Author: Mark Zweig

The science of marketing

If there is one common thread among small business owners I have observed over the past 44 years of my career – especially those who aren’t very successful — it…

The art of borrowing

As a small business owner and real estate investor, I regularly talk with my friends who are also into it, and what rates we are paying on various types of…

How entrepreneurs really think

As someone who has been the founder of a half dozen businesses, the co-founder of several others, an owner in a half dozen more, an outside board member in still…

The plain truths

The other day, I thought about what I wanted to say in this last column of the year. And what immediately came to mind was wanting to ask some common…

Interest rate ripples

I’m usually bullish on my outlook for almost everything in Northwest Arkansas. Our area keeps growing, and we continue to outperform the rest of our state and nation regarding job…

Keep the money you make

I have always owned more than one business and have been a minority investor in other privately held companies. My experience is that even if you know how to make…

Profit vs. growth

Eight to 10 years ago, I got a call from a client of our firm who wanted my help setting up an actual board of directors (BOD) for their privately…

How marketing and advertising can save small businesses

Most, if not all, local small businesses in Northwest Arkansas that are struggling or have failed can be attributed to their lack of marketing and advertising efforts, which becomes evident…

Avenues to entrepreneurship

It’s always driven me a little bit batty that the business media and pop culture seem to think entrepreneurship is only about starting businesses. It seems like everyone forgets that…

Food for thought

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law were visiting us from New Mexico recently, and we decided to take them and our two youngest girls to dinner in Fayetteville. While my wife and…

When you see how the media portray entrepreneurship, you would likely think that entrepreneurship is all about idea generation, startups, and the almost-instant raising of equity capital while the founders…

Challenges facing today’s AE firms

I spent my 43-year professional career working in or for architecture and engineering (AE) firms. I have been an owner in four of them, a board member in several more,…

You had best get reengaged with your business, and fast

I went by my friend Burt Hanna’s new candle factory in Fayetteville the other day. Since he was kind enough to read a draft copy of my new book, “Confessions…

A recession doesn’t have to hurt your business

Will we have a recession? Are we already in a recession? I don’t know. I’m not an economist. Even if we have a recession — far from a certainty —…

The language of business

With the current issue of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal focused on accounting and finance — two subjects near and dear to my heart as someone who teaches in a…

Success by 40

Let’s face it. If you can be successful in your field before turning 40, you have a lot of runway left to become even more successful later in life. It’s…

Fine-tune your marketing message

Marketing and promotion are not two strengths that most small businesses can claim. My experience is that most small business owners think most marketing and promotion dollars are dollars wasted,…

Success as an entrepreneurial business owner

I was taking my morning shower the other day. After the shocking realization that my body looks like I swallowed a Thanksgiving Turkey (in its entirety) wore off, I started…

Essential things to understand about working with a bank

I have had several businesses and worked with many banks over the years. I always tried to see my banker as a business partner. We had the same interests. The…

Prepare for the unexpected

Across America, but particularly in Northwest Arkansas, we are in an unprecedented boom period of growth and expansion. Everything looks good. The Northwest Arkansas metro unemployment rate is only 1.5%….