I just finished reading Norm Brodsky's article from the March 2012 issue of INC. He directly addresses a growing concern among 9 out of every 10 entrepreneurs he meets. They're starting web-based and SaaS businesses while they maintain their full-time employment and steady incomes.

In a recent speech at UVEF, Tony Zito of mediaFORGE identified three commonly recited characteristics of successful entrepreneurs: skill, timing, and luck. But he spent no more time on any of those.

I used to work for an organization with tens of thousands of employees, and one day per year the highest paid executives would work alongside the lowest paid employees. It was a way for the leaders to stay in touch with what happens every day.

To help more than 50 second graders learn basic economic and business principles, my daughter's elementary school held a bazaar where each student sells goods and services to their classmates.

Both of my grandfathers were entrepreneurs, men who started and ran one or more small businesses to support their families. They didn't create huge companies, but built lifestyle businesses that added value to themselves and the economy.

With 2012 just around the corner, here are the most popular CFOwise blog posts viewed in 2011. Please note that the year of original publishing is listed in parentheses after the title.

INTRODUCTION

At the Dental Trade Alliance Meeting last month I listened to Ram Charan, highly-sought after consultant to Fortune 500 CEOs and co-author of Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation, talk about converting ideas into innovation.

Last week I shared a story told by Cal Ripken, Jr. that illustrated how mentors can improve outcomes.

Earlier this month I enjoyed listening to a baseball hero of mine, Cal Ripken, Jr., talk to a room full of business executives.

I am reading The Machine that Changed the World, which tells the story of how Toyota innovated the from the mass production methods to lean manufacturing, disrupting the automotive industry to become one of its most dominant players.

There is a lot of chatter about how small businesses and entrepreneurs are the backbone of the economy, and many have commented on how both are the best chance we have at regaining economic strength as a country and throughout the world. Most universities now offer, through their business schools, areas of emphasis in entrepreneurship.

With four young children in tow more than five years ago, my wife and I gave a child-themed haircut establishment a try. It seemed like letting the kids play video games during a routine haircut was a great idea, and our older boys loved it.

Starting and running a small business (less than $1 million in annual sales) is a lot different than running a bigger business. A founder that breaks through that $1 million in annual sales barrier often finds many challenges waiting for him or her on the other side, and parting with old habits to embrace a new way of doing and seeing things is harder than it originally appears.