Although this is just 1% of all the Starbucks, I panicked for a moment, thinking my favorite other office and meeting/conference room might be gone.  Well, with more than 12,000 other stores, I am sure it won’t be hard to find one.

But it got me thinking, if you work out of a home office, where do you conduct business? I really don’t like having people in my home, so I always meet them out.   And sometimes, when I just need a change of scenery, I grab my laptop and go to a coffee house to work.

How about you?

Post from: EveryJoe

Oh no! My office is closing.

Please check the links on the sidebar to read the past Carnivals. There’s a lot of content, but hopefully my summaries help you pinpoint what’s of particular interest to you; and then you can go beyond that, broaden your horizons and check out some other posts too.

Every post submitted (barring those that were really not a fit) is included, but I have highlighted some of my favorites. Also, I only accept 1 post per submitter, so if you submitted more than one I took the first one that made sense. Finally, if possible, I’d prefer more recent content be submitted, from the last couple of weeks or so; it keeps things fresher!

Don’t forget to help me promote the Carnival! Whether you’ve submitted posts or you’re just checking it out, blog about the Carnival and help these great bloggers get more recognition and traffic.

My Carnival Highlights

• Emmanuel Olawutosin takes aim at people interested in starting a business with his post How To Start Your Business in 2007. Emmanuel’s post is highlighted today for its sheer enthusiasm and “in your face” approach. You can’t help but get a bit inspired by this fellow.
• Vihar Sheth provides an inspirational story at Turn On Your Love Light. It’s about an Indian company that sells solar-powered headlamps, many of which go to rose pickers (who don’t make a lot of money.) The result has been more productivity and success for everyone. With my bent towards social entrepreneurship I’m glad this post was submitted.
• Charles H. Green recommends that you always stay curious and have a list of 20 questions ready to ask prospects or customers. Really it’s about lowering self-orientation; which is your own focus on you.
• Jon presents Pipeline-Profits: Tempted? If so You Aren’t Ready to Be Rich! Jon takes aim at Internet marketing scams and get-rich quick schemes. Plus he says, “The big fat problem with get money quick for little or no effort is that you don’t really want money. No-one does.” Say what now? We don’t want money. Better read on…

Entrepreneurial Inspiration

• David Maister entertains us with his friend’s thoughts on James Brown. It’s always amusing to see what parallels people can draw to entrepreneurship and work. I do it all the time in my own thinking about what to write; drawing those connections is a great way to tell a story, and David’s friend does an excellent job.
• Tim King wins the award for finding parallels in his analysis of the movie Chocolat. The title of his post is awesome: What Chocolate Says About Entrepreneurship. If that doesn’t make you want to read it, nothing will. The post is long and extremely detailed, but go have some fun with Tim and his analysis.
• Adeolu Akinyemi has some good advice on making transitions in your life. If there’s a common theme amongst entrepreneurs it’s change and transition.
• Patricia has 10 steps for breaking bad habits or starting new ones. We’ve all got bad habits. We all want to create new, positive habits. Patricia just provided us with the roadmap.
• Jack Yoest asks What’s the Best Predictor of Successful Leadership? I won’t give away the answer, go check out Jack’s post.

Business Advice Galore

• Wayne Hulbert has some straightforward advice on how to get more customer referrals. The crux of Wayne’s suggestion is that you put a customer and staff referral system in place.
• Matthew Paulson presents a rather scathing review of the book Why We Want You To Be Rich by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki. Matthew isn’t impressed with much, saying the book is a rehash of old messages and in some cases flat out wrong.
• Jeff Burkey presents Against All Odds, which is his quick summary of John Edwards’ entry as a presidential candidate for 2008. The most important point for entrepreneurs in this post is Jeff’s quote, “Desire for success is a prerequisite for any goal, but the difference between the winners and losers is careful, methodical preparation.”
• Jim Logan asks What’s the difference between a suspect and a prospect? Short and to the point, Jim offers two quick definitions and lays it out clearly. We want more prospects not suspects.
• Murad helps explain the concept of a product life cycle. It is important to understand how long your product will have value so you can continue to extend it, innovate on it or build new products.
• Mary Emma Allen presents Home Business Strategies For The New Year. Mary’s got a list of important questions to ask yourself, evaluating the past and future, so that 2007 will be a banner year!
• Anne-Marie Nichols reminds us to be nice, even to your problem clients. The kicker to Anne-Marie’s post is right at the end. It’s a smart way of turning things around and saying, “be nice, but…”

Web 2.0, Blogging and Internet Entrepreneurs

• Rohail Rizvi things now is a good time for young entrepreneurs. Big-time Web 2.0 companies looking for suitors are asking for too much money, and companies like Viacom are eager to make acquisitions, but with reasonable price tags. Times are interesting, indeed.
• Vahid Chaychi presents Be Aware of Scams and Rip Off Artists – Part Four (MLM schemes) which is a good lesson in how MLM schemes make money. For home-based entrepreneurs these schemes might be attractive, but there’s plenty of risk involved.
• Joshua Dorkin borrowed a page from my group writing project experience and launched his own writing project: What Are Your Real Estate Goals For 2007?.

That’s it for this week! Next week’s Carnival will be hosted here on January 10th, 2006. You can submit your entrepreneurial gems for next week.

I hope everyone finds something worthwhile, spreads the link love, comments on these blog posts and promotes the Carnival.

Happy New Year!

Post from: EveryJoe

More Great Entrepreneurial Insight in the Carnival of Entrepreneurs #4