The elegantly designed iPhone cases sold by one New York City startup don’t just raise awareness for prostate cancer. (The deadly disease will afflict one out of six men in their lifetime.) Seven dollars from the purchase of each case, priced at $34.95, will go directly to prostate cancer research, the company website says.
And it doesn’t stop there. CrowdCases connects nonprofit organizations with a community of graphic designers who can submit designs for smartphone cases to benefit the charity. The company has amassed a community of more than 300 designers who work on projects for many other causes.
The company’s website features weekly “design challenges†for iPhone and Samsung Galaxy cases. Other projects have included an anti-bullying campaign and a clean water campaign. A PDF gives non-profit organizations a guide for working with CrowdCases to create design contests of their own.
CrowdCases was the winner of a startup competition for budding entrepreneurs. The startup won first prize in the recent SmartPitch Challenge held by Baruch College. CrowdCases founder Dwight Peters is a junior at the college. He said the contest gives a tremendous leg up to young entrepreneurs.
“I can’t stress enough how valuable the co-working events were,†Peters explained. “Just having a comfortable environment where you can bounce ideas off of other people is so important.â€
Baruch College started the SmartPitch Challenge 11 years ago to encourage entrepreneurship among New York City students.
Instead of a traditional contest, SmartPitch aims to be more of a social community that encourages all of the participants and gives them a way to help one another.
“We want to show them that entrepreneurship isn’t just a one-shot opportunity, it’s more of a growing process,†said Christoph Winkler, assistant professor in entrepreneurship at Baruch College. “So we try to just provide them with a supportive atmosphere where they can get some real feedback and grow their ideas, similar to some of the startup communities around New York City and the rest of the country.â€
It is open to all students at schools in New York City, who can work on their business ideas either individually or in teams. Baruch hosts co-working events around the city so that students can get together to share ideas and support one another. There is also an online message board and social media community for the students to communicate virtually.
In addition, students have access to business mentors such as venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs throughout the challenge.
This year, SmartPitch had more than 80 new business submissions. On June 6, 2013 the college hosted the final event, which is meant to mimic a professional demo day.
Winkler said that some of the student entrepreneurs choose to launch their businesses before the end of the challenge, and others continue to work on them afterward. An official launch isn’t necessary to be considered. The top three individuals or teams received monetary prizes to further their businesses, while the top five teams also won the opportunity to participate in a Virtual Business Incubator.
Runners up included a specialty brand of Greek yogurt and a website that helps users find Kosher food for delivery.
Just like Facebook and Twitter, Google+ offers you the opportunity to create a business page to promote your business, organization or a specific product you have in mind. The Google Plus community is growing in numbers and you can take advantage of a Google Plus page to get your business to a wider audience.
I want to take you through the process of creating a Google Plus page for your business or organization. Just like Facebook, you will need a personal profile on Google Plus to get started. If you don’t have one yet, sign up and create a personal Google Plus profile first. You can only create that business page once your profile has been created.
If you have a Google Plus personal profile, follow these steps to create a new Google Plus business page.
Pick a Category for Your Business
1. Visit Create a business page on Google Plus (or follow “All Your Google Plus Pages†in the pull down under your profile photo) and hit “create a page.†Pick a category for your business. Pick the right category that perfectly describes your business or organization. You can choose from local business or place; product or brand; company, institution or organization; arts, entertainment or sports and other if the specific choices mentioned do not apply to your business.
2. Depending on the main category you select, you will be presented with subcategories that go into greater detail describing what you do. For example, if you selected “local business or place†you would first be asked to provide the country where your business is located and then a primary telephone number. If you selected product or brand, subcategories will include “antiques and collectibles,†“apparel and accessories,†“appliances†etc. Select your subcategory and click next.
Add Basic Information
3. If you have successfully selected the best category for your business, you can then add basic information for your brand, product or business page at the add info page.
Begin by choosing a name for your page and a link to an external website, if you have one.
It’s not a requirement to enter a link to your website but a website with detailed information about what you do can significantly improve the image of your business or product.
Then select the kind of Google Plus user your content is appropriate for. For example, your content may be appropriate for “any Google Plus user,†“users 18 and older,†“users 21 and older†or content that is “alcohol related.â€
The final step on the add info page is to check the “I agree to the Pages Terms and I am authorized to create this page.†Take some time to really check out the Google plus page terms to see their notes on Authority, Access, Content, Data, Contests and Suspension & Termination. Once you take note of the terms of use, click “continue†to customize your page.
Begin Customization
4. Begin customizing your Google Plus by adding a cover and profile photo. Click on the icon in the default profile picture and add a profile picture. Select a profile picture from your computer or photos you have already uploaded on your personal profile. Google allows you to select from images on Picasa if you already have a Picasa account and your preferred image is hosted on the photo sharing service.
5. Use the same procedure to change the cover picture. Cover pictures are larger than profile pictures. If you have an image of your product, company or brand that can promote and enhance your business, the cover photo works best for that purpose.
6. Under story, add the ten words that best describe your business. Choose carefully. This will be your business’s tagline, at least for Google Plus users. Your tagline must be consistent with other taglines you have used for branding purposes on other sites. Finally fill in your contact information including phone, mobile, email, fax, pager, chat and address. Hit “finish†to complete the customization of your page.
7. When you complete the basic information, you can begin using your administration dashboard to manage your new Google Plus page. You can use the “About†section of the dashboard to fill in any additional information about your page and begin building your network.
Under People, you will be able to determine how Google Plus users see your business page. For example, you can group your page fans (once you have them) under customers, following, team members, VIPs. You can also see who has added your new business page to their circles and then follow them back to their pages and follow them in return.
