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The Three B’s You Need to Become a Great Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur runs a business or businesses by selling their product or services for a price, can afford to pay rent, wages and interest on the capital and still gain a profit in the end. An entrepreneur is also unafraid of the challenges and risks that are typically associated with the business on a day-to-day basis. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to have three important traits that can put you ahead of the competition. Brains, bravery and business coaching are three skills that will aid you in getting your business off the ground and moving toward a financially sound future.

Brains

Many business owners learn their skills through schooling and experience, but others are inbred with successful traits and were born to be leaders. Intelligence is always considered a key to any financial success, and entrepreneurs must have their share. However, knowing how to work smart can separate successful entrepreneurs from those that find it difficult to overcome the typical business hurdles. An intelligent business owner knows that being a strong leader can make or break a business, especially when they lead by example. Financial geniuses are also smart enough to realize that they need to be disciplined enough to do whatever it takes to reach the finish line.

Bravery

It’s a fact that solid rewards can come with hard work and dedication. But a person who is brave and unafraid to take risks can achieve greatness in the business community. What separates the regular business owner from the successful entrepreneur is the gift of taking risks in order to make a fortune. All transactions may not be profitable, but it takes a skilled entrepreneur to handle that risk, calculate the gains and reap the rewards. If you’re only willing to make a modest income and never be brave enough to go above and beyond to reach your goals, you’ll likely not see overwhelming success in the independent business world.

Business Coaching

In order to achieve greatness with your own company, you need to formulate a plan. Many people are ensconced in their dream job, but they are unsure of how to reach beyond and achieve higher goals. A business coach can help an owner achieve success by organizing a plan, observing the strengths and weaknesses of their strategies and holding them to their final goals. Executive coaches are trained to aid you in your career from platforms of psychology and organizational development to human resource management and adult learning.

Bottom Line Benefits

Successful entrepreneurs that use business coaching see this as an investment instead of an expense because of the way their revenue can grow consequentially. An online directory of coaches is one of the best resources for those interested in learning more about this unique service. Here you will find a variety of people that are experienced and knowledgeable in this field, and you can choose the one that you will feel most suited for your executive career needs.

Most entrepreneurs in the world today have made it as far as they have by hard work, diligence and confidence. However, the three B’s of bravery, brains and business coaching will always separate the top producers from the rest of the crowd.

Ann Bailey started her own art business and shares these inspirations for other business founders seeking a step up. Noomii, a go-to online directory of executive coaches, is available to help any client ready for the next level of business guidance, encouragement and success.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradmontgomery/8192544700/

Three Tips for Small Business Owners

There was a time when you couldn’t start a business without putting your credit on the line with a business loan. Today, all you really need is a two hundred dollar laptop or used smartphone and an internet connection. Here are a few principles to keep in mind before you get started:

A Word on Cost, Risk and Planning

Something to bear in mind when it comes to the concept of cost and risk: the more something costs you in terms of time, money and effort, the more planning you should put into it, the more research. When you pay for web hosting, for instance, you need to do you homework and make sure that you’re going with the right web host for your business. On the other hand, sending an email to a graphic designer for a quote takes about one minute, so you don’t need to spend all day researching graphic designers to make that choice.

The more something costs, the more planning it should involve. Maintain this rule of thumb in order to manage risk and to avoid getting hung up on the small stuff.

Plan to Fail

Big ideas are the only ones worth having anymore. You need to be the best at whatever it is you do, and that means thinking big. Making a modest profit on iPods on eBay isn’t going to work, because the people who already dominate that market will just cut their prices lower when you come in to compete with them. They have the access to greater bulk quantities of goods that they can sell for cheaper, so simply selling commodities won’t cut it, someone will always be able to undersell you in that area.

Big ideas are the ones with potential to fail. When you decide to be the very best shoe repairer in your city, when you decide to create a new kind of light bulb, these are the kind of ideas that will allow you to dominate that field if you succeed, but that always have the potential for failure.

Luckily, every failure is a chance to learn, to grow, and to try again. We don’t like the idea of failure, but anything that doesn’t kill us or bankrupt us is a failure that we can afford to risk, and more importantly, nobody ever succeeded without risking failure. Some of the most successful business people failed dozens of times and tried their hands at dozens of things before finding the niche where they truly excelled.

Selling the Story

What you’re really selling at the end of the day is not a better hair dryer, it’s not a nicer pair of athletic shoes, it’s a story. Your customers want to experience something through your product or service, some kind of adventure or competitive edge. Even someone who buys an energy drink isn’t buying caffeine, they’re buying an extra couple of hours partying or they’re buying greater productivity at work.
Stop thinking of your product or service in terms of commodity and start thinking of it in terms of the story.

