Web Awards 2000: General Excellence
Sumerset Custom Houseboats earned the 2000 Inc. Web Award for General Excellence because of the innovative ways it maximizes customers' lifetime val... Read more
Start-up
Recent Start-up Articles
Web Awards 2000: Marketing
The winning companies in the Marketing category of the 2000 Inc. Web Awards lure customers with enticing deals and ease of use. Read more
Web Awards 2000: Customer Service
Treating each customer as an individual won Ives Development second place in the Customer Service category of the 2000 Inc. Web Awards. Read more
Web Awards 2000: ROI
Low-cost start-up, strong revenues, and fast growth are some reasons that DirectWireless.com and Affordable Supplements landed second and third place, respec... Read more
Web Awards 2000: Innovation
The winners in the Innovation category of the 2000 Inc. Web Awards employ cutting-edge multimedia and clever Internet concepts to attract and keep c... Read more
Video Births the Internet Star
New technologies stand to make Internet video as useful and ubiquitous as the telephone. How will it work for your company? Read more
Sweet Deals
Mrs. Beasley's has created a stellar blueprint for integrating "bricks" and "clicks" businesses through strategic partnerships, superior logistics, and some ... Read more
Holiday Gifts without the Crowds
Not sure what to get that client or colleague for the holidays? Ten entrepreneurs rate sites offering everything from executive toys to spa packages. Read more
Book Value: Welcome to the New Economy, Act III
Dot-coms have discovered that they have to make money, and the Fortune 1,000 have learned that e-commerce isn't all that hard. What happens now? Thr... Read more
Logging On the Web
If you're marketing to a niche or need an online forum for fresh ideas, Web logs could be the new killer app -- and the hottest thing since e-mail. Read more
A True Learning Organization
Great Harvest Bread Co. is a franchisor of retail bread bakeries (137 in all) headquartered in Dillon, Mont. The basic business looks simple: Bake and sel... Read more
How do I research an industry?
Writing a Business Plan mentor Rhonda Abrams responds to the following question frequently asked by inc.com users: I'm planning ... Read more
What roles do the members of an LLC play?
Law & Taxation mentor Barbara Weltman responds to the following question from an inc.com user: What roles do the members of an ... Read more
Born Again with Microsoft
Company: UltraBac.com Year founded: 1983 Quiet period: 13 years Turning point:Read more
Do I need to change my corporate structure?
Law & Taxation mentor Barbara Weltman responds to the following question from an inc.com user: I set up my home building busines... Read more
How can I follow through better on projects that I start?
Personal & Professional Growth mentor Jennifer Lawton offers advice for focusing on and sticking with the tasks at hand. Read more
Web Site No-No's
Want a great Web site? Take a cue from the panel of judges for the Inc. Web Awards 2000... Read more
Making Your Own Patent Drawings
You've invented something wonderful. You've prepared rough sketches and the written part of thepatent application yourself, saving thousands of dollars by... Read more
Hot Tip: Don't Believe the (Analysts') Hype
If a big, newly public competitor of yours is getting good press, don't be alarmed about some new threat. First, do a little background check befo... Read more
Take the E-Mail Quiz
E-mail communication is the lifeblood of customer relations. But if you aren't careful, you can end up spending too much money operating it with little to... Read more
Professional Corporation
In many states, professionals who want to incorporate their practices must create what's called a professional corporation. Laws in every state per... Read more
The Paperwork Required to Set Up an LLC
To create an LLC, you must file the correct paperwork with your state. Read more
Internet Business Method Patents
A company that develops a new way of conducting e-commerce may be able to prevent others fromusing it for almost two decades. Since 1998, an increasing nu... Read more
Obits: Cold Feet Squash Minority-Supplier Site
Despite high-profile supporters and millions in seed capital, an online exchange for minority suppliers to the auto industry couldn't figure out how to make ... Read more
Five Reasons to Incorporate Your Nonprofit Association
Americans are famous for volunteering for good causes and for banding together to get things done,whether the goal is wildlife rescue or low-income housin... Read more
Best Practices: Great Harvest Bread Co.
The company: Great Harvest Bread Co., headquartered in Dillon, Mont. Business: Franchisor of retail bread bakeries ... Read more
How Ideas Rise at Franchisor Great Harvest
Great Harvest Bread Co., headquartered in Dillon, Mont., is a franchisor of retail bread bakeries (137 in all) that make soft-crust bread from Montana who... Read more
Zen and the Art of the Self-Managing Company
The owners of Great Harvest Bread Co. are building a "learning organization" -- a company that fosters innovation and almost runs itself. Read more
Business for Sale: Mid-Atlantic Title-Insurance Brokerage
Looking for an entrepreneurial umbrella that could shelter you from the storms of the large corporate workplace? Then check out this four-year-old title-insu... Read more
The Right Debt Mix
The question of whether debt increases or decreases a company's value has no one-size-fits-all answer, but here are some guidelines as you think about your o... Read more
Everything Old Is New Again
Has the e-commerce bubble burst? If recent reports are to be believed, online business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses are in a slump. Stock prices of many l... Read more
The Basics of Business Plans: Sell, Sell, Sell
You've probably heard all the academic and formal definitions of a business plan--something to the effect that it's a document describing your company's g... Read more
The Finer Points of a Business Plan
Here is a brief overview of the contents of the written plan. Keep in mind that after the first two items, the titles of the subsequent sections can vary.... Read more
Executive Summary as a Guiding Light
A good executive summary is hard to write. It should present your entire business plan in miniature. Read more
The Young Entrepreneur's Survival Kit
As Emily Barker notes in Inc. magazine's October 2000 Read more
