If you were told to walk for 17 miles in the middle of the road, what would you do? Punch the guy in the face? Kick him in the balls? Run? Anything to escape that situation, right?

Why? Because doing so would basically guarantee your death.

If the world of business was as visible as a normal road and you could see each business owner walking on a particular place on that road represents their position in the marketplace, you’d see 95% of them walking in the very middle of the road.

What happens to them? You guessed it. Just like in real life, they die. Only here, their business dies.

The middle of the road represents a neutral, passive position that’s meant to satisfy both sides of a particular market.

The motorcycle helmet manufacturer who puts flaming skulls AND pink butterflies on their products.

The politician who’s a “moderate”.

The restaurant that serves Italian, Indian, Thai, Chinese, American, AND Mexican food.

Now, the “middle of the road” position is not always as obvious as the examples above but, especially for a young entrepreneur who is getting into their own business venture for the first time, there’s the tendency to not cause any waves and blend in to an already existing market.

This approach, like walking in the middle of the road, all but guarantees death.

There are hundreds and thousands people already walking in that same place. What are your chances of being seen amongst the huge crowd? What are you doing to make yourself noticed?

In a world of conformity, the heretics are the people who make the change, the innovation, the breakthrough that shifts the perspective of the neutral herds and brings them back to consciousness.

If you want to be extremely successful and develop a movement behind your ideas and business take a strong stance on either side of a subject or market and become the emblem of that perspective.

When Americans think of equal rights, they think of Martin Luther King Jr.

When the world thinks of a non-violent independence movement they think of Mahatma Gandhi.

Why? Because these people took a stance on a subject that was important to them and became the personifications of their movements. They even died for them.

Do you have something to live for like that?

Abhay Khurana

If you want to become a better young entrepreneur, have children.

Ok, I’m not serious. But it would be an understatement to say that my 16-month-old daughter has been the most important marketing guru that I’ve ever had. Plus, she’s cuter than all of the 40-year-old guys teaching marketing out there today, ;)

Here’s one of the lessons that she’s taught me.

As usual, I was giving my daughter her bedtime bath. We splash, color the walls with crayons, and play with different shaped cups to swish the warm water around.

Randomly, I took one of the cups, scooped up some water, and moved the cup in a quick upward motion to release the water in a straight vertical line.

You should have the look on my daughter’s face. She gave me the, “That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen” look. You know what I mean?

I started smiling from ear to ear and threw the water over and over again until she reached for the cup in my hand because she wanted to do it.

She tried the best she could, but had no luck.

So, I grabbed another cup in the tub and started to show her the motion again.

The next part is important, so pay attention.

She grabbed for the second cup that I was using,thinking that the cup was what made the water do what she liked so much.

She didn’t recognize that it was the operator behind the tool that was so important, and not necessarily the tool itself.

This made me think, “How often do entrepreneurs think that finding the ‘perfect’ tool or system is what is separating them from success, not realizing that it is themselves who are the crucial point in their business?”

The answer is, way too freaking often.

I had personal experience of this the other day while I was looking for a task management system that worked between my Mac and iPhone.

I spent 3 valuable hours searching for and reading sites on the Internet who were all promoting a different system and pointing out its specific benefits.

I did this until I just had enough and realized that I could have a perfectly functional task management system with a pen and a sheet of paper if I wanted to. But, I was too externally focused on the tool instead of myself.

If I were really busy enough to need a good task management system, I wouldn’t have had 3 hours to spend researching. I would have found something that worked, and just gotten to it.

In my experience, I’ve seen this happen too many times.

Don’t think that the tool is what makes the magic and realize that the person behind the tool is really the only thing that matters.

If you meet a successful entrepreneur, don’t ask him what tools he uses.

Instead, ask him what motivates him to get things done. Ask him (or her) what qualities he connects with on a daily basis that keep him moving towards his goal.

Those internals are infinitely more important than the external tools and systems that may be in place.

You may have all of the tools that a successful entrepreneur does, but if you don’t have the vision, the drive, the commitment, those internal qualities that are foundational to success, then my friends, all the tools in the world will do you absolutely no good.

