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When establishing a startup, it can be difficult to know which metrics you should be focusing on. You may be watching and reporting on basic key performance indicators (KPIs) such as your gross profit margin, but are there metrics you're overlooking? The answer is most likely yes. These eight Young Entrepreneur Council members have learned through experience that not measuring certain metrics could mean missed opportunities for company growth. So review this list of often overlooked KPIs to see if you're missing any important metrics from your reports.

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Everyone experiences changes in their lives, whether big or small, and the stress that comes along with these changes can either hurt you or allow you to grow stronger. One of the best ways to manage this stress is to learn to be more adaptable. When you're able to adapt, you're less likely to feel stressed by minor or major changes that happen in life. Here, 13 members of Young Entrepreneur Council explain how you can adapt to whatever comes your way so you can fight off the stress of new circumstances.

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With the advent of social media, companies are now closer than ever to their buyers' feedback. However, these buyers may or may not be charitable with their opinions. Occasionally, a business may encounter a consumer who wasn’t happy with their experience or the product itself. However, it can sometimes be difficult for a business owner to separate their personal feelings from the criticism of the brand. For some tips on how to deal with this issue, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council look at how businesses can avoid taking customer criticism personally and extract the necessary feedback to grow and improve.

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Members of the Young Entrepreneur Council weigh in on whether a long-term or campaign-by-campaign content strategy works best for brands. One important consideration in any marketing strategy is whether you should use a long-term approach, take things campaign-by-campaign, or forge some combination of the two. Of course, neither is inherently better than the other; each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Understanding the value of each strategy can help you determine when and how to best use that approach. To help with this, 13 members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their insights on their preferred approach and why it works for them. Use their insights to inform your own content strategy.

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council explain the first steps a business should take upon discovering a negative review. No one likes to receive bad reviews or negative feedback from customers. Often, business owners may feel they’re personal attacks or a competitor trying to start trouble. Rather than responding with patience and an open mind, some businesses lash out and become defensive. While it may feel justified in the moment, the only thing you're doing is adding fuel to the fire—and potentially making the customer angrier.  If you want to handle a negative review tactfully and efficiently, try one of these strategies recommended by the members of Young Entrepreneur Council.

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No matter what type of business you're in, your team will undoubtedly encounter problems with creativity and inspiration sooner or later. It’s difficult for any human being to always be “on” creatively, and these uninspired moments can happen during the most inopportune times. If deadlines are looming and work is piling up, leaders can take it upon themselves to help their teams get reinspired. However, this is easier said than done, especially without the right techniques. Below, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council examine some techniques they've used to motivate and inspire their teams to reignite their creativity.

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Building positive relationships with your customers is essential to running a successful and sustainable business. That’s why many business owners rely on customer relationship management (CRM) tools to connect with clients and nurture ongoing interactions. With so many options on the market, leaders may not know where to start in their search for a great CRM tool. Below, 15 experts from Young Entrepreneur Council shared their favorite CRM tools and why they’re so effective.

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When you're running an organization, communication breakdowns can lead to severe efficiency and productivity problems. While smaller teams may be able to quickly deal with the difficulties of communication inefficiency, this problem becomes harder to solve as the business grows and evolves. Cross-departmental communication is at the heart of a business's ability to respond to issues effectively. Without proper communication channels, the business runs the risk of losing customers and appearing unprofessional. So how can a company make sure that all its departments are on the same page? Seven members of Young Entrepreneur Council recommend a few tips you can use to ensure your organization's departments are communicating well.

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council offer tips for developing effective, sales-boosting e-commerce ads. E-commerce is a great way for a business to boost its sales, especially in today's world of social distancing and online shopping. But with so many businesses gravitating toward e-commerce, the space has become rather crowded. Companies that want to sell online successfully need to maximize their advertising efforts and keep attracting new customers. To help, 12 members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared some effective ways to take your e-commerce advertising to the next level. Follow their tips to keep customers coming in your virtual door, even during your off-season.

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their favorite resources to help you stay abreast of industry changes. The tech industry is notorious for moving quickly and abruptly. If you want to stay relevant in the field, you’ll have to be able to identify and adapt to changes and new trends.  However, keeping up is a daunting task, even for the most seasoned tech professionals. For newcomers, it’s important to build up a collection of reliable resources to help maintain industry knowledge.  For guidance on where to start, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members shared their favorite platforms and resources to help you stay up to date with industry changes.

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Sensitive information is stored and accessed digitally by businesses every day. While it's a lot more convenient for companies to have data stored digitally, unfortunately this also means these files are more vulnerable to attacks from hackers. Malicious users can gain access to a company’s data in several ways, including phishing, a method which takes advantage of unsuspecting employees as a gateway.  However, there are also a number of ways companies can protect themselves and their data from such attacks. Below, nine professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council discuss how companies can guard against these attacks and why every business should make their digital security a priority.

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Sometimes, even employees who have a track record of excellent work can have bad days. But when bad days become bad weeks or even months, leaders should take the time to investigate. However, because it could be a sensitive situation, it may be best to take it slow and follow a few key steps. Below, seven leaders from Young Entrepreneur Council discuss some of the first steps they'd recommend taking when trying to figure out why a normally high-performing employee is suddenly off their game and what you can do to help them get back on track.

