If you think you only need a business plan to go fishing for capital, you are sorely mistaken.
A business plan–thoughtfully assembled and diligently updated–is the very blueprint for any company. It sets direction, facilitates communication and establishes performance metrics. Better yet, well-articulated business plans force business owners to constantly weigh the strengths and weaknesses of their operations.

This is the fourth part in a four part series with John Osher, one of America’s most successful entrepreneurs, on the mistakes that startups make.

Fifty-three billion smackers. That’s how much telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu, the wealthiest human on the planet, is worth by Forbes’ latest exhaustive count. (Actually, the tally was $53.5 billion–when you’re dealing in 10 digits, every decimal place counts.)
Those kinds of numbers can’t help but make you think: What exactly does it take to amass that kind of wealth? More important, do you have it?

This is the third part in a four part series with John Osher, one of America’s most successful entrepreneurs, on the mistakes that startups make.

For the third time in three years, the world has a new richest man.
Riding surging prices of his various telecom holdings, including giant mobile outfit America Movil, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has beaten out Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the wealthiest person on earth and nab the top spot on the 2010 Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires.
Slim’s fortune has swelled to an estimated $53.5 billion, up $18.5 billion in 12 months. Shares of America Movil, of which Slim owns a $23 billion stake, were up 35% in a year.

This is the second part in a four part series with John Osher, one of America’s most successful entrepreneurs, on the mistakes that startups make.

This is the first part in a four part series with John Osher, one of America’s most successful entrepreneurs, on the mistakes that startups make.

The statistics surrounding the survival rate for small businesses have long been subject to fervid debate. Depending on who you’re talking to, the predicted life span for a startup can elicit grim to cautiously optimistic responses.

Lessons learned, key qualities and insights that will help an entrepreneur to succeed.