Edit your Story to add an introduction to your page. You should complete the introduction with a description of your business and what you do. Keep in mind important keywords related to your business. You can still make changes to your contact information if you like. You can also add links to other pages that interest you or that are related to your business. Finally, you can add links to your other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
Start Sharing Content
8. Once your Google Plus business page is ready, you can start posting to your page by sharing links, photos and videos just like you do on your personal Google Plus profile or Facebook page. Make your posts interactive and engaging by adding photos, videos or links. And you can share your posts with people in different circles.
To make it easy for your fans to interact and engage on your page, Google has provided navigation tabs just below your Google Plus business page name: About, Posts, Photos, Videos and Reviews. All the tabs are shown to visitors so be sure to upload content to give visitors information and updates when they visit your Google Plus page.
9. If you want to find out who has added your page to their Circles, on the left sidebar click “Circles†under “More.†On the display screen, you can drag your fans into one or more of the four default circles and you can also create your own circle.
To interact and engage with your fans, follow their posts, comment on their status messages, and +1 their updates using your page profile. Share relevant information your fans will find most useful. Do not just promote your products, educate your fans as well.
One of the issues is that most businesses do not understand that their listing at Google is a search result. And that Google gives the business the privilege of adding some trusted data to that listing from either the Places Dashboard or from Google Plus.
Do you have any suggestions for how to improve your Google Plus business page? What have been your experiences with Google Plus for business thus far?
Just like Facebook and Twitter, Google+ offers you the opportunity to create a business page to promote your business, organization or a specific product you have in mind. The Google Plus community is growing in numbers and you can take advantage of a Google Plus page to get your business to a wider audience.
I want to take you through the process of creating a Google Plus page for your business or organization. Just like Facebook, you will need a personal profile on Google Plus to get started. If you don’t have one yet, sign up and create a personal Google Plus profile first. You can only create that business page once your profile has been created.
If you have a Google Plus personal profile, follow these steps to create a new Google Plus business page.
Pick a Category for Your Business
1. Visit Create a business page on Google Plus (or follow “All Your Google Plus Pages†in the pull down under your profile photo) and hit “create a page.†Pick a category for your business. Pick the right category that perfectly describes your business or organization. You can choose from local business or place; product or brand; company, institution or organization; arts, entertainment or sports and other if the specific choices mentioned do not apply to your business.
2. Depending on the main category you select, you will be presented with subcategories that go into greater detail describing what you do. For example, if you selected “local business or place†you would first be asked to provide the country where your business is located and then a primary telephone number. If you selected product or brand, subcategories will include “antiques and collectibles,†“apparel and accessories,†“appliances†etc. Select your subcategory and click next.
Add Basic Information
3. If you have successfully selected the best category for your business, you can then add basic information for your brand, product or business page at the add info page.
Begin by choosing a name for your page and a link to an external website, if you have one.
It’s not a requirement to enter a link to your website but a website with detailed information about what you do can significantly improve the image of your business or product.
Then select the kind of Google Plus user your content is appropriate for. For example, your content may be appropriate for “any Google Plus user,†“users 18 and older,†“users 21 and older†or content that is “alcohol related.â€
The final step on the add info page is to check the “I agree to the Pages Terms and I am authorized to create this page.†Take some time to really check out the Google plus page terms to see their notes on Authority, Access, Content, Data, Contests and Suspension & Termination. Once you take note of the terms of use, click “continue†to customize your page.
Begin Customization
4. Begin customizing your Google Plus by adding a cover and profile photo. Click on the icon in the default profile picture and add a profile picture. Select a profile picture from your computer or photos you have already uploaded on your personal profile. Google allows you to select from images on Picasa if you already have a Picasa account and your preferred image is hosted on the photo sharing service.
5. Use the same procedure to change the cover picture. Cover pictures are larger than profile pictures. If you have an image of your product, company or brand that can promote and enhance your business, the cover photo works best for that purpose.
6. Under story, add the ten words that best describe your business. Choose carefully. This will be your business’s tagline, at least for Google Plus users. Your tagline must be consistent with other taglines you have used for branding purposes on other sites. Finally fill in your contact information including phone, mobile, email, fax, pager, chat and address. Hit “finish†to complete the customization of your page.
7. When you complete the basic information, you can begin using your administration dashboard to manage your new Google Plus page. You can use the “About†section of the dashboard to fill in any additional information about your page and begin building your network.
Under People, you will be able to determine how Google Plus users see your business page. For example, you can group your page fans (once you have them) under customers, following, team members, VIPs. You can also see who has added your new business page to their circles and then follow them back to their pages and follow them in return.
Edit your Story to add an introduction to your page. You should complete the introduction with a description of your business and what you do. Keep in mind important keywords related to your business. You can still make changes to your contact information if you like. You can also add links to other pages that interest you or that are related to your business. Finally, you can add links to your other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
Start Sharing Content
8. Once your Google Plus business page is ready, you can start posting to your page by sharing links, photos and videos just like you do on your personal Google Plus profile or Facebook page. Make your posts interactive and engaging by adding photos, videos or links. And you can share your posts with people in different circles.
To make it easy for your fans to interact and engage on your page, Google has provided navigation tabs just below your Google Plus business page name: About, Posts, Photos, Videos and Reviews. All the tabs are shown to visitors so be sure to upload content to give visitors information and updates when they visit your Google Plus page.
9. If you want to find out who has added your page to their Circles, on the left sidebar click “Circles†under “More.†On the display screen, you can drag your fans into one or more of the four default circles and you can also create your own circle.
To interact and engage with your fans, follow their posts, comment on their status messages, and +1 their updates using your page profile. Share relevant information your fans will find most useful. Do not just promote your products, educate your fans as well.
