They say - business commonsense is not common. Schools and colleges don’t teach that either!

 This forum invites people who are entrepreneurial-minded driven individuals (business owners, freelancers, artists, doctors, attorneys, mid-career managers, marketers, IT professionals, MBA seekers & grads) who would benefit from interaction with other like-minded people. Hopefully, this group will help the members in their respective endeavors – in advancing their careers or launching their own businesses.

Check to see if at least 80% of the quests below is relevant to you in your career advancement, job search, or your business! If yes, then this forum can be a great place for you to "speak your mind freely" and "learn" critical skills from other members!

Just cruise through this long list and you will not be disappointed! Are you a mid-career manager wondering about the "big picture"? Are you an enprepreneur trying to launch or grow your business? Are you a “non-business” person trying to learn business skills? Wondering if you have to enroll into an MBA program to learn critical business management skills? Do you have a concept and are wondering how to take it to the next level? Are you confused about hundreds of formats floating around for writing a business plan? Wondering how to write a business plan that will land you funding? Wondering how these different plans i.e. business, marketing, operations, technology, etc. fit together? Want to learn the techniques of business negotiation? Want to learn how to create product marketing plans? Struggling to win customers or “drive traffic”? Want to learn how to price your product? Wondering how to design effective promotions? Are you wondering how to perform basic financial accounting and modeling for your product or business? Want to learn how to design processes to solve operational problems? Want to learn basic IT/Web skills to market yourself or your idea effectively? Interested in learning how to develop and deliver presentations with impact? Want to improve comfort with “business tools” e.g. Excel, PowerPoint, Flash, etc.? Have you just graduated with an MBA and finding out that your interviewers are telling you that you do not have experience or required skills? These aspirations & thoughts have intrigued me for the past few years.

Surprisingly, I had a long career in finance with some of the top Wall Street companies, yet never got exposure to learn a number of business-critical skills. I was always interested in trying to do something on my own but “number-crunching” alone did not empower me to “think” business. Lack of these business skills prevented me to pursue career transitions too. Bosses asked to get an MBA while MBAs themselves complained that even they struggled to make career changes since they did not learn “hands-on” skills.

Yes, I had even tried for getting an MBA but got discouraged by the lengthy process, opportunity cost, and huge upfront investment. Especially, not knowing in how many years will I be recovering my investment.

I also spoke to several MBAs only to find out that they also graduated with “certificates and papers” and not “hands-on” skills. Many of them complained that they could not even find the desired jobs they were looking for. One MBA graduate quoted -,”strange to see that we read books on product management written by someone who himself have never launched a product or managed his own business!,”

I have spent considerable amount of time to look for commercial shops, universities, etc. I had to part away with a good deal of money, time, and ended up mostly with “books and papers” and not the “skills”. The real knowledge has come from my direct interaction with people who are currently active in various businesses or trades.

It has taken me time but I have overcome a number of hurdles to finally be able to launch a high-end retail lounge in New York City.

I created this forum for my continuous learning & improvement and to provide a forum for other driven individuals who want to learn critical business management skills.

If you find relevance with some of my quests & struggles as mentioned here then I encourage you to consider joining this group. This forum is intended to provide support for entrepreneurship & innovation to diverse audience i.e. mid-career managers (marketing, finance, IT, etc.), artists, professionals (doctors, attorneys, accountants), and MBA seekers & graduates.

Wish you all the best and a successful New Year 2011!

- Julie Johnson