Alvin's Mind

7 Traits You Need if You Want to Be An Entrepreneur

2011-07-06T00:06:00.001+08:00

As the global economy undergoes more changes (and it will continue to do so) even more people will choose to take the plunge into entrepreneurship. Changes to corporate mindsets, downsizing and other upheavals in the “safe” world of formal employment are forcing many to embrace entrepreneurship, and start their own small businesses. Add to those the people with the burning desire to “be their own boss” and you have plenty of new entrants into the wonderful, frightening, exciting and exhausting world of being a business owner.

Whatever your reasons for considering entrepreneurship instead of formal employment, there are a few traits you will need to cultivate in order to succeed.

1. Passion

It sounds like a no brainer, but the most important factor in your success in entrepreneurship is passion for your business. We’ve all had jobs we hate, and let’s face it – it doesn’t inspire you to work incredibly hard, or give your all, does it? Don’t think just because you are working for yourself, that will change!

If you’re bored to tears or just plain hate working on your business, you’re unlikely to give it the energy it needs to succeed. So find something you love doing, and you will have a solid foundation for building a successful new business venture.

2. Plan, Plan, and Then Plan Some More

There’s an old saying ‘Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.’ That’s never been more true than when applied to entrepreneurship.

You need concrete, quantifiable goals, as well as a 30, 60, 90 day strategy on how to get there. Having a plan provides a framework, something fixed to work toward, which will help keep you focused. Get your eyes on the prize and a plan onto paper before you start trying to set up your new business. A handy trick is to imagine your goal is already achieved, and then think back through the steps it took to get there.

3. Be Disciplined

It sounds romantic and exciting to “be the boss,” doesn’t it? Trust me – it’s not, especially at first anyway. In fact, before you get to that fancy corner office with five assistants, there is going to be a lot of blood, sweat and tears poured into your entrepreneurship dream. You need to work harder for yourself, and your business goals, than you ever would for any boss. That means an unlimited and indefinite amount of hours dedicated toward achieving your goal – keeping your nose firmly to the grindstone. Remember, luck is an accumulation of hard work.

4. Be a Cheapskate

Whether you have a big budget or not when you first venture into the game of entrepreneurship, you need to learn the value of frugality – bootstrap your way to success. Most small businesses fail to take time to break-even, let alone become profitable. Thus, when you’re starting out, finding cheaper and more innovative ways to accomplish tasks is one of the best skills you can learn. Think outside of the box and in terms of leverage. The longer you can stretch your capital, and the more you can save – the better for your business and your mental sanity.

5. Understand That You Are Always Marketing and Selling

ABS – Always Be Selling. Most of us think that marketing and sales is a task. However, when you jump into the wonderful world of entrepreneurship – more than at any other time in your life – everything is about marketing and selling. Don’t be shy to network, discover what your clients want, and broadcast to others that you want their business.

Treat every moment as a selling opportunity, and you will see results:

Carry business cards with you everywhere
Have a thirty second pitch ready at all times
Make a point of meeting people who are your target market – those who should buy your product/service

6. Know That Your Client Is the Most Important Person in Your Business

Success or failure in entrepreneurship hinges on your ability to make your clients want to do business with you. Since repeat business is the backbone of any successful business – your client’s happiness should be priority number one.

Remember the little things. Something as simple as calling a customer back can swing the balance in your favor. Always, always, always put your client first. Build relationships, and you will see your business grow right alongside them.

7. Remember That In Business, Image Is Important

Okay, this one is a bit of a catch twenty-two. You need a professional business image, but you haven’t got the budget. Luckily though, projecting the right image is not all about flashy cars and the right business address. With the information age, you can work from your living room and still have a professional image.

All you need to do is:

Make sure you are always well dressed and well spoken
Have a professional looking (not necessarily expensive) website and email address
Have professional looking business cards

When you’re first starting out, simply focus on little things – those which you can control with the resources you have. The fancy business address can come later, but make sure to get the basics right first.

And….. Now for the Good News

If you’re reading this and wondering where to start on your quest for entrepreneurship, there is one good piece of news for you. Entrepreneurs are not born – they are made.

If some of these things seem beyond you, learn them. Take a course in selling if you have to. Download planning software if you need some help becoming organized. Figure out where your weaknesses are, and work on them in small bits each and every day. In the aggregate you will achieve an exponential return on your investment.

Everyone has the capacity for entrepreneurship in some respect, if you want it bad enough (and you can), success will undoubtedly find you.

Via Under30CEO.com

Good Day. :)

Google Offers beta should scare the crap out of Groupon, other startups

2011-07-05T17:28:00.003+08:00

Do you remember the days when every startup had to ask: "If we're successful, will Microsoft move into our market?" With its new Groupon competitor, time has come -- and perhaps long past it -- to ask the same about Google.

Last night during the opening of the D9 conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Stephanie Tilenius, vice president of Google commerce, demonstrated Google Offers, which begins beta testing today in Portland, Ore. D9 cohost Walt Mossberg asked Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt why Portland? Schmidt said that Portland is a surprisingly good place to test tech products.

Google started signing up Portlanders for the beta in mid April. First rumors about Google Offers surfaced in January, not long after Groupon rejected a buyout offer from Google. Hehe, Google Offers. Rejected offer. Get it? A year from now, Groupon executives may regret not taking Google's offer, because Google Offers is a Groupon competitor with a twist: It integrates with Google Wallet, which was announced late last week.

Like Groupon, Google Offers provides deals with hefty discounts. Today's Groupon featured San Diego deal is for Lambs Daily Theatre.

Portland is first city, but by no means last. Google Offers will soon come to New York City and San Francisco, too. The pace may seem slow, but makes sense. Like mobile search, Google sees the big opportunity in cultivating deals with local businesses. Then, of course, there is Groupon, which also offers local deals.

"Our first Google Offer will be from beloved local java shop Floyd's Coffee." Kyle Harrison, Google Offers product manager, writes in a blog post. "Husband-and-wife team Jack Inglis and Cris Chapman opened Floyd's seven years ago, offering up espresso, coffee, breakfast burritos and more. They now have two convenient locations--one cozy, brick-lined shop in Old Town and another Stumptown watering-hole in Buckman."

Floyd's isn't Starbucks. The coffee shop has two locations in Portland rather than thousands nationwide like Starbucks. "With Google Offers, we're working with great local businesses," Harrison writes. "If you're a business interested in participating in Google Offers, you can let us know too. Finally, if you're at the Portland Rose Festivalthis Saturday, visit our Google booth at CityFair to say hello to our team and learn more about Google Offers."

It's a local push initially, and that should scare the crap out of more than Groupon. After years of declining classified sales, some newspapers are seeing an advertising revival in Groupon-like programs. For example, the San Diego Union Tribune now has the "Daily Deal" program offering local discounts. Google Offers conceptually could present more competition for fledgling programs like this one than Groupon or its competitors, like LivingSocial.

There's no reason to think Google won't go for Starbucks or other national chains, but local is a good starting place and synchronous with efforts around local search, particularly from smartphones.

Then there is Google Wallet, which Offers will be part. Wallet is a mobile payments system Google is launching in conjunction with Citi, Mastercard and Sprint. Simply stated, Google Wallet is an offers and payments system available at the point of sale. In its simplest form, Google Wallet requires a tap to pay the merchant and charge the buyer's credit card. "We make our money through the advertising and the offers," Schmidt said yesterday. Accept the Google Offer, order and pay.

There's a new tech startup bubble building in Silicon Valley and, increasingly, New York City. Perhaps every venture capitalist's dream is the big buyout from once fledgling startups like Google that are now the big behemoths of high tech. But be warned: Google came a-calling with purse full of cash and was rejected. Six months or a year from now, Google's ability to leverage search, Android and mobile payments may crush Groupon and other companies offering similar daily deals. Yeah, that sounds lots like Microsoft during cofounder Bill Gates' glory days of the late 1980s and 1990s.

Good Day. :)

Please, please, please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder

2011-07-03T01:52:00.007+08:00

Listen guys, I'm sorry. But, I just can't do it anymore. I can't keep having this conversation with every non-tech founder. It's just too painful. On you, on me, and everyone else that you've approached. I was once on the search for a technical co-founder, so I can empathize.

But, seriously, Please stop.

Back in the day, I remember going to my favorite startup mentor, Gregg Fairbrothers, and asking him for help finding a technical co-founder. Here's what he said:

I can't help you with that, but all the good entrepreneurs seem to figure it out. Hopefully you will too.

Man, I still love that answer. That's being a founder. If you have a problem, go figure out a way to solve it. As a professor, Gregg was always teaching me larger lessons instead of just answering my question directly. The cynic might say that he was punting because he didn't have advice to give. However, he helped me on hundreds of other startup questions. I believe he was communicating to me that putting together my team was solely on me. No additional instruction required...or possible. That's why I love going back to him for life advice.

But I digress, back to you. You have a very specific problem which you need solved. You need to find technical co-founder. This post is my very best effort to help you think through your problem (and by selfish extension, hopefully to never have to answer this question again).

So, here's the really big mental leap that everyone seems to forget:

You don't find a technical cofounder, you earn one.

And that right there is why I get so bored of this question. It's not like I can really help you 'find' a technical co-founder. You have to earn a technical co-founder. And until you realize that, no one will want to work with you.

So now I ask you, what have you done to earn a technical co-founder?

And don't say that you're the idea guy. Having an idea is one piece, but it's a very, very small piece. In fact, it's so small that it's actually better to earn a technical co-founder without the idea in place so that you guys come up with it together. When neither person has an idea prepackaged with some degree of emotional attachment, it becomes far easier to engage in honest customer development, rapid iteration, and all the other lean processes that will eventually help you find product-market fit. And more importantly, earning a technical co-founder without resting on the merits of your idea forces you to prove yourself in other ways. And that's good for everyone involved.

So, here's the deal. Go out and do all of those things that people always do to find talent. Talk to friends, talk to friends of friends, go to conferences and meetups, etc. Check out the websites that are always popping up (though they don't generally attract quality).