One of the issues is that most businesses do not understand that their listing at Google is a search result. And that Google gives the business the privilege of adding some trusted data to that listing from either the Places Dashboard or from Google Plus.
Do you have any suggestions for how to improve your Google Plus business page? What have been your experiences with Google Plus for business thus far?
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the average US office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. In 2010, the amount of paper recovered for recycling averaged 334 pounds for each person living in the US, according to the American Forest & Paper Association. While we are making small strides in reducing paper usage, the fact remains that many businesses still rely heavily on paper processes.  Just take a look at your desk right now. Do you see multiple stacks of paper or papers strewn all over the desktop?  Well, if you are looking to reduce your footprint on the planet and all those papers you keep shuffling through, then you’ll want to check out the services taking part in the Paperless 2013 Coalition.
It’ 2013 and technology is playing a major part in changing the way we handle daily business functions. While some may be resistant in embracing these new methods of processing business tasks, the reality is that once you get over the hurdle of implementation and learning, these new processes will make your business much more efficient and save you more time and money than you could have imagined. And fortunately, there are solutions that touch each aspect of our business, from accounting to project management to document storage.
For instance, if you are one of those businesses that is still receiving paper checks as payment to avoid all the fees associated with other payment solutions, take note - there is a better, paperless way of getting paid! Zipmark, a provider of online and mobile payments and a partner in the Paperless 2013 Coalition, offers businesses the ability to collect payments from customers and clients via secure digital eCheck. Unlike other online payment options that have high transaction costs and fees, Zipmark’s transaction fee is only 1% with a $5 cap!  Being that this type of service greatly reduces your payment aging (you can actually receive payment for invoices the next business morning - a fact that I can confirm because I use the service in my small business and I’ve reduced my aging to an average of 3 days with most of my clients!), this is an operational expense that any business can afford! Zipmark has partnered with a number of business soluions including Freshbooks,  Apptivo and, it’s newest partner, WorkingPoint.
“WorkingPoint works with thousands of small businesses that are still stuck receiving paper checks in the mail and so it was a very easy decision on our part to offer Zipmark to our customers,†said Paul Sednaoui, Director of Marketing at WorkingPoint. “Our customers are frustrated with the delays and the hassles of dealing with traditional payments. We decided to integrate Zipmark as a payment option on the invoices our customers create because Zipmark enables our clients to receive funds quickly and for a fraction of the administrative cost of processing paper checks.â€
There are so many other areas of your business that you can make paperless, as well, and here are some of the other services in the Paperless 2013 Coalition that can help:
ServicePal: Schedule. Dispatch. Sign. Deliver. - ServicePal is a simple, flexible way to manage work orders and invoices in the field.
Outright: Online bookkeeping - No more spreadsheets, data entry and piles of paper everywhere.
123 Contact Form: Create professional web forms and surveys as easy as 1-2-3.
You can see all the members, partners and services that have partnered with the Paperless 2013 Coalition here.
So, are you ready to start eliminating paper from your business processes? Have you taken the leap with any processes in your business? If so, share with our community in the comments below. Your successes can help others overcome the fear of change!
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the average US office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. In 2010, the amount of paper recovered for recycling averaged 334 pounds for each person living in the US, according to the American Forest & Paper Association. While we are making small strides in reducing paper usage, the fact remains that many businesses still rely heavily on paper processes.  Just take a look at your desk right now. Do you see multiple stacks of paper or papers strewn all over the desktop?  Well, if you are looking to reduce your footprint on the planet and all those papers you keep shuffling through, then you’ll want to check out the services taking part in the Paperless 2013 Coalition.
It’ 2013 and technology is playing a major part in changing the way we handle daily business functions. While some may be resistant in embracing these new methods of processing business tasks, the reality is that once you get over the hurdle of implementation and learning, these new processes will make your business much more efficient and save you more time and money than you could have imagined. And fortunately, there are solutions that touch each aspect of our business, from accounting to project management to document storage.
For instance, if you are one of those businesses that is still receiving paper checks as payment to avoid all the fees associated with other payment solutions, take note - there is a better, paperless way of getting paid! Zipmark, a provider of online and mobile payments and a partner in the Paperless 2013 Coalition, offers businesses the ability to collect payments from customers and clients via secure digital eCheck. Unlike other online payment options that have high transaction costs and fees, Zipmark’s transaction fee is only 1% with a $5 cap!  Being that this type of service greatly reduces your payment aging (you can actually receive payment for invoices the next business morning - a fact that I can confirm because I use the service in my small business and I’ve reduced my aging to an average of 3 days with most of my clients!), this is an operational expense that any business can afford! Zipmark has partnered with a number of business soluions including Freshbooks,  Apptivo and, it’s newest partner, WorkingPoint.
“WorkingPoint works with thousands of small businesses that are still stuck receiving paper checks in the mail and so it was a very easy decision on our part to offer Zipmark to our customers,†said Paul Sednaoui, Director of Marketing at WorkingPoint. “Our customers are frustrated with the delays and the hassles of dealing with traditional payments. We decided to integrate Zipmark as a payment option on the invoices our customers create because Zipmark enables our clients to receive funds quickly and for a fraction of the administrative cost of processing paper checks.â€
There are so many other areas of your business that you can make paperless, as well, and here are some of the other services in the Paperless 2013 Coalition that can help:
ServicePal: Schedule. Dispatch. Sign. Deliver. - ServicePal is a simple, flexible way to manage work orders and invoices in the field.
Outright: Online bookkeeping - No more spreadsheets, data entry and piles of paper everywhere.
123 Contact Form: Create professional web forms and surveys as easy as 1-2-3.
You can see all the members, partners and services that have partnered with the Paperless 2013 Coalition here.
