The Niche Beat
The Restaurant Business
Testing the Dream Many aspiring entrepreneurs dream about opening their own restaurant, but there is a tendency to believe that following the dream and hard work will solve business challenges in this field. Watch a few episodes of Restaurant Impossible and it’s clear why the failure rate is so high in this industry. The mistakes […]
Project Runway
Reality TV & Real World Lessons The 10th season of Project Runway will air tonight on Lifetime TV. This morning, host Heidi Klum, informed viewers that, for the first time in the history of the program, there was a first: in the middle of the night, without telling anyone, two of the design contestants packed up their […]
The Restaurant Industry
Famous Chef’s Memoir & Receipe for Success Taking an entrepreneurial career path in some industries may mean having to face elements of serious social and cultural issues as the two articles below illustrate. NHPublicTV: Tavis Smiley | Chef Marcus Samuelsson The award-winning chef serves up a tell-all of his life: struggling with cultural identity, paving the […]
Johnson O’Connor
Historical Books with Aptitude Advice for Modern Times Johnson O’Connor, a pioneering aptitudes researcher, wrote a number of books (or brochures as they were called) in the 1940s, but the content is still relevant in today’s world. For instance, In the Too Many Aptitude Women, O’Connor writes that someone with high creative imagination, inductive reasoning, which is […]
The Ice Cream Industry
Beyond Vanilla, Chocolate & Strawberry Americans eat more ice cream than people in other countries, but not enough to fill the Grand Canyon, as some news sources have creatively reported. However, entrepreneurs have tapped into consumers love affair with the cool, creamy treat in a number of unique ways. Livening up dull class room lectures http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/26/garden/where-traffic-school-is-a-laugh-a-minute.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm A […]
Food Trucks
Mobile Restaurant If you believe food trucks are a hot new trend, you should know archaeologists recently uncovered an ancient ruin dating back to the dinosaur age. They dug up a mobile truck with stone wheels and menu offering brontosaurus burgers, tacos and shakes. Okay, I’m still checking on all the facts behind that tall […]
Discovering Hidden Skill
Artistic Talent When psychologist Lucy Petrie decided that she wanted to learn how to draw, she taught herself by using the exercises in a book entitled Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, then she enrolled in a pastel class. Petrie won acclaim in the art world, within a short time, and her work appeared […]
Bloom Where You’re Planted
Adapting to New Business Trends in the Marketplace Prior to the popularity of the automobile, blacksmiths made a sizeable part of their income from shoeing horses. After the horse and buggy era slowed, many would become auto mechanics, but a Charleston, South Carolinian blacksmith turned his talent for iron work in another direction. He began […]
Potholes in the Creative Process
TV Ads Cause Difficulties for Writers Writer-producer Matthew Weiner and David E. Kelly discuss the insane amount of commercials on TV today, and how it disrupts their ability to produce a show. Curious, I decided to survey the amount of ads jammed into many of the programs that I watch. After checking several cable stations, I was shocked at […]
Starting a Restaurant on a Shoestring
The Great Food Truck Race The second season of Food Network TVs program inspired many budding restaurant owners short of cash to ease into the industry by starting with a truck. However, it’s a crowded field, and unless a prospective entrepreneur has an angle or is planning to work for someone else who’s already in the […]