When you meet people through all these various ways, realize that every technical person has one of three options:

A.) Partner with you.

B.) Recommend you to a friend.

C.) Forget about you.

Your goal is to not continually hit Outcome C. And the way to do that is to earn their respect. The following is not a recipe you can follow that magically produces a technical co-founder in the end. However, do a bunch of this stuff and the odds that someone recommends you to a friend becomes much higher. And each of these steps will both make you a better entrepreneur and move your startup along.

How to Earn a Co-Founder

Learn to Code Stop everything else that you're doing right now for your startup and learn to code. If you take the time to learn enough to build some small project, you'll learn the language of talking to hackers, and you'll earn some respect. 99% of non-technical guys looking for a technical co-founder won't put in the effort. This is your single best way of standing out. You'll learn to naturally see the value of Hacker News and Stack Overflow. You'll learn to appreciate how things work. And hopefully you'll enjoy it, which will allow you to have real conversations with hackers about what they do. Will Miceli wrote the best blog post I've ever read on exactly this strategy, including awesome links for getting started. Don't know where to start? Zed Shaw will get you started.

Build the Front-End What's to stop you from building the front end of your site right now? You could get design done with 99 Designs, send it off to PSD2HTML, throw it up on Wordpress, and SHABOW! you've got a website. Of course, there's no backend, no data, none of the special sauce that'll make your concept work...BUT, you'll have proved that you know how to market your idea and build a beautiful product. Hopefully, you'll learn a ton about your product, but at the very least you can show an interested hacker more than a napkin business plan.

Throw up a Trial Balloon I'm sure if you think really hard about it, you can come up with some real things that you can do to test your concept hypothesis. And I'm not talking about more MBA-type research. Hopefully, you already know the importance of customer development. Find a way to fake your concept so that users don't know it's not actually built yet. Take that front-end you built and funnel interested users into a beta waiting list. Having real users on a waiting list will help you earn a high quality technical co-founder because you'll be pre-empting his biggest fear: that his work will be a waste of his time.

Build a following Let's say you're building, for example, an automotive parts marketplace. Go start a blog serving the automotive community. They are your future users anyway, and you're going to have to figure out a way to market to them. What better way than earning them now as readers and later converting them to users? And use Twitter to your advantage. Building up a following north of a 1000 people is hard because that's more than just your friends. Which means you have to say interesting things and share helpful links. It's marketing yourself. It'll prove your intelligence and your marketing abilities to your future co-founder.

Spend Some Money When a hacker joins an unproven, non-technical entrepreneur, he's risking his most important asset: his time. Yes, you're also risking your time, but you have different risk profiles. While he already knows he can code, neither of you knows whether you'll be able to deliver as the business co-founder. You need to prove that you've got your proverbial skin in the game too. Go spend some money on offshore coders and get a prototype built. Or offer to pay a salary to your technical partner. My first technical co-founders started as employees. I paid them cash from day one using credit card debt. Over time, I earned their trust, and we became equal co-founders.

If you're a hacker in need of some startup advice, ping me anytime—we'll grab a beer and chat startups. And if you're a business guy that earned a technical co-founder by learning to code, please tell me about it! I'll buy you a beer...you've earned it.

Via humbledmba.com

Good Day. :)

Note to entrepreneurs: Your idea is not special

2011-06-20T22:33:00.002+08:00

– Brad Feld is a managing director at the Boulder, Colorado-based venture capital firm Foundry Group. He also co-founded TechStars and writes the popular blog,Feld Thoughts. The views expressed are his own. –

Every day I get numerous emails from software and Internet entrepreneurs describing their newest ideas.

Often these entrepreneurs think their idea is brand new – that no one has ever thought of it before. Other times they ask me to sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect their idea. Occasionally the emails mysteriously allude to the idea without really saying what it is.

These entrepreneurs think their idea is special and magic. And they are wrong.

The great entrepreneurs are already focused on the implementation of their idea. They send me links to their website or software. They describe the business they are in the process of creating (or have already created). They point me to what they’ve done to implement their idea and show real users who validate that the idea is important. And they quickly move past the idea to the execution of the idea.

Google? Not the first search engine. Facebook? Not the first social network. Groupon? Not the first deal site. Pandora? Not the first music site. The list goes on. Even when you go back in time to the origins of the software industry: MS-DOS – not the first operating system. Lotus 1-2-3 – not the first spreadsheet.

The products and their subsequent companies became great because of execution. First, they had to execute on building a great product. Next, they had to execute on building a great business. Finally, they had to execute on scaling, sustaining, and evolving a great business.

Rinse and repeat, over and over again.

It’s awesome when an entrepreneur is obsessed with his idea. Every great product that I’m aware of came from an obsession of an idea and every great company followed. But for every entrepreneur that shifted the obsession with the idea into an obsession with the execution of the idea, I know many more entrepreneurs who got stuck on the idea, but never focused on building something from it.

Sure, they tried, but they didn’t obsess about it, pour all their energy into it, and most importantly get as many great people as they could on the journey with them.

As a venture capitalist, I’m constantly looking for great entrepreneurs who have amazing ideas. But I don’t value the ideas. I value the entrepreneurs’ execution of the ideas.

Via reuters.com

Good Day. :)

Does Data Mining breach of privacy ?

2011-05-31T23:07:00.006+08:00

What is Data Mining ?

Data mining techniques are used to find patterns in large databases of information. But sometimes these patterns can reveal sensitive information about the data holder or individuals whose information are the subject of the patterns. The notion of privacy-preserving data mining is to identify and disallow such revelations as evident in the kinds of patterns learned using traditional data mining techniques.

Can we accept it ?

Some people believe that data mining itself is ethically neutral. It is important to note that the term data mining has no ethical implications. The term is often associated with the mining of information in relation to peoples' behavior. However, data mining is a statistical method that is applied to a set of information, or a data set. Associating these data sets with people is an extreme narrowing of the types of data that are available in today's technological society.

Social Media & Data Mining.

Big companies are mining the social media site to build dossiers on you. Information posted publicly on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, forums and other sites is fair game. It is yet another reminder that people need to be aware of what they are posting on social networking sites and to whom they’re connected.

Misuse of information.

Trends obtain through data mining intended to be used for marketing purpose or for some other ethical purposes, may be misused. Unethical businesses or people may used the information obtained through data mining to take advantage of vulnerable people or discriminated against a certain group of people. In addition, data mining technique is not a 100 percent accurate, thus mistakes do happen which can have serious consequence.

As my articles here explain on the dangerous of Data Mining, we eventually can stop it if we control and think about what we do when surfing the web.

Good Day. :)

How to Create A Unique Selling Point to Beat the Competition

2011-04-24T18:03:00.002+08:00

When promoting your product/service it is easy to miss a key trick, which is to make what you are selling unique against the competition, making your products clearly the best choice in your customer’s eyes. This is the key focus of the USP, also sometimes said to stand for ‘Unique Selling Point’.

The USP was originally discussed in the 1940s and defined in print by advertising executive Rosser Reeves, who was concerned that advertising was losing track of its purpose.

Rosser Reeves stated:

“Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: ‘Buy this product and you will get this specific benefit.

The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique-either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.

The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions; i.e., pull over new customers to your product”.
— Reeves, 1961

A good current example of a clear USP is the well-known Brand:

Head & Shoulders: “You get rid of dandruff”

Other propositions that were pioneers when they were introduced are:

Having a Unique Selling Proposition is not just nice to have, it’s a must have. Without it, your business runs the risk of

Getting lost in the crowd, as a me-too
Not being able to attract the target clientele, who might be using another product and is given no incentive to switch
Being caught in a price war, since that would be the only differentiator, given all other things are equal

That being said, your product or service must clearly deliver value to the user, or it will fail, USP or no USP!

Now that we have covered the background and importance of USP’s; let’s go ahead and cover the various aspects of creating one which is successful.

1. Market Research: First things first, you need to get into your customers heads. Ideally the main reason why you are in business is to help solve your client’s challenges and meet their values within your service/product.

Do not just pick a factor about your product that seems strong to you. Do your research properly. Find out what criteria customers use to compare products against one another.

Clients have a list of desired features or problems that are resolved by the benefits that are conferred by buying your product.

2. Key variables: The USP says what is different about the product, particularly in comparison with major competitors and the market place. Thus you can take a range of variables and produce a table to find out where you are better or worse than competitors.

Variables such as speed, size, convenience, safety, style or ease of use are ones which should be considered in your design. Price is not a key ingredient.

3. Positioning: With the USP you need to position your product not just against the customer’s needs but also against competing products. The USP thus explains what is unique about what you have to sell.

Words such as better, faster, Stronger (etc.) can also be used within your USP to create a more compelling angle.

4. Offer Proof: Consumers are very skeptical of claims companies make, especially with the surge of the information age. So alleviate their skepticism by being specific and offering proof when possible.

5. Clear and concise: Your USP needs to be clear and concise. The most powerful Unique Selling Points are perfectly written.

6. Deliver on your promise: Your USP should have promises and guarantees that capture your audience’s attention, having said that it should be one which you can deliver that.

Having a strong USP can make your business a big success or a big failure if you don’t deliver on it thereby ruining your reputation.

Using a powerful USP is the driving force that builds your business success. Build your USP and use it to optimize your marketing materials for maximum results.

Via Under30CEO.com

Good Day. :)

10 Books Every Entrepreneur Must Read From 2010

2011-04-10T21:03:00.002+08:00

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? – Seth Godin

There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there’s a third team, the linchpins. These people invent, lead (regardless of title), connect others, make things happen, and create order out of chaos. They figure out what to do when there’s no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art.

Linchpins are the essential building blocks of great organizations. Like the small piece of hardware that keeps a wheel from falling off its axle, they may not be famous but they’re indispensable. And in today’s world, they get the best jobs and the most freedom. Have you ever found a shortcut that others missed? Seen a new way to resolve a conflict? Made a connection with someone others couldn’t reach? Even once? Then you have what it takes to become indispensable, by overcoming the resistance that holds people back.