So, are you ready to start eliminating paper from your business processes? Have you taken the leap with any processes in your business? If so, share with our community in the comments below. Your successes can help others overcome the fear of change!
It seems every day you see more businesses adopting the subscription model that Netflix made famous. For example, instead of buying a car, you can pay a monthly fee to ZipCar and use one when you need it.  And as more people get comfortable with subscribing to products instead of buying them, nimble startups and entrepreneurs have more opportunities to create unique businesses that fit the lifestyles of today’s customer.
The Tie Society is one of those startups leveraging the subscription model to change the way people get ties. Co-founder and CEO Zac Gittins and CMO Jake Kuczeruk, joined me to share their experiences in getting people to give up on buying ties and subscribe to a tie-sharing service/community.
* * * * *
Small Business Trends: Can you tell us a little bit about your personal backgrounds?
Zac Gittins (pictured left): I grew up in Washington, D.C. and ended up going to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Main. Â From there, I got hired at IBM. I graduated with a major in economics and computer science. IBM was kind of a perfect following and a career move for me.
I probably borrowed a couple of ties from my dad on my first day. Then, once I got my first pay check and bonus, bought a bunch of ties and suits. But after a while, everyone at your office has seen all of the ties you own. If you want to expand your professional wardrobe, you need to buy more ties or shirts.
I realized this was a problem that not only I was experiencing, but a whole group of my friends were experiencing it too. It got to the point where we actually all started meeting up on weekends and exchanging ties. From there, we realized that there was something there. Eventually, that led to Tie Society.
Jake Kuczeruk (pictured right): I went to Indiana University. After that, I worked at commercial real estate for a little while and I was in suits and ties Monday through Friday. After that, I ended up having the opportunity to move out to San Francisco Bay Area to join a startup company. After that wrapped up, I ended up working as an account manager for a little while. So I got back into that suit and tie Monday through Friday again, then ended up at the Tie Society after meeting Zack in an elevator at the 500 Startups and got started talking ties.
Small Business Trends: I think I might have read somewhere where you call yourselves the “Netflix For Ties?â€
Zac Gittins:Â Yes, that is exactly what we are trying to build the concept around. We like to think of it more as an online closet. Imagine, if you had this website where you go, just click clothing items and then a few days later they show up at your door. That is what we are building.
Small Business Trends:Â Why do you think this is the way to go today compared to the more traditional way of selling ties?
Jake Kuczeruk: Honestly, the best way to look at it is the Blockbuster example. People aren’t going out there buying DVDs anymore, because it just didn’t make any financial sense. Ties enjoy one of the most healthy markups of any menswear item hands down. I mean, there are ties that you pay a couple hundred dollars for that cost manufacturers just a small faction of the overall cost.
Anybody who enjoys a good value can see the benefit of the Tie Society. You can either pay $20/month to buy one single decent quality tie, or you can spend that same $20 on one of our plans and end up with 12 to 15 different ties per month. You can have a fresh item every single day of the week.
It just does not make any financial sense to buy ties ever again.
Small Business Trends:Â Have customers quickly adapted to this model?
Zac Gittins: There was a bit of a learning curve. I think it is one of those concepts that, when you first hear about it you’re like, ‘Oh, that sounds interesting.’  Then a day or so later, you’re like, ‘Wait, what, really?’ And then you actually experience it and it hits you, ‘Wow this is amazing!’
So for a lot of our customers, I think at first they are like, ‘Wait, can I really wear this and send it back and get something else I don’t have to pay a return fee on? I don’t have to pay for any shipping? How is this possible?’
We are working on making that a more seamless, understandable experience. But that is exactly how we operate and our customers have really appreciated it.
Jake Kuczeruk: We take tons of extra steps to really ensure that we can provide a level of online support that you’ll not find in a physical store, like at Nordstrom’s for instance. We provide free 100% percent style advice to all of our customers.
I have guys that I speak with on a weekly basis, who literally send me pictures if they are at the store and ask, ‘Hey, I am going to buy this suit. Can you recommend a few ties for it so I can put it in my cue when I get home?’
We try to take that extra step, we also try to replicate some of the in-store experiences as we will be launching a virtual free try on very shortly on our site as well.
Small Business Trends:Â We know that customer satisfaction is important, but how do you measure how this model is working for you?
Zac Gittins:Â We use a couple of metrics that we track about how happy customers are. A lot of that is on shipping volume. How many packages we ship in a given month and on a given week. If we know customers are actively using the system, that tells us that they are generally happy and fully engaged with what we are doing.
We also track the amount of time that people spend on our website and what ties they are picking. We can spend an entire call talking about analytics that we are rapidly collecting on all of our customers to really help us keep our finger on the pulse of our system. But for Jake and me, I really have to say it’s the customers’ feedback and the engagement we get from them.
Like Jake said, any time a guy, one of our members, calls us and asks us what he should wear with one of the items that we have on our site that tells us it is working. That tells us that we are really connecting with these people.
As far as our company, mainly Ties Society, the Society part was not an accident. That’s really what we are trying to build. We are chasing that online closet concept, but we are also trying to build a membership group for guys who really care about their appearance.
Small Business Trends: Â It sounds like the key to your business is getting traffic to the site; getting eyeballs to the site, letting people see what you have available and then getting them signed up. How do you go about driving that kind of interest from a marketing perspective? What role does social media play in helping you do that?
Jake Kuczeruk:Â Social media definitely is part of what we do. We sponsor and endorse an MLS player, a Houston Dynamo player, Mike Chabala. He is actually part of our team of endorsed athletes and public speakers. Guys from around the country who wear ties everyday but come from different walks of life, have different careers and different focuses. He was a guy we engaged on Twitter and it is definitely social. It is very valuable.
