And while running your own business is exhilarating at first, only half of businesses that employ staff survive the first five years, according to Small Business Administration data. The struggle of successfully running your company while maintaining a regular stream of leads, managing finances and handling emergencies is a heavy burden -- and new entrepreneurs should be prepared for unexpected surprises. Here are five of the most common myths about entrepreneurship that startup founders discov

Hiring a new employee is a huge commitment, especially if you’re a small to mid-sized business with a tight budget. Before you invest time, energy, and resources into a new team member, you’ll want to make absolutely certain they are truly a good fit. Implementing a trial period can be a great strategy for confirming your hiring decision. To find out more, we asked Young Entrepreneur Council members the following question: Q. There is always a worry that a new hire won’t work out as well as yo

Every modern business uses social media to reach its audience. But using social media today goes far beyond simply touting what your company does or offers. The brands with the most successful digital presence use social media to improve brand communication and transparency with its stakeholders and customers. Not sure where to begin? To find out what works best, we asked a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members the following: What is one way brands can use social media to increase transp

When a potential customer comes across your website, social media channels, or newsletter, you have to be sure to capture their attention. If the content is uninspiring or feels like it’s generic or disingenuous, users will move on. But creating truly engaging content on a regular basis is easier said than done. To help you get inspired, we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question: Q. What is the best way to make sure your customer-facing content is consistent, engagi

When you’re hiring for a senior leadership position, you’re most likely looking for a long-term addition to your team. A values-fit candidate is more likely to stick through the ups and downs of business because of their belief in your principles, work ethic, and motives. Your values provide a larger purpose for this person to connect with, and that will decrease turnover rates and conflicts. A strong company culture can be a big draw for many of your employees. Company culture is developed and

As a leader, it’s important to understand the goals and vision of your company. It’s arguably even more important to convey that information to your employees, who play a huge role in turning those goals and vision into reality. Strong lines of communication ensure everyone is on the same page, leading to greater growth for your business. To help you do this, we asked Young Entrepreneur Council members the following question: Q. What is your preferred method for communicating company goals and

Regardless of what industry you're in and how much effort you put in to doing everything right, the truth is you cannot possibly satisfy all of your customers all the time, and it's likely you'll end up dealing with an angry customer or two. However, whether it's a quality issue, a delay in a delivery or something else that may not even be under your control, knowing how to assuage an upset customer before the situation escalates is key for any organization. These six entrepreneurs share some o

Reading is one of the most effective ways of learning from others. Mentors write books to offer their life experiences to others, and gaining that knowledge can help you tremendously: Knowing that others have faced challenges similar to your own can help you gain a better perspective on what’s going on in your business. A book that teaches you to become a better leader and entrepreneur is a valuable resource, so we asked 15 members of YEC which books they would recommend to people wanting to fi

This year, media organizations doubled down on their efforts to convert readers into paying customers — and they used technology to do so. From online subscriptions and micropayments to digital advertising and user experience, Publishing Executive's media tech coverage in 2019 reflected the range of business priorities among today's publishers. Here’s a look at the top 12 technology posts we published in 2019, selected based on a combination of total visitors and audience engagement. • 8 Ways t

For many new business owners, one of the biggest challenges is determining a fair price for their products or services. You don’t want to charge so much that people will choose your competitors, but you also don’t want to lowball your prices and fail to make a profit. To help you make this important decision, we asked a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members to weigh in on the following question: “When you were first starting out, what process did you use to determine the price of your pro

Time. It’s something that we all take for granted. But, as a business owner, it’s your greatest resource. Without enough time, you’re less likely to achieve your goals. You won’t be able to focus on what’s really important. Less time — adds stress to your already hectic life. And, you can kiss a healthy work-life balance goodbye without it. Here are the time management skills a successful business owner must have. For the business owner — here are the essential time management skills that you w

It doesn’t matter that we got the world’s mixed up. What matters is that these superheroes have defined and kept these universes alive and our interests hooked for many decades. Without these names, both these legendary media franchises are nothing, and similar is the case for something as vastly different as WordPress. While WordPress on the surface may not be as interesting as Superman and Hulk going at each other, it does power more than 34% of the internet, and that’s something. But this po

Debugging is an important skill for any developer. Arguably the most important skill, if you consider debugging in the general sense: exploring a system, explaining its behaviour, and working out how to change it. Nonetheless, most of us are bad at it. We don't methodically work through a process. Instead, we guess wildly, sprinkle logging at random and change things blindly, until the problem disappears. Fortunately, we can improve! I've been talking to a whole range of brilliant developers a

As an entrepreneur or leader, you’ll have to make many decisions regarding your business. Although some choices will be easy to make, others can be downright overwhelming. You want to do what’s right for you and your company, but you don’t want to overthink yourself into a state of panic. To find some better approaches to decision-making, we asked a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members the following question: Q. What is the best way to make solid decisions without stressing yourself out

Starting a new job can be a massively daunting task. There is a pressing urge to impress, and a need to prove competency. But the environment is foreign, and everybody is new! We already featured a post about building a strong overall onboarding process. So today, I thought I’d talk to some of the employment experts out there, about some of the more specific ways you can welcome a new employee, to give them the best possible start at your company, on their first day and beyond. 1. Give them a

Mario Peshev is the founder and CEO of DevriX, a WordPress development agency based out of Bulgaria. The team of 50 focuses on providing development and support for enterprises, publishers and startups. Why the First Hire Is Always the Hardest (3:15) Mario founded DevriX back in 2010, so he’s had almost ten years to perfect the practice of hiring a team for his agency. That said, he still looks back on the first hire (and even some other earlier ones) as a difficult process. He says it’s espe

Today we have one of the rockstars of the WordPress community, Mario Peshev, for an interview. He has gained immense popularity among WordPress users around the world with his company Devrix, a design and development agency which he founded in 2011. With nearly 20 years in the tech world, Mario has immense experience in being a WordPress & business advisor to many companies, in writing, as a seasoned trainer, and training & management, etc. In short, Mario is a WordPress powerhouse we can all l

Although countless studies have emphasized the importance of taking time off from work for one's mental and physical health, and also for increased productivity when back at the office, many professionals still fail to take a proper vacation. Busy entrepreneurs seem to have the worst track record, as most of them don't fully leave work behind and remain immersed in their organization's day-to-day operations even when away. So how can business owners make the most of their vacation time without

At the beginning of the year, you set targets and goals for your business’s revenue. As the year’s progressed, however, you’ve noticed that you haven’t quite hit those numbers — and you want to turn it around before the end of Q4. To find out more about how you can do this, we asked members of the Young Entrepreneur Council the following: “The last few quarters’ revenue have been below the targets you set at the beginning of the year. What is a good approach to tackling this issue?” How to Mak

As your company grows, you may find different departments start to silo themselves off from one other. However, a strong company culture is one that includes all departments and brings them together. That’s why we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question: What is a good way to connect team members in different departments to build company culture? How to Unify Company Culture Across Departments Here’s what YEC community members had to say: “Different departments hav