About the Author: Charles Moore has the credit of writing articles on home organization and solution. He is also a regular contributor to Movingtips.org.

11 Ways to Make Your Small Business Successful

For most of us, starting a small business is no big deal. However, making it successful is the ultimate goal that everyone has in their mind. There are certain techniques that you can use to make your small business run in a smooth manner and earn regular income from it. However, you need to have strong willpower and determination to make your small business successful. Given below are 11 simple ways to do it:

1) Develop your emotional capital

Your emotional capital is the most important resource that you need to run your small business successfully. It is the combination of your zeal, love, and optimistic viewpoint about your business. You need to balance your work and family and also protect your health in order to be successful.

2) Affirm your entrepreneurial freedom

When you’re running a small business, you’re the boss of yourself. There should be equilibrium between arrogance and ignorance. You should understand what to know and what to ignore.

3) Know your clients

Identifying your clients is the most important thing that you have to do to make your small business successful. You should have a clear idea who your customers are. When you are manufacturing fashion accessories for teenage girls, then you should not aim the male teenagers for selling or promoting your merchandise. If you are an antivirus seller, then you should not target babysitters.

4) Have a marketing budget in place

You need money to promote your small business. Therefore, you should decide how much you are going to spend for this. Without customers, you can’t earn money and for getting customers, you have to adopt the right marketing techniques. There are various ways of promoting your small business such as flyers, pamphlets, postcards, and different online methods. You should not assume that your product will spontaneously market itself.

5) Know your competitors

Understanding your competitors well is the key to positioning your product rightly in the market. See what your competitors are doing to attract new customers and try to emulate them. If possible, do it in a better way.

6) Don’t hesitate to say no

Sometimes, a situation may arise when you need to say no to a prospective client or customer or partner. This is particularly important when you feel that entering into a new business venture or contract will not turn out to be beneficial for your small business in the end.

7) Know that “no” indicates not instantly

When a potential customer rejects your instant product or service, there is no need to be disheartened or lose hope. Try to understand why they did so and take the necessary measures accordingly. Keep in touch with them so that they can be approached in future. Take their contact details and inform them about special offers you are giving.

8) Use the Internet

In this age of information technology, the Internet is indispensable when it comes to promoting your business. Create a website of your business and equip it with sections like about us, products and services, testimonials and contact us. Make the most of the Internet to connect to your customers and make your business successful. If needed, go for various Internet applications that are available from free sources.

9) Don’t be extravagant

If you feel that any expenditure you are making is unnecessary, stop that immediately. Extravagance for a small business is a strictly “no-no” when you have a restricted budget.

10) Maintain your accounts well

You should maintain the following types of accounting documents and records:

Cash records
Cash payments
Sales records
Accounts receivable

11) Be a good manager

Being a good manager depends on the following factors:

Hiring the right workforce
Training them adequately
Suitable time management
Regulating absenteeism

There is no guarantee that your small business will be successful instantly. So, don’t leap before you look.

The Many Hats of Small Business Ownership

Small Business Owners Wear Many Hats… One at a Time.

As you launch your own business, you inevitably will “wear many hats.” Of course, day-to-day operations will require frequent changes of hat and headgear, but you always must remember, when you don more than one hat at a time, you just look and act silly. More importantly, you absolutely cannot change your mind each time you change your hat. Change-up the millinery as circumstances demand, but make sure each new brim contributes to building the business by commanding customers’ loyalty.

Pat on his Mac (next to another Mac)
Image by Kevin Galens / Flickr

Maintain Your Priorities and Solve Urgent Problems

Before you celebrate your grand opening, take time to examine your entire hat collection, assessing the relative importance of each. The collection surely will include marketing, public relations, advertising, accounting, finance, IT, forecasting and planning; as the business grows, you will add personnel management and training. Day by day, your profit-and-loss, your market share and the quality of your competition may influence your hat selection, but do not allow exigency or expedience to prevail over your genuine priorities. Baseball caps and hard-hats come and go, but your dedication to building the business persists. Therefore, go to the hat tree with a realistic sense of what to wear in the moment and throughout the day.

Customer service always comes first

Inventory management and marketing always seem urgent, but they never become so urgent you cannot set them aside and devote your undivided attention to a customer’s needs. You always have known this cardinal principle of good business, but the pace, distraction and stress of running a one-man-show may cause temporary lapses of memory. A well-chosen customer service cap will keep you safe.