We do create an opportunity to get in touch with our members and really hear their needs and their concerns directly. We even have members submitting pictures of themselves wearing different outfits with each tie to help other members decide what looks best.
Small Business Trends:Â I want to hear more about the 3D thing you mentioned.
Jake Kuczeruk:Â Basically, we got in touch with a company and what they do is provide this new technology that literally maps the human torso and allows you to swap different shirts with different ties. So you basically have the understanding before you rent an item from us as to how it is going to look with the items in your own closet.
Small Business Trends:Â Zac, where can people learn more about what you guys are up to and where can they go and get a subscription?
Zac Gittins:Â People can go to Tie Society. Â We are also active on any social platform that you can think of, thanks to Jake. Facebook and Twitter are great places if you want to talk to Jake directly. You can always reach him there. We are both active there. If you are looking for inspiration on how to dress well, we also are active on Pinterest, Instagram and several other websites.
Jake Kuczeruk:Â If anybody would like to shoot me an email, jake@tiesociety.com. I will be sure to hook you up with a discount or a free one month trial of our service.
Small Business Trends: That is great and I am glad you mentioned Pinterest and Instagram. I would assume that in your line of business, that’s got to be pretty big.
Jake Kuczeruk:Â It is absolutely huge for menswear to be active on Pinterest. Actually, it is something we make an effort to update everyday and we have been rewarded with over twenty million impressions alone.
This interview on the subscription based business model is part of the One on One interview series with thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This transcript has been edited for publication. Â
It seems every day you see more businesses adopting the subscription model that Netflix made famous. For example, instead of buying a car, you can pay a monthly fee to ZipCar and use one when you need it.  And as more people get comfortable with subscribing to products instead of buying them, nimble startups and entrepreneurs have more opportunities to create unique businesses that fit the lifestyles of today’s customer.
The Tie Society is one of those startups leveraging the subscription model to change the way people get ties. Co-founder and CEO Zac Gittins and CMO Jake Kuczeruk, joined me to share their experiences in getting people to give up on buying ties and subscribe to a tie-sharing service/community.
* * * * *
Small Business Trends: Can you tell us a little bit about your personal backgrounds?
Zac Gittins (pictured left): I grew up in Washington, D.C. and ended up going to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Main. Â From there, I got hired at IBM. I graduated with a major in economics and computer science. IBM was kind of a perfect following and a career move for me.
I probably borrowed a couple of ties from my dad on my first day. Then, once I got my first pay check and bonus, bought a bunch of ties and suits. But after a while, everyone at your office has seen all of the ties you own. If you want to expand your professional wardrobe, you need to buy more ties or shirts.
I realized this was a problem that not only I was experiencing, but a whole group of my friends were experiencing it too. It got to the point where we actually all started meeting up on weekends and exchanging ties. From there, we realized that there was something there. Eventually, that led to Tie Society.
Jake Kuczeruk (pictured right): I went to Indiana University. After that, I worked at commercial real estate for a little while and I was in suits and ties Monday through Friday. After that, I ended up having the opportunity to move out to San Francisco Bay Area to join a startup company. After that wrapped up, I ended up working as an account manager for a little while. So I got back into that suit and tie Monday through Friday again, then ended up at the Tie Society after meeting Zack in an elevator at the 500 Startups and got started talking ties.
Small Business Trends: I think I might have read somewhere where you call yourselves the “Netflix For Ties?â€
Zac Gittins:Â Yes, that is exactly what we are trying to build the concept around. We like to think of it more as an online closet. Imagine, if you had this website where you go, just click clothing items and then a few days later they show up at your door. That is what we are building.
Small Business Trends:Â Why do you think this is the way to go today compared to the more traditional way of selling ties?
Jake Kuczeruk: Honestly, the best way to look at it is the Blockbuster example. People aren’t going out there buying DVDs anymore, because it just didn’t make any financial sense. Ties enjoy one of the most healthy markups of any menswear item hands down. I mean, there are ties that you pay a couple hundred dollars for that cost manufacturers just a small faction of the overall cost.
Anybody who enjoys a good value can see the benefit of the Tie Society. You can either pay $20/month to buy one single decent quality tie, or you can spend that same $20 on one of our plans and end up with 12 to 15 different ties per month. You can have a fresh item every single day of the week.
It just does not make any financial sense to buy ties ever again.
Small Business Trends:Â Have customers quickly adapted to this model?
Zac Gittins: There was a bit of a learning curve. I think it is one of those concepts that, when you first hear about it you’re like, ‘Oh, that sounds interesting.’  Then a day or so later, you’re like, ‘Wait, what, really?’ And then you actually experience it and it hits you, ‘Wow this is amazing!’
So for a lot of our customers, I think at first they are like, ‘Wait, can I really wear this and send it back and get something else I don’t have to pay a return fee on? I don’t have to pay for any shipping? How is this possible?’
We are working on making that a more seamless, understandable experience. But that is exactly how we operate and our customers have really appreciated it.
Jake Kuczeruk: We take tons of extra steps to really ensure that we can provide a level of online support that you’ll not find in a physical store, like at Nordstrom’s for instance. We provide free 100% percent style advice to all of our customers.
I have guys that I speak with on a weekly basis, who literally send me pictures if they are at the store and ask, ‘Hey, I am going to buy this suit. Can you recommend a few ties for it so I can put it in my cue when I get home?’
We try to take that extra step, we also try to replicate some of the in-store experiences as we will be launching a virtual free try on very shortly on our site as well.
Small Business Trends:Â We know that customer satisfaction is important, but how do you measure how this model is working for you?