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose – Tony Hsieh

* Pay brand-new employees $2,000 to quit
* Make customer service the responsibility of the entire company-not just a department
* Focus on company culture as the #1 priority
* Apply research from the science of happiness to running a business
* Help employees grow-both personally and professionally
* Seek to change the world
*Oh, and make money too . . .

Sound crazy? It’s all standard operating procedure at Zappos, the online retailer that’s doing over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales annually. After debuting as the highest-ranking newcomer in Fortune magazine’s annual “Best Companies to Work For” list in 2009, Zappos was acquired by Amazon in a deal valued at over $1.2 billion on the day of closing.

In DELIVERING HAPPINESS, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh shares the different lessons he has learned in business and life, from starting a worm farm to running a pizza business, through LinkExchange, Zappos, and more. Fast-paced and down-to-earth, DELIVERING HAPPINESS shows how a very different kind of corporate culture is a powerful model for achieving success-and how by concentrating on the happiness of those around you, you can dramatically increase your own.

Rework – Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

Most business books give you the same old advice: Write a business plan, study the competition, seek investors, yadda yadda. If you’re looking for a book like that, put this one back on the shelf.

Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Read it and you’ll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don’t need outside investors, and why you’re better off ignoring the competition. The truth is, you need less than you think. You don’t need to be a workaholic. You don’t need to staff up. You don’t need to waste time on paperwork or meetings. You don’t even need an office. Those are all just excuses.

What you really need to do is stop talking and start working. This book shows you the way. You’ll learn how to be more productive, how to get exposure without breaking the bank, and tons more counterintuitive ideas that will inspire and provoke you.

With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs they hate, victims of “downsizing,” and artists who don’t want to starve anymore will all find valuable guidance in these pages.

Never Get a “Real” Job: How to Dump Your Boss, Build a Business and Not Go Broke – Scott Gerber

A twenty-something hustler, rainmaker, and bootstrapper who has survived and thrived despite never having held the proverbial “real” job, Scott Gerber is the ultimate “Generation Y-er.” He’s a self-taught serial entrepreneur who built several successful businesses without storied business connections, a business school background, executive training—or investment dollars. And in Never Get a “Real” Job, he shows you how he succeeded so you can overcome today’s chronic conditions of mass unemployment, underemployment, and dead-end 9-to-5s.

Gerber gives you the no-bull reality on turning your business idea into a viable enterprise capable ofgenerating real income now—based on his hard-knocks lessons learned in the entrepreneurial trenches. From the perils of doing too much too fast, to bogging down a promising start-up with infrastructure long before it’s needed, Gerber has experienced firsthand how you can sabotage your own business. Never Get a “Real” Job will help you avoid the costly mistakes that can take down your enterprise at any time, helping you to get off the ground, establish your business, and keep it successfully up and running.

But Gerber isn’t just giving you a collection of war stories. He gives you insights from a fellow young entrepreneur on how to start from absolutely nothing—building a viable business model from the ground up. Along with straight-shooting advice on creating contacts and cultivating clients, he offers practical, affordable, step-by-step instructions on how to constantly analyze, refine, and target your business offerings—while minimizing wasted time and keeping you on track.

Smarter, Faster, Cheaper: Non-Boring, Fluff-Free Strategies for Marketing and Promoting Your Business – David Siteman Garland

If you’re interested in building, marketing, and promoting your business with agility and grace, not sloth and dullness, get Smarter, Faster, Cheaper. This one-stop guide to the new entrepreneurial landscape—minus the “same old, same old” baggage that drags so many down—gives you real-world examples (as opposed to fluffy theory) from unique, winning innovators, inspiring you to think big and then take successful action.

In Smarter, Faster, Cheaper, you’ll meet a slew of already legendary new entrepreneurs and promoters, such as “Nametag Guy” Scott Ginsberg, Bravo’s “Millionaire Matchmaker” Patti Stanger, Wine Library founder Gary Vaynerchuk, bestselling author and Squidoo founder Seth Godin, and many, many more. As you learn from their successes and failures, as well as those of author and entrepreneur David Siteman Garland, you’ll discover fresh and exciting approaches to:

Becoming a trusted resource
Building your audience and community
Helping others while helping your business
Using your content as a handshake
Creating and growing one-on-one relationships with your customers
Communicating effectively online and via social media
Avoiding “selling” by educating, inspiring, and entertaining instead
And more!

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard – Dan Heath & Chip Heath

Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives?

The primary obstacle is a conflict that’s built into our brains, say Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the critically acclaimed bestseller Made to Stick. Psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled by two different systems—the rational mind and the emotional mind—that compete for control. The rational mind wants a great beach body; the emotional mind wants that Oreo cookie. The rational mind wants to change something at work; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effort—but if it is overcome, change can come quickly.

In Switch, the Heaths show how everyday people—employees and managers, parents and nurses—have united both minds and, as a result, achieved dramatic results:

The lowly medical interns who managed to defeat an entrenched, decades-old medical practice that was endangering patients.
The home-organizing guru who developed a simple technique for overcoming the dread of housekeeping.
The manager who transformed a lackadaisical customer-support team into service zealots byremoving a standard tool of customer service

In a compelling, story-driven narrative, the Heaths bring together decades of counterintuitive research in psychology, sociology, and other fields to shed new light on how we can effect transformative change. Switchshows that successful changes follow a pattern, a pattern you can use to make the changes that matter to you, whether your interest is in changing the world or changing your waistline.

Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup – Brad Feld & David Cohen

It is a cold, hard fact of business life that most startups fail. Even many of those entrepreneurs who ultimately succeed have stories of personal challenges, unsuccessful companies, and difficulties along the way. The founders of TechStars, a mentorship-driven startup accelerator, have worked with entrepreneurs and companies over the past twenty-five years, and have seen a number of the same issues come up again and again.

In Do More Faster, the founders of TechStars identify the key issues that first-time entrepreneurs encounter, and offer proven advice from successful entrepreneurs who have worked with the TechStars program.

The authors organize the most critical issues into seven themes: Idea and Vision, People, Execution, Product, Fundraising, Legal and Structure, and Work and Life Balance. Many of the examples are personal experiences from the entrepreneurs themselves, integrated into a cohesive narrative—while at the same time able to stand on their own. Throughout the book, they debunk numerous myths about startups and reveal some surprising truths. They explain, for instance, that the core of a startup is not always a world-changing and earth-shattering idea—in fact, it is often the case that successful startups started out doing something else. They also underscore the efficiency of execution: great entrepreneurs know how to synthesize data, make a decision about the path they are going down, and execute. And they offer some alternatives to traditional ways of raising money, while stressing that you shouldn’t start with the assumption that you need to raise money.

Mastering the seven themes may not ensure success, but understanding the issues, reading the stories, and getting advice pertaining to these issues will increase your chances dramatically. And if nothing else, you’ll realize that you aren’t alone in facing these challenges.

The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence – Tom Peters

In his latest book, business guru Peters (In Search of Excellence) combines observations he has gleaned from his travels, current news items, conversations, and followers of his blog in a compact guide that aims to help readers realize effective projects, customer contentment, employee engagement, and business profitability. No doubt, Peters is on target as he advises readers to appreciate the angry customer, work on their last impressions, make sure that the restroom is clean, and 160 other ways to guarantee success. Each suggestion contains a rationale, example, and method of implementation, all in two pages apiece.

VERDICT Those who want to improve their business, whether a boss or an employee, will find great ideas in this compelling and very browsable book.—Deborah Bigelow, Leonia P.L., NJ

UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging – Scott Stratton

Consider marketing. It’s a vital aspect of running a successful business, but lately its practices have been taking a beating. And why not? Do you like getting cold-called just when you sit down to dinner? Having your mailbox clogged with random offers you immediately toss? Do you listen carefully to the ads that interrupt your favorite TV show? No? If these experiences are “marketing,” you—and your customers—probably prefer whatever’s the complete opposite.

Instead of trying the same tired methods, what if you could have a new kind of conversation with your customers and prospects? If you’re ready to stop marketing and start engaging, then welcome to UnMarketing.

Taking an on-the-ground look at the changing landscape of business-customer relationships, UnMarketing gives you innovative ways out of the old “Push and Pray” rut, which assumes that messages sent out blindly and broadly will magically lead to loyal, long-term clients. Instead, you’ll discover a new, highly responsive “Pull and Stay” approach that brings the right customers to you through listening and engagement, enabling you to build trust and position yourself as their logical choice when they need you.

With a smart take on using social media as a new toolset rather than just a fad, UnMarketing features numerous bite-size chapters you can consult and apply according to your unique business requirements. These chapters are all bursting with practical tips and real-world examples, giving you a sense not just of what works (and what doesn’t) but of how and for whom.

If all business is built on relationships, then, no matter your enterprise, building good relationships is your business. UnMarketing supplies you with a winning approach to stop ineffective marketing and put relationships first—then reap the long-term, high-quality growth that follows!

The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself – John Jantsch

Marketing expert John Jantsch offers practical techniques for harnessing the power of referrals to ensure a steady flow of new customers. Keep those customers happy, and they will refer your business to even more customers. Some of Jantsch’s strategies include:

-Talk with your customers, not at them. Thanks to social networking sites, companies of any size have the opportunity to engage with their customers on their home turf as never before-but the key is listening.

-The sales team is the most important part of your marketing team. Salespeople are the company’s main link to customers, who are the main source of referrals. Getting them on board with your referral strategy is critical.

-Educate your customers. Referrals are only helpful if they’re given to the right people. Educate your customers about whom they should be talking to.

The secret to generating referrals lies in understanding the “Customer Referral Cycle”-the way customers refer others to your company who, in turn, generate even more referrals. Businesses can ensure a healthy referral cycle by moving customers and prospects along the path of Know, Like, Trust, Try, Buy, Repeat, and Refer. If everyone in an organization keeps this sequence in mind, Jantsch argues, your business will generate referrals like a well-oiled machine.

