People who do well in a structured opportunity tend to fit a profile best described as a Natural Franchisee.  These are people who are hard working, are educated with a commitment to life-long learning, are well organized, and work well with others.  They tend to be most comfortable taking direction from others and working in situations where tasks are laid out step by step. What distinguishes a franchise is that you, the entrepreneur, are purchasing a business system complete from a to z, including supplies, services, even start up training and on-going consulting, plus national advertising and management support for which a regular franchising fee is paid to the franchiser.  Franchises are available in every industry, sellin...

Last week I met with a friend I used to work with for coffee.  We got into a discussion of a very expensive loss my ex-employer suffered.  It seems some pricing data was incorrectly computed and entered into the company's booking system leading to badly under priced products being advertised.  Customers purchased the trips and the company had to honor the prices.  It cost the company well into five digits in cash to cover the error. I know the manager who made this error.  She was and is a top-flight professional, one of the best in the industry at coming up with innovative travel options that generally sell quite well being required to perform basic data entry tasks in addition to her core job.  She made a mistake in accuracy in data entry and basic arithmetic in her rush to complete the task on a short deadline. The end result was that the employee resigned, so not only did the business owner lose thousand...

by Michael Schrage Harvard Business Review September 24, 2013 (Edited for length and clarity) Whether you’re a start-up or an institutional entrepreneur, here are three mental shortcuts you should look for to determine whether a innovation should be put out of its misery (and yours) before you get to far into the process.  Even if the innovation appears compelling and its numbers sound, should these three symptoms appear, don’t hesitate or delay: Kill your innovation ASAP. 1) No Pleasant Surprises Almost all innovation suffers hiccoughs and bumps in the road. Design schedules slip and that “quick-and-dirty” prototype ends up costing much more than expected. That’s normal. But listen closely for "pleasant surprises" such as:  Coding that takes two weeks to develop instead of two months; you find a more malleable or stronger material at lower cost; a supplier who makes a designer available to collaborate. The absence of pleasant surprises is not unlike the do...