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Entrepreneurship - Quick Guide Entrepreneurship - Introduction Entrepreneurship is the art of starting a business, basically a startup company offering creative product, process or service. We can say that it is an activity full of creativity. An entrepreneur perceives everything as a chance and displays bias in taking decision to exploit the chance. An entrepreneur is a creator or a designer who designs new ideas and business processes according to the market requirements and his/her own passion. To be a successful entrepreneur, it is very important to have managerial skill and strong team building abilities. Leadership attributes are a sign of successful entrepreneurs. Some political economists regard leadership, management ability, and team building skills to be the essential qualities of an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is an innovator or a creator who introduces something new to the firm or economy. It can be a new method of production, a new product, a new source of material, a new market or any other similar innovation. Thus, an entrepreneur is an innovator, creator, borrower, purchaser, etc. Some famous entrepreneurs are Azim Premji, Lakshmi Mittal, and Ekta Kapoor. Motivation – An Important Factor The performance of an entrepreneur is dependent on his/her ability and willingness to perform. Here, by ability we mean a function of education, experience and skill and by willingness we mean to perform depending upon the level of motivation. Motivation is one of the fundamental factor required for an entrepreneur to promote his/her ideas. Why is Motivation Required? The term motivation has been derived from the word ‘motive’ which is nothing but what prompts any person to act in a particular manner. Motives are the definition of a person’s goals, dreams and needs. They direct human behavior to towards achieving their goal. When everything is properly organized, then what is the need of motivation? The following points answer this question and gives an idea why motivation is an important factor for an entrepreneur − Tough competition − An entrepreneur needs to face tough competition, in order to sustain and make a mark in this global market. To cope with this competition, motivation is required at each stage of the firm. Unfavorable environment − Nobody knows what the future holds. One has to take care of the current economy and should be prepared for the worst situations of deteriorating economic conditions. For this, motivation and optimism is essential. To create public demand − Market runs by the people and for the people. To run a business profitably, it is required to create a public demand for your product or service in the market and attract as many customers as possible. To do this in the right way, motivation is required. To enhance creativity − Market always wants something new and different. If every firm offers the same product without any variation then there is no point of preferring one brand in particular. To sustain one has to be innovative. Add some new features in the existing products and services, make them more user friendly in a considerable budget. This requires motivation too. To increase productivity − It is very important to take care of the quality of the product as well as the profit. People will always prefer a product which is cost efficient and of good quality. So, motivation is required for increase the productivity. Thus motivation plays a unique role in establishing a company by frequently boosting the entrepreneur to do effective things efficiently. What Motivates an Entrepreneur? Many research studies have been conducted by researchers to understand and answer this question so that the factors that motivate people to take all the risk and start a new enterprise can be identified. The 6Cs that motivate entrepreneurs to establish their own business are as follows − Change − Entrepreneurs frequently want change, not only change, they also want to be the bearers of change. They are solution givers and want to interrupt the status quo. They have a vision like "I want to assemble the world's information" or "I want to put an AC at every desk" and they take an attempt to make this change. In this attempt, some succeed and some fail. Challenge − Some people love challenges and they opt for starting a new business as it is very challenging to handle big problems. These people find typical job in a big corporate as boring and not challenging enough. Creativity − Running one’s own business is all about being more creative and having the independence to make new discoveries. For example, testing a new website design, launching a new marketing scheme, creating inventive items that solve a known issue in a different way, creating new advertising campaigns, etc. One needs to have an infinite room to welcome and introduce creativity in a small business. Control − Some people tend to start a business because they don't want to be pushed around and work for a product/ company in which they have no way to shape their destiny. They want to be their own boss having their own time, own pace, location of their choice, employees of their choice and have a progressive role in deciding the direction of the company. Curiosity − Successful entrepreneurs are always anxious and ask − "what if we do X this way?” They want to have more than one option to do a work and choose the best one from them. They want to understand the customer's perceptions, point of views, markets and competitors. They are frequently anxious to see how their particular theory like "people want to do A with B" works. In this aspect, they can’t be differentiated from a scientist who is trying to prove his theorem. Cash − The last but not the least part is the cash. Money says it all. Many nonentrepreneurs have a misconception that cash comes first for entrepreneurs but this is never really true. If this would be the case, then there is no reason for an Ellison or Gates to keep expanding their business aggressively after they have made more than billion dollars. However, money is not the primary motivation. From the above discussion, it can be said that the highest motivating factor is the urge to get something or the drive to do something differently. Results of Motivation Successful entrepreneurship needs determination, freedom, discipline, connectivity and an abundance of skills in planning. People