Become exceptionally skilled at problem-solving

Skilled problem-solvers develop their powers of discernment, and they use those powers to determine which problems they can solve with their own resources and which require professional intervention. In order to remain focused on building your business, call-in qualified people to fix urgent problems outside your areas of expertise. If you cannot fix a toilet, call a plumber. If you cannot do taxes, call a CPA. In general, if you cannot see cause and solution in a problem’s symptoms, call an expert.

Dedicate your best efforts to building your business

Choose your hat with consummate respect for your own time, talent and temperament. If you have exceptional marketing and public relations skills, devote lots of time and energy to using them in service of boosting revenues. Conversely, if you have little accounting skill, devote even more effort to marketing so that you generate enough revenue to hire a bookkeeper. Even as you wear your PR hat, though, keep scanning the horizon for customers in need of your special attention.

Take time for reflection

No need to hire a small business consultant. Your conscience and intuition will tell you exactly where you went wrong, and they will outline the best ways to fix your mistakes. Take time each day for serious reflection, asking three essential questions: First, find courage to ask, “Where did I go wrong?” Then summon insight and imagination as you ask, “What can I do better?” Third, reward yourself as you consider, “What did I do well, and how can I do more of it?” Record your thoughts in a journal. Make journal-writing the last item on each day’s to-do list, using it to complete the day’s business and anticipate what comes next.

Add a mortarboard to your hat collection

When your journal routinely calls your attention to a big vacancy in your hat collection, fill the empty spot by going back to school. Several reputable online universities offer advanced business degrees in entrepreneurship. Because you take just one class at a time and you complete the work online, you can focus and study according to your schedule. Andrew Shigeru, an MBA student at Ashford University, exults, “I immediately can apply the benefits of each class session and every discussion in the next day’s work. I feel myself becoming more skilled and professional literally every day.” (interview. 2012. July 7)

Recruit dedicated staff

As your business grows, promote staffing to second place on your list of priorities. When you recruit devoted employees to wear hats that do not fit you well or complement your complexion, you relieve much of your stress and gain time for wearing your own favorite hat, the one that always has held a little magic and inspired your best work.

About the Author: Kelly Smith is a full-time writer for higher ed blogs and journals nationwide with a focus on online education opportunities. Several schools offer online degrees in strategic management, including New England College and Quinnipiac University.

Doing business like a pro!

We all have some dreams we would like to come true. Some dream big, others small; but what truly matters is how you plan on achieving what you want. So you dream of owning your own business? Running it successfully? Believe in yourself, after all big corporate giants like Google, Apple, Sony also started somewhere. Well here are some small business tips for all the budding entrepreneurs to keep in mind.

5 tips of the wise:

You don’t necessarily have to start your business from scratch. If you find a small business that you believe you can benefit from, buy it. You can either grow it or sell it for an even bigger return.
Do you have a lot of dough to start with? Good! Hold on to it. There is no need for a young business to have a very lavish office and setup. Buy and spend very wisely. Old office furniture can be just as useful and serve the purpose. You can save all your extra cash for a rainy day. Just because you have it doesn’t mean you should blow it
Who are you? And what can you offer? A good business always has a sense of direction. Make a game plan, set goals and go about how you are going to achieve them. Keep in mind who you are exactly targeting
What makes you so different? Think about what makes you standout in the crowd. Always go the extra mile for customer satisfaction. This will never fail you. After all happy customers are loyal customers
Most importantly, exercise gratitude. Towards your employees, your customers, and your own self. Research in the field of human resource management shows that appreciation goes a long way to ensure success. It is a tool not frequently used by employers.

The toughest is the battle within:

As much as capital and resources are needed to start your own venture, some things come easily and without any cost. A bit of planning and smart thinking can make your journey of success a whole lot smoother. Though the road leading you towards your goals may not always be easy to tread upon, a positive outlook and determination can always ease your burden.

No matter what line of business you pursue, always believe that you have something unique to give to the world. It is only when you find out everything good has already been done, you push yourself to create something even better.

And one more thing:

As quoted by Steve Jobs, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”. Knowledge is truly Power and today’s world is the most volatile it has ever been. Always keep educating yourself, learn, explore. There is no limit to the knowledge one can attain. There is always innovation in the world around us. New marketing techniques, management studies, growth opportunity factors; if one stays aloof to changing times he will be left behind. So always nurture your talents and keep polishing them in order to shine.

About the Author: The author is currently pursuing a degree in business administration and has a penchant for writing about modern day management techniques w.r.t. your credit card and organizational behavior.