Entrepreneurs

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

The Built-In Entrepreneurial Skill That Sets Gen Y Apart

I was just reading 30 Under 30; America’s Coolest Young Entrepreneurs and saw the story of M3 Girl Designs. In addition to coming up with a great product idea, one of the chief entrepreneurial skills used by the company’s 13-year-old founder, Maddie Bradshaw, was the ability to build and rally a team – which is very Gen Y, and something at which Gen Y excels.

Who is the team? The 3 in M3 Girl Designs are Maddie Bradshaw, the founder, president and head designer, her Mom, who gave Maddie an okay to spend $300 she’d saved from birthday and tooth fairy money to get the business started, and Margot, Maddie’s 9-year-old sister, the company’s vice president and assistant designer.

Are you impressed yet?

Read 30 Under 30 to find out about some other inspired Gen Y’ers, and get inspired yourself.

And keep an eye on your kids. Do they have good ideas? Are they exhibiting inherent entrepreneurial skills?

Cost of starting Maddie’s company           = $300
Value of Maddie’s company today           = $1.6 million
How Maddie feels about her accomplishment       = Priceless

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Tags: Entrepreneurial skills, Entrepreneurs, Gen Y, young entrepreneurs
Posted in Entrepreneur Success | 2 Comments

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Business Coaching From Billionaires

Business coaching Learning from others’ success or mistakes is a vital key to success.

Understanding smart business makes you smarter. It also affords you the luxury of applying their strategies to your situation after successful billionaires have given it a trial run. Watch them and learn from them and you will receive a master class in business coaching.

Some lessons will seem like common sense. Like 2 pieces of advice I have heard, time and again, from wealthy men. Their biggest business blunder? It’s always buying a racehorse or a yacht. They cost way more money than you would think. Horses eat and well….you know what, a lot. But expensive mistakes aside, what is the biggest problem in business for a man like Donald Trump? The real estate magnate seems to fear, fear itself. People’s skittish behaviour in the current market has a whole lot of real estate entrepreneurs running scared and in some cases going bankrupt.

Trump says fear is the biggest threat to his business.

People sometimes don’t realize that real estate runs in cycles. That’s normal. He knows he has to bide his time. Diversifying into many different avenues is his current solution.

He has been doing publicity tie-ins with products like Oreo cookies and has appeared on Macy’s commercials. He understands the value of personal brand building and leverages his public persona to grow his business interests.

For Trump, like the rest of us, the recession is just another opportunity. Thanks for the business coaching Mister Trump.

Tags: Business coaching, Entrepreneurs
Posted in Entrepreneur Success | No Comments

Monday, October 5th, 2009

Money Secondary to Personal Success

Personal success People are driven by different things. And no I don’t mean cars. Their goals are different and their ways of achieving them will always be contingent on their life experience and personal drive.

Research has even indicated that the financial reward may not matter that much to many entrepreneurs. It is simply a by-product of personal success.

The basic impulse of the true entrepreneur is to succeed against all odds. It is this need to achieve that bears fruit when it comes to money. For many, money is the drive. Financial independence is the mountain they keep their eye on, or perhaps just a nebulous idea of wealth, generally with a prefix of winning the lotto. But the entrepreneur has a metaphorical jockey on his back whipping him to ever greater heights, chasing the success that is so rightly his…or hers.

They have a need to achieve: Although they keep an “eye” on profits, this is often secondary to the drive toward personal success. And that is why they succeed.

Tags: Entrepreneurs, Personal success
Posted in General | No Comments

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Entrepreneurs Love Thrill of the Hunt

Entrepreneurs and hard work Most entrepreneurs, by survey, have an appetite for hard work. They actually enjoy it. Some liken success in business to the thrill of the hunt, appealing to the very basest of instincts in man. Kill or be killed.

Some of the most successful people in the world were not given the luxury of first class schooling, yet they have managed to amass great fortunes. Why?

They were born with an inherent attitude. Explorers in days of yore were the closest to embodying the sally forth spirit of the modern entrepreneur.

The work is not their focus. Succeeding against all odds is where their focus lies. The time spent working doesn’t matter. For many the hours may be long and arduous in the beginning, because a small business demands the constant attention of the entrepreneur.

For others it may go smoothly. But for all, their focus and determination carry them through. They wear many hats, because they have to.

Do you have the entrepreneurial spirit?

When you take that leap of faith and start your own business, you have to control everything yourself and the buck stops with you, so to speak.

And the appetite for that thrill of the hunt is what sets you apart. Many may balk at the idea of all the responsibility falling on their shoulders but the entrepreneur just jumps in and enjoys it.