with a complete package of physical strength combined with perseverance, mental strength, and self-discipline have the passion and urge to succeed. With proper motivation, we get the following outcomes − Heavy industrialization − Tremendous growth can be seen in industrialization. Example: Companies like TISCO, TELCO have been set up and are flourishing. Self-employment − A common man gets a chance to make a difference, set a new standard of industrial growth. Example: Entrepreneurs like Dhirubhai Ambani and Azim Premji are born. Economic growth − When there is growth in an individual’s economy, there is a growth in the company’s economy, which in turn results in the growth of that particular area and country. Example: Emergence of smart cities concept. Creating new jobs − More entrepreneurship leads to more job openings. More job openings leads to more employment opportunities. Proper social benefit − When a country’s economy grows or increases we see that more advanced and proper social benefits are provided to the general public like construction of roads, school, hospital, colleges, etc. Entrepreneurial drive is the inbuilt encouragement some people possess to make something happen. It is the energy that pushes one forward as a founder and forces not to give up in the face of failure, ultimately leading to success. Enterprise & Society Entrepreneurship has a major contribution in the growth of national economy. So, it is very important to acknowledge the motivational features spurring people to become entrepreneurs and explaining why some are more successful than others. An enterprise is nurtured by the society. Thus, we can say, it is a portion of society. In the social environment, both of them share a close bonding where they affect each other and share their profits and loss combined. In this “affecting & being affected relationship”, a proper balance should be maintained. Entrepreneurial Achievement Entrepreneurs are not always motivated by profit but regard it as a standard for measuring achievement or success. An entrepreneur greatly values self-reliance and strives for distinction through excellence. They are highly optimistic (otherwise nothing would be undertaken), and they always favor challenges of medium risk that is neither too easy, nor ruinous. Given below are some factors that contribute to the success of an entrepreneur. The factors are − Self-confidence − Before convincing others to trust us, it is important to trust our self. The determination or the courage and belief one has on self to achieve the goal is known as self-confidence. Experience − It’s not always necessary to be experienced for starting a business, but yes, having some experience will definitely help save time and effort. Profit − Opting for a business that has a demand in the market, is always a better choice. However, it is always good to think of a steady income rather than just profit. Brand − Everybody opts for or at least wishes to opt for branded products or services. The reason varies, some see it as a standard of living, for some it’s the quality. Keeping this in mind, it is very important to create a signature mark of your product. Market share − It adds to an individual’s, groups, or firm’s contribution in the market when by contributing their company product in the market. A company designs a product with respect to the demand of the mass. Some other factors like consumer relation, social support, government support also contribute as important factors in entrepreneurial achievement. Why Start a Business? Running one’s own business has a drift to take up entire life, so it is very important to assess whether or not the reasons are logical and practically implementable. This section looks at some of the most common reasons why people opt for their own business. We have heard a million reasons not to go into business for its too risky, it might lead to debts, there will be no social life, and the list goes on. But even with all these uncertainties, people are still allured to the start-up world. There are just as many, if not more reasons to take a stand and start our own business. Some of the reasons to start a business are − An entrepreneur owns his/her business, hence is his/her own boss. It gives the liberty to make decisions and implement them. It’s a proven fact that most entrepreneurs never wish to go back to working for someone else. The thought of leaving behind a legacy, is a great motivator for many. It’s a good option of taking over a family business and adding a new dimension to the same. The sense of achievement or being successful in doing something one’s own way. To prove oneself as being self-competent, being in complete control, and making an impact on the society. How to Start a Business? Starting a business includes planning, making key financial decisions and completing a series of legal exercises. These 10 steps help to plan, prepare and manage one’s own business − Step 1: Writing a business plan − Write all tools and resources required to create a business plan. This written guide will help in mapping out how to start and run a business successfully. Step 2: Getting business assistance − There are numerous programs available to assist startups, micro businesses, and underserved or disadvantaged groups. Step 3: Selecting a business location − Take suggestions on how to select a customer-friendly location and comply with the zoning laws. Step 4: Financing our own business − Search for government-backed loans, venture capital and research grants to help getting started. Step 5: Determining the legal structure of business − Decide which form of ownership is best - like sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability Company (LLC), corporation, S corporation, nonprofit or cooperative organization. Step 6: Registering a Business Name like "Doing Business As" − Register the business name with the state government. Step 7: Getting a Tax Identification Number − Learn which tax identification number is needed to obtain from the IRS and/or state revenue agency. Step 8: Registering for State and local Taxes − Enroll with the State to obtain a tax identification number, workers' compensation, unemployment and disability insurance. Step 9: Obtaining business licenses and permits − Enlist for federal, state and local licenses and permits required for the business. Step 10: Understanding employee responsibilities− Learn the legal
faced to achieve success. To an entrepreneur, failure is a positive experience which is considered as a challenge or opportunity for growth in the form of a prerequisite to success, a profound teacher, a future value-adder, a provider of new direction, an enhanced motivator, a path to achievement and even as a relieving liberator. Failure and success of an enterprise is dependent on two factors − Internal factors External factors Internal Factors for Success actors that affect the organization internally and contribute to the success of the firm are k
