Entrepreneur


Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Achieving Success – Keeping Your Money and Making it Work for You

A lot of people have made and lost millions. Some don’t seem to mind – it’s their game. But others, having made a few million, would rather keep it. To do that, you need to be financially literate. True, you need a certain amount of financial literacy to simply take on an entrepreneur opportunity and have any chance of achieving success, but to keep that money may require you to boost your financial literacy up a notch.

How does one become financially literate? When I looked at the number of people that have fallen prey to the country’s recent economic woes, it would seem that controlling your finances and making them somewhat predictable is a challenging task. So, I went searching for basic and uncomplicated guidelines that apply to everyone.

There is a lot of advice out there, however, I found a list of basics which, if followed, should help your finances stay under control as you work on achieving success.

It does take a little work, study really, but that’s no different than any other subject you want to master. The info I found was offered on basicallymoney.com in response to a question from a reader: “How does one become “Financially Literate?”

Understanding finances enables you to reap the full rewards of any entrepreneur opportunity. I hope this information helps!

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Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Personal Success Lessons to be Learned from the Bailouts

We’re hearing a lot in the news lately about executive pay. Specifically, about executives who make more money in a year than most people will make in their lifetime – even those considered well paid – while making blunders so severe that millions of employees lose their job, their pension, their savings, their home, and their hope. I don’t know about you, but that’s certainly not what I had in mind when I set my sights on personal success as an executive.

Some people support the bailouts, some don’t. But even the staunchest supporters are generally motivated by saving jobs and the economy, not by a desire to keep executives rolling in dough after having let their company go under.

However, to be fair, not all executives from all of these companies are to blame. Many of them, I’m sure, tried to do the precise things that were needed to avert disaster but were stonewalled, or shot down in flames by guys with bigger guns. We’ve all been there – and it’s often why people choose an entrepreneur opportunity over ‘employee’ as the road to personal success.

Ironically, it’s probably the guys who tried the hardest who are losing the most sleep. They feel the weight of their failure and the consequences but, really, they were the best the company had.

Lessons to be learned? Sometimes the guys who make the most noise are more than just squeaky wheels. And, from the other viewpoint: You don’t have to go down with the ship. Sink your oars into more friendly waters.

Keep these in mind on your road to personal success.

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Monday, November 9th, 2009

Intrapreneurs Use Entrepreneurial Skills, but they Need Creative Freedom

Entrepreneurial skillsDid you know that one can be an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur? An entrepreneur is generally someone who starts a new business; an intrapreneur works in an existing business to revitalize it with creative, innovative ideas or to start a new company under the umbrella of the existing one for the purposes of diversification. In either case, entrepreneurial skills are needed to achieve success – although the intrapreneur may not be as accountable as the entrepreneur.

If you’re given free reign as an intrapreneur, it can be very exciting. And you aren’t the one taking the risk. However, if someone is telling you exactly how to do the job, instead of letting you use your innovative ideas and entrepreneurial skills (intrapreneurial?) to get it done, it can be not so fun – in the extreme.

I had a friend, for example, who was hired to open up the U.S. market for a product that was doing very well in Europe. Company headquarters were also in Europe. Several people had tried to launch this product in America without success.

My friend took on the project and it was soon very clear why others had failed – the European guys who ran the show insisted that it be done their way. It was quite an amazing phenomenon actually: they only hired those with proven entrepreneurial skills and success launching new products, so the hirees really knew what they were doing, but then they wouldn’t let them work their magic.

It was a classic case of Einstein’s definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

My friend finally quit the company in disgust, and about 15 marketing and PR people followed shortly thereafter. That was some years ago, and the product still isn’t making it in the U.S.

This is not an unusual situation: in fact, it’s the type of scenario that drives people to work on their own.

Lesson learned: If you’re going to use your entrepreneurial skills to achieve success as an intrapreneur, make sure the parameters are very, very clear prior to committing to the project.

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Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Achieving Success – If You Can Imagine It, You Can Do It

Achieving successDid you attend the Sovereignty Live event in Puerto Rico? Did you hear and meet the speakers? Crossing the Sahara; surviving for three weeks in the Amazon, lost without fire, food, or weapons; traveling 27,000 miles, a nine-month trip, alone, on a yacht – that’s the kind of experience that makes you believe you can do anything. And that’s the kind of spirit behind achieving success.

Audiences hearing about experiences like this are in awe; they wonder how the speakers ever got through it. But, the truth is, you would probably have survived it, too. If you’re reading this blog – which means you’re either an entrepreneur right now and believe in your independent future, or you’re looking at and open to the possibilities and considering taking the chance – then you can do it.

Yes, there are probably people who can’t. But, believe me, there’s not a chance in hell that someone who can’t do it will ever find themselves in the Amazon. In fact, I would bet they’d never be reading this blog.

