Every business has competitors. If you don't yet, you will. That's the nature of business. And well-accepted that the best way to beat the competition is to out-compete them. Or is it? It may sound counter-intuitive, but actually the best way to beat the competition is to ignore them. Why? Anchoring. Anchoring is when you overly-focus on one piece of information, and then your thoughts and actions are bound by that knowledge. For example,...

Generating sales doesn't have to be boring. In fact, some of the fastest-growing private companies in America are reaping success by tapping into niche industries, or inventing entirely new ways to make money. Take iHeartDogs.com as an example. The Anaheim, California-based website, which ranks No. 135 on this year's Inc. 5000, sells pet products and pup-themed clothing, such as T-shirts proclaiming: "I Love Big Mutts and I Cannot Lie." Collectively,...