Chapter 1: Introduction- Why Become an Entrepreneur? A recent survey found that more than 70% of people want to be some sort of entrepreneur. Becoming an entrepreneur is a sought after job for many reasons, including pride, purpose and possibly money. Starting and running your own business on a day to day basis is no easy task, but it is one that is truly worth the effort. So why should you consider becoming an entrepreneur? There are many reasons why you should consider taking that giant step and creating your own business. Here are just a few of them: 1. Autonomy- running your own business allows you to be in charge of your own destiny. It also helps you to avoid getting stuck in the “daily grind” or the “rat race”. For many people running their own business lets them have a career that is self-sustaining. 2. Opportunity- Being an entrepreneur opens up a whole new world of opportunity for you. You will have the opportunity to do anything that you want in life. This means you can choose to spend your life changing the world for the better, or you can live the type of life you want. Few other career choices can offer this kind of opportunity. 3. Impact- Many people who work for other companies truly want to work hard and help that company to succeed, but few are actually able to have such an impact. When you run your own business everything you do will directly impact the company, which can be very rewarding. 4. Freedom- this is the answer most people will give if you ask them why they want to become an entrepreneur. For many people the idea of doing what they want and how they want to do is the most compelling reason to take the risk and run their own business. It is true- having freedom in life and career does make a huge difference! 5. Responsibility- when you run your own business you have the ability to be responsible to society and operate your business the way that you feel it should be run. This is especially true if you have the desire to help others or the world in general. If you work for someone else you may not be able to improve the world the way you want to, but if you are the boss you can. 6. Being your Own Boss- this is another common answer for why many people want to become entrepreneurs. If you are your own boss you can do things your way. You can make your own decisions, take your own risks and decide your own fate. 7. Time and Family- depending on your specific goals in life, becoming an entrepreneur could give you the freedom of time and allow you to spend more of it with your family. 8. Creating a Legacy- if the idea of forging a lasting legacy is important to you then few other careers give you the opportunity to do so like operating your own business. 9. Accomplishment- if you have specific goals that you would like to accomplish in your life running your own business could help you to do so. 10. Control- for a lot of business owners the sense of security that comes with the ability to control your own work is a major reason to become an entrepreneur. What does it take to become an entrepreneur? There are plenty of benefits of being an entrepreneur, but it is certainly no easy task to start your own business. Successful entrepreneurs, that is to say those who are able to accomplish their goals, earn a successful living through their business and enjoy the many benefits of entrepreneurship, all have specific traits. If you are considering taking the leap and following your entrepreneurship dreams then you will want to understand what these traits are so that you can instill the same traits in yourself. This will help ensure that you are able to achieve your dreams. Successful Entrepreneurs: Have passion and a lot of it Are tenacious Able to manage their fear of the unknown Have a grand vision Believe in themselves Are extremely flexible Are able to defy conventional wisdom Are willing to take risks in life If you have these traits, or if you can teach yourself how to develop these traits within yourself, then your likelihood of becoming a successful entrepreneur will increase. In addition to these personality traits, all successful entrepreneurs possess a certain amount of skills. Some Skills That Will Help You to Become a Successful Entrepreneur Include: Focus- running your own business requires dealing with any number of factors on any given day. Successful business owners are able to pinpoint their focus onto accomplishing specific tasks and goals at specific times. Resilience- it is a skill to be able to weather the various ups and downs of business without allowing them to destroy your focus. Truly successful entrepreneurs are able to continue traveling down the path of success even when the future looks bleak. Management Skills- a successful company requires the right people and successful business owners need to know how to properly manage these people. Long Term Vision- while it is easy to focus on what the company needs to do in the next several days or weeks to be successful, truly exceptional entrepreneurs (the ones who see real success in their business ventures) are able to plan years ahead of time. Salesmanship- regardless of what type of company you are running, you need to be able to sell your vision to others in order to become successful. Entrepreneurs need to have great salesmanship
skills whether they want to or not. Self-reliance- this is one of the most important skills any entrepreneur can possess. It is vital for a business owner to trust that they can depend on themselves. Self-reflection- the ability to pause, reflect and learn is a very valuable skill for the business owner. Entrepreneurs must be able to learn from their mistakes and reflect upon what they have learned in life. Learning- the skill of earning knowledge is one that every successful business owner has. It is also a skill that they never stop developing. To be successful in your entrepreneurial dreams you have to be able to learn from others. The best way to learn the skills of a successful business owner is to study the skills of successful entrepreneurs and then to grow those skills in yourself.
Chapter 2: The Importance of Passion Passion represents one of the most important aspects of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Without passion your business will turn out to be just another job. #1- Always choose something you are passionate about! Without passion, and a lot of it, your business dreams will become lost in the day to day grind of running a business. Take a look at the top ten most successful entrepreneurs and you will see that their passion is the number one driving force behind their success. There is no way to escape this fact- you simply must be passionate in order to achieve your goals! Starting with a Dream The best way to start a business is to take what you are passionate about and find a way to turn that into a business. You need to start with a dream. If you don’t have passion for your work then you won’t have the motivation and energy to keep pushing through obstacles, you won’t be willing to take the necessary risks required to succeed and you won’t be able to sell your dream to others. #2- Start with your dreams and grow your business from there. The unfortunate reality is that once a business reaches the beginning of its third year its chances of surviving drops dramatically. Only about 44% of businesses live to see their fourth year. Without the passion you derive from living your dream you won’t have what it takes to survive year after year. This means that you should start your business from the ground up using your dream as a foundation. Whatever your dream in life may be, you need to find a way to turn that dream into a business. If the foundation of your business is based on something that you are truly passionate about, then it will be much easier to grow that dream into a hugely successful business.
