A Quest for the Perfect Office ChairIn my quest for the perfect office chair, I embarked on a journey filled with memories, challenges, and discoveries. This search wasn't just about finding a piece of furniture; it was about rediscovering the essence of quality I've valued since my early days in post-communist Romania.Early Business Ventures in RomaniaIn the early 1990s, when Romania was moving from communism to capitalism, I started my first major business. Before this, my business attempts were small and showed the creativity needed under communism's strict rules. I made things like Christmas cards, jewellery for Women's Day, puppets, and other simple items at home. These efforts showed h

As our lives business gets busier and busier, we may feel like there are more and more "leaks" - things we should do but delay or ignore simply because there is not enough time in the day to properly focus on them. I think it is a feeling most of entrepreneurs have - unless they're the fortunate ones that are born with a knack to juggle all the challenges of starting, building and growing a business. Which, are not many, in my humble opinion. But the biggest challenge of all is to be able to be effective whenever we find the time to focus on a particular problem. Being able to fully participate in a meeting and ignore the distractions, or being able to spend ten minutes to find a strategic a

Don't just think about it. Delegate! We keep talking about working ON the business versus IN - everyone has an opinion, advice or at least a comment to make. But at the end of the day, it is what we DO, not what we TALK, that matters, and this is where I keep seeing bottlenecks and failures happening. Let me explain: I see business leaders and consultants making mistakes in delegating more, but I am shocked by the number of dangerous situations many entrepreneurs get into because of a common failure to understand how complex technology has become. Yes, technology and automation are supposed to make things faster and more accessible, and this is something technology does deliver, no doubt abo

If you search the Internet for information about how to come up with a good and effective newsletter, you'll probably be mindblown by the number of articles found. Advice aplenty, left and right, about making it valuable, adding compelling calls to action, etc. But - at least in my 5-minute quick search - I could not find something relatable about how to make sure you can produce regular newsletters that matter to your audience, and you make sure it happens consistently and in line with your brand message and value proposition. You see, being an entrepreneur means you must find ways to instil your ideas and quality control into the team working with you. That's not always an easy task, espec

FREE ...As in free speech! I hold a firm conviction that FOSS (Free, Open Source Software) is a much better solution in the long term for almost any business. But first, I'd like to remi d you of a statement the FOSS community has made and has been ignored by many repeatedly: FOSS is free, as in free speech, not as in free beer, meaning it is free and you can also SEE how it works, and in most cases modify it to suit your particular purpose AND redistribute it. Which means it has a different use and purpose. It is free, yet it can still cost you. Sometimes, it will be quite a hefty budget. FOSS does not mean there is NO COST associated with it. FOSS means there is no licensing cost to instal

As ViBuNe’s audience is in principle small and medium businesses it is possible that the Project Management Office (PMO) concept may be useful although unknown to them and requires a bit of introduction. The Project Management Institute (PMI) has introduced the PMO concept in 2000 referring to Project management processes. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide defines the PMO as “an organizational body or entity assigned various responsibilities related to the centralized and coordinated management of those projects under its domain. The responsibilities of a PMO can range from providing project management support functions to actually being responsible for the direct manage

To begin with, let me say this: you cannot expect to be a relevant member of any community unless you participate. By success, I don't refer to what modern society is promoting - extreme wealth and celebrity status, but rather the measure of appreciation and respect from the community because of the actual value of our services, commercial or not. Being successful in the Vibune community and perhaps in any other social environment is a combination of image, participation and engagement that allows others to see what we stand for and potentially relate enough to accept us as a provider of some value. Image The first step is to make sure you have a profile that can stand out - without exaggera

Consistency is key As you probably know, consistency is many times the key to success. When it comes to your online presence, which everyone knows can drive a business' marketing and sales revenue, it is essential to consider having a schedule of publishing activities. From blog posts (a perfect tool to introduce your prospects into your marketing and sales funnel) to social media posts, having a schedule means you can be consistent, irrespective of who does the publishing - yourself, a member of your team or a hired gun. What's needed To create such a publishing plan, you will need: A good list of topics to publish about (evidently, derived from your business or product/service value propos