With love and respect,

Abhay “Self-Focused” Khurana

P.S. New to this blog? Join our growing community of young and intelligent entrepreneurs.

Name:

Email:

We’ll never share the information you share with us. Promise.

With today’s massive amount of competition on the internet, it’s no longer an easy task for you to dominate a niche market.

More than likely, there are major players in your market that are competing for the same attention that you are hoping to gain.

So, the question that naturally arises is, “how can I capture the attention and business of my market when there is so much competition?”

If you’re asking yourself that question, you’re in luck :-)

That’s exactly what I’m to teach you.

Competition “Gaps”

Keeping on top of your competition is an important principle for any entrepreneur, and these tactics are based on that principle.

Even when dealing with big competition, you’re sure to find marketing gaps that you can take advantage of.

1) Distribution gaps

For any business, there is a method of distributing information.

For example, I distribute information primarily through this blog, RSS feeds, social media, and article directories.

I’m not currently using YouTube or other video sharing sites as a major distribution channel.

So, if you were interested in dominating the young entrepreneur niche online, a good way to take advantage of my distribution gap would be to develop a heavy presence on YouTube and other video sharing sites.

You’ll find distribution gaps like this in any of your competitors’ businesses, and taking advantage of them will establish you as the authority in the venue that is not being used by your competition.

2) Pricing gaps

You’ll tend to see that your competition is comfortable staying within a certain price range to sell their products or services. Thus, they’ll leave other viable price categories wide open for you to fill.

A good example of this is in the computing electronics market.

Apple tends to stay in the $1000+ price range, with practically only one product escaping that rule (the Mac Mini). And, they dominate the hell out of that price range.

But, since they are not interested in entering the $300-$800 price range for computers, other PC manufacturers like Toshiba, HP, and Dell take advantage of that by mostly promoting computers in that price range.

Even though Apple is so dominant in their price range, these other computer manufacturers are able to make massive profits by maximizing on a price range that Apple hasn’t entered.

What about you?

What are some tactics that you use to take advantage of the gaps left by your competitor’s? Let me know in the comments.

Talk soon,

Abhay Khurana

P.S. Be sweet, re-tweet. If you liked this article, click the green re-tweet button at the top of this post to share it with your twitter flock :)

The most critical process for any young entrepreneur who wants to start a business is market research.

Market research is the process by which the marketer (you) enters the world of the customer. Market research is essential for every business campaign even if you think that you’re already familiar with your market or are even a consumer in your market (although it’ll probably be easier for you).

One of the best ways to conduct market research is via survey.

20 years ago conducting surveys sucked.

Basically, it consisted of you standing outside a competitor’s store in the mall and handing out surveys with pre-paid envelopes, hoping for some response.

Fortunately for us, those days have changed, thanks to the internet revolution.

Online surveys – get your market

There are many online survey services that offer free options, like www.surveymonkey.com, but they have their downsides and are very limited in function.

The first thing is that, to take the survey, your customer has to click a link and go to an external page. Secondly, on that page, there is the branding of the survey company all over the place, with their own links, etc.

On top of that, you’re limited in the amount of surveys that you can create as well as the number of participants that you can include.

Solution?

Enter Google Docs. Google Docs is an awesome, free service that you may have been using for years for online document management and distribution.

But, did you know that you can use it for powerful surveys?

We do this with a specific function of Docs called “Forms”.

Here’s how it works.

Let’s highlight some of the benefits of using Google Docs for your surveys.

1) Your customers can fill out the survey anytime, anywhere

A Google Form is very flexible. It can be filled out directly from an e-mail inbox (no going to an external survey website), or from a smartphone. This helps you get your results faster and is less of a hassle for the individual.

2) You can post your survey right on your website

Your Google Form survey from is embeddable, meaning that you can put it anywhere on your website with some simple HTML code.

3) You can create as many surveys as you like, and send them to unlimited people

As opposed to the free version of popular online survey services, you aren’t limited to amounts of surveys or amounts of recipients.

4) Google Docs supports logic-branching

This means that you can choose to have your survey recipients see different questions based on their answers to previous questions.

For example, you create a survey that asks for age.

Your two choices are “under 30″ and “over 60″ and, of course, you don’t want those who are under 30 to see the same questions as those who are over 60.