Chapter 3: Starting Your Dream Business Once you have determined that you have the necessary traits, skills and passion to become an entrepreneur, the next step will be to start up your dream business. Getting Started Getting started with your dream business may be the easiest part of the process or it may be the hardest. It really depends on your specific situation. Some would-be entrepreneurs are raring to get started, while others are bogged down with doubts and procrastination. #3- Avoid coming up with excuses why you shouldn’t start your own business. Once you have made the important decision that yes you want to become an entrepreneur, skip the excuses and start the process. #4- Avoid the quicksand that is known as procrastination. Putting off the process of starting your business for any reason can lead to getting stuck in the mud. Avoid the process of procrastination at all costs. #5- Do whatever it takes to motivate yourself to get started. Doubt, fear, worry and a lack of purpose can all end up preventing you from getting your dreams going. Focus on why you want to become an entrepreneur (your passion) and use that to motivate yourself into taking those first few steps. The first couple of steps are the most important ones. #6- Develop core beliefs. Now is the time to develop your business’s core beliefs. This will help you to create the right kind of company, one that matches your passion and motivates you to always move forward. Your business’s core beliefs will be a major building block of it, so make sure that these beliefs are worthy. They will also determine how you proceed to make decisions in the future and which direction the business takes your life. Making the Shift from Employee to Boss Running your own business takes leadership. For many new entrepreneurs it can be difficult to make the switch from employee to manager or boss. There are ways that you can prepare yourself for this transition. For people who have built-in leadership skills this transition may be easier, but anyone with the proper drive and motivation can develop leadership skills. #7- Learn how to listen. A good boss knows how to listen to their employees and how to recognize good ideas. For a lot of people the concept of being a good listener is hard to contemplate. Learning how to listen probably represents one of the most difficult aspects of turning yourself into a good boss. #8- Invite creative thinking. Another trait of a good boss is the ability to invite others to share their ideas with you. You will want to create an atmosphere where your employees will want to share their ideas with you on a regular basis. Great ideas drive businesses forward. #9- Learn to delegate.
level is to look through their work history. #27- Choose capable people. When looking for a new employee you will want to find out if the person is indeed capable of performing their tasks and if they are likely to go beyond their required functions. A capable employee will grow with the company and take on new responsibilities as they become necessary. #28- Choose people that fit into your company’s culture. Every company has its own distinct culture. This refers to how people communicate with one another, the different expectations they have regarding daily work and the various policies of the company. Employees that don’t fit into this culture can often cause problems and diminish efficiency. Therefore, it is always a good idea to hire people that will fit well into the culture of your company. #29- Plan to compensate appropriately. It is extremely important for an employee to feel appreciated and appropriately compensated. If they feel like they are not being paid what they are worth they will probably under perform at their job. Plan to compensate new employees according to what they are worth and ensure that the new employee is truly satisfied with what you are willing to offer them. #30- Speak with former co-workers. Every candidate will provide you with references, but odds are these references are going to provide only positive answers to your questions. You may have to dig a little deeper to discover the real facts about a potential employee. Therefore, it is always a good idea to speak with the candidate’s former co-workers, including their past bosses.
Chapter 4: Managing Others How well you are able to manage other people will determine whether or not your business is successful. This includes finding the right place for yourself in the company’s actions and for hiring employees. Choosing employees who are capable, competent, compatible, committed and who fit into your company’s culture will ensure that the day to day aspects of your company are taken care of. Preparing yourself for the challenges of becoming a boss will help make sure that you are able to lead the company to success. But truly successful leaders don’t rely purely on their own skills and characteristics. Instead they surround themselves with experts. Surrounding Yourself with Experts Experts are people who know more about a specific aspect of a business than you do. It is stupid to try to manage every aspect of the business yourself, as it is to try to claim that you are the most qualified person to do so. The best thing you can do to ensure that the vast majority of the management decisions made are positive and correct is to surround yourself with experts. #31-Free up your time. Every decision your business management team makes takes time and effort to create. You need to carefully consider all of the pros and cons and how a particular decision will affect your company and its bottom line. The more you rely on experts to help you with this research the more time you will have to run the other parts of your company. #32- Choose niche-specific experts. The purpose of hiring experts is to use the knowledge and skills of other people to accomplish certain tasks better than you could on your own. Therefore it makes sense to choose experts in very specific niches. For example, one of your managers could be an expert in finances, while another is a marketing genius. This way you don’t have to be a master of either of these things to excel in them. #33- Recognize your own weaknesses. The best way to hire the best experts is to understand where you need the expertise of other people. This means you must have an understanding of where your knowledge is the weakest. #34- Choose experts to fulfill your business’s overall vision. If you are able to find niche-specific experts that all buy into the same overall vision for the company then odds are your company will see sustained growth. Being a Positive Leader Being a leader is difficult and it requires many traits and skills. The most important of these is a positive attitude. Your mental attitude will determine how you experience every aspect of your life, including how you run your business. It will also have a tremendous influence on how you act as a leader and how well you are able to influence your employees. Even though maintaining a positive attitude on a daily basis can be a tricky thing to do, it is one of the most important aspects of being a good leader and it will have many positive effects on your business. #35- Smile a lot. One of the simplest ways to maintain a positive mental attitude on a daily basis is simply to smile a lot around the office. When you smile it causes other people to smile and generally displays a happy and positive attitude that others will emulate. #36- Find good things to say to other people. People like compliments and the simple act of saying something nice to someone can go a long way towards changing their attitude and their performance. The more you work to find nice things to say about people the easier it will be to come up with things. #37- A positive attitude will increase productivity. Happy workers are productive workers. The happier and more adjusted your employees are the harder they will work and the more productive your company will be. #38- You don’t need to be unrealistically upbeat. Maintaining your positive attitude day in and day out can be very difficult, especially when the stresses and strains of everyday life get in the way. Your employees will look to you during the tough times and act the way you do. If you are positive and upbeat they will be too. That being said you don’t need to be unrealistically upbeat all of the time, or else you may seem fake. Even in the most trying of times a simple change in perception or recognition of something positive can