Zac Gittins:Â We use a couple of metrics that we track about how happy customers are. A lot of that is on shipping volume. How many packages we ship in a given month and on a given week. If we know customers are actively using the system, that tells us that they are generally happy and fully engaged with what we are doing.
We also track the amount of time that people spend on our website and what ties they are picking. We can spend an entire call talking about analytics that we are rapidly collecting on all of our customers to really help us keep our finger on the pulse of our system. But for Jake and me, I really have to say it’s the customers’ feedback and the engagement we get from them.
Like Jake said, any time a guy, one of our members, calls us and asks us what he should wear with one of the items that we have on our site that tells us it is working. That tells us that we are really connecting with these people.
As far as our company, mainly Ties Society, the Society part was not an accident. That’s really what we are trying to build. We are chasing that online closet concept, but we are also trying to build a membership group for guys who really care about their appearance.
Small Business Trends: Â It sounds like the key to your business is getting traffic to the site; getting eyeballs to the site, letting people see what you have available and then getting them signed up. How do you go about driving that kind of interest from a marketing perspective? What role does social media play in helping you do that?
Jake Kuczeruk:Â Social media definitely is part of what we do. We sponsor and endorse an MLS player, a Houston Dynamo player, Mike Chabala. He is actually part of our team of endorsed athletes and public speakers. Guys from around the country who wear ties everyday but come from different walks of life, have different careers and different focuses. He was a guy we engaged on Twitter and it is definitely social. It is very valuable.
We do create an opportunity to get in touch with our members and really hear their needs and their concerns directly. We even have members submitting pictures of themselves wearing different outfits with each tie to help other members decide what looks best.
Small Business Trends:Â I want to hear more about the 3D thing you mentioned.
Jake Kuczeruk:Â Basically, we got in touch with a company and what they do is provide this new technology that literally maps the human torso and allows you to swap different shirts with different ties. So you basically have the understanding before you rent an item from us as to how it is going to look with the items in your own closet.
Small Business Trends:Â Zac, where can people learn more about what you guys are up to and where can they go and get a subscription?
Zac Gittins:Â People can go to Tie Society. Â We are also active on any social platform that you can think of, thanks to Jake. Facebook and Twitter are great places if you want to talk to Jake directly. You can always reach him there. We are both active there. If you are looking for inspiration on how to dress well, we also are active on Pinterest, Instagram and several other websites.
Jake Kuczeruk:Â If anybody would like to shoot me an email, jake@tiesociety.com. I will be sure to hook you up with a discount or a free one month trial of our service.
Small Business Trends: That is great and I am glad you mentioned Pinterest and Instagram. I would assume that in your line of business, that’s got to be pretty big.
Jake Kuczeruk:Â It is absolutely huge for menswear to be active on Pinterest. Actually, it is something we make an effort to update everyday and we have been rewarded with over twenty million impressions alone.
This interview on the subscription based business model is part of the One on One interview series with thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This transcript has been edited for publication. Â
HR models that deem suitability of applicants need to be more flexible to ensure that the best people are not excluded.
Speaking at the SC Magazine Total Security Conference, Stephanie Daman, CEO of the Cyber Security Challenge said that there is a danger of a ‘lost generation' particularly among those who do not have qualifications but proven skills.
She said: “What we can do is provide ways to translate skills to industry, as a lot of people do not have qualifications, so we can push through courses, or look at apprenticeships or internships to help meet the talented people.
“When you have got an individual with proven skill, who does not have three A-levels, then you have got a real problem. HR has one view of shape of person and people of that shape may not be best person to do cyber security. We need to look at HR, as some applicants are good and others need to look at how to get people with talent in even if they do not fit the profile. Engaging with HR may be simplest way to overcome this.â€
Daman highlighted statistics from e-skills which showed that 90 per cent of companies had difficulty recruiting in this space space, while IET statistics from April 2013 found that only 14 per cent of small to medium enterprises had sufficient talent to meet the gap. “Our sponsors say they cannot find people - they will read 300 CVs and only four will be relevant, so there firmly is a cyber security skills shortage,†she said.
“To me it is pretty fundamental; everything is online and everything is linking to the internet and entire prosperity, and if we don't have right people, we are risking all of that.â€
Daman said that the root of the problem is on two areas: the first is the ‘lost generation' who were not taught proper skills in schools; while the second is whether schools are teaching correctly?
“If we were more focused on schools we could have acted and this has been raised and the government is replying, so there is hope for the future and these kids will not be a lost generation and will see something worth pursuing,†she said.
Certifications and standards should achieve an approved standard, as we are in danger of polluting the industry.
Speaking at the SC Magazine Total Security Conference, Professor Ted Humphreys asked if there were too many standards and whether users were confused on what to select and who produces them.
He said: “There are not just standards for things, but a framework to make information security a profession. We have started to look at a new project on certifications of people that act as information security professionals at the ISO level, be they consultants or auditors. We need to determine what are the competency requirements on skills and knowledge, starting with organisations involved in different countries.â€
Ian Glover, chairman of Crest, said that there is a risk of commoditisation with standards, and while compliance aspects can be good, we also need to look at the quality of auditors to make sure that they are qualified.
He said: “You can ride a horse and carriage through some technical controls, but have they met minimum standards? With less than 1,000 hours training an auditor can come in and audit and that meets the minimum standards to be an auditor; they have to have experience and capability and we should not lower the bar to someone who wants to stay in the profession.â€
Commenting, Andy Smith from the British Computer Society, said that while ISO 27001 has become the defacto standard not just in UK, but elsewhere, the reason it has taken eight years for a new standard to be launched ‘is because it is too good and we don't want to change it when so much effort has gone into it'.