The same man, a few centuries ago, would return with a buck over his shoulder to feed the village. Now he is out in the big bad business world doing what has to be done.

Because it’s just in you.

Shane Krider – Polaris Media Group

Tags: Entrepreneurs, hard work, small business
Posted in Entrepreneur Success | 1 Comment

Monday, August 31st, 2009

Recession Continues to Pound Small Businesses, But Where Are the Lessons?

Polaris- Blog 3 If you’re an entrepreneur, recent polling data of small business owners will probably come as no surprise: business is getting worse for many and more than half are experiencing cash flow problems. The gloomy findings are the latest monthly survey of the Discover® Small Business Watch, from Rasmussen Research, as reported by Mark Dolliver in Adweek magazine.

Rasmussen Research reports 44 percent of entrepreneurs said economic conditions for their own business are getting worse, vs. 30 percent saying conditions are getting better. (Most of the rest said things are staying about the same.) Fifty-one percent reported having experienced “cash-flow issues” during the previous 90 days. The 27 percent who expect to boost their spending on business development (”such as advertising, inventory and capital expenditures”) were outnumbered by the 43 percent expecting to reduce such outlays.

But the takeaways lie in what Dolliver’s sources explain can be the long-term effect of the recession. Just as it is predicted that consumers will make lasting changes in their behaviors, small business owners may make different choices long after the recession is over.

Dolliver quotes Bill Collier, author of “How to Succeed as a Small Business Owner . . . and Still Have a Life” and principal of Collier Business Advisors in High Ridge, Missouri: “Regarding the entrepreneurs who have had a tough time in the last year or so, most blame the economy — and rightfully so. But at the same time, many of these folks lacked one or more of the following: a solid business model, a well-thought-out plan, good execution, or a Plan B in case things start to go south. Another common element is living week to week, both in business and at home. That’s where I think and hope a permanent change will take hold: Be prepared and have a cash cushion.”

Wise lessons, indeed, and the article continues with more insights. To read it, visit here.

Tags: economic conditions, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurs, small business owners
Posted in Entrepreneur Success | 3 Comments

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Entrepreneurship: This is a Classic Story

Entreprenuership It’s a classic story.

Two men graduate from the same school on the same day.

One follows the conventional path of interviewing for various job positions, sending out resumes, and eventually finding his way into an employment position.

The other decides to go into business for himself. He has a vision or an idea he wants to chase through life. A service he wants to provide. An impact he wants to make. And through confidence and belief in himself, he takes the challenge of being completely responsible for his own financial results.

The scenario is clear and obvious. The world is made up of two groups of people: those who live their dreams….and those who work for people who live their dreams.

This is not to say that employment is bad or wrong. Certainly our world would be a place of complete chaos if no one were willing to cook food, build automobiles, teach our children and build our roads.

But, it’s also true that entrepreneurs are the people who make the world go ’round. We provide the leadership, the vision and the possibility for the growth and advancement of the rest of society. And we get paid very well for doing it.

Ultimately, it all comes down to “service”. It was Earl Nightingale who said, “Our rewards in life are always in direct proportion to the amount of service we provide.”

Why does Jim Carrey make $20M for a motion picture? Why Sir Richard Branson one of the richest men on the planet? Why is Carlos Slim worth billions of dollars?

It’s because of two things:

A. How much service they provide
B. And the number of people to whom they provide it.

These are entrepreneurs.

They “get it”. They understand that every dollar they will ever earn comes from — and through — PEOPLE. There is no other way.

Entrepreneurship is a noble and profitable choice that has created every major convenience, luxury and advantage that we enjoy in modern society.

And the people who engage in it can become very wealthy.

And the best part about being an entrepreneur is that — in today’s society and technology — it’s never been easier for people like you and I to choose this path and see remarkable results in a short amount of time.

Two men graduated from college on the same day. One is living his dreams. One is working for someone else who’s living theirs….

….which one are you?

Tags: Entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship
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Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Entrepreneurs Take Risk to Achieve Success

Blog 7 image Michael Dell is no stranger to taking risks, overcoming adversities and learning from mistakes. His company, started in a garage, is one of the largest providers of consumer electronics worldwide and he is achieving success due to his persistence and creative spirit.

Adapting to market trends, he has frequently taking huge risks to ensure the viability and longevity of his enterprise. In this interview, Dell shares his advice for all entrepreneurs who have the desire to achieve success.

Tags: achieve success, Entrepreneurs
Posted in Entrepreneur Success | No Comments