make a world of difference. #39- Focus on only the things that you can change. Again, it doesn’t make sense to try to change things that are beyond your control. Focus on altering only the things that are within your power to change and work on how you perceive the things you cannot change. #40- Give credit where credit is due. One of the best things that you can do to create a positive working environment is to give credit to your employees when it is due. No one can do it all themselves, so when the company is doing well it is because of the hard work of all of the employees. Giving credit when it is deserved will increase worker morale and encourage them to keep up the good work. #41- Whenever possible give credit in front of others. When you do give an employee credit for their hard work, try to say positive things to them in front of other employees and even customers. This increases the praise for the employee and portrays a positive attitude for other people to see. It also increases the image that you are indeed a positive leader. #42- Empower your employees by allowing them to make their own decisions. You chose to hire your employees because of their various skills and traits. Now is the time to empower them to do their jobs by trusting them to make their own decisions. Believe that they are doing their best to help the company achieve its goals and let them do their job. #43- Don’t second-guess your employees decisions. Even if a specific decision turns out to be a wrong one it is never a good idea to second-guess it. No one likes to be second-guessed and it will ruin the trust you have built up with your employees. Instead of constantly securitizing your worker’s decisions, hear them out. Ask why they made a particular decision under the circumstances and use it as a training opportunity. #44- Deal with any problems directly and honestly. The best way to deal with any problems with your employees is to be both direct and honest. You don’t need to crush someone’s spirits, nor do you have to pad them with compliments or sugar coat it for them. Direct honesty will get you far more respect and it will help you to more effectively deal with the problem. #45- Never reprimand an employee in front of others. Sometimes being a boss means that you have to ‘be the bad guy’ and reprimand an employee. In addition to being direct and honest with your reprimands, be sure to do them in private. Your employee will respect that and it will help to keep the office attitude positive. #46- Do nice things for your employees sometimes. Actions definitely speak louder than words. Every now and then show your workers that you really do appreciate them by doing something nice for them. Just going the extra mile occasionally can make a world of difference. Understanding Where Conflict Comes From Whenever you create a group of people and have them work together conflict can happen. Conflict is never a good thing in a professional work environment. It can negatively impact your team’s morale and productivity and therefore, your bottom line. One of the best things that you can do as a leader is to understand where such conflict comes from. Once you understand its source you can go about getting rid of it. #47- Conflict doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. Of course conflict is bad for business, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be the worst thing is the world. Conflict can challenge how people think and create new ideas once it is resolved. Once a conflict between two people is dealt with and overcome, the level of trust and respect between those two people is often increased. #48- A lack of conflict can represent complacency. The right amount of workplace conflict means that the company is growing and thinking. A total lack of conflict can mean complacency. #49- Identify the underlying cause of conflict. The best way to identify the underlying cause of conflict in your office is to be direct and honest with your employees. Ask them questions. Be prepared to deal with the problem immediately. #50- Focus on the positive aspects of conflict. You know that positives like more trust and respect can come out of resolved conflicts, so do your best to focus on these potential positives when dealing with your employees and their problems. #51- Allow employees to settle their own problems without your intervention. It is your job to intervene when an employee is mistreating another worker or failing to do their job properly, but you as the boss do not necessarily have to get involved with every employee dispute. In many cases the best course of action is to allow the employees to settle their own problems. Let your workers know that a professional work environment is necessary and while they don’t have to be friends, they do have to be professionals. #52- Get to know your employees in order to understand where conflict comes from. There is a lot to know about your employees. You should take the time and spend the effort to really get to know your workers, including their strengths and their weaknesses. This will help you to understand the source of most types of conflict that arises around them and will give you the answers to solving the problem. Listening Skills Developing your listening skills is one of the most important things you can do to become a good leader and boss. Your employees are a valuable part of your organization and they deserve to be heard. Not only will taking the time to really listen to your workers improve their morale and how they think of you as a boss, but it will also help you to better understand what is really going on at your business. Listening can also open new doors and ideas, which will increase productivity. #53- Let people finishing talking before you begin to speak. This is a simple yet effective way to improve your listening skills. Simply let the person finish their point before you intervene. Try not to think about objections to their points while they are talking and don’t assume you know what they are going to say before they say it. #54- Acknowledge the other person’s points. You don’t have to agree with their points, but you should at least acknowledge that you understand them. Repeat the person’s main concerns in your own words after they have finished speaking in order to acknowledge that you have truly
