Daniel James Scott, MS, MBA
Daniel has been recognized as “an accomplished entrepreneur” by the Tampa Bay Business Journal, “one of 10 who make Tampa Bay area’s economic outlook brighter” by the Tampa Bay Times, and one of “Florida’s economic impact players” by Florida Trend for his work building a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem in Florida. Daniel has founded 5 companies, successfully sold the first three of them, and is still actively involved in both development firm Alorum (pronounced a•LOR•um) and seed-stage investment fund Gazelle Lab (the second largest US-based accelerator in the Global Accelerator Network). In addition, Daniel is Tampa Bay Curator for StartupDigest (powered by the Kauffman Foundation), Trustee for Awesome St. Petersburg, Associate Editor for ASBE’s Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship, and Associate Director for the Sustainable Entrepreneurship & Innovation Alliance at USFSP College of Business (where he helped start the only second Major in Entrepreneurship at a public institution in the state of Florida, hired the first Creative-In-Residence in a College of Business in the US, and co-developed the first course on scaling a company at a university in the US). Daniel holds two graduate degrees in Entrepreneurship, seven globally recognized business certifications, and is co-author of Building the Ultimate Business Plan.
To contact Daniel directly regarding a blog topic, please comment; to view Daniel’s presentations, visit slideshare; otherwise, Daniel can be reached via LinkedIn.com.
Daniel James Scott’s Quotes
On volume strategies
“Higher volume, lower-margin business makes sure the machines are running to capacity so employees and expenses are getting paid. But it hardly boosts profits.” – Stitches Tip of the Day, June 2009
On expansion
“Branching out to other product lines and taking on more personnel needs to be moved back in the business plan. Prove the market for your current operations first.” – Stitches Tip of the Day, June 2009
On employee benefits
“By purchasing just one bottled soda each day, the average US vending employee will spend almost 10% of their salary at work.” – MadduxResearch.com, April 2009
On consumer spending
“US spending at convenience stores averages ~$73 per person, ~$52 at bars, and only ~$20 at museums. Money talks: Is it telling your story?” – MadduxResearch.com, January 2009
On department stores
“Department stores average only 12 cents on the retail dollar for salaries. Small % = big money… $56 million in Hillsborough County Florida alone.” – MadduxResearch.com, December 2008
On entrepreneurial education
“[We're] going to need more resources in order to grow while maintaining the same level of quality.” – USF Oracle, September 2008
On construction in the recession
“The primary concern I am hearing from clients is the ability to retain staff. Once simple cost cutting is complete, we are reassessing core business strategy. If freelancers are not working with any consistency, layoffs are imminent.” – LowesForPros.com, July 2008
On website strategy
“Your site is not a brochure or a cool toy; your site should be an effective marketing tool.” – Maddux Business Report, March 2008
“Make every page a sales page.” – LowesForPros.com, January 2008
On contractors
“Seventy percent of residential and remodeling general contractors are non-employers, so the real question is: When is it a good time to hire (or re-hire) employees? Growth needs to be timed right with the market, coupled with a fast ramp-up in sales and hiring.” – LowesForPros.com, April 2007
On residential construction
“If you’re building single-family homes, there’s not a lot of margin to play with. You’ve hired the staff but if the economy turns, you may be stuck.” – LowesForPros.com, July 2007
On small business telecom
“They don’t really get it. For many small businesses, they don’t realize what all they need until someone from the outside tells them.” – Tampa Bay Business Journal, May 2005
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