But if you can see it, if you can imagine it, if you can think it, if you can feel it – you can do it. You just need the right entrepreneurial skills. Believe that. And, if you want to change your life, run with it – all the way to the bank, or whatever scenario is your heart’s desire, whatever ‘achieving success’ means to you. Maybe you just want the time to take that 27,000 mile sail. I could go for that.

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Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Do Your Entrepreneurial Skills Include Staying in Shape?

Entrepreneurial skillsI recently read an article that referred to the Small Business Readiness Assessment offered online by the U.S. Small Business Administration, an independent agency of the U.S. federal government formed to assist and protect the interests of small business concerns. It’s interesting to see the SBA’s opinion on readiness criteria; it touches on a number of entrepreneurial skills, none of which were a big surprise – with one exception: the question physical health.

After asking if you know that running your own business could mean working more than 12 hours a day, six days a week and maybe Sundays and holidays, the next question asks if you have the physical stamina to handle such a schedule. Good point. Really, the closer you are to ‘athletic’, the easier things will be. So, one of your entrepreneurial skill sets should center around how to stay in shape – by which I don’t mean packing a serious six-pack, but you should be able to get through a long day and still have a little energy left at the end of it.

I know more than one person who quit because they were ‘tired.’ They just wanted to go back to being an employee. It was a big loss for them, although they did have a sense of relief to be ‘out from under.’

You have to think of your body as a machine. You wouldn’t continue driving your car if it stalled every few blocks or days, you wouldn’t put dirty water into the gas tank, you wouldn’t let the brakes get so bad you had to replace the rotors. Treating a car like that means it’s going to give out – in the not too distant future. Even those most adept at entrepreneurial skills will have trouble achieving success if they can’t get their car out of the driveway. And the same will happen if they feel like they’re giving out by 3:00 in the afternoon.

Being an entrepreneur is like running a race – prepare for it properly and there’s a good chance you’ll win.

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Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

When Economic Times are Tough, Achieving Success Depends on Marketing

Achieving successThere are some things just about everyone seems to believe true despite evidence to the contrary: Vitamin A improves night vision. Not true. Humans catch warts by touching toads. Not true. Exposure to cold weather, perhaps with rain and wind, causes colds: Numerous studies – including sitting people on giant ice blocks in freezing rooms with high-powered wind machines blowing on them – have failed to prove that true. Thinking you can catch warts from toads isn’t a particularly dangerous misconception, but some of the incorrect ideas that abound in the world of business can easily stop someone from achieving success.

One of the best examples is the concept that one should slow down their marketing efforts when the economy is in rough shape.

Pinching pennies is a normal reaction when pennies are looking scarce in the future. But neither ‘normal’ nor ‘reaction’ has high standing in the world of the entrepreneur.

Truthfully, people don’t actually stop buying things – they’re just a little more cautious and take a little more convincing. And with every merchant in the same boat, you can be sure a lot are going to be doing as much convincing as they can. The worst thing you can do is disappear into the woodwork and let the consumer forget about you while they’re wooed by the competition. What are your chances?

‘Proactive’ is an important watchword for achieving success in an economic downturn. Entrepreneurial skills must include learning how to market in any economic climate. Unless you’re a huge company with unlimited financial resources and a customer base that wouldn’t leave you if they had a gun pointed to their heads, you’re probably not going to make it otherwise.

Shane Krider – Polaris Media Group

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Friday, October 16th, 2009

Choosing Associates – A Make/Break Entrepreneurial Skill

entrepreneurBeing an entrepreneur is a satisfying and liberating experience, especially when you used to be an employee. But there’s an entrepreneurial skill set which, if you don’t learn it quickly, can put you out of business pretty fast. One of the most important of those entrepreneurial skills is choosing associates.

A friend once got hooked up with some guys doing business together – a team of entrepreneurs who’d started many businesses, had unlimited ideas, and seemed to be well-bankrolled. They were also nice people, family-oriented and knew how to have fun.

My friend worked with them, from a different state, for several months with everything looking like it was rolling along – albeit a bit more slowly than expected. Then one of his employees who was dealing directly with the employees of the group said she was having trouble. The other guys were not delivering what they promised, and clients were getting upset.

After this sort of thing happened several times, a little digging revealed a past that made Jack Sparrow look like Mother Teresa. True, they’d started several companies, but they also abandoned them, and their clients, when things got rough. They’d done it over and over again. Even the FTC was after them. They had obviously failed to hone their own entrepreneurial skills.

My friend got out fast, before the mess rubbed off.

Fortunately, not too many people have that much trouble with their business ethics. But, a word of warning, check people out before you get involved with them. Even the worst of that type can talk a good game. In fact, the worst often talk the best game in town. Also, remember that past performance and actions are a barometer of what you can expect in the future – regardless of what you’re told.

