Editor's letter,

As those of you who read my blog may have realized, I am very interested in the topic of entrepreneurship and small businesses. There are many reasons to encourage entrepreneurship, both on a personal and national level. First of all, many people simply aren't "built" to be employees. There are so many reasons that this may be the case, including a feeling of being stifled creatively as employees, or the need to be their own bosses.

On a national level, small businesses play a huge role in the health of the economy. Small businesses represent over 97 percent of all firms in Israel, and account for something like 90% of employment.

But entrepreneurship and self-employment is not an easy road to take. While there are some government organizations that try to help entrepreneurs establish themselves, there is a vacuum with regards to support and assistance when businesses face their inevitable crises and challenges.

Therefore, I would like to introduce you to a new initiative: Entrepreneur Breakfast. The goal is to provide a forum where entrepreneurs can come together and discuss solutions to issues they all face, over breakfast.

The cost is low and the potential benefit is high. I'd love if you would join us at our first meeting this coming Wednesday, May 9, 2007 at the 1868 Cafe on Derech Beit Lechem in Jerusalem. Please read below for more details on what can be expected from our meeting, and how to RSVP.

Also, I've submitted my blog to the Bloggers Choice Awards under the topic of Best Business Blog. If you have enjoyed reading my articles, please take a few minutes to register and vote for my blog by clicking on this button:

As always, thanks for reading!

Miriam Schwab

Entrepreneur Breakfast

Recent conversations with other entrepreneurs and small business owners have made me realize that the problems and challenges I face as a small business owner are not unique. While in the past I have felt like I must be the only one in the world to face these issues, it seems that no matter what business one is in, we all face similar challenges in the management, development and growth of our businesses. Therefore, I'd like to announce the launch of a new initiative, Entrepreneur Breakfast.
Read "New Initiative: Entrepreneur Breakfast" to learn more about the where, when and how...

20 Things You Should and Should Not Do Before Starting Your Small Business

In this series of posts, I review the 20 things that Dane Carlson lists as things you shouldn't do before starting your own business. Some of what he wrote is correct in my opinion, but some is really problematic. In this first post, I go through the first five points of his article and discuss why or why not you should do them: whether you should quit your day job, incorporate, get a separate business bank account, rent an office, and hire a lawyer.
Read Part 1 of "20 Things You Should and Should Not Do Before Starting Your Small Business"

Useful links

• People are always trying to predict the future: we're in a Web 2.0 bubble, we're not in a Web 2.0 bubble; our world is going to environmentally self-destruct thanks to global warming, all that global warming business is a bunch of hogwash, etc. Some predictions turn out to be correct, and others are way off the mark. Read this list of "Some very funny and totally wrong predictions of the past" where some very impressive people got things impressively wrong. Here's an example: “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” - Lord Kelvin, Royal Society, 1895. Read "Some very funny and totally wrong predictions of the past"...
• Seth Godin gave a really interesting talk in 2003 about how innovative ideas often only succeed when combined with effective marketing. This is a great talk, and he's a very good speaker. It's really worth watching, especially to hear about the invention of sliced bread (did you know that it actually had to be invented?!). Watch Seth Godin: Sliced bread and other marketing delights...
• In "PowerPoint: sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying," Garr Reynolds brings some great and entertaining videos related to the art of presentation. For those of you have seen the inevitable blinking, flashing, orange and red powerpoint presentation with font size 10, you probably will appreciate this. Read/Watch "PowerPoint: sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying"...

illuminea provides English content services to Israeli businesses for marketing and development purposes. Our services include content for web sites, brochures, newsletters, presentations, and more.

illuminea also maintains a blog dedicated to the challenges and satisfactions of running a small business in general, and in Israel in particular. Take a look at the illuminea blog here.