activity. #65- Have discipline. Once you understand where and when you are spending your time, on both productive and unproductive activities, have enough discipline to appropriately schedule your time. #66- Plan your day. Take 30 minutes or so at the beginning of each day to make detailed plans of what you plan to do and what you plan to accomplish. Make sure to plan out at least 50% of your daily time towards your most productive activities. Also plan for interruptions, or times when you will be pulled away from your work. Decide what you want to accomplish before every meeting or telephone call to make each more productive. #67- Don’t be afraid of the ‘do not disturb’ sign. There should be a certain part of your day where you really need to get work done and a ‘do not disturb’ sign can help ensure that you are actually able to get work done. #68- Watch for distractions. Your cell phone, social media services and e- mail services are all great ways to stay in touch with employees and customers, but they are also extremely distracting. Plan some time to answer your e-mails, texts and calls, but avoid answering a text or call just because it is coming in. Constantly communicating is a drain of your valuable time. Understand when a text or call is critical to business and when it is not so important. #69- Remember that not everything will get done. It is simply impossible to get everything you want done. You are never going to get it all done and you will drive yourself crazy if you attempt to do so. Also remember that about 80% of the results you produce are done with about 20% of your time. By learning how to work when you are most productive and by making the most of your productive time you will be able to get what really needs to be done completed. Tips for Maintaining Motivation There are other things you can do to make sure that you stay motivated to keep working towards success on a daily basis. #70- Alter your routine. Routines often become depressing reminders of the daily grind. By altering your routine, even the slightest bit, you may be able to create a fresh new feeling. This could mean having a meeting outdoors or in a coffee shop. Anything that represents something different from your everyday life can have a very refreshing effect on you and your employees. #71- Move around. This one may sound simple, and that’s because it is. But walking or moving around often can help break up the day and keep you motivated. It is also better for your physical and mental health to move around every 30 minutes or so. #72- Offer incentives for productivity. Offering incentives for yourself and your employees in exchange for reaching certain goals helps with motivation. Incentives are fun ways to keep everyone focused on the company and its goals. These incentives don’t have to be related to money. They can be fun things like lunches, massages, prizes, promotions and even trips. Even the smallest incentive can have a big effect. #73- Learn more about your market. Constantly expanding your knowledge about your business’s market will help fuel new ideas and new concepts. This in turn will keep you motivated to expand your company and to keep up with the modern trends of the business. This will help keep your business always moving in the right direction and will allow you to better your understanding of what your customers want. #74- There is always tomorrow. As an entrepreneur there are going to be days when you don’t get it right. It is important to remember that there is always tomorrow. Think of tomorrow as a time to get it right and succeed. So if today doesn’t go well there is always the chance that tomorrow will be amazing. #75- Try to have some fun. Adding a little bit of fun to your everyday life will make your daily tasks more enjoyable and easier to deal with. #76- Treat the motivation process like a daily task. Every business has daily and weekly tasks that need to be completed so the business can remain operational. This includes the process of motivating yourself and your workers, so make sure that you treat it as such. Finding ways to stay motivated is essential to keeping your company operational, so make this process part of your everyday tasks.
Chapter 6: Growing Your Business If your business isn’t growing then it is failing. If you aren’t moving forward then you are moving backwards. Once you have the right people in place and have developed a good customer base your company should focus on continual growth. There are lots of ways to promote growth in your company and the specifics will be based on your particular business. For example, growth for a retail business may mean opening up a new store front or developing a new product line. Growth for an IT company could be purchasing or developing a new system. Whatever your company does you need to figure out ways to expand it. This goes beyond just figuring out ways to earn more money. Creating Strong Business Relationships Creating business relationships that are strong is the foundation of growing your business. Customers, clients, suppliers and business associates are the life blood of your business’s growth. You simply cannot forge ahead down the path to success without these helpers, which means you need to develop long-lasting and meaningful relationships with them. These relationships are established on trust and honesty. #77- Communicate often. Communication between your business contacts is extremely important. This is especially true of your customers and your suppliers. These contacts rely on you to tell them what is going on, which includes letting them in on any problems you are experiencing. Communication should be a top priority for your business relationships. #78-
Meet deadlines. When a customer deals with your business they expect you to hold up your end of the bargain and deliver on your promises. This certainly means meeting your deadlines. When you promise something to a customer or supplier, you want them to consider your word as your bond. Not having to worry if your business will fulfill its requirements builds trust with customers. #79- Try to prevent surprises. Customers and clients generally don’t like surprises; especially if the service your company provides has a direct link to their livelihood. While it may not be possible for you to prevent unwanted things from happening, being honest with your customers and maintaining communication with them regarding what is going on can help you to eliminate unwanted surprises. Being Honest The value of being an honest business cannot be overstated. Your company will grow faster and reach further if it is based on honest principles and ethics. It is important to strive for honesty at all times and at all levels of your business. #80- Honesty will keep your customers coming back. No business relationship can last if it isn’t based on honesty. Being honest with your clients and customers will help them want to continue to give you their business. Honesty builds trust and this can create a business reputation that will help you grow and get you more clients. You should be honest with everyone that has to do with your business, not just your customers and clients. You need to be honest with your employees, your suppliers, your investors and everyone else. This means not making up lies to cover your own basis, owning up to your own mistakes and acknowledging the business’s state to your employees and investors. Again, this kind of honesty creates loyalty. #81- Be honest with yourself. Don’t forget to be honest with yourself too. This can be the most brutal form of honesty and one of the hardest things you can do. Being honest with yourself regarding what you really want from your business and what goals you are really looking to achieve is extremely important. Lying to yourself, even in tiny ways, can end up causing you to compromise your business, its ethics and its principles, which can spell disaster. #82- Be honest about growth. Don’t try to grow your business too quickly either. There is always the idea that a business a business should grow as quickly as it can, but this concept can often lead to trouble. Sustained business growth comes from a clear and detailed strategy. It also comes from having the appropriate systems and processes ready to go in order to cope with this new growth. Don’t focus on everything at one time. Pay attention to the required resources needed to sustain this growth, as many smaller businesses simply don’t have access to the right resources and can get in over their heads.