Via Under30CEO.com

Good Day. :)

Snoozing And Losing: A Blockbuster Failure

2011-04-07T17:12:00.004+08:00

I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t taken some delight in watching the complete and utter collapse of Blockbuster.

You see, back when I was a child, our community had a couple of thriving local video stores that were the source of pretty much endless enjoyment for me. Then Blockbuster came along. By then, the company was already a mega-chain of blue and gold awnings that decorated much of the country. They had inventory that simply could not be matched. Unsurprisingly, they crushed the local video stores.

This happened all over the country for years. Goliath didn’t just beat David, he obliterated him simply by showing up — and then danced on his grave while entertaining his children.

You’d think the sheer momentum of such a behemoth would make them unbeatable. And yet, here we are. Earlier today came word that Dish Network was buying Blockbuster’s assets out of bankruptcy court for around $230 million — in cash. This is the same company that Viacom once paid $8.4 billion for (and later spun them off in their own multi-billion dollar IPO). The fall from grace is almost unbelievable.

But it’s actually not if you’ve been following Blockbuster over the past several years. And their tale could end up being a great cautionary one for today’s current crop of giants. And more importantly, it might serve as a point of inspiration for startups going up against a seemingly unbeatable giant.

Microsoft, Google, Apple, etc. All of these guys may seem unbeatable. If they’re investing resources into a space, you might as well not even try, right? But that’s exactly what Reed Hastings did in 1998 when he started Netflix. He was simply a disgruntled Blockbuster customers who was sick of the ridiculous late fees and thought he could do better with a new approach to movie rentals.

Blockbuster undoubtedly laughed at Netflix at the time. In fact, two years later, Blockbuster could have bought Netflix for just $50 million — quite literally pocket change for a company that had held a $5 billion IPO the year prior. Blockbuster refused all such offers, as Fast Company’s excellent rundown of the best Blockbuster gaffes reminds us.

Instead, Blockbuster put a huge investment into Enron (their broadband services subsidiary). You can’t make this stuff up.

It wasn’t until 2004 — six years after Netflix launched — that Blockbuster realized it needed to enter the online DVD rental-by-mail space. By then, Netflix was already turning a profit and Redbox had just launched. Blockbuster was already dead — they just didn’t realize it yet.

It’s such a great example of a company resting on its laurels and getting blindsided. But it’s hardly even fair to call it a “blindsiding”. Blockbuster probably could have done dozens of things to counter the rise of Netflix in that initial six year space. They were either simply too arrogant, too slow, too stupid, or all of the above to make a move.

That’s why it’s impressive that Google is making such big changes to the company right now, when they’re arguably at the peak of their power. Their not resting on their laurels. Hundreds of challengers are gunning for them in a number of areas, and the co-founders apparently saw the company slipping a bit — as did some of the rest of us — and decided to proactively make some bold moves, all of which we haven’t likely seen yet.

That’s pretty much the opposite of Blockbuster towards the end of their run. You had a CEO defiantly declaring that Netflix was no real threat. The best quote: ”I’ve been frankly confused by this fascination that everybody has with Netflix …Netflix doesn’t really have or do anything that we can’t or don’t already do ourselves.”

This was a guy, Jim Keyes, who had just attempted to take over Circuit City, thinking that would solve Blockbuster’s problems — more retail stores. A few months later, Circuit City went belly up. The fact that Blockbuster didn’t end up buying them probably saved them from the same fate for the remaining two years of life.

Later, Blockbuster’s head of digital strategy had another money quote in a sit-down with Fast Company. “We’re strategically better positioned than almost anybody out there. Never in my wildest dreams would I have aimed this high,” he said indicating that they could still beat Netflix.

The famed former Iraqi Information Minister couldn’t say this stuff with a straight face.

So if you’re out there working on a startup in a space owned by a giant, just remember that nothing lasts forever. Even the biggest companies eventually grow complacent and get taken down. There are angles and new ideas all over the place that they simply cannot (or will not) see around their egos and wads of cash.

They will snooze and they will lose. Every night used to be a great night to make it a Blockbuster night.

Via Techcrunch.com

Good Day. :)

Procrastination is a disease that kills your dream.

2011-04-05T21:28:00.002+08:00

Procrastination is a disease that is deadly. Procrastination not only kills your time, but it is killing your dreams and the chances you would have had to true success. If procrastination is getting in your way of living, then there are some steps you need to take in order to get a hold of your life. Simply put, you will need to put an end to that procrastination. Within this article, we are going to tell you how to stop procrastination in its spot.

If you were able to stop the procrastination for good, wouldn't it be great? Think about how good your life would be if you no longer had procrastination in it. We guarantee you would feel so much better and even more, you would be even more successful. Those individuals that procrastinate are prone to having feelings of anxiety, powerlessness and guilt.

Procrastination is not something we need to live with. Whenever you have procrastination in your life, you will never get anything done. You will keep putting things off until tomorrow and unfortunately, that tomorrow never comes. When nothing gets done, you will feel like you are useless in the world. Procrastination could actually lead to a severe case of depression.

So really, how could you stop procrastination in its spot? First, you could get organized. By being organized and setting some schedules, you will stop procrastination. When you have a schedule, make sure you stick to it and don't let yourself down. Whatever you do, you should have some discipline. If you are not able to stop this problem by yourself, then you could always pull someone in to help you out. When you stop procrastination, you will be a lot happier and on the road to success. You will see a whole different life before your eyes.

Via Ezinearticles.com

Good Day. :)

Internships for Emerging Entrepreneurs: A Gen Y Success Story

2011-04-04T22:20:00.002+08:00

With 50% of their ranks either unemployed, under-employed or having already abandoned the workforce – Gen Y clearly understands the importance of entrepreneurship. More specifically, they understand that a lifetime working for someone else just to pay the bills was their father’s generation’s goal… not theirs.

According to a new study by Buzz Marketing Group and the Young Entrepreneur Council, and reported by Donna Fenn, Gen Y isn’t just talking about entrepreneurism… they’re already building a plan for self-sufficiency. And in many cases, they have a head start:

1 in 5 survey participants planned to quit their 9-to-5 job during 2011 – and start their own business
33% of the 1,600+ surveyed had already begun a side business

The Buzz Marketing study also showed 89% of Gen Y believes entrepreneurship education is importantgiven the recent economy and job market – but only 29% were offered entrepreneurship courses in school.

“Entrepreneurship wasn’t in my career plan when I started college, but became a necessity as the economy tanked,” says Chanelle Schneider, now a social media consultant and founder of Twitter’s #GenYChat. “Entrepreneurship taught me to be self-sufficient, which is now an essential skill.”

With such a chasm between the need for entrepreneurial knowledge and the lack of courses in entrepreneurism, many Millennials engage in experiential education – internships – to gain real world experience.

Mark Babbitt, Founder of YouTern – an online community that connects emerging talent with start-ups and entrepreneur driven SMEs – sees an impressive trend toward entrepreneurial internships: “Mentor-based, entrepreneurial internships are the new black. From December 2010 to February 2011, candidate registrations and submitted internship applications on YouTern increased over 200%.”

Babbitt adds: “Gen Y seems predisposed to working in dynamic start-up environment where they contribute immediately, versus the traditional ‘Go-fer’ internships common at larger corporations. A start-up internship not only provides real world knowledge and experience, the intern typically works very closely with C-level executives – significantly reducing learning curves when they start their own companies.”

Of course, experience is not a pre-requisite to founding a start-up; it’s certainly possible to jump in head first, Zuckerberg-style. However, many budding business leaders credit their entrepreneurial internship with having a dramatic impact – good and bad – on their own dreams and ambitions. According to Babbitt: “We had an intern who wanted to be the next Steve Jobs, a rockstar. After one week in the intense, passion-driven work environment of a bootstrapped start-up, he decided he was better suited to what he called a ‘normal’ job.”

Another distinct advantage of interning at an entrepreneur-driven company is the inherent networking – through social media and face-to-face. Through her mentors, a young engineer, for example, will meet highly influential people within her industry – greatly expanding her sphere of influence. A few months or years later, as a young executive in her own company, that former intern already has champions; supporters who remember her for her passion, work ethic and character.

Entrepreneurial internships are becoming increasingly popular, in part because they combine two elements important to young professionals: entrepreneurism and social responsibility. “Mentoring a young entrepreneur is a great way to give something back,” says Todd Herschberg of Quantimark. “A good mentor doesn’t simply spend a few weeks guiding an intern… or, worse yet, a few weeks sending them for coffee. We make it clear to the interns that we remain available as a resource for the rest of their careers. And we ask that they pay it forward once they get their start-up off the ground.”

Gen Y continues to graduate into our worst economy in three decades. This generation, however, is not sitting around waiting for something good to happen. Perhaps unwittingly, and most certainly out of necessity, many have developed their own “business plan”…

Through entrepreneurial internships, online and offline networking – and by accepting the challenge to give back to the next generation – Gen Y has created a repeatable, scalable success mechanism.

Via Under30CEO.com

Good Day. :)

Life Lessons From the Business World That College Won’t Teach You

2011-04-04T22:18:00.003+08:00

My time in the business world started quite awkwardly. Apparently learning does not come with a manual. Although it wasn’t always easy, the lessons I brought from the business world and my fledgling entrepreneurship were invaluable. College is a great networking tool and it has opened opportunities for me, but nothing can replace real world experience. Business is like poker; it’s not the hand you are dealt, but the way you play it, that really matters. In poker, life and business, a cast iron stomach and the ability to pick yourself up and keep going everytime you fail are priceless. Among the things that I learned that college won’t teach you are:

Mistakes are expensive but necessary

Although they can be costly, mistakes are nothing more than a learning experience. They can provide valuable knowledge if you use them as a reason to learn and keep going. We have all made plenty, but they have helped us to be a stronger more knowledgeable business people because of them.

Get everything in writing

Contracts or written agreements might seem like a hassle but they are totally necessary to avoid future headaches. You never know when you might end up thanking yourself for having something in writing. The legal protection and the clarity it provides to the operation you are running are priceless.

