chris mittelstaedt

The FoodWorks Fund: Fighting Hunger & Helping Small Farms

By The FruitGuys on September 2, 2020

The FruitGuys has created a new non-profit project to support its long-standing hunger relief mission. The FoodWorks Fund, a fiscally-sponsored project of Community Initiatives, provides direct …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, GoodWorks, The FruitLife Tagged With: chris mittelstaedt, community initiatives, COVID-19 crisis, fighting hunger, food-banks, GoodWorks, helping small farms, hunger, hunger relief, local charity, non-profit, The FoodWorks Fund, The FruitGuys

Founder Chris Mittelstaedt on the Covid Recession in the WSJ

By FruitGuys Staff on July 22, 2020

The FruitGuys Founder, Chris Mittelstaedt was recently interviewed by the Wall Street Journal about the economic effects of the Covid-19 crisis on small businesses. Read the full article in PDF …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, The FruitLife, WorkLife Tagged With: chris mittelstaedt, Covid Recession, Covid-19, entrepreneurs, fruitguys, small business owner, The FruitGuys, wall street journal

Coming of Age

By Chris Mittelstaedt on January 27, 2016

I owe the birth of The FruitGuys to the creative power of, well, desperation. It was 1997. My wife, Pia, and I had been married for a year and were living in a small one-bedroom apartment in San …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, The FruitLife Tagged With: Anniversary, chris mittelstaedt, fruitguys

How to Resolve a Customer Crisis

By Chris Mittelstaedt on December 4, 2012

(Reprinted from Chris Mittelstaedt’s column, "Eureka," on Inc.com.) Every business makes mistakes. What you do next is the difference between losing customers forever and gaining lifelong …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, WorkLife Tagged With: business crisis, chris mittelstaedt, customer happiness, How to Resolve a Customer Crisis, inc., resolving a crisis

The Bank Scam That Hit My Business

By Chris Mittelstaedt on November 8, 2012

Reprinted from Chris Mittelstaedt’s column Eureka on Inc.com FruitGuys founder Chris Mittelstaedt explains how hackers got into his company's bank account--and how not to let it happen to …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, WorkLife Tagged With: bank fraud, business fraud, chris mittelstaedt, fraud, fraud protection, hackers, identity theft, inc., insurance, The Bank Scam That Hit My Business, thief

Is This Your Employees’ Idea of Service?

By Chris Mittelstaedt on September 27, 2012

Reprinted from Chris Mittelstaedt’s column Eureka on Inc.com When an employee flipped off a key customer, this CEO realized his company had a culture problem. Here's how he fixed it. Many …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, WorkLife Tagged With: 5r's, chris mittelstaedt, creating positive environments at work, good customer service, how to trea costumers, inc., Is This Your Employees' Idea of Service?, personal responsibilty, philosophy of business, realistic goals, responsive to customers

Getting (Big) Things Done

By Chris Mittelstaedt on September 27, 2012

Reprinted from Chris Mittelstaedt’s column Eureka on Inc.com For too long you've served as Chief Fire Extinguisher. It's time to step back and start working on building your business. Are you …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, WorkLife Tagged With: building your business, Business Control Freak, chris mittelstaedt, Delegation, entrepreneurs, Getting (Big) Things Done, inc., problem solver, to-do goals

5 Employee Morale Killers

By Chris Mittelstaedt on July 12, 2012

Reprinted from Chris Mittelstaedt’s column Eureka on Inc.com I discovered my first lesson in how not to motivate people at the bottom of a kitchen sink. In 1986, when I was 16 years old, my …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, WorkLife Tagged With: 5 Employee Morale Killers, attrition, chris mittelstaedt, employee morale, eureka, goals, inc. inc.com, job satisfaction, squeaky wheel

Method’s 4 Rules for Staying Innovative

By Chris Mittelstaedt on July 12, 2012

Reprinted from Chris Mittelstaedt’s column Eureka on Inc.com Eric Ryan, co-founder of method home products, reveals the four things his company does to keep the creativity flowing. At 36,000 …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, WorkLife Tagged With: chris mittelstaedt, cleaning products, creativity, employee of the month, eureka, inc., inc.com, method, Method's 4 Rules for Staying Innovative, office environment