So, with Google Docs, you can specify for those who answer “under 30″ to see a different set of following questions than those who answer “over 60″.

How to get started

Go to docs.google.com and sign-up for a google account if you don’t already have one (which you should).

Once you sign in, click “Create New” in the upper-left side of the page and choose “Form”.

Then, you’ll have all of your options for creating your survey. You can change the look and feel of your survey, how many questions it has, etc. Then when you finish your survey, you can either send it to a set of contacts via e-mail, embed it on your website, or send people the link to the form.

What are other free online tools that you use for your business?

Sound off in the comments.

Talk soon,

Abhay “Making your life easier” Khurana

P.S. I know that your sick of P.S.’s but if you liked this article, click the green retweet button at the top of the post to share with all of your friends.

“Hold on just a second! Goal setting  and making plans is so important! Everybody knows that!”

You’re right, it is. Especially for an entrepreneur, it’s essential to know where you’re going so that your daily efforts aren’t wasted on inconsequential activities.

But, plans and goals will get you absolutely nowhere by themselves. Nowhere.

Og Mandino said it best,

“Never has there been a map, however carefully executed to detail and scale, which carried its owner over even one inch of ground. Never has there been a parchment of law, however fair, which prevented one crime… Action, alone, is the tinder which ignites the map, the parchment, this scroll, my dreams, my plans, my goals, into a living force. Action is the food and drink which will nourish my success.”

Action is the food and drink which will nourish your success.

Say that out loud.

I get chills every time I read those words.

Powerful right? But, unfortunately, there’s always that voice of doubt that says. . .

“But I have to know what action to take before I take it. So, let me study, dust my desk, and organize my pens for the next year, while I learn what do to. Then I’ll act.”

This is a common excuse that comes from fear and it must be overcome before success even looks in your direction.

So, let’s destroy it, shall we?

First of all, the idea that you have to learn the entire picture of a particular subject before taking action is completely absurd because…

1. You won’t retain any of the information that you tried to learn in the process because your brain assimilates knowledge through its application, not just hearing or reading.

2. All knowledge is progressive, meaning that one principle builds on top of another. Therefore, one action builds on another and without carrying out the primary activities, understanding what to do at the end of the road is close to useless.

Do you remember what you learned in English class during your senior year of high school? Probably not, because you never had the chance or the structure to apply those concepts.

But, how easy is it for you to cook your favorite meal? How easy is it for you to tie your shoes? You can do it like clockwork, I know. That’s because you have applied that recipe/process repeatedly until it has been committed to your mental and physical memory.

So, in the process of learning, apply each chunk of knowledge that you learn as you learn it. This will not only help you retain that knowledge, but you will begin to make progress and build on the results of your actions almost immediately.

If you’re worried about making mistakes in this process, here’s an encouraging fact.

Experience is the most valuable asset to the success of anybody in any field.

And experience is the direct result of action.

Not necessarily the “right” action, but action.

You see, if you take a wrong action action that doesn’t lead you closer to your goal, you’ll learn from the results (or lack thereof), and then adjust accordingly.

There is not one example in the history of entrepreneurship of somebody who was perfectly successful right off the bat.

Making mistakes and adjustments is an essential part of business and it precedes success. Not only that, you will continue to make mistakes and adjustments even when you’re at a place that you consider successful.

But, what happens when you take no action? You get no experience, no results, and no success.

Action is liberating

Have you ever had a project on your to-do-list that stayed there for months, even years?

Then, one day, you just got it together and finished it. How did that feel?

I know that those instances of decisive action are some of the most freeing experiences I have ever had, even if the project itself was insignificant.

Imagine having those experiences on a daily basis!

There is a magic that comes from committing to action and carrying through.

Meet the parents of success

Didn’t know that success has parents? Well she does and you’re going to have to meet them before you’re introduced to her. No exceptions.

Think of it this way.

The father gives the seed of life that is then nourished and developed by the mother.

In the same way, a clear goal is the seed-giving father of your success, but it will never come to life without the nourishment and cultivation of the mother, action.

Please, don’t make success harder than it has to be.