Networking is vital never stop building connections

When you stop trying to build a footprint and gain ground in the industry you are attacking, you are setting yourself for failure, as the only two ways you can fail are giving up or failing to plan. My connections have been a huge help.

It’s okay to find a mentor

You don’t know everything and the odds are you could use the help early on. My first was the CEO of the Legacy Company I marketed for as well several members of the music industry I have turned to for advice. It’s also okay to share your ideas as an idea isn’t worth much unless it is built into a concept and taken forward from there.

Never stop learning

The day you think you know enough, you are making a big mistake. Someone much hungrier than you is waiting for you to stop pushing. You can never know too much and you can never want what you feel you deserve too much either.

Don’t be afraid to take on the big boys

Just because you don’t have a niche isn’t a death sentence for your business. The real difference between success and failure is how bad you want it. A niche could even be worse depending on the industry you are going into you could even be handicapping yourself.

Never Give Up

It’s like the Thomas Edison quote, “failure is only realized when you accept it.” I also love the similar quote, “many who have given up and failed never realized how close to success they really were.” Its true 99% of us will fail not because we aren’t smart enough but because only a small fraction will have the courage to fail again and again, until success is truly theirs.

Via Under30CEO.com

Good Day. :)

10 Ways to Achieve your Goals Quicker

2011-04-03T16:38:00.001+08:00

Considered 10 important key actions that once taken will make you closer to the goal. They also compiled how often and well people take these action items. The key actions are pretty neat. The results are shocking:

Make all your dreams real by first identifying and then focusing on specific, tangible targets for what you want.
Maintain at least one clearly defined goal for every major interest and role in your life.
Set your goals so they are directly aligned with your life’s mission, purpose and passion.
Create goals high enough to ignite your spirit and inspire you to take action.
Write down all your goals in specific, measurable detail.
Absolutely, unconditionally commit to hitting each of your targets.
Share your goals with others for mutual accomplishment.
Set a whole series of related daily, weekly and long-term goals, complete with starting times and completion dates.
Take 10 minutes every day to imagine how terrific it will feel when your goals are actually realized.
Take an action step toward the attainment of at least one goal every day.

Via lifehack.org

Good Day. :)

Money Is not Everything

2011-04-02T20:34:00.003+08:00

Hey guys,

Been long time since blogging at here. Busy with my workload at office. Just feel about blogging some stuff that i learn yesterday. Is money really everything in this world. Let me share you an article of it :

Money says it all. Though some people say that money is not the most important thing in life, the paradox happens around us. People do everything just to keep their pockets full. Many even tries to do all means just covet it without considering the Morality of the action. Browse dive, box, steals, Swindle just for that thing. People want to live with comfort. Affluence is so influential today. Money pulls opportunities Nearer to one. Just imagine one day; you realized that you have too much debt. What will you do? Hide or seek?

There are these effects which are less talked about but they are so true. If one's debt pile up, it will really give a hard time to the individual. Just the thought of Soaring bills, the soonest deadlines, the fines if one could not pay on time ... All of these will really make one go mad. Not only mad but -

First, one's self-esteem will trim down due to the thought that one is so bad to have allowed himself to be in that situation. This effect is proven by many Situations. The sudden change in one's grooming may tell. Keeping your confidence in this kind of scenario is a must. Letting go of one's self-esteem may just ruin your entire life. The frustration of not making it well will really affect a person's perception of his very self. He thinks he is the cause of the entire problem.Sometimes, past frustrations will also be opened again.

Stress is a major problem by the modern-day people. When one is stressed out due to worrying about his debts, like what if he is going to be put behind bars due to it? These continuous thoughts will really disturb the person psychologically. This will give one anxious moment. Lose of appetite will follow soon. Sickness will follow. Not only lose of appetite but also lack of sleep because of thinking so hard will cause a person to get thinner. His resistance to physical challenges will not be good like it used to.

The most painful blow of having so much debt is the walls it will build within a family. Since you are so affected by the problem, you get irritated so easily. Family members will also share the Sentiments, like frustration and shame. There are even times when you will blame each other for the misfortune. Arguments, complains and blames will bloom out of the blue. People involved will surely feel the pain of the situation. A family will be divided, a friendship may crack down. Worst, untoward cases of inflicting deeper degree of pain will be the consequence.

Life is a Gamble. WE can not have everything but we can do something n order to set the path we want to take with our beloved family. Borrowing money is fine. Just see to it that your resources are enough to pay it-on time.

Via findyourbiz.blogspot.com

Good Day. :)

High Cost Effects of Spam on Businesses

2011-02-12T11:33:00.002+08:00

What is Spam?

Spam can be generalized and defined as unsolicited emailing that’s usually sent out to several email addresses in bulk. Spam emailers have created their own “gated” community within the Internet; they’ve separated themselves from all politics and rules pertaining to the Internet and have constructed their own methods. This is being produced by all sorts of individuals and organizations in order to reach a wide set of audience, as they use this method to send endless amounts of emails and advertisements that flood your mailboxes on a daily basis.

Effects on Businesses

It isn’t a secret that many businesses heavily rely on the Internet, thus allowing them to grow and expand as time progresses. However if a business’s backbone is the Internet then in return bandwidth is the Internets back bone and support as well. When a message is sent to a network this action takes up bandwidth. Depending on the size of the message and the quantity depends on the amount of bandwidth utilized. A larger than usual message or mass quantities of messages will normally take up a great deal of bandwidth, which consequently will slow down a business’s network and Internet.

There have been studies that suspect spam for accounting as much as 50% of some businesses networks, this means that these businesses are only using about 50% of their resources, thus in return possibly hindering their growth and increasing unnecessary expenditure. It is a mission at times to reduce or even eliminate spam, however obtaining the right spam filter is the solution. Spam filters rely on a set of rules, regulations and if I may say so “politics” in order to catch and filter out the impractical emails. Determining your businesses needs and assessing the budget is one of the first steps in order to gain control of the unwanted emails.

These are the negative effects, there aren’t any known positives in receiving spam except for the sender as they take advantage and overwhelm your mailbox. Protect yourself and your business from spam today and invest in a suitable spam filter. Along with the high rate of unproductive costs, and bandwidth usage there are potential security risks as well. If you were to mistakenly open a spam email containing a virus, Trojan horse, or spyware it could infect your computer and consequently spread throughout your entire network. Assess the risk of affording spam to enter your mailbox, and take part in filtering out unwanted & unsolicited emails.

Good Day. :)

Via emailtalk.org

Sorry Kids, First Time Entrepreneurs Don't Usually Get Funding

2011-02-04T00:09:00.002+08:00

"I thought getting funded would be as simple as pitching my idea to a smart VC and getting a check based on the magnitude of the idea."

Two different first time entrepreneurs in their early twenties both made some version of this comment to me in the last month. I like and respect both entrepreneurs and they were confiding in me that the fundraising process has been very disappointing and were seeking advice on how to close on some capital.

The fact is that raising money is really hard unless you've built a successful business before. Of course, that actually makes some sense given that building a company is really hard and most venture-backed companies don't return capital to investors. The likelihood that an investor will fund a first time entrepreneur simply based on an interesting idea is exceptionally small. Consider that the entrepreneur has an tremendous amount of conviction about the concept. However, the investor has never heard the concept before and is likely hearing it (or at least this version of a theme) for the first time and is quite unlikely to share the depth of conviction that the entrepreneur holds. In fact, a typical investor is regularly hearing credible ideas and cannot possibly fund them all. Even if the investor is enthusiastic about the concept, she is likely meeting the entrepreneur for the first time and hasn't yet established the trust and confidence needed to believe the entrepreneur has what it takes to execute the idea and be one of the few to succeed.

So what can a first time entrepreneur do to overcome the odds and get funding? Here are a few tricks that I’ve seen work well:

Figure out who in the world you know that can afford to put some money into the company and believes in you without caring much about the idea. Even if it is a small amount of money, this can be used to create more evidence that you're building a fundable business. The value of such trust networks is actually way more effective for raising money than the idea itself. If the people you know that have the means to bet on you aren't willing to fund you, why should you expect someone that you don't know to fund you?

Find experts related to your business, preferably ones who have built a successful company in the same space, and sell them on your idea. The more you can sell that person, and the more credible that person is, the better. If that person signs up as an advisor, that's helpful, but a director is better; signing up as an investor is much better and taking a leadership position on the team is the best.

The most important thing an entrepreneur can do prior to raising money is to keep building the business regardless of the funding situation. Continue to validate the market opportunity and try to prove out that the founder’s convictions are right. Build the team with people who will work for sweat equity. Create some early product and show market traction. It is very hard to know when you will have enough evidence to convince investors, but an entrepreneur that can continuously show progress has a good shot of convincing investors that he is scrappy and capable. When an investor is trying to figure out if an entrepreneur has what it takes, that ability to keep building the business is great evidence. Certainly the entrepreneur should not sit around and wait for a check in order to really start building the business. At some point if the company is showing meaningful signs of living up to the founder’s beliefs, it becomes very hard for investors to ignore.

At what point does an entrepreneur hit the wall and cannot live on ramen noodles alone? This is a very personal decision and the reason that most successful entrepreneurs have inspiring stories of perseverance. It's a question of objectively assessing the depth of the entrepreneur's conviction, how much struggle he can endure, and how much progress he can make without capital. First time entrepreneurs rarely get a benefit of the doubt from investors and getting funded is rarely easy.

Via businessinsider.com

Good Day. :)

5 Ways to Change From a Sales Failure Mindset to Sales Success Mindset

2011-01-25T22:40:00.002+08:00

Sales can be one of the most difficult aspects of business. It can also be one of the most exciting and interesting parts. Many companies struggle with sale after sale resulting in failure. This only yields more difficulty and discouragement in sales. If you are one of the people who have experienced failure in sales, it's time to change your mindset! After reading this article you will have learned 5 ways to change from a sales failure mindset to a sales success mindset.

