Evan Nierman

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Good, bad or indifferent, company culture can make or break a business.

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Social media is an excellent form of communication that can have devastating results if it is not properly managed.

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Every business faces setbacks at some point. Whether it’s a campaign that didn’t perform as well as you expected or a product that experienced major delays in production, setbacks seem to be part of the everyday entrepreneurial experience. What really makes a difference is how you respond to them. Here, 11 members of Young Entrepreneur Council share how they respond when they experience setbacks in their businesses and what steps they take to effectively reset and move forward.

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The very first step in creating a plan to weather a cancel culture attack is to set aside the notion that it could never happen to you.

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Recognizing an online attack and having a plan to address the fallout can help businesses and leaders avoid negative consequences.

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Becoming an overnight success is every entrepreneur's dream, but when it actually does happen, it can rapidly turn into an overwhelming nightmare if you aren’t prepared for the influx of new customers and orders. Rather than allowing yourself to be buried by the consequences of your success, finding a way to scale your business quickly can ensure you keep up with rising demand. But to do so, you’ll want to consider the following advice from the members of Young Entrepreneur Council. Here, they discuss their best tips for scaling a business quickly and the steps you won't want to miss if you find yourself suddenly successful.

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Learning to take the good with the bad and find solutions, when necessary, can help your business retain loyal customers and add new ones if your responses are authentic.

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While waiting until an employee leaves the company may not be the ideal way to receive feedback about your business, exit interviews can provide a wealth of vital knowledge that can help business leaders make changes to their company processes and policies for the better. Employees are often more honest and open when leaving their positions, and their feedback can shed light on issues leaders may not have even known existed. However, to ensure you don’t have to wait until an employee leaves to start implementing changes, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council list the top lessons they learned from exit interviews and the impact those lessons had on the way they run their businesses now.

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Legal public relations professionals must be able to work in collaboration with lawyers or risk jeopardizing the case in court.

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Seize the opportunities to learn that fall within your grasp. The biggest challenge may be to open your eyes.

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Communication breakdowns can be disastrous and have a far-reaching impact.

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When it comes to employees taking vacations, it’s all about achieving balance. Too many staff members off at once can cause heavy workloads and stress for the remaining team, but too few staff members taking time off can also mean your team isn’t getting the rest and relaxation they need to do their best work.  Encouraging time off, then, is necessary for a happy and healthy workforce. However, to prevent work from piling up while staff is away, leaders will need to take a few proactive steps. Below, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council each share one thing a leader can do to help prevent overwhelm and stress for their team while others are away.

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From a strategic communications standpoint, it can be a big mistake to pass up a chance to comment.

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As employees climb the corporate ladder, some may feel their natural next step is a managerial position. However, managerial roles aren't suited for everyone. If an employee asks you if you think they’d do well as a manager, it's important to be transparent and honest with the employee about whether their skills are up to par. If you find yourself in this situation, here are 10 essential things you should tell an aspiring manager they’ll need to succeed. Below, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council explain why these qualities and skills are so integral to a leader's job.

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As a leader, it’s natural to want to reward high-performing employees when they’re already doing so well and they’re likely having the biggest impact on the company’s bottom line. However, focus and support should also be given to average or low-performing employees to benefit not only the company, but also the employees as they continue on their career journeys.  Sometimes, a little acknowledgment and a listening ear is all an average or low-performing employee needs to perform at their best. Here, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss the things a leader can do to help support and manage an average or low-performing employee and why these things are important.

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Thought leaders who are convincing have an authenticity that attracts others to listen to what they say.

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Having a crisis plan in place before one is needed is essential preparation for any company or organization.

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Organizations that need to get their message out quickly and effectively can’t afford to overlook influencer marketing.

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As the Covid-19 pandemic pushed more companies to embrace remote work, global hiring and flexible schedules, the traditional 9-to-5 workday has become less and less standard among professionals. Instead of requiring everyone to work during the same hours, companies are beginning to entrust their workforce to manage their tasks on their own time. While there are certainly advantages to having set hours, the pros of asynchronous work outweigh the cons in the eyes of many modern employers and employees. For companies looking to adopt an asynchronous work style, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council explain what leaders need to do to make this model work effectively.

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Books can be an invaluable source of information, experience, innovation, motivation and so much more. But for business leaders and entrepreneurs, books are immensely useful tools, whether they're seeking guidance, looking for insight on a specific process or just trying to find a source of inspiration and creativity.  Here, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council share the books that have made the biggest impact on the way they lead their companies, and explain why they’d recommend these books to any entrepreneur looking to learn.

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Both traditional and crisis PR agencies are effective, but their missions are different.

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Managing a crisis with a calm, steady hand according to a crisis plan increases your odds of coming out stronger.

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Be the one to tell your story in your way and you will retain control of your reputation and your brand’s good name.