Competitors Who Bully — and How to Fight Them

By Chris Mittelstaedt on July 10, 2012

Reprinted from Chris Mittelstaedt’s column Eureka on Inc.com Bigger, wealthier rivals can and will stack the deck against you. And they will involve lawyers. How will you respond? I recently …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, WorkLife Tagged With: Benjamin Franklin, bullies, chris mittelstaedt, competition, Competitors Who Bully -- and How to Fight Them, inc., inc.com, innovation in business, lobbyists, Make the Rules or Your Rivals Will, Richard Shell, small business owner

The Stealthiest Start-up Killer

By Chris Mittelstaedt on July 10, 2012

Reprinted from Chris Mittelstaedt’s column Eureka on Inc.com It's the threat you never see coming. In fact, even after you crash and burn you still might not recognize it. Sometimes the biggest …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, WorkLife Tagged With: chris mittelstaedt, dot comb bust, hubris, start ups, The Stealthiest Start-up Killer, venture capitalists

How to Manage Entrepreneurial Personality Disorder

By Chris Mittelstaedt on July 10, 2012

Reprinted from Chris Mittelstaedt’s column Eureka on Inc.com One side of you loves risk; the other side of you can't stand it. Here's how to use your multiple personalities to your advantage. I …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, WorkLife Tagged With: ceo, chris mittelstaedt, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, entrepeneur, How to Manage Entrepreneurial Personality Disorder, inc., personality disorder, running a business, self criticism

Best Problem-Solving Tip: Don’t Be Afraid to Break Stuff

By Chris Mittelstaedt on June 12, 2012

Reprinted from Chris Mittelstaedt's column Eureka on Inc.com Sometimes there are problems simply too thorny and overwhelming to solve the usual ways; they require you to think differently. But …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, WorkLife Tagged With: business blog, chris mittelstaedt, eureka, inc., inc.com

Hybrids vs. GMOs

By Chris Mittelstaedt on June 4, 2012

Dear FruitFriends, In the following article, Heidi Lewis writes about genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and more specifically what they are (and are not) relative to food. The FruitGuys has …

Filed Under: Food, FruitGuys News Tagged With: chris mittelstaedt, engineered, genetically modified food, gmo experiments, grapefruit, Labeling initiative, mint, natural hybridization. cross pollination, seedless watermelon, tangelos, tomatoes, wheat

Getting Back Up

By Chris Mittelstaedt on September 2, 2011

I’ve always been a pretty active person—something that made coming down with a random medical condition all the more humbling. About a month ago I had an acute onset of achalasia, an uncommon disorder …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, The FruitLife Tagged With: chris mittelstaedt, east coast farms, fall, farming, Farms, hurricane damage, hurricane irene, Weather

Pest Policy Questioned: Panelists say Quarantines Unfair to California Farmers

By Pia Hinckle on June 16, 2010

The Light Brown Apple Moth is an indigenous pest considered harmless to crops in New Zealand, Hawaii, Australia, and the UK, all countries that are free to export fruits and vegetables to U.S. markets …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, The FruitLife Tagged With: alliance to stop the spray, article, blue moon organics, California, chris mittelstaedt, commonwealth club, farming, LBAM, light brown apple moth, pesticides, quarantine, stop the spray

chris mittelstaedt

The FoodWorks Fund: Fighting Hunger & Helping Small Farms

Founder Chris Mittelstaedt on the Covid Recession in the WSJ

Coming of Age

How to Resolve a Customer Crisis

The Bank Scam That Hit My Business

Is This Your Employees’ Idea of Service?

Getting (Big) Things Done

5 Employee Morale Killers

Method’s 4 Rules for Staying Innovative

Competitors Who Bully — and How to Fight Them

The Stealthiest Start-up Killer

How to Manage Entrepreneurial Personality Disorder

Best Problem-Solving Tip: Don’t Be Afraid to Break Stuff

Hybrids vs. GMOs

Getting Back Up

Pest Policy Questioned: Panelists say Quarantines Unfair to California Farmers

Stay Fruitful!

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