No matter how brilliant you are, achieving success still takes a team. Being able to put that team together is among the most vital of entrepreneurial skills – choose your teams members wisely.

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Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Stress Management Vital in Entrepreneurial Training

Entrepreneurial trainingTraining in business is mostly in classroom situations and very rarely does one get real experience in entrepreneurial training. Stress is a very real problem in a start-up business, especially for the young entrepreneur. You may find yourself battling a very real adversary in your own mind and struggling to breathe in your daily routine.

An incredibly useful tool is communication. One of the first things a mentor will tell you is: Speak up. Not being able to talk about your needs and concerns creates stress and can make negative feelings worse. Assertive communication can help you express how you feel in a thoughtful, tactful way.

If you are at a loss and can’t figure a way out of your plight or situation, ask for help.

People who have a strong network of family and friends manage their problems in different ways to people who are completely alone. Although independence and self-reliance are important, an emotional support system is just as necessary.

According to doctors our emotional state affects our immune system, making it harder to fight off disease if we are under emotional duress or stress.  If you already have a health problem, stress may make it worse. It can make you moody, tense, or depressed. Your relationships may suffer.  And you may not do as well in your business, as all these factors are tied together.

You are an entrepreneur after all. You are your business.

Leaning on people for help when you need it doesn’t mean you’re weak or that you’ve failed.  It means you are fortunate to have loved ones to lean on and when you are through the stressful period your bond will be all the stronger for it.

Sometimes entrepreneurial training is about letting people know its okay to hold out your hand and allow yourself to be given a hand up, so you can get back on your feet and take your rightful place in the world.

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Thursday, October 1st, 2009

How to Succeed Through Change

How to succeedYou may feel like change is a bad thing. That you have learned how to succeed and that if anything changed significantly it would be a bad or even terrible thing.

However, one of the most defining characteristics of the human being, and in particular the entrepreneur, is the ability to accept change.

Many studies have been done putting people in various situations, under varying degrees of pressure and stress. We tend to get used to our new situations or realities very quickly. A few days at most and then that is our new reality. That is the same reason that morale is such a vital component of success. Too many days of feeling the grind and that will be your new reality until you break out of it.

Your strength of character and the genius of the human condition is that we are able to adapt to change easily and survive accordingly.

To be an artist at any time must be a difficult life choice, but during one of the toughest times in economic history they have found a niche market.

The owners of the wineries in Yountville, a wine-soaked town in the heart of the Napa Valley, California began by selling local artists works off their walls. Today they are re-enforcing bridges to facilitate the transport of giant sculptures to add to the largest collection of contemporary art by Northern California artists.

The adaptability of man is what has helped us stay at the top of the food chain. How to succeed through adversity is the immediate by product of adapting to change. It is what has inspired great men to build giant cities and generations to expand their reach ever wider.

Change occurs frequently when you own your own business, the entrepreneur thrives on changes and their businesses grow.

Change should inspire you and spur you on to greater heights.

Shane – Polaris Media Group

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Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Motorcycles: Entrepreneurs See Beyond the Noise and Fun to a Hog Heaven of Opportunities

entrepreneurIf you’ve ever been to the spectacle that is the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, you know that it’s not your ordinary drive-in biker convention.  Imagine a trade show on steroids.  Tour de France without the tights, and a lot more noise.

A glimpse of event photos may leave you thinking that the granddaddy of all motorcycle rallies is only for the wildest of partiers.  No so.  In all likelihood, there are as many periodontists as parolees in attendance.  But those dentists know how to dress the part.

This year’s rally was held August 3-9, when nearly half a million motorcycle enthusiasts rumbled into far west central South Dakota for the six-day affair.  But there’s more to this story than chrome and tattoos.  According to the August issue of Entrepreneur magazine ,  the event generates a stunning $16.4 million in sales.  Which means sales of tee shirts and motorcycle boots morph into substantial economic stimulus for South Dakota.

Truth is, opportunities abounded for those who had shiny, sharp or cool items to sell to the target market.  Souvenir salespeople, knife vendors and even tattoo artists were a busy group.

Try these numbers on for size:
•    6.7 million pounds of ice delivered to the Black Hills area (the average temperature during the rally is 85 degrees)
•    $1.5 million in food and beverage sales
•    543 tons of garbage hauled away (those soda cups have to go somewhere)
•    $6.4 million in clothing and footwear sales
•    66 marriage licenses issued
•    $412,481 in tattoo sales

So the next time you hear of an event that sounds like it’s well-organized and a lot of fun, look beyond the obvious, to the business opportunities.  Next year, this legendary event marks its 70th anniversary and will be held on August 9 – 15, 2010.  Will you be among the enterprising entrepreneurs there?  For more information click here.

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