Before we discuss how to improve your mindset, let's review a few of the most important aspects to having successful sales in general. First, you need to correctly target your buyers. When doing any kind of sales, you'll get much better results if the people or companies you're selling to are actually interested in your product. Doing a small amount of research before trying to sell your product can greatly improve your success rate. Next, you need to be sure that your product is a quality product that people will actually use. Doing research on this aspect of sales is also imperative. Next, you need an awesome sales team. If you don't already have one, look to hire sales reps that are adaptable, articulate, energetic, confident, and self-reliant. Your sales reps can make all the difference in your rate of success. And finally, you must continue training your sales team to ensure the best possible sales.

Now onto the five was to change from a sales failure mindset to a sales success mindset:

1. Have vision and focus. People who are successful are in the habit of looking forward to the future-to ask themselves what innovations might help improve their current state. A creative mind can see beyond the present and see the vision of possibilities that failure often clouds.

2. Take calculated risks. We've all heard stories of people who made giant leaps of faith and landed on successful terrain. Successful people are not afraid of risks. They view them as probabilities that could result in some very profitable outcomes. Just remember that we're talking about calculated risks. This means you should know the possible benefits and disadvantages of your risk before you jump into it.

3. Don't blame others. Successful people don't waste time blaming others for what went wrong. You can try and blame your sales reps for taking too calculated of a risk, or your manufacturing coordinator for not creating a quality product, but it will never do you any good. Instead, roll up your sleeves and do something about it. Take responsibility for the action. Make decisions that will help correct the problem, don't just sit and gripe about it.

4. Learn to network. Success oriented people recognize the value of a social network. People can often be your greatest asset. If you've been struggling with sales failure after failure, perhaps it is time that you look to other successful people for some help. Everyone needs a helping hand once in a while. And creating a network of people that have the knowledge and talent that you may be lacking at this moment in time can help change your mindset to one of success.

5. Start small. Sometimes one of the best ways to improve your mindset is to start out small. So maybe you've been suffering from some set-backs. Move on. Pick something that you're relatively sure will succeed. Think small. And then market that product with all your heart. Once you've proudly achieved a small success with that product, move onto something a bit more complicated. Continue this process until you've regained a sales success mindset.

Via ezinearticles.com

Good Day. :)

Excel Your Sales Career: How to Overcome Fear, Beat Your Competition and Achieve Higher Sales

2011-01-14T22:57:00.003+08:00

Even sales professionals with tremendous track records have fear, but excelling in sales is about going where no others will go. Here’s how to overcome fears & excel your sales career.

As a sale professional, what would you do in this situation?

Your new client just signed an agreement putting you way ahead of the previous year. Not only would it catapult you in your organization and the industry, your personal income was about to reach new heights. Then, the following week, the person who signed the contract is replaced and in walks a new decision maker.

His first order of business is to cancel all new contracts because of a strategic change in the company's direction. There is no real logic to this cancellation and it can absolutely change the game. On top of that, the new guy brought all of his old relationships including your largest competitor.

How would you react? How would you handle your fears?

1. After receiving the news you go home crushed by the days events. You spend considerable time pondering how it will affect your future. You consider the ramifications of finishing the quarter at the low end of the sales rankings. Your concern grows as you review your monthly bills. Alternative strategies aren't even a consideration. You do nothing but ponder the damage to your career that has just taken place. You feel hopeless.

2. You go home and after a few minutes alone in the mental fetal position, you question your entire identity, purpose, and career path. Although brief, self doubt rules the moment. A short time later you emerge out. You hunker down and develop your best strategy to win back the client using all of the tools available. Additionally, you identify where you are going to replace that revenue should you fail. You explore and create options. You become stronger because you know the fight is just getting good.

As you can see both options have aspects of fear. But only one option (choice 2) will help you overcome your fear and help you excel in sales. The other option (choice 1) will polarize you and your business

How Fear Can Polarize You and Your Business.

- Fear can cause target fixation as we impose our will and try to force unnatural outcomes.
- Fear can cause us to refuse to develop alternative plans because we struggle with clouded thinking.
- Fear can cause us to replace logic with unsubstantiated emotion.
- Fear can make us hostages to our nagging thoughts that create an escalated feeling of doom and gloom.
- Fear usually keeps us conservative. As a result our business lives go void of any risk taking.

Even great sales professionals with tremendous track records have fear. The difference is that the best are fearful of not being the best, or not winning. They use fear to make them more competitive. The best sales people don't let fear rule them.

Struggling salespeople are fearful of losing. They are stuck in a comfort zone. They let fear interfere with their sales careers and their personal lives.

Now, which type of sales person do you want to be?

3 Simple Steps to Overcoming Your Fears & Excelling Your Sales Career

1. Name something that you were fearful of that you absolutely didn't get through. Can't name anything can you? We get through everything.

2. Develop a plan B and take action immediately. Have plan C ready to go in case you need it.

3. Recognize what your mind and body does when fear pays a visit. Invite it in, and then invite it to leave.

Excelling in sales is about going where no others will go. Don't try to tell me there's no fear attached to that. The key is to recognize and use your fear so that it becomes your friend. Healthy fear tells us we're on the edge of breakthrough achievement. We're in the right place doing the right thing. That's a little different than letting fear own us.

Via buzzle.com

Good Day. :)

Guide to Sales Negotiation Strategies and Techniques

2011-01-13T22:55:00.004+08:00

You don't have to be a born salesperson to excel in the sales arena. By developing your negotiating skills, you can improve your ability to close more and better deals. Learning and implementing proven sales negotiation strategies and techniques can:

Improve your bottom line.
Build lasting customer relationships.
Turn difficult customers into satisfied customers.
Build your confidence.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Invest in your negotiating skills

Entering a sales negotiation as an untrained seller facing a trained buyer is a recipe for disaster. Make sales negotiation training part of your business plan. Attend a seminar. Read a book. Team with a mentor. Empower yourself to be the best negotiator you can be.

I recommend: Determine which skills need sharpening by taking a negotiation skills assessment test fromS.A.B. Negotiation Enterprises, which offers sales negotiation seminars taught by former Harvard instructors. Attend training seminars from reputable organizations, such as the American Management Association.

Be prepared to walk away

As the seller, your primary goal in the negotiation process should be to create a positive, long-term relationship with your customer while establishing a price and set of conditions that fit within your business needs. Negotiating a low price — just to make a sale — sets a precedent that may be difficult to follow. Before stepping into the negotiating process, know your bottom line, and be prepared to walk away if the sale isn't advantageous to you and your company.

I recommend: Establish your sales negotiation strategy using software such as Insight for Sales Strategies. Check out various pricing methods to determine what to charge for your products and services.

Ask, don't tell

Asking questions can be one of your strongest negotiating tools. Instead of trying to tell a prospect why you think he or she should purchase your product or service, ask questions to find out what their needs are and then show how your company can provide solutions for those needs.

I recommend: Ask open-ended questions, closed-ended questions and leading questions to discover what your customer needs. Learn the best questions you can ask a buyer in Sales101's Sales Questions software package or take a free peek at the top open-ended questions from JustSell.com.

Negotiating begins at "no"

Objections are a normal part of any sales negotiation. It's a good idea to anticipate obstacles you may encounter and how you'll respond to them, but you can't possibly anticipate every possible objection. Learn to use objections as an opportunity to learn more about your customer's needs and what solutions you can bring to the table.

I recommend: Learn how to handle objections during negotiations by attending seminars from Sales Training America.

Personality counts

Successful negotiations sometimes depend on personality. If you can assess your prospect's personality type, you can use the most effective techniques to show them why your service or product is right for them. For instance, if a buyer is skeptical, you may want to back up your claims with documented facts and successful case histories; if a buyer is social, you may want to emphasize the popularity of what you're offering.

I recommend: Arcadian Software offers an e-learning course that covers a variety of negotiation techniques, including how to play to a buyer's personality.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

Focus on building a long-term relationship with the client. A short-term sale may not be in the best interest of a long-term seller-buyer relationship.
Sometimes, it's what you don't say that closes the deal. Remaining silent at key moments in a negotiation can work in your favor.
Be realistic with your expectations.
Leave your ego and emotions at the front door.
Be flexible and willing to adjust strategies as necessary.
Realize that the buyer may be as well trained as you are in the art of sales negotiations.
Apply sales negotiation strategies to other situations where negotiation skills would be beneficial, such as employer-employee relationship issues.

Via Business.com

An Introduction to Business Plans

2011-01-12T22:51:00.004+08:00

A business plan is a written description of your business's future. That's all there is to it--a document that desribes what you plan to do and how you plan to do it. If you jot down a paragraph on the back of an envelope describing your business strategy, you've written a plan, or at least the germ of a plan.

Business plans can help perform a number of tasks for those who write and read them. They're used by investment-seeking entrepreneurs to convey their vision to potential investors. They may also be used by firms that are trying to attract key employees, prospect for new business, deal with suppliers or simply to understand how to manage their companies better.

So what's included in a business plan, and how do you put one together? Simply stated, a business plan conveys your business goals, the strategies you'll use to meet them, potential problems that may confront your business and ways to solve them, the organizational structure of your business (including titles and responsibilities), and finally, the amount of capital required to finance your venture and keep it going until it breaks even.

Sound impressive? It can be, if put together properly. A good business plan follows generally accepted guidelines for both form and content. There are three primary parts to a business plan:

The first is the business concept, where you discuss the industry, your business structure, your particular product or service, and how you plan to make your business a success.
The second is the marketplace section, in which you describe and analyze potential customers: who and where they are, what makes them buy and so on. Here, you also describe the competition and how you'll position yourself to beat it.
Finally, the financial section contains your income and cash flow statement, balance sheet and other financial ratios, such as break-even analyses. This part may require help from your accountant and a good spreadsheet software program.

Breaking these three major sections down even further, a business plan consists of seven key components:

Executive summary
Business description
Market strategies
Competitive analysis
Design and development plan
Operations and management plan
Financial factors

In addition to these sections, a business plan should also have a cover, title page and table of contents.