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Remote work arrangements used to be few and far between, but ever since the pandemic, more and more companies are operating fully remotely. Although those who adopted a remote model early on have likely fallen into a rhythm, those new or established businesses that are now deciding to go fully remote may still be struggling to adapt to and manage remote teams—especially if they operate on a global scale. Different time zones, varying employee locations and a lack of a centralized physical office space can be difficult to contend with, let alone all the other factors that come into play with remote work. To help business leaders get a better handle on things, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members share their best advice for companies working remotely with a global team.

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Media spokesperson training can give you the confidence, knowledge and on-camera skills needed to get you through even the most stressful situations.

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Getting the right message out to the right people at the right time is what PR is all about.

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When online attacks snowball into a trending false narrative, it is easy for the bad guys to win.

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Minor issues can morph into major issues, and major issues can become huge problems.

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Organizations that fail to set up social media policies before they go online are tempting fate.

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Crisis planning and crisis PR have become essentials for businesses that want to keep their reputations intact and move forward steadily despite an unpredictable world.

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Crisis response should never involve guesswork. Every business, nonprofit organization and government agency should create an action plan ahead of time so when an emergency occurs, they know exactly what to do.

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Telling an entrepreneur to aim for second best, as opposed to being the best, may sound a bit crazy. After all, we have been conditioned from a young age to celebrate coming in first and at the top of the standings. That’s what many people think business — and life — are all about.

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Clubhouse is a bold new frontier filled with endless possibilities as well as serious risks. As you join in the discussions, it’s important to understand the opportunities and the potential pitfalls.

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Many professionals have been fired from positions in the past. Getting fired from a job can be embarrassing and anxiety-inducing, especially when you have to explain the reason why you were let go to a potential new employer. While some employers won't bother to broach the subject, others could view the termination as a questionable part of a candidate’s work history unless the issue is brought out into the open and discussed with transparency and honesty. So how should a candidate approach this topic? Below, eight professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council offer some advice about how to discuss your previous job loss so that you won't dissuade a potential new employer from hiring you.

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Preparation is the key to success.

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Building a brand takes a lot of time, effort and resources—but so does monitoring the competition. No business can perform both at the maximum possible effectiveness, and so compromises must be made. Companies must balance their time and other resources to ensure they can achieve both. However, how companies balance these responsibilities differs. Some prefer a more brand-centric approach, while others prefer to know what the competition is up to. Below, eight experts from Young Entrepreneur Council weigh in on how they think businesses should approach competition monitoring and how to balance these demands to best benefit the company.

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Precise communications are more important than ever in these challenging times.

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Smart organizations are drawing upon lessons learned and seeking to finish the year strong.

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Cash flow --  the amount of money that comes in and goes out of a business -- is often a concern for many new companies. Generating a healthy cash flow requires careful planning and a commitment to a strong operational strategy. However, a lack of experience in cash flow management as a new entrepreneur can put you at a disadvantage. That’s why we asked 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council about common cash-flow mistakes new business owners tend to make when they’re starting out. Here’s what they had to share from their experiences.

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Disaster often strikes with little warning, but if you’re prepared to act, you can move forward with minimal damage to your business operations.

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Follow these 10 steps for effective crisis management, and you will be able to face anything that comes your way with poise and confidence.

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Organizations are wrestling with vexing questions about what to say and how to say it.

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The internet of things (IoT) is growing at a rapid pace, but sadly, security protocols for those devices are still in their infancy. Customer data security should be a significant concern for IoT companies. At present, there are several glaring holes in security that can be addressed with some dedicated effort. A few IoT companies have even patched out security vulnerabilities. The future holds a lot of promise for these devices, once their manufacturers can work out how to make them fully secure for consumer use. Here, eight leaders from Young Entrepreneur Council predict what they expect to see in the industry over the next few years and discuss how IoT companies can better safeguard their consumers.

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To prove successful during and after this tumultuous time, companies must utilize effective communications practices designed for the new normal.

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Considering the complexities of the ever-changing rules of crisis PR engagement, companies must be proactive and prepared with emergency social media strategies and protocols in advance.

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When navigating a public crisis, the person seeking redemption must come across as authentic. Empathy, credibility and relatability are also key ingredients to winning over audiences.

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Entrepreneurs usually have to locate a source of funds to make their dreams into a reality. Sometimes, all you have is an idea, and as good as that idea is, unless you know how to get funding, it'll remain a thought in your head. Convincing people to invest in a business is more than just laying out the positives and negatives. Finding the right pitch for the correct type of investor is crucial in securing their financial help. But what method works with which investors? To guide you on your quest to land investors, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their insights into how to source funding, using their own experiences to help you figure out your path. They offer their ideas below.

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Instead of bombarding their target audience with a deluge of ads likely to irritate them or be ignored, businesses should consider adopting smart public relations.

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Detecting subversive and dangerous videos is a start, but making sure they don’t harm the national discourse on everything from baseball to politics is the next step.

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Get established in the field and start the process of becoming a media master.

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Maximize your social media posts through the smart use of pithy hashtags.

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Don't turn what is already a PR crisis into a televised train wreck.