Ventureweek

Online ticket-search firm SeatGeek has landed $550,000 in funding from a group of investors and signed a distribution deal with the Wall Street Journal.

SeatGeek uses algorithms to match the best deal with a customer’s specific needs for an event. Event-goers can then see thousands of potential pricing and seating options available for concerts and sporting events on the secondary market.

SeatGeek said it will use the infusion to beef up its product and engineering teams. That money will be much-needed as the startup continues to grow. It recently revamped its website, with a newly redesigned home page, venue maps that allow fans to zoom in and find seats at the best prices, and a concerts page which now lists 10,000 of the most-searched for concerts. The secondary ticket market is a multi billion dollar industry. While there are some homegrown Canadian companies, there hasn’t been a dominant brand that leads the industry in Canada.

Encouraging creativity among your employees is essential to your company’s growth and success.

1. Create and exciting and inspiring workplace.

2. Encourage employees to pursue outside interests to spur their growth.

3.Create company wide brainstorming sessions.

4.Create an open work space with little or lowered cubicle walls.

5.Fund business related courses.

BMO Offers A Playbook on Investigating a Franchise Business – Over 78,000 franchises across Canada employ more than 1 million people – Franchising accounts for 10 per cent of Canada’s GDP – Franchised businesses account for 40 per cent of all retail sales

Entrepreneurs running franchise outlets in Canada have been able to rely on established business practices to help weather the recession and stand to benefit from an economic recovery as the retail and service sectors continue to bounce back.

“Demand for retail services, including food services, should remain solid in the years ahead in response to steady growth in the economy and population. Canadian real personal consumption of services grew 3.7 per cent in the year, slightly above the decade-long average of 3.3 per cent,” said Sal Guatieri, Senior Economist, BMO Capital Markets.

The franchising sector is burgeoning as more Canadian entrepreneurs turn to pre-established business models that are poised to ensure long term success in the wake of the recession.

Groupon has become one of the biggest success stories of recent memory. Andrew Mason in a recent presentation has listed six reasons why he thinks Groupon succeeded and his other start up The Point did not. More importantly, these six points are his advice to aspiring entrepreneurs trying to build businesses.

1. You’re building a tool, not a piece of art. Mason suggests that you don’t get blinded by vision, as he was with The Point. Groupon has been the total opposite, very focused on hooking the customer within the first few seconds.

2. Recognize and embrace your constraints.

3. Have a growth plan.

4. The best tools aren’t always that cool. Groupon chose e-mail because it’s simple and universal.

5. You’ll probably fail. Mason suggests that you have the fear of failure in the back of your mind because it’ll help you confront reality and shape your decisions towards building a viable product.

6. Quit now. Sometimes you have to let an idea go.

It can happen anywhere–at an amusement park, zoo, school field trip, or even your local shopping mall. Your attention shifts for a moment, and suddenly your child or loved one has wandered out of sight.

So put the odds in your favor for a safe return, with SafetyTat. SafetyTat is a fun and colorful kids temporary safety tattoo. When applied to the arm of your child or loved one, SafetyTat provides a highly visible form of identification that stays in place even when wet! This is a great idea, with strong market potential.

Originally Posted on Businessweek.com

1. Initiate direct contact after a payment deadline is missed. The biggest mistake small business owners make is waiting too long to follow-u

2. Take broken promises seriously.

If the new due date arrives and a check is nowhere to be found, the broken promise indicates that the customer is untrustworthy. At this point, you can hold back future deliveries, warranties, and service requests.

3. Contemplate hiring a collections agency or attorney.

Collections professionals specialize by industry and geography and are paid on their ability to collect—typically 10 percent to 25 percent of the invoice value.

4.Review legal options.

Invoices under $5,000 can be pursued inexpensively in small claims court. Larger claims must be filed in civil court, a process that is far more complicated and will require the assistance of an attorney.

5. Create a credit policy.

Don’t operate by the seat of your pants. Collect extensive data at the onset of a credit application, with even tougher requirements for new businesses. Get credit-card details as a backstop to late payments. Invoices should contain detailed terms and be signed by buyers. Require late, damaged, or incomplete shipments to be reported in writing within days of receipt.

Originally posted on pickthebrain.com.

Written by Daniel Wood

As you have probably read and heard before, your mood is completely your decision.

Sometimes though it can be very difficult to turn one of these days around.

Here are 4 tips that always help me get back on my feet:

1. Confront the problem

Ask yourself why you are in a bad mood. Often it can be something nagging at you that you need to get done that ruins your day.The best thing you can do is to confront the problem and do something to solve it. Once that is done you will feel much better.

2. Tell yourself you will be happy

The concept of speaking positively to yourself was first introduced to me by Brian Tracy at one of his seminars.
The idea is that the mind can only hold one type of thought at a time, either positive or negative. It can shift quickly between the two but only hold one at a time. By focusing on positive thoughts you force your brain to be positive over a longer period of time which often gets it to stick.

The 2 phrases “I like myself!” and “I am going to be happy today!” are a great recipe to turning a bad day into good.

Make the decision to be happy and you will be.

3. Exercise

Working out is my favorite way to get out of a really bad rut. By breaking a sweat you release endorphins into your body which calms you down. It is natures natural drug.

It also gives you a chance to take out your anger and put it into some good use.

4. Write an “I am grateful for…” list.

If nothing else works I sit down with a pen and a paper and list everything I am grateful for. It can be anything from family, friends, possessions, job, finances, looks, sports, knowledge or/and abilities.
Anything you can be thankful for.

Once you are done with the list you will see that you have nothing to be down about. Life is pretty good.

Conclusion
Your mood and your life are in your hands. It is always up to you how you feel. Stephen Covey puts it well “There is a gap between stimuli and response where self awareness and the ability to chose reside.”. Whenever something happens it is your decision if you are going to let it get you down or if you are going to turn it into something positive.