Bootstrapping: The Chicago Way to Grow Your Startup

June 5, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

Starting a business can be the hardest journey taken in life. While most of the conversations center around outside funding to make that journey easier, it can be worth exploring funding the business with customer revenue. Even though it is not as sexy, it can often lead to a more sustainable business. In this guest post, 1871 alumnus Jamie Johnson — Founder and CEO of Verde Energy Efficiency Experts, which helps companies find, implement, and maintain energy-efficient solutions, shares his insights on how you can effectively bootstrap your company.

June 4, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

JOBS! Every week, we highlight a number of open jobs for our member companies. If you’re looking for an exciting career in the tech industry or an opportunity to work alongside Chicago’s best and brightest, then you’ve come to the right place. Here are the job openings for the week of June 2, 2019.

May 30, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

As a startup, your first customers have very few incentives to trust you or to return for further purchases. Why should they? You still need to establish your image as a brand and build a faithful following. Until then, you’ll have to work extra hard to earn repeat customers. In this guest post, Manish Dudharejia, Founder and President of E2M Solutions, shares a few tips on how you can establish brand loyalty with your first customers.

May 29, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

May 22, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

You’re halfway through a busy workday and suddenly, your coworker comes back into the office with a slice of pizza. You take one look and see that it’s a sausage and pepperoni combo — but what really gets you is the smell. It lingers and stays with you, and suddenly, your train of thought has shifted from the annual report you’re working on to a nice slice of sausage and pepperoni pizza. In fact, you can’t think about anything else at this point — except maybe how wonderful it’d be if there was a way to eat and work at the same time. Thankfully, Maisha Burt, CEO and Founder of WorkChew, has a solution that you can find on the corner of hustle and hunger.

May 21, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

May 16, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

In today’s corporate society, a winning culture is everything. Company culture is the personality of the organization; it defines the environment in which employees work and establishes a standard for values, ethics, and expectations. In this guest blot post, Marie Johnson of Enlightened Digital shares a few tips on how you can create a positive company culture.

adult-brainstorming-businesswoman-515169 [Read more…] about 3 Threats to a Positive Company Culture

May 15, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

With 95 percent of U.S. single urban households willing to pay more for local food, you might be wondering why you haven’t seen more locally-sourced products at the grocery store or on restaurant menus. Thankfully, Alice Chalmers, Founder and CEO of Local Food Connection, is helping local food make its way into the mainstream. In this post, Chalmers talks about benefits of buying local, supporting farmers, and why grit is a must-have for aspiring entrepreneurs.

May 15, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

May 9, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

Building a startup is a challenging journey requiring grit, patience and hard work. However, one other main ingredient is the ability to not yield to temptation — to have the long-term vision of your company in mind and not allowing short-term gains to affect it. In this guest blog post, Karthik Sridharan, Co-founder and CEO of Flexiple and Remote.tools shares key points for startups to maintain the right focus in their initial phase of growth.

chart-coffee-cup-970204-1 [Read more…] about How Startups Should Grow and Scale the Right Way

May 7, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

May 6, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

One of the biggest challenges for any new company is to get new customers and keep them coming back time and time again. In this guest post Nora Mork, Digital Strategist, Business Consultant, and Business Journalist takes a look at how companies can create a sustainable stream of customers.

adult-cheerful-collaborate-573565 [Read more…] about How Startups can Create New and Returning Customers

May 1, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

According to recent studies, more than half of all Americans have used a ridesharing service at some point in their lives. And though ridesharing is an easy and flexible way to get from one location to another, it can also serve as more than just a transportation service. In fact, Rebecca Klor and Austin Jenkins, Co-founders of Roady, are working hard to ensure that your next ride is less about transit — and more about you.

April 30, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

April 25, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

Very rarely does one’s professional life start with entrepreneurship; we can’t all be Mark Zuckerberg, right? Often it takes time to hone specific skills, business acumen, or even a functional product prototype. The majority of entrepreneurs come into their role after years of working for someone else. In this guest blog post, David Freudenberg of Qwilr, talks about how employees can make the transition into entrepreneurs.

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April 24, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

Ever wonder what our blog would look like in a physical form? So have we. And while that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re transferring our blog into book format, the option is certainly out there thanks to Zack Price, Founder and CEO of Blog Into Book. In this post, Price shares his thoughts on why blogs are great material for books, trusting your gut, and what it’s like to have a local titan in your corner.

April 23, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

April 18, 2019 by J Blaszczykiewicz

blond-hair-board-desk-1181534 [Read more…] about Flipping the Mental Switch From Employee to Entrepreneur

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