Stop playing your mental fear games and take action today! Commit to one thing that will move your business forward!

Then share your experience with us in the comments.

You’ll hear from me soon,

Abhay “Taking Action” Khurana

P.S. Like what you’ve just read? Then share it. Just click the green “retweet” button at the top of this article to post it to Twitter.

P.P.S. New in town? Then join our growing community of young entrepreneurs by signing up for free e-mail training delivered to your inbox. It’s not so hard. Just enter your name and main e-mail address in the forms below.

Ever see a pendulum?

It swings from side to side with decreasing momentum until it finds it balance and rests in the center. In its process of balance, the pendulum passes its point of center many, many times, until it finally rests there.

Similarly, you’ll find that in many life situations, it is necessary to taste both sides of a particular situation until you find the proper balance.

This applies very clearly to business of a young entrepreneur as well.

For example, a photography company starts by printing their photos on a low quality photo paper that isn’t satisfactory to their customers.

They get a huge amount of complaints and in an attempt to keep their customers, they start to use one of the highest quality photo papers that they can find.

The result, they keep their customers, but their profit margins go down the toilet.

So, the young, intelligent CEO decides to sacrifice a small amount of quality and save a significant amount of money by switching to a medium tier photo paper that is satisfactory to their customers and don’t kill the companies profits at the same time.

A crude example to illustrate my point.

Unfortunately, there tends to be this concept of being near perfect immediately, without any need for adjustment or adaptation.

In my opinion, this concept is completely artificial, and there has not been a single successful business built in this way.

Hugely successful companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon.com are continuously adapting their businesses to the changing needs and desires of their market, with adjustments of already existing products or services AND with innovation.

Let’s learn from the leaders.

With those changes, there comes a need for adjustment.

Is the iPhone 3GS the same as the original iPhone? No, there have been significant adjustments to the product to make it the best selling Smartphone in the world.

And, of course, it’s still changing.

So, what’s your point?

My point is this: don’t be attached to perfection.

Instead, be attached to progress. The idea of perfection implies no further need to do anything.

But progress is a continuous process that is dependent on connection with your market and an understanding of what they want. Plus, it’s a much more exciting place to be.

Talk soon,

Abhay Khurana

P.S. If you liked this post, give it a tweet. It’s easy, just click on the green “retweet” button at the top of the post.

P.P.S. We’re always updating the website with fresh content. If you’re not already, subscribe to get all of the latest updates right away (plus some free bonus content).

If you take a comprehensive study of a group of successful entrepreneurs and try to analyze the common practices that they all are diligent about, you’ll find that one of those practices is effective time management.

We’ve heard it a million times, “time is your most valuable asset.” And it’s good to hear it that much, it’s completely true! With focused desire, knowledge, hard work and time I truly believe that you can amass any amount of riches that you desire.

The problem is that even though time is so obviously precious, people tend to waste it.

People have their planners, their long list of to-do’s and a timer on their desk. But, for some reason, they still end the day without doing anything that really moves their business forward.

Ever feel like that? Why?

I’m here to assert, that you’re having you’re time sucked away from you by a few seemingly innocent activities, that disguise themselves as actual work. See, when you think that something is work, you won’t question it, and it goes by undetected.

But, no longer! Let’s identifie the leader of these time-suckers and talk about how to deal with him.

Then we’ll discuss a practical technique you can use everyday to make sure that you’re doing what is most important for your business first instead of last.

E-mail: the big daddy time sucker

E-mail is the most heinous time sucker in existence.  Now, I’m not saying that e-mail isn’t necessary. In fact, without it, my business would be significantly hampered.

But, just as with money, or cars, or people, there’s a proper way to handle e-mail and an improper way.

The bad news is that 99% of people don’t handle e-mail properly and have their time sucked from them in the process.

The first mistake that people make in dealing with e-mail is they leave their mail client or e-mail tab open all of the time.

People have this feeling that they are being productive if they answer every e-mail that they receive with 30 seconds or less. Honestly my friends, there is probably not a single e-mail that you’ve ever received that was urgent enough for you to reply to it within 5 minutes.

I mean, when was the last time that you e-mailed someone in an emergency? That’s what phones are for!