Chapter 7: Communication Skills As you already know, communication is vital to both the growth of your business and the ability for your company to sustain its growth. Communication is also important for developing trust with your business associates and with your employees. Good communication skills can help you to motivate employees, drive change, repair conflicts and become a better leader. Listening skills are extremely important for accomplishing these tasks, but there are other communication skills that all entrepreneurs need to have. Better Ways to Communicate While you are probably pretty good at communicating with other people, there are some better ways to communicate when it comes to running a business. These are evolutionary skills- meaning you develop them over time as a result of your experiences. Learning about some of these skills in advance will help you to incorporate them into your business life sooner. #83- Good communication skills allow you to influence others. The ability to influence others is vital for any entrepreneur. You will need to sell your employees your business’s principles and goals if you want them to get on board. You will have to convince investors and business partners to take a chance and support your business ideas. You will have to influence your customers through marketing and advertising. In order to get your point across and achieve your goal of influencing others you must be able to communication your ideas well through discussions and offer clear explanations of your thoughts. #84- Learn how to manage questions well. As a boss and a leader you will have to answer thousands of questions. Some of these questions will be simple while others will determine the success of your company. It is your job to answer these questions by making convincing arguments using the art of well-versed speaking. Your words must not only answer the question, they must also convey your meaning, desires and principles at the same time. If you take the time to learn the art, and it is an art, of managing questions well now it will have a positive impact on your career forever. #85- Holding the audience’s attention. All of the speaking skills in the world won’t help you to convey your point if you cannot hold the attention of your audience. Learning how to capture the attention of your listeners is vital, especially in the workplace environment. In order to master this skill you must learn how to read your audience, how to project your voice in a pleasing and attention getting manner and how to manage your speaking time. If you cannot make people pay attention to you it will be hard to get them to follow you to success. How to Create Dialog In addition to using your communication skills to motivate and convince others, you can also use them to capture new ideas, incentives and concepts and use them to your benefit. The best way to accomplish this is to create a dialog. This dialog can be
of factors when it comes up with your business’s marketing plan, including your product or service, who you are trying to reach, what message you are trying to send and how much money you are willing to spend to spend on marketing. #91- Do your marketing research. Research into your market will be the backbone of how you both create your marketing plan and how you improve upon it. A lack of good market research will cause you to lose potential customers and sales. There are many ways to conduct market research, including but not limited to surveys, focus groups and internet searches. #92- Determine your target audience a head of time. In order to develop an effective way to market to your business’s target audience you must know who this audience is first. This will help you find the best ways to reach them. Find out as much about your targeted customers as you can so that you can figure out how to directly reach them in the future. #93- Clearly define your resources. You cannot create a detailed marketing plan for your business if you don’t know what resources your business has to work with first. Therefore it is a good idea to clearly define what resources your company has to work with. These resources can include how much money you can devote to marketing, how much staff you can use and which tactics are available for you. #94- Make sure your marketing plan is flexible. Flexibility is an important trait for every business to have, because today’s business world is ever changing. This is especially true of your marketing plan. Markets and customers constantly change and it is vital for your company to be able to change with them. Ensure that your marketing plan takes these changes into account and is always ready to change with the times. Existing Versus New Customers One of your most important jobs as a new entrepreneur will be to find new customers through your marketing plan to help your business grow. Once your business is fully developed you will continue this quest. Businesses that are expanding spend a great deal of their time and resources looking for new clients and because of this they will often overlook a very important factor. This factor is retention of existing clients. Your current customers are an extremely valuable part of your business. They have helped you attain success so far and are worthy of your loyalty. The fact is that it will cost your business less money to retain its loyal customers than it will to go out and find new customers. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be spending resources to generate new clientele, but it does mean that an important part of your marketing plan should be based on keeping the customers you already have. The average company will see an annual growth of 3% if they are able to retain all of its existing customers for one more month per year. There are lots of ways to work on retaining your existing customers. #95- Part of your marketing plan should include customer service. One of the best ways to retain your current customers is to make sure they feel appreciated and happy with your business. Customer service and benefits should be included as part of your marketing plan, especially because they cost less than marketing to new clients. #96- Never assume that your customers will stay. It is true that most people like to give their business to companies they like and trust. If you provide a good experience to your clients odds are they will come back the next time. This is a good thing to know, but never assume that your customers will automatically come back to you. There are lots of reasons why a customer may choose to give their business to someone else. Perhaps the other company has lower prices, has opened up a closer storefront or is offering better services. Remember that on average, repeat clients will spend about 33% more money at your business than a new customer will. #97- Be sincere with your customers. The relationship you have with your existing customers will go a long way towards determining if they will stay your customers. People are very good at telling when a company is acting insincere. Consider long-term retention of your existing customers a worthy goal and be very sincere in your efforts. This means nurturing your current relationships and doing your best to make every transaction and interaction as positive as possible. Online Strategies Online marketing strategies represent one of the most cost effective forms of marketing, especially for businesses that are relatively small. There are many forms of online marketing, including e-mail marketing, search engine optimization techniques, social