How Long Should Your Business Plan Be?

Depending on what you're using it for, a useful business plan can be any length, from a scrawl on the back of an envelope to, in the case of an especially detailed plan describing a complex enterprise, more than 100 pages. A typical business plan runs 15 to 20 pages, but there's room for wide variation from that norm. Much will depend on the nature of your business. If you have a simple concept, you may be able to express it in very few words. On the other hand, if you're proposing a new kind of business or even a new industry, it may require quite a bit of explanation to get the message across.

The purpose of your plan also determines its length. If you want to use your plan to seek millions of dollars in seed capital to start a risky venture, you may have to do a lot of explaining and convincing. If you're just going to use your plan for internal purposes to manage an ongoing business, a much more abbreviated version should be fine.

Via Entrepreneur.com

Good Day. :)

Building Your Brand with Social Media

2011-01-12T21:25:00.002+08:00

Tapping the vast audience of the social Web is a low-cost way to catapult a small-business brand onto the global arena. Building your brand using social media allows you to develop new (and strengthen existing) relationships, which often leads to everything from brand awareness, loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing.

While perhaps initially daunting, the trick is to break the process into manageable pieces. From creating your online destinations to connecting with influencers, following these five steps will get you on your way to building your brand and boosting your business.

1. Create branded online destinations.

This is the first step to raising brand awareness and loyalty. Companies with the most successful social media branding surround consumers with online experiences that allow them to select how they interact with the brand.

Consider using popular, free options like blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn,YouTube, and so on. Of course, for small-business owners without the manpower to effectively manage too many destinations, you should consider testing each of these to determine which social media service you're most likely to stick with over the long haul. This will become your core destination. All your other online destinations should link back to the core.

2. Establish entry points.

One of the most important aspects to accomplishing this with your branded online destinations is to continually publish meaningful content that adds value to the reader's experience. The goal is to publish useful information that people will want to talk about -- and then share with their own audiences. This creates additional ways for people to find your branded destinations and it can lead to higher rankings from search engines like Google.

Here's one way to think about it: If you have a website with 10 pages of content, there are 10 ways for search engines to find your site. If you attach a blog to that website and write a new post every day for a year, you will have 365 more ways for Google to find your site, and your brand.

I call this the compounding effect of blogging. You cannot buy that kind of access to a global audience.

3. Locate your target audience and bring them back with you.

Where does your target audience already spend time? You need to spend time in those places, too, and engage in the conversations happening there. Get started by conducting a Google search for keywords that consumers would be likely to use when searching for a business or products like yours. Follow the paths that those consumers would follow and you're likely to find them.

Join relevant online forums and/or blogs, and write posts, publish comments and answer questions. Once that audience understands that you're there to genuinely offer useful information and not to self-promote, you can start leading them to your own branded destinations -- particularly your core branded online destination.

4. Connect with influencers.

As you search for your target audience, you should identify online influencers in those communities and get on their respective radars. To do so, leave comments on their blogs, follow them on Twitter and retweet their content. You can even email them to introduce yourself.

The key is to make sure they know your name and understand that you add value to the online conversation. This also exposes you to their audiences.

5. Give more than you receive.

Success in social media marketing depends on being useful and developing relationships. If you spend all of your time promoting then no one will want to listen to you. It's not a short-term tactic, rather a long-term strategy that can deliver sustainable, organic growth through ongoing, consistent participation.

A good rule of thumb is to apply the 80-20 rule to your social media marketing efforts. Spend no more than 20 percent of your time in self-promotional activities and conversations, and at least 80 percent on non-self-promotional activities. In time, you'll see your business grow from your efforts. And it starts with leveraging these fundamentals.

Via Entrepreneur.com

Good Day. :)

Starting a Business: The Idea Phase

2011-01-09T21:19:00.002+08:00

Many people believe starting a business is a mysterious process. They know they want to start a business, but they don't know the first steps to take. In this chapter, you're going to find out how to get an idea for a business--how you figure out exactly what it is you want to do and then how to take action on it.

But before we get started, let's clear up one point: People always wonder if this is a good time to start their business idea. The fact is, there's really never a bad time to launch a business. It's obvious why it's smart to launch in strong economic times. People have money and are looking for ways to spend it. But launching in tough or uncertain economic times can be just as smart. If you do your homework, presumably there's a need for the business you're starting. Because many people are reluctant to launch in tough times, your new business has a better chance of getting noticed. And, depending on your idea, in a down economy there is often equipment (or even entire businesses!) for sale at bargain prices.

Estimates vary, but generally more than 600,000 businesses are started each year in the United States. Yet for every American who actually starts a business, there are likely millions more who begin each year saying "OK, this is the year I am going to start a business," and then don't.

Everyone has his or her own roadblock, something that prevents them from taking that crucial first step. Most people are afraid to start; they may fear the unknown or failure, or even success. Others find starting something overwhelming in the mistaken belief they have to start from scratch. They think they have to come up with something that no one has ever done before--a new invention, a unique service. In other words, they think they have to reinvent the wheel.

But unless you're a technological genius--another Bill Gates or Steve Jobs--trying to reinvent the wheel is a big waste of time. For most people starting a business, the issue should not be coming up with something so unique that no one has ever heard of it but instead answering the questions: "How can I improve on this?" or "Can I do this better or differently from the other guy doing it over there?" Or simply, "Is there market share not being served that makes room for another business in this category?"

Get the Juices Flowing How do you start the idea process? First, take out a sheet of paper and across the top write "Things About Me." List five to seven things about yourself--things you like to do or that you're really good at, personal things (we'll get to your work life in a minute). Your list might include: "I'm really good with people, I love kids, I love to read, I love computers, I love numbers, I'm good at coming up with marketing concepts, I'm a problem solver." Just write down whatever comes to your mind; it doesn't need to make sense. Once you have your list, number the items down one side of the paper.

On the other side of the paper, list things that you don't think you're good at or you don't like to do. Maybe you're really good at marketing concepts, but you don't like to meet people or you're really not that fond of kids or you don't like to do public speaking or you don't want to travel. Don't overthink it; just write down your thoughts. When you're finished, ask yourself: "If there were three to five products or services that would make my personal life better, what would they be?" This is your personal life as a man, woman, father, husband, mother, wife, parent, grandparent--whatever your situation may be. Determine what products or services would make your life easier or happier, make you more productive or efficient, or simply give you more time.

Next, ask yourself the same question about your business life. Examine what you like and dislike about your work life as well as what traits people like and dislike about you. Finally, ask yourself why you're seeking to start a business in the first place. Then, when you're done, look for a pattern to emerge (i.e., whether there's a need for a business doing one of the things you like or are good at).

They Delivered Here's a business startup story that's a great example of seeing a need and filling it. Entrepreneur magazine is located in Irvine, California, a planned community. Many years ago, there weren't many fast-food restaurants in the business area. Most were across town, where the neighborhoods were. Two young men in Irvine found this lunch situation very frustrating. There weren't many affordable choices. Sure, there were some food courts located in strip centers, but the parking lots were really small and the wait was horrendous.

One day, as they were lamenting their lunch problem, one of them said, "Wouldn't it be great if we could get some good food delivered?" The proverbial light bulb went on! Then they did what many people don't do--they did something about their idea. Coincidentally, they purchased one ofEntrepreneur's business startup guides and started a restaurant deliverybusiness.

To date, their business has served more than 15 million people! It's neither a complicated business nor an original one. Their competition has gotten stiffer, and yet they're doing phenomenally well. And it all began because they listened to their own frustrations and decided to do something about them. Little did they know that research cites the shrinking lunch hour as one of the biggest complaints by American workers. Some only get 30 minutes, making it nearly impossible to get out, get lunch and get back on time. So while these young entrepreneurs initially thought they were responding to a personal need in their local area, they actually struck a universal chord.

That is one way to get ideas--listening to your own (or your co-workers', family's or neighbors') frustrations. The opportunities are all there; you just need to search them out. If your brain is always set in idea mode, then many ideas may come from just looking around or reading. For instance, if you had read an article about the shrinking lunch hour, and if you were thinking entrepreneurially, you would say "Wow, maybe there's an opportunity there for me to do something. I should start researching it."

Inspiring Moments Inspiration can be anywhere. Here's another classic startup story: Ever get charged a fee for returning a video late? Bet you didn't do anything about it. Well, when Reed Hastings got a whopping $40 late charge, instead of getting mad, he got inspired. Hastings wondered "How come movie rentals don't work like a health club, where, whether you use it a lot or a little, you get charged the same?" From this thought, Netflix.com, an online DVD rental service, was born. From its start in 1999, Netflix has grown into a big business with revenues topping $1.3 billion.

Getting an idea can be as simple as keeping your eyes peeled for the latest hot businesses; they crop up all the time. Many local entrepreneurs made tons of money bringing the Starbucks coffeehouse concept to their hometowns and then expanding from there. Take Minneapolis-based Caribou Coffee. The founders had what they describe as an "aha moment" in 1990, and two years later launched what is now the nation's second-largest company-owned gourmet coffeehouse chain. Other coffee entrepreneurs have chosen to stay local.

And don't overlook the tried and true. Hot businesses often go through cycles. Take gardening. For the last few years gardening products and supplies have been all the rage, but you wouldn't consider gardening a 21st century business.

In other words, you can take any idea and customize it to the times and your community. Add your own creativity to any concept. In fact, customizing a concept isn't a choice; it's a necessity if you want your business to be successful. You can't just take an idea, plop it down and say "OK, this is it." Outside of a McDonald's, Subway or other major franchise concept, there are very few businesses that work with a one-size-fits-all approach.

One of the best ways to determine whether your idea will succeed in your community is to talk to people you know. If it's a business idea, talk to co-workers and colleagues. Run personal ideas by your family or neighbors. Don't be afraid of people stealing your idea. It's just not likely. Just discuss the general concept; you don't need to spill all the details.

