By Fatmanur Erdogan, for Hurriyet Daily News At first glance, it’s not easy to find entrepreneurs whose businesses revolve around a social or environmental issue. For most entrepreneurs, the priority seems to be just getting a business going, and worrying later about making it socially and environmentally sustainable. There are many reasons for that. Most entrepreneurs consider it a luxury to focus on social or environmental issues. They want to find financial security first, to get on their feet and move beyond the daily survival worries. Dedicating oneself to another, bigger cause is a daunting responsibility, and most businesses focus […]
Your Customers Watch Each Other
By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News (click here for newspaper article’s online version) Almost all of us love watching movies. One reason we like them so much is we like to see people living through situations we experience in our own lives, too. We want to see old friends drifting apart. We want to see a daughter struggle to gain independence from her parents. We want to see a man and woman fall in love, get married, and raise a family. But we also like to watch people going through trials we’ll never see ourselves. We’ll never be a James […]
Embracing New Technologies
Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News (click here for the newspaper link) I love the Kindle, Amazon.com’s electronic book reader. It makes getting the information I need fast and easy. I like reading hard-copy books, too, but sometimes I want the information right now – I don’t want to have to wait days or weeks for a book to arrive. I am also a globetrotter, so nothing makes me happier than packing my suitcase and flying off to a faraway city. In the past, whenever I went on one of those trips, I ended up lugging a heavy backpack filled with reading material. Now, I […]
On Finding A Goal
By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News, (click here for nwspaper link to On Finding A Goal) It seems like just about every career advisor preaches the importance of goal-setting. These self-proclaimed “life’s path” gurus tell us that before we act we must have a goal, and that without a goal, it is impossible to make progress. To hear them talk about it, you’d think every successful person popped out of the womb holding a detailed road map for life. Now, I don’t discount the importance of having a goal. The business world is a rational and linear place, and it’s […]