media marketing, lead generation, online branding and straight up online advertising. While traditional forms of business advertising such as newspaper and television ads are still effective ways to reach potential customers, a vast majority of people will find the businesses they want to use via the internet. This makes online marketing strategies worth their weight in gold. Online marketing strategies have changed recently. This is because the internet is a constantly changing medium. If you want to run a successful online marketing campaign you need to be aware of and up to date with these changes. Remember the concept of surrounding yourself with experts. This form of marketing may be one of the best examples of how using the skills of an expert can help your business to succeed. Consider hiring an expert in the world of online marketing. #98- Always practice white hat marketing techniques. There are two kinds of online marketing techniques- white hat techniques and black hat tactics. White hat marketing techniques are considered to be honest tactics that rely on hard work to accomplish. Black hat tactics are ways to cheat the system. These tactics will use systems that steal customer information from others, that blast potential customers with annoying messages, use never ending link wheels and that load up their website content with keywords in an attempt to generate false search engine results. Major search engines like Google have ways to find people who use black hat tactics and will punish them severely. Considering how many people use Google to locate companies you should heed this warning. Also, many black hat tactics will alienate and annoy your customers so it is best
to always stick to white hat marketing. #99- Pay attention to SERPs. SERPs are search engine results pages. These are the pages that come up when a customer performs a search on major search engines like Google. Research clearly shows that online viewers will only choose companies and websites that are listed on the first SERP page they receive. This means that if your business’s website or links leading to its website doesn’t appear in the top ten results on a major search engine then people are not finding you. The desire to achieve high SERP rankings has led to the creation of SEO or search engine optimization. There is an entire world of SEO marketing out there and it is worth your time to ensure that you are optimizing your website for high rankings. SEO can include things like keyword generation, Ad Word campaigns, content marketing, social media use, positive link building and connections with high authority websites. This is another place where an online marketing expert can make a world of difference. #100- Use social media. Social media is huge in today’s online world. Your customers are using social media so you should be too. Social media is an inexpensive way to market your company, but it is also extremely useful. For example, you can use various social media platforms to establish your company as an authority in a specific niche, directly connect with customers, create a brand image for your business, resolve customer problems, announce news and updates about your company and improve customer service. All of this can be accomplished extremely cheaply, which makes social media marketing very important. #101- Use content marketing. Content marketing is another useful form of online marketing that is both effective and inexpensive. Many companies overlook this form of marketing, which can be a big mistake. Content marketing can include things like podcasts, eBooks, articles, videos, games and blogs. These can be used to inspire confidence and knowledge about your company. In fact, 60% of consumers report having better feelings about companies after they read a custom publication about them. Just make sure that the content you produce is high quality, as low quality content will make your company look unprofessional in the eyes of your customers and will get you penalized by major search engines such as Google.
Chapter 9: The Entrepreneur’s Mindset There is a significant different between people who start their own companies and truly successful entrepreneurs. Many people start their own businesses but few people actually achieve the kind of success they dreamed of at the start. What is the difference between people who start up their own business and successful entrepreneurs? The answer is the entrepreneur’s mindset. Few people actually think like true entrepreneurs. There is a difference between creating a job for yourself and creating a business. A business is something that could still be operational if you, the creator, was to leave. That means that you have been able to create a functional entity, not just a job position where you do all of the work. This is the type of mindset you must have if you want to become a truly successful entrepreneur. Creating an entrepreneurial mindset starts at the beginning, before you do anything to start up your company. It means having a grand vision and passion. It means carefully considering all that you want your company to be before it even exists. It means imparting your vision, your dreams and your principles into the company right off the bat. You need to ask yourself meaningful questions so that you are able to focus on more than just the day to day functions of running your business. Your business must be built upon your dreams, your passions and your principles. This is the difference between a job and a business. In addition to how you view your business, you also need to make sure that your personality and your character are appropriate for the struggles of being an entrepreneur. Becoming a successful entrepreneur is long hard work that takes a lot of dedication. Some of the personality and character traits required to become successful in this venture include organizational skills, the ability to handle pressure, a tolerance for risk, a strong mental drive, a competitive nature, a healthy outlook on life, a positive attitude, decisiveness, patience, optimism and pure strength. This lifestyle also requires self-confidence and independent thought. It is possible to cultivate an entrepreneur mindset into your daily life if you don’t already have one built in. Some people are naturally designed to be amazing entrepreneurs, while others have to develop these traits within themselves. It doesn’t matter which of these two examples you happen to be. As you have already learned, true entrepreneurism comes from passion and desire. If you have the right amount of passion and desire to achieve something, then you will have the appropriate drive to make all necessary changes and alterations to yourself to make these things come true. This is the art of developing an entrepreneur’s mindset. Taking What You Have Learned and Incorporating It into How You Think Having an entrepreneur’s mindset means to incorporate everything that you have learned into how you think and act every single day. It means to focus your energy on what is necessary to succeed in your life, which includes succeeding in your business. The successful entrepreneur does what is necessary to do their job right. This could mean practicing how to focus on the positive aspects, working to overcome your faults and learning as much as you can whenever you can learn it. A true entrepreneur is never off the clock, even though they know when to work and when to relax. The entrepreneur’s mindset can be applied to every aspect of your life, not just to how you run your business. This way of