Just Do It! Hopefully by now, the process of determining what business is right for you has at least been somewhat demystified. Understand that business startup isn't rocket science. No, it isn't easy to begin a business, but it's not as complicated or as scary as many people think, either. It's a step-by-step, common-sense procedure. So take it a step at a time. First step: Figure out what you want to do. Once you have the idea, talk to people to find out what they think. Ask "Would you buy and/or use this, and how much would you pay?"

Understand that many people around you won't encourage you (some will even discourage you) to pursue your entrepreneurial journey. Some will tell you they have your best interests at heart; they just want you to see the reality of the situation. Some will envy your courage; others will resent you for having the guts to actually do something. You can't allow these naysayers to dissuade you, to stop your journey before it even begins.

In fact, once you get an idea for a business, what's the most important trait you need as an entrepreneur? Perseverance. When you set out to launch your business, you'll be told "no" more times than you've ever been told before. You can't take it personally; you've got to get beyond the "no" and move on to the next person--because eventually, you're going to get to a "yes."

One of the most common warnings you'll hear is about the risk. Everyone will tell you it's risky to start your own business. Sure, starting a business is risky, but what in life isn't? Plus, there's a difference between foolish risks and calculated ones. If you carefully consider what you're doing, get help when you need it, and never stop asking questions, you can mitigate your risk.

You can't allow the specter of risk to stop you from going forward. Ask yourself "What am I really risking?" And assess the risk. What are you giving up? What will you lose if things don't work out? Don't risk what you can't afford. Don't risk your home, your family or your health. Ask yourself "If this doesn't work, will I be worse off than I am now?" If all you have to lose is some time, energy and money, then the risk is likely worth it.

Determining what you want to do is only the first step. You've still got a lot of homework to do, a lot of research in front of you. Buying this book is a smart first step. Most important: Do something. Don't sit back year after year and say "This is the year I'm going to start my business." Make this the year you really do it!

Via Entrepreneur.com

Good Day. :)

Why Young Entrepreneurs MUST Go to College

2011-01-08T17:02:00.005+08:00

While there have been articles on there being no need for young entrepreneurs to go to college and even some lists of entrepreneurs who succeeded without having a college degree (also suggesting that going to college is a waste of time), there have been a lot of confusion for the budding young entrepreneur with a lot of vigor and passion for business and the action these young entrepreneurs take will have a lasting effect on their lives.

For the sake of complete transparency I’d like to tell you that I have also battled with the idea of going to college or not with a lot of pressure from parents and others and I’m a kind of person who doesn't change my mind once it’s fixed. I even went on to back up my argument with examples of successful entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, who are making it as college dropouts but now I can simply say my decision then was as a result of childhood foolishness – I know a lot of people will disagree.

I’m not trying to say going to college is a must to succeed in life, far from it, but there are so many importance of going to college that I’d advice young entrepreneurs not to try to play with it.

This is not a rule and I know you have the final say on what goes on in your life, this article is only expressing my views on the subject.

College Increases the Chances of Your Success in Life

If you take a look at most of the young entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs who believe going to college is not important to succeeding in life you will also notice they’re always citing examples of great and extraordinary entrepreneurs like Bill Gates. If I may ask, how many young entrepreneurs are as extraordinary as Bill Gates?Being extraordinary is not all about having a great idea or knowledge about a subject but knowing how to present your ideas in a very effective way.

We hardly have one extraordinary entrepreneur in a million and if this is considered you’ll notice that deciding not to go to college is a very dangerous decision for a young entrepreneur to make.

We only hear about college dropouts who are successful entrepreneurs, and we only hear about them because they are successful. You have read a list of college dropouts who are successful but have you ever read a list of college dropouts who are complete entrepreneurial failures? Never! You can’t even see a list like that because most of these entrepreneurs are not ready to own up to their “foolishness”.

I have enough facts to back up my argument and I have read interviews about successful entrepreneurs who wish they didn’t drop out of college, like this one. The truth is that many entrepreneurs eventually discover their mistake (of not going to college) later in life and in order to protect their ego they still go on saying it’s a good thing to be a college dropout.

If we take a look at the numbers, very few college dropouts become super successful as an entrepreneur and many of the unsuccessful ones end up blaming themselves in the future, they end up saying something in this line, If Only I had a college degree!

It Increases Your Self-Esteem

Imagine speaking in the midst of CEO’s, highly educated people and even some uneducated people and starting your statement with something of this nature, I am a college dropout…, irrespective of your achievements you’ll still see people shaking their heads at you and asking themselves if that is a thing to pride yourself at.

It is always great to go against the norm and I am a great fan of that, but you should also realize that going to college is a life of its own and people have a separate way of thinking about those who don’t go to college. They have been taught that going to college is the only way to succeed in life and even if they love you and your achievements as a successful college dropout they will still relate with you in a different way because they can’t control that feeling of theirs with which they were brought up (that going to college is essential to success).

If you see a successful entrepreneur who has a lot of achievements under his belt start a speech with something in this line, I have a PhD in applied mathematics, but I’m happy I’ve never used it to work…because being an entrepreneur was my best decision in life. You will be filled with awe and respect for the fellow, you will begin to see the person as a highly intelligent, educated fellow who knows what he is saying, not just an illiterate.

You Have a Fallback Option

While most of the time there isn’t a need for a fallback option, it isn’t a bad thing to have it. Since there is very little guarantee of you succeeding as an entrepreneur you at least have something to back you up.

Take a look at the most successful entrepreneurs we have in history and you will notice that a large percentage of them worked on their business for at least five years before they could succeed. If you don’t have a job, if you don’t have a degree, even if you have the motivation, you should know that it isn’t easy to succeed as an entrepreneur. I am not trying to tell you to neglect your ventures and kill your dreams of being a successful entrepreneur, I’m only telling you that it takes time, it takes real time, and your college degree can be a great thing for you to get a job, funds and respect for the main time.

You will notice the use of respect in my last statement and you might be asking that of what importance is respect to success as an entrepreneur. It has been proved that over 70% of startups fail in their first year and if you imagine yourself being the founder of one of these startups and you’re a college dropout. You will have lost your public image in the first place (a dropout?) and the inability to build a successful business for years with that bad public image will make you frustrated, quit and almost think of committing suicide.

You Get More Knowledge and Experience

Many entrepreneurs will question this and eventually reiterate by saying that real experience comes from maintaining a business. That is no doubt the truth but there is some truth to what I’m saying here.

Going to college enables you take a course and with constant learning and practice your knowledge of that course will no doubt improve. You will also be able to meet a lot of like-minded people and you will be able to learn from them, you will also gain experience in networking and communicating with people.

Many young entrepreneurs have poor networking and communication skills and this will go a long way to affect their success in business and in life – going to college will help you learn a lot of things along this line and one of those things will be the ability to sharpen and improve your communication and networking skills.

A Different Approach

After taking a look at most of the entrepreneurs who supported not going to college, a common theme I noticed among them is that most of them are enrolled in courses they have little to no interest in. An entrepreneur can’t succeed in every business because interest is important, for example, a sound programmer will hardly succeed in building a diaper business – the same thing applies for going to college. Your approach must be different; going to college shouldn’t be about getting the best grades but going to learn more about what you love.

Conclusion

Without doubt, as backed by the above argument, my advice is that young entrepreneurs should go to college. Even if only to improve your self-esteem, you will be very happy you did.

Via Under30CEO

Good Day. :)

Top 10 Things I Wish I Knew in College

2011-01-08T16:58:00.001+08:00

So here it is: Top Ten Things I wish I Had Known in College

1. Your room for improvement is always your biggest room — so spend some time filling it up.

2. How do you combat inexperience? Over preparation.

3. There is never a substitute for enthusiasm: not skill, not talent, not expertise– the person with enthusiasm always wins.

4. In ever adversity, there lies a seed of equal or greater benefit.

5. Five years from now, your future will be most determined by the books you read and the people you associated with.

6. Many of the rewards in life come when you are out there on the extra mile.

7. You have to have some principles that you can believe in and that you won’t waver from.

8. Never forget where you came from…and you helped you get there.

9. There is no luck in success. Success is where opportunity and preparation meet.

10. Observe what the masses of people do, and then do the opposite.

Via Under30CEO

Good Day. :)

Working Time

2011-01-04T23:50:00.002+08:00

I know most Entrepreneur don't really work for people but hey, i got to graduate. Currently doing an advertising company in Damansara. Just finished my 2nd day of work. Got another 6 months to go but overall is quite relaxing and not that stressful. Able to learn some stuff. Let's see what my next challenge is. And because of my working time i would have this blog to be in hiatus a while as i might be busy and tired of work. Anyway good luck to those who doing their intern and all the best for those who just start their business.

Good Day. :)

How Bali people doing business?

2010-12-25T03:42:00.002+08:00

I just went to Bali this week. Is a great trip overall, awesome place. Too bad we have limited time to tour the whole island. If there a choices, i would like to go there again.

Now, what i observe when my vacation in Bali. Before i went, as i told you all before in my previous post where i went to this ASEAN talk about how great Indonesia will become in future. It might be true.

Most people in Bali do not come from a well-off family. Most are suffering from poverty and there a few beggars in the street. Not that Malaysia do not have beggars but their people are different from Malaysian.

In what way??

1. Attitude

2. Desire to Survive

Let's compare the attitude, people in Bali are seriously friendly. I mean they greet and smile to you where ever they see you. This show how welcome you are in their place. Not like in Malaysia well we treat everyone with a cold-shoulder.

Desire to Survive? In Bali, is the most hot spot for tourism and hot spot for businessman. You be expecting high-class shopping mall with expensive high-class restaurant. Well, you wrong. The economy mostly are control by the local. With small shop and self made businesses. They needed it to survive. As i walk by the beach i saw people want to rent surfing board to people who wanted to surf. I mean they make an investment to buy the board and rent it to people. I mean is an easy cash flow.

So that it on my experience in Bali. Is great overall.

Good Day. :) & Merry Christmas