It's quite common for the entrepreneur to wonder if anyone will ever notice you or what you're doing. Since we're of the mindset that nobody's paying attention anyway, we assume it's ok to act as if no one is ever really watching. It's a trap, don't fall for it, because you are always on stage and your every action, interaction and reaction is being scrutinized and analyzed by every constituent of the company.

Failure to understand your cash position and current and future cash needs can ruin a business, even a profitable one.The sad truth is that cash-flow surprises kill many startups. Overall, 90 percent of small-business failures are caused by poor-cash flow, according to Dunn & Bradstreet. To prevent becoming part of the 90 percent, you'€™ll need to maintain a focus on cash. When it comes to the financial management of a growing company, always remember that cash is king.

Many businesses struggle not because they can't generate sales, but because they don't manage cash. There is nothing more important to the success of your business than your system for managing cash due from sales through your process of billing and collections. You can have lots of customers, but if you don't collect money from them, you will go out of business.

Raising capital in the midst of running a business is challenging. Often it is the most important thing that you do and the one for which you are the least equipped. For many new ventures, the investment process is a constant scramble to put together new PowerPoint presentations, documents and financial information for every investor meeting that comes your way. It may seem as though each investor is asking for something unique or different than the last one, but preparing one-off packages and reinventing the wheel for every new meeting is incredibly time consuming and inefficient.

In the early stages of a business, you often have two simultaneous problems that affect the efficiency of your sales process. First, it is often the founder or management team that are the only ones that understand the nuances of your market. Second, because you are arguably providing a unique product or service, your target market or the use of your product or service may be undefined. As a result of these two factors, you must create a set of standard sales materials that embodies the founder's knowledge and defines the market.

Many small-business owners mistakenly believe they cannot afford to offer benefits. But while going without benefits may boost your bottom line in the short run, than penny-wise philosophy could strangle your business's chances for long-term prosperity. Offer the right benefit, and your business may just jump-start its growth. Give employees the benefits they value, and they'll be more satisfied, miss fewer workdays, be less likely to quit, and have higher commitment to meeting the company's goals.

Raising capital in the midst of running a business is challenging. Often it is the most important thing that you do and the one for which you are the least equipped. For many new ventures, the investment process is a constant scramble to put together new PowerPoint presentations, documents and financial information for every investor meeting that comes your way. It may seem as though each investor is asking for something unique or different than the last one, but preparing one-off packages and reinventing the wheel for every new meeting is incredibly time consuming and inefficient.

One of the most important aspects of marketing your company or product is its position in the market. This is often overlooked because positioning isn’t as sexy as getting Facebook Fans or Twitter Followers. However, it’s the best way to separate yourself from the competition, especially if you are in a crowded space. I have seen far too many companies build their product or service, and then leave the product’s positioning to the marketing department. People rarely pay attention to each of the features and functionalities, but strong positioning always stands out.

Many small-business owners mistakenly believe they cannot afford to offer benefits. But while going without benefits may boost your bottom line in the short run, than penny-wise philosophy could strangle your business's chances for long-term prosperity. Offer the right benefit, and your business may just jump-start its growth. Give employees the benefits they value, and they'll be more satisfied, miss fewer workdays, be less likely to quit, and have higher commitment to meeting the company's goals.

Whether you are marketing to consumers or marketing to businesses, understanding the landscape of digital marketing is a must. These trends impact how individuals digest informations and should be understood as you craft your marketing efforts.

When you get started, you will start to enter into contracts with customers. When you do so, it is important to have a standard form contract that puts you in a position to protect your company.

Your entrepreneurial wins and why we must celebrate them. You must appreciate being challenged because it means you are successful enough to be growing. Investors, customers and employees are attentive to your venture because you are bringing some- thing that is valuable to them.

Who has time for training? That's what many entrepreneurs think. But a little training can go a long way. Whether it is making employees more productive, or providing clarity or improving quality, training can help team members contribute more effectively. The type of training you roll out has to fit into the day-to-day workload of employees.

Entrepreneurs dream of having their company appear on the front page of a major publication or doing an interview on a major network. Public relations can certainly create breakthrough moments, but in most cases it is simply an important part of an overall marketing strategy. Public relations offers several advantages not found with other promotional options.

Hiring is hard. Do you give candidates a test? Do you ask about their experience, or pose theoretical situations to see how they think them through? These questions are hard enough for recruiters to answer, but even more of a mystery for entrepreneurs. While there’s no perfect formula, when it comes to finding talent, interviewing has to tell you a lot. Enhancing your talent efforts is a combination of creating a process for interviewing and improving how you interview candidates through that process.

Advisory boards can be an invaluable source of insight. Think of an advisory board as a collection of mentors that can provide individual expertise, provide you a sounding board for ideas, give you advice, introduce you to valuable contacts, and tell you when you’re potentially making a mistake.

You've worked from inception to birth and now your company is evolving. You might be bringing on co-founders, senior level team members and employees. You want everyone to be aligned to and share in the success of the business, but how do you determine how much equity to give everyone? The objective of employee equity is to make the first employees sensitive to feel an emotional ownership with your/your company’s great idea, its gripping product and the organization you are asking them to help grow. The percentage equity a hire gets depends on factors such as domain expertise, how early he joins (if he joins earlier, there is more risk and less stock), how critical the person is to the company and its funding, experience with associated ventures, whether or not he is replaceable, and connections. An equity premium may be considered if the employee is irreplaceable.

As the entrepreneur we are always looking for ways to minimize spending. But there are certain things that form the foundation of your business that you should not skimp on. Knowing where to spend money can help startups thrive whatever the circumstances and economic outlook. There are some activities that are worth investing in because they are so fundamental to the success of your business.

When you are advancing your business and thinking about building your sales team, it is important to have the right mix of talent. Sales teams require n different types of sales representatives. In a technology sales environment, two different types, the “hunter” and the “farmer,” each play a distinct role.

A company's mission, vision and values set the direction of the company. These may sound like things that only large companies need (or have the time to do) but you will quickly find, without an overall North Star and guiding direction, you can get lost quickly. Especially in the constantly changing environment of a new venture, these are essential.