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Entrepreneurship is an exciting and fulfilling career path, but there might be times when you’ll feel discouraged and riddled with self-doubt. Combating these emotions isn’t always easy and takes patience and continued practice. Whether you’re a newbie business owner or a seasoned entrepreneur, it helps to affirm to yourself just how capable you are of accomplishing your dreams. To offer some guidance, 11 members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared things everyone should periodically remind themselves of in order to be more positive, confident and tenacious. Follow their advice to boost your self-esteem and move beyond self-doubt.

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What your site's going to be — a rock-solid diamond or ephemeral, fading graphite — is all up to you.

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While it's not a common thing, some businesses do explode into popularity overnight. For the companies that do, it can be a completely new landscape to navigate. Suddenly, consumers want your product and they can't get enough of it. Your supply lines and logistics may not be able to handle the traffic at its new demanding level. Successful businesses always prepare for the possibility of growth. Still, so much expansion in such a small span of time can leave a company reeling and result in unsatisfied customers. So how should a company approach newfound success? Below, nine leaders from Young Entrepreneur Council discuss how a company can scale up to meet demand following sudden success that thrusts the business into the spotlight.

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Entrepreneurs, especially when first starting out, often fall into the trap of overwork. While any successful business needs a firm hand to guide it, your body and mind have their own needs as well. Taking time off for relaxation and socialization in a non-work environment is critical to maintaining your health and the productivity you need to run a growing company. Unfortunately, not all business owners see it that way, and eventually those long hours will take their toll on their mental and physical well-being. Here, eight experts from Young Entrepreneur Council look at what entrepreneurs can do to put their own happiness and health above their business' needs.

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As an executive, difficult conversations often come up in the workplace. It may be something as sensitive as expressing a concern to an employee or explaining why the company's letting someone go. Part of being in a position of leadership is learning how to navigate those conversations. These difficult conversations are part of the territory, and even though it may be challenging to deal with them, they must be dealt with head-on. So how can a professional best deal with these kinds of situations? We asked eight executives from Young Entrepreneur Council about their most successful strategies when dealing with difficult conversations in their daily work life. Here's what they suggested.

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When you understand your customer, you can better tailor your products and services to their needs. The most reliable way to get to know who your customers are and what they're looking for is to get that information directly from them. But how can you persuade customers to give you the comprehensive, actionable feedback you need? Luckily there are tried-and-true methods for establishing a dialogue with your customers so you can serve them better. Below, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council share strategies business owners can use to get concrete feedback from their customer base.

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End-of-year reviews are an essential tool to gauge the business's effectiveness and efficiency over the previous year. Unfortunately, few businesses implement a review, and some that do only look at the cursory metrics that would give them a basic understanding of the company's strengths and weaknesses. An in-depth review is necessary if the business wants to learn where it can improve and how to do so. If you haven't gotten started on your year-end review, it isn't too late to do so. Seven experts from Young Entrepreneur Council shed some light on what businesses can do specifically to get started on their year-end review and explain why these steps are crucial for the review's success.

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The end of this year is right around the corner, and smart business owners will already be setting up plans and goals for the coming first quarter. Planning helps a business take stock of what it's achieved thus far and what it can hope to accomplish in the first quarter of the new year, given its available time and resources. With proper foresight, a business can set itself up to succeed by making smart decisions and knowing where to invest its resources. Given the challenges we've all faced this year, seeing a tremendous Q1 performance next year will bolster confidence. Below, eight contributors to Young Entrepreneur Council offer valuable advice for planning for Q1 of the new year and explain how they set themselves up to succeed.

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If prompted, there's at least one employee that business owners can point to definitively and state that they are one of the most high-performing hires at the company. However, these high-performing employees sometimes go through issues that can put them off their game. For the company, this can impact performance and efficiency. The business must understand that the employee is still human, not a machine. Getting them back on their game will require a more individual approach. Below, eight contributors to Young Entrepreneur Council examine what a business owner can do to help their prized, high-performing employees get back in gear after a personal or professional struggle.

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Nobody knows everything when they start their first business. Even if you take the time to educate yourself on potential challenges and seek mentorship from more experienced entrepreneurs, there are still some lessons you'll only learn in hindsight. The members of Young Entrepreneur Council know well the challenges that new founders face when they're first starting out. We asked nine of them to share the one thing they wish they'd done before they launched their company. Below, they reflect on their entrepreneurial journey and share their wisdom with fellow aspiring business owners.

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Building a solid team is one of the best ways to ensure success and longevity for your business. However, finding the right people isn’t always easy. Small business hiring can be an especially daunting process, since you’re seeking qualified team members who are also aligned with your business’ vision and growth goals. That's why we asked, nine Young Entrepreneur Council members how you can be sure you’re hiring those who are going to help take your business to new heights. Read on for their best advice.

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The time to program AI applications with high EQ is now.

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By knowing blockchain’s capabilities and imagining its applications, marketers can greet the changes and contribute to the blockchain-AI synergy sweeping us all in.