All that you get out of leaving your e-mail open is tons of opportunities to get distracted from what is actually important for you to accomplish.

What’s the solution?

Schedule 2-4 times per day that you spend strictly on your e-mail. In my case, I check my e-mail at 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. everyday and handle everything in those time periods.

“But, why don’t you check it first thing in the morning to see what you need to do?” Good question. That leads me to my next point.

Complete one important task/project everyday, before you check your e-mail.

If you check your e-mail first thing in the morning, what’s the behavior there? You’re looking for somebody or something else to tell you what needs to be done before you consult yourself.

I guarantee that you can be clear about one important thing that you can get done everyday, without checking your e-mail.

I’m assuming you’re an entrepreneur and if you are, you sure as heck better be able to judge your own activities and choose what is most important for you to be doing on a day-to-day (if not an hour-to-hour) basis. If not, you’re headed down a long path of disappointment.

Now that we’ve killed the biggest time sucker of all, let’s replace him with a good guy.

Must-Do-List and Would-Like-To-Do-List

I suggest that you split your to-do-list into at least two categories.

First, the must-do-list and second, the would-like-to-do-list.

The names say it all. The must-do-list is the list of activities or projects that you are completely committed to accomplishing in a given time period.

The would-like-to-do-list is the list activities that are important to you, but take the back seat to the tasks on your must-do-list.

It’s essential to make a clear distinction between the two kinds of activities because, if they’re not separated, you’ll most likely do the less important activities first. This plays on the natural human tendency to take the path of least resistance.

If both lists are merged together so that you have “take out the trash” and “follow-up with Joe Schmoe (he’s our biggest client)” on the same to-do-list, there is a tendency to give them more of an equal weight of importance, even if there is a drastic difference in importance.

But, when you write your must-do-list and your would-like-to-do-list and don’t even look at the latter until you’ve finished the former, there’s practically no chance of getting your priorities mixed up.

You’ll find yourself feeling much more productive by doing the things that are most crucial in the growth and development of your business.

Sound off!

These specific practices have been invaluable to me in creating the best use of my time. But, of course, there are others.

What are some time management practices that work for you?

I’ll look forward to the comments…

Abhay Khurana

P.S. If you liked this post and think that others could benefit from it, why not give a retweet? Just look to the top of this post and click the green “retweet” button.

P.P.S New here? Get on our notification list to make sure that you don’t miss any new training (and to get some exclusive bonus content). It’s easy, just enter your real name and e-mail in the forms below.

Think about the kids from your high school days that always seemed to have the admiration of their peers.

Now think of a wealthy, successful entrepreneur that you either know personally or that you are familiar with in some way. See any similarities?

There are, undoubtedly, some very important similarities between the “popular kid” in high school and the successful young entrepreneur.

Both are ‘one among many’ and are dealing with competition in the same marketplace/campus.

And, both overcome that competition, stand out amongst the crowd, and get the recognition/business that they desire from their audience by taking advantage of key principles that persuade other, naturally and easily, to take a specific action.

1. Posture

Now I don’t mean “I can balance ten books on my head” posture. I mean a particular approach or attitude that is communicated non-verbally.

Write that down somewhere.

A socially admired person will have a posture that communicates confidence, self-respect, intelligence, and a pleasing personality, among other qualities.

These qualities are desired at least at a subconscious level by everybody, without exception.

So, when they are demonstrated by an individual, that person becomes sought-after by exhibiting qualities that are desired by their market.

When somebody develops interest in a particular subject, he will naturally feel respect and admiration for a person who excels in that field, provided that excellence is shown.

2. Clearly Perceived Value

The second thing that any “popular” person demonstrates that naturally attracts followers, that is directly tied to the first principle, is specific perceived value that is gained through his or her association.

In other words, for an onlooker, the value that they will gain by associating themselves with that person is clear as day.

Let’s face it, the majority of our actions are selfishly based and are done with the expectation of some positive result for ourselves or for those whom we love.

So, when the positive result for a certain action – like doing with business with a specific person or company – is obvious, we are likely to take that action.

Agree/Disagree?

I’d love to hear your opinion on this subject. Of course, our experiences are individual and unique, so share yours in the comments.