Humphreys said that the ISO board has 150 standards created by five working groups, while roadmaps say how they relate. Glover commented that if we want to be viewed as a professionals saying we have got years of experience, then we have got to mirror things with codes of conduct and career development.
In a separate presentation, Adam Thilthorpe, director for professionalism at the British Computer Society, said that as IT security is ubiquitous and should be underpinned by standards and people who are capable of doing what they do.
He said: “There are deep dive people in IT assurance, but the level of knowledge needs to go up, so don't hire people who are not good. We need to look at deep dive and have knowledge about what is important and that is why we come in with standards and professionalisation and with CPD and horizon scan.
“Understanding an organisation's attitude to risk and where you are as a professional is important, but we have a broad but shallow range of competency. We have a huge opportunity in this industry and the reason we don't have people breaking down our door is because we have a PR problem.â€
The Lotus F1 team has selected technology from Juniper Networks to secure and enable local area networks (LAN) both in the UK headquarters and on the world's grand prix circuits.
Seeking a secure and robust network that enables the transfer and analysis of large quantities of data at high speed, Lotus F1 chief information officer Graeme Hackland told SC Magazine that having surveyed options he felt that Juniper's offering was the most innovative and worked with its existing infrastructure.
He said: “They offer end-to-end scalability with what we do, and it also secures the network layer so we'll have a better view of business applications and solutions we offer, not just here but also at the track.â€
Hackland explained that seeking a refresh of its technology, he wanted to include security in what they took on. After trialling it with the race team, it needed to be secure and robust as well be able to be taken apart three hours after the race ends.
“We opted for Juniper's Pulse offering for remote access as we use Symantec's VIP and this gives everyone a solution that is simplified and meets the level of security we have got,†he said.
In a typical lap, each car generates and logs in excess of 15 MB of data, just under 1,000 statistics per lap are calculated and presented back to race engineers and each race weekend generates in excess of 50GB of data. In 2012 Lotus F1 Team moved more than 4.5TB of data across the world.
Hackland said that these statistics will only increase as the size of black boxes increase under new regulations, which allows up to eight times the amount of data to be collected. “We take most of the data at the pit, so we create a LAN at the circuit which is set up on cables, while the Juniper wireless infrastructure allows us to the configuration on the data,†he said. “You have to make sure it is secure as your competitors are three metres away!â€
Sean Dolan, senior vice president, EMEA at Juniper Networks, said: “Grand prix racing is literally a fast-moving enterprise, with a highly-competitive, success-driven culture. Trackside conditions are particularly challenging, with heat, dust, vibration and the need to build and tear down a reliable, secure network infrastructure quickly in a new location every couple of weeks or so.
“We are very excited by the prospect of Juniper's technology operating in this environment and playing a part in Lotus F1 Team's 2013 campaign and beyond.â€
What’s the most important piece of technology (software or hardware) a new entrepreneur can invest in early and why?
The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.
1. Rapportive
Rapportive is a free browser extension that enables you to find the person behind any email address in Gmail, including their full name, title, social profiles and more. This is an extremely valuable tool in the early days of your company as you’re seeking out new partnership contacts, business development deals, potential customers and all sorts of people.
Many startups make the mistake of creating a website or blog without setting up basic tracking mechanisms to see how customers are interacting with their sites. You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Even if you don’t have the resources today to analyze and act on the data, you should start collecting it from day one so you can use the data down the road. And Google Analytics is free!
If you are a technology entrepreneur and you aren’t using AWS, you are probably wasting a lot of valuable time and money. I would personally recommend using its services like OpsWorks, which makes setting up Web environments very, very easy! Also, be sure to look at how well its services can work together and which ones work best for your business.
If you are like me, there are a million projects, tasks and even companies floating around in your mind, inbox and desktop. You need to keep them organized and on task. Track them with a project management system. I personally use Basecamp for my personal projects, as well as within my company. I highly recommend trying a few to find the one that fits your style the best.
5. Any Software or Hardware That Can Boost Efficiency
Any software or hardware that is going to boost you or your team’s efficiency should be an investment. If a piece of software can give you a 10 percent efficiency bump every week, then that’s an extra four to eight hours you can work on something else that’s useful for your business.
This may seem like a simple tip, but having a reliable, easy-to-transport, FAST computer is one of those things that will save you lots of headaches. When I first started, I went for the most basic, cost-effective model I could find. As a result, having lots of windows/tabs/programs open at once would cause the computer (and therefore me) to slow down. Not worth it!
A VoIP phone system and salesforce.com CRM are great examples. I know someone who used a VoIP phone system to start looking at the metrics of how many calls his sales team was making and comparing it with how many leads came in versus how many closed for each individual. He was happy to see that low call volumes and the average time spent on the phone directly correlated to the close ratio of leads to a sale.
We’ve all read “The Lean Startup†â€" pivoting and agile development is a necessary part of the journey. At the core, JIRA is a bug-tracking and workflow engine that comprehensively allows development productivity.
They always say it’s a good problem to have when your servers go down â€" it means you’re getting a lot of traffic. Well, yes sure â€" but no, because it hurts your brand and reputation. Monitor the activity of your servers, and see what you need to optimize to be online 100 percent of the time. Check out services like New Relic, CloudFlare, etc.
Once you have the basics â€" smartphone, computer, etc. â€" I’d invest in email marketing software. Everyone needs a “warehouse†to store contacts, users, leads, etc. to have a way to communicate with them in the future. Remember: not everyone who comes to your site is ready to buy what you’re selling today. Having a channel to reach them in the future is essential.
What’s the most important piece of technology (software or hardware) a new entrepreneur can invest in early and why?
The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.
