The EQ Journal Blog

July 2010

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Archives

On Leadership

(This article contains elements that are probably best read by persons over 22 years of age. Why is that? Human brains take 22 years to mature and complete their network of interconnections. Teenage brains and young adult brains are so impressionable that they are like the majority of the characters in George Orwell’s Animal Farm—likely [...]

Magic Marketing Button, MMB

(Examples from the Mini Storage Industry, a Specialty Camera Manufacturer and an Internet e-Commerce Platform, Shopify.com)
If your enterprise cannot connect efficiently and cost effectively with customers and clients, you’re dead. This is the sine qua non of marketing.
It also means that each enterprise (non-profits, charities, for-profits, even NGOs and gov’t departments) needs to have [...]

Creditor Proofing (Part 2)

I have written extensively over the years on this subject*. Creditor proofing is not about hiding assets or income from your spouse or the IRS or CRA, it is about doing smart things early in your career and then later on as well that can pay big dividends for you in terms of being tax [...]

Check Check Check

My Dad, the late Professor OJ Firestone, and I tried to determine which three things were the most important skills for an entrepreneur to master:
- SALES SALES SALES (moi)
- CHECK CHECK CHECK (my Dad).
As I have grown older, I have come to realize they are equally critical: without sales, all organizations will eventually disappear and, [...]

Revenue Sources for Commercial Landlords

Rooftop Solar Takes Off in Ontario
Does this sound like a bad business? A business that hasn’t had a significant new revenue stream since the 1980s? Well, that would be the commercial real estate business.
Here is how it breaks down:
1. In the ‘olden days’, Commercial Landlords received rent, a gross rent.
2. From that they paid—their mortgage, property taxes, [...]

Entrepreneur Sayings

Some Quotes from Prof Bruce and Fellow Travelers to Help Entrepreneurs Along their Way
1. “No one can really save their way to wealth but you can invest your way there,” Prof Bruce.
2. “Entrepreneurs would rather ask for forgiveness than beg for permission,” Anon.
3. “Fall down seven times, get up eight,” Japanese Proverb and part of the successful Entrepreneur’s [...]

What Entrepreneurs can Learn from JJ Abrams’ Reboot of the Star Trek Franchise

JJ Abrams (Director) re-launched Paramount’s Star Trek franchise in 2009 resulting in the highest grossing film in the series. How did he do that and what can entrepreneurs learn from his example?
Here are ten things entrepreneurs can learn from him:
1. One controlling mind is needed. (If you have a partnership, make sure you agree, in advance, [...]

The Value of Education

A Case Study of the Perceived Value of An Architecture Degree, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
I wrote the following article more than ten years ago. At that time, we made an effort to determine the rate of return on tertiary education, namely, the value of an architecture degree from Carleton University. Depending on our assumptions, we [...]

Saving the Children

Recently, I spoke with a young employee of ours who was having a hard time identifying with our mission. She felt alienated in her job.
On the for-profit side, we run real estate and mortgage brokerages and, on the not-for-profit side, we run an organization dedicated to furthering education, research, mentoring, early stage funding and incubating [...]