1. Rapportive
Rapportive is a free browser extension that enables you to find the person behind any email address in Gmail, including their full name, title, social profiles and more. This is an extremely valuable tool in the early days of your company as you’re seeking out new partnership contacts, business development deals, potential customers and all sorts of people.
Many startups make the mistake of creating a website or blog without setting up basic tracking mechanisms to see how customers are interacting with their sites. You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Even if you don’t have the resources today to analyze and act on the data, you should start collecting it from day one so you can use the data down the road. And Google Analytics is free!
If you are a technology entrepreneur and you aren’t using AWS, you are probably wasting a lot of valuable time and money. I would personally recommend using its services like OpsWorks, which makes setting up Web environments very, very easy! Also, be sure to look at how well its services can work together and which ones work best for your business.
If you are like me, there are a million projects, tasks and even companies floating around in your mind, inbox and desktop. You need to keep them organized and on task. Track them with a project management system. I personally use Basecamp for my personal projects, as well as within my company. I highly recommend trying a few to find the one that fits your style the best.
5. Any Software or Hardware That Can Boost Efficiency
Any software or hardware that is going to boost you or your team’s efficiency should be an investment. If a piece of software can give you a 10 percent efficiency bump every week, then that’s an extra four to eight hours you can work on something else that’s useful for your business.
This may seem like a simple tip, but having a reliable, easy-to-transport, FAST computer is one of those things that will save you lots of headaches. When I first started, I went for the most basic, cost-effective model I could find. As a result, having lots of windows/tabs/programs open at once would cause the computer (and therefore me) to slow down. Not worth it!
A VoIP phone system and salesforce.com CRM are great examples. I know someone who used a VoIP phone system to start looking at the metrics of how many calls his sales team was making and comparing it with how many leads came in versus how many closed for each individual. He was happy to see that low call volumes and the average time spent on the phone directly correlated to the close ratio of leads to a sale.
We’ve all read “The Lean Startup†â€" pivoting and agile development is a necessary part of the journey. At the core, JIRA is a bug-tracking and workflow engine that comprehensively allows development productivity.
They always say it’s a good problem to have when your servers go down â€" it means you’re getting a lot of traffic. Well, yes sure â€" but no, because it hurts your brand and reputation. Monitor the activity of your servers, and see what you need to optimize to be online 100 percent of the time. Check out services like New Relic, CloudFlare, etc.
Once you have the basics â€" smartphone, computer, etc. â€" I’d invest in email marketing software. Everyone needs a “warehouse†to store contacts, users, leads, etc. to have a way to communicate with them in the future. Remember: not everyone who comes to your site is ready to buy what you’re selling today. Having a channel to reach them in the future is essential.
When I’m writing cartoons, I often write down interesting words or phrases on a pad of paper as I go. Then I leave that paper around for a few days and see if I can come up with ideas based off of those snippets.
That’s how this cartoon came about. At the top of the page I’d written “speculation,†and toward the bottom I’d later scrawled “detailed analysis.â€
It took a day or two to see them combined and to figure out a good middle option, but it’s a good reminder that sometimes just letting things sit can be just what a problem needs.
When I’m writing cartoons, I often write down interesting words or phrases on a pad of paper as I go. Then I leave that paper around for a few days and see if I can come up with ideas based off of those snippets.
That’s how this cartoon came about. At the top of the page I’d written “speculation,†and toward the bottom I’d later scrawled “detailed analysis.â€
It took a day or two to see them combined and to figure out a good middle option, but it’s a good reminder that sometimes just letting things sit can be just what a problem needs.
HR models that deem suitability of applicants need to be more flexible to ensure that the best people are not excluded.
Speaking at the SC Magazine Total Security Conference, Stephanie Daman, CEO of the Cyber Security Challenge said that there is a danger of a ‘lost generation' particularly among those who do not have qualifications but proven skills.
She said: “What we can do is provide ways to translate skills to industry, as a lot of people do not have qualifications, so we can push through courses, or look at apprenticeships or internships to help meet the talented people.
“When you have got an individual with proven skill, who does not have three A-levels, then you have got a real problem. HR has one view of shape of person and people of that shape may not be best person to do cyber security. We need to look at HR, as some applicants are good and others need to look at how to get people with talent in even if they do not fit the profile. Engaging with HR may be simplest way to overcome this.â€
Daman highlighted statistics from e-skills which showed that 90 per cent of companies had difficulty recruiting in this space space, while IET statistics from April 2013 found that only 14 per cent of small to medium enterprises had sufficient talent to meet the gap. “Our sponsors say they cannot find people - they will read 300 CVs and only four will be relevant, so there firmly is a cyber security skills shortage,†she said.
“To me it is pretty fundamental; everything is online and everything is linking to the internet and entire prosperity, and if we don't have right people, we are risking all of that.â€
Daman said that the root of the problem is on two areas: the first is the ‘lost generation' who were not taught proper skills in schools; while the second is whether schools are teaching correctly?
“If we were more focused on schools we could have acted and this has been raised and the government is replying, so there is hope for the future and these kids will not be a lost generation and will see something worth pursuing,†she said.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the average US office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. In 2010, the amount of paper recovered for recycling averaged 334 pounds for each person living in the US, according to the American Forest & Paper Association. While we are making small strides in reducing paper usage, the fact remains that many businesses still rely heavily on paper processes.  Just take a look at your desk right now. Do you see multiple stacks of paper or papers strewn all over the desktop?  Well, if you are looking to reduce your footprint on the planet and all those papers you keep shuffling through, then you’ll want to check out the services taking part in the 
Small Business Trends: Can you tell us a little bit about your personal backgrounds?
What’s the most important piece of technology (software or hardware) a new entrepreneur can invest in early and why?
