Assalammualaikum,
in room 2 I would post about article that related to entrepreneurs and business
Recent
college grads increasingly build side businesses in addition to whatever
full-time job they are able to land. The 2011 Youth Entrepreneurship Study by
Buzz Marketing Group and the Young Entrepreneur Council found that 36 percent
of respondents, who were between the ages of 16 and 39, had started side
businesses in order to bring in more income. Those businesses included
freelance work, eBay shops, tutoring, baking and Web design.
People
in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond are also embracing the trend. When a 2011
survey by MetLife asked respondents what they were doing to increase their
income and financial security, 17 percent of Generation X (now in their 30s and
40s) said they freelanced to boost their income, and 12 percent of baby boomers
(now in their 50s and 60s) said the same.
The
specific financial motivations often differ by age: Twenty-somethings who find
themselves underpaid, unemployed, or underemployed tend to want a side gig that
allows them to take full advantage of their education and potential. Thirty-
and 40-somethings facing stagnant wages want to give their incomes a boost,
especially as their household and family responsibilities grow. Forty- and
50-somethings who've seen their own incomes and assets fall over the last
decade want to rebuild their finances before retirement, and 60-somethings are
frequently focused on funding their golden years amid rising costs.
Across
all age groups, secondary income streams from side businesses can fill the gap
between primary incomes and expenses, and make up for the lack of raises or pay
cuts. They also offer a new, affirming identity, as well as the ability to
build new skills and make new contacts.
The
most successful entrepreneurs, from the baker who launched his own custom cake
business to the bookstore manager who decided she'd be better off launching her
own coaching business, tend to share nine common traits:
1.
They know exactly what motivates them, and it often starts with a big loss or
other major event in their lives. Chicagoan Nicole Crimaldi Emerick started Ms.
Career Girl (mscareergirl.com), an advice blog for young college grads like
herself, as a creative outlet. She squeezed in time for blogging by waking up
at 5 a.m. before her office job at an Internet startup. She wrote about what
she and her friends were experiencing in the job market: uncertainty, the
importance of connections and the rising power of social media.
Then,
two and a half years after starting her site, she suddenly got laid off. That's
when she committed to earning a steady income from what had previously been
more of a hobby. Soon afterwards, she hosted one of her biggest networking
events yet in Chicago, where 80 young women paid $15 to talk about getting
ahead today.A layoff, a new baby, another major life change – successful
entrepreneurs can often point to a specific motivating factor, which they
return to when the going gets tough.
2.
They choose entrepreneurial pursuits that line up with longstanding passions,
interests and skills. Entrepreneurs thrive when their business plays off their
existing skills, talents and interests – choosing a business that leverages
those is the first step to success.
3.
They minimize their expenses in both their professional and personal lives,
while finding ways to invest in their venture. Many successful small business
owners take pains to first pay off debt, shore up an emergency fund and
otherwise get their finances in order before launching their venture. That way,
they can focus on building it without additional financial stress.
4.
They rely heavily on online communities of similarly minded people. Twitter,
Facebook and other social media outlets make it easy to connect with
like-minded people. Instead of thinking of other people in your field like
competitors, embrace them as mentors and friends. They probably have a lot to
teach you.
5.
They actively and shamelessly promote their brands through social media and
other grass-roots marketing efforts. People can't buy from you if they don't
know what you're selling. Promote yourself – and your product and service –
frequently. Make sure your underlying message helps people or makes their lives
easier, to keep your customers coming back for more.
6.
They master time management strategies that enable them to maintain full-time
jobs along with their side ventures (and the rest of their lives). It's not
easy balancing a full-time job and a new entrepreneurial pursuit, but it is
possible. Many entrepreneurs report waking up before the rest of their house,
or finding slivers of time throughout their day, or otherwise schedule their
lives to carve out at least a few hours a week to continue building their
business.
7.
They find ways to be resilient in the face of inevitable setbacks. Lack of
sales, bad reviews – these kinds of negative experiences are an inevitable part
of entrepreneurship. The ones who succeed find the strength to keep going
anyway.
8.
As their businesses grow, they support other small shops and startups by
outsourcing tasks, which further enhances their own businesses, and often find
other ways to give back as well. Giving back to the community that helped you
build your business not only makes you feel good, but it makes your customers
feel good, too, and further enhances your brand.
9.
They derive a deep sense of financial security and fulfillment from their
businesses, far beyond money. Extra money from a new side business is helpful,
of course, but side giggers are even more likely to cite a deep and abiding
sense of satisfaction that they get from knowing they are creating useful
products or services that help people. That's what keeps them going.
If
you're ready to launch your own side gig – to save you from financial fear and
frustration, to make you more secure and wealthy, and to give you a sense of
satisfaction and personal accomplishment beyond what you get from your main
source of employment – then consider applying these nine strategies to your own
life. You'll be building the economy of you.
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_76.htm
Entrepreneurial
Skills
The
Skills You Need to Build a Great Business
What
skills do you need as an entrepreneur?
©
iStockphoto/leventince
What
makes someone a successful entrepreneur? It certainly helps to have strong
technology skills or expertise in a key area, but these are not defining characteristics
of entrepreneurship.
Instead,
the key qualities are traits such as creativity, the ability to keep going in
the face of hardship, and the social skills needed to build great teams.
If
you want to start a business, it's essential to learn the specific skills that
underpin these qualities. It's also important to develop entrepreneurial skills
if you're in a job role where you're expected to develop a business, or
"take things forward" more generally.
In
this article, we'll look at the skills you need to be a successful
entrepreneur, and we'll explore resources that you can use to develop the
traits needed for success.
Defining
Entrepreneurship
Some
experts think of entrepreneurs as people who are willing to take risks that
other people are not. Others define them as people who start and build
successful businesses.
Thinking
about the first of these definitions, entrepreneurship doesn't necessarily
involve starting your own business. Many people who don't work for themselves
are recognized as entrepreneurs within their organizations.
Regardless
of how you define an "entrepreneur," one thing is certain: becoming a
successful entrepreneur isn't easy.
So,
how does one person successfully take advantage of an opportunity, while
another, equally knowledgeable person does not? Do entrepreneurs have a
different genetic makeup? Or do they operate from a different vantage point,
that somehow directs their decisions for them?
Though
many researchers have studied the subject, there are no definitive answers.
What we do know is that successful entrepreneurs seem to have certain traits in
common.
We've
gathered these traits into four categories:
Personal
characteristics.
Interpersonal
skills.
Critical
and creative thinking skills.
Practical
skills.
We'll
now examine each category in more detail, and look at some of the questions you
will need to ask yourself if you want to become a successful entrepreneur.
Personal
Characteristics
First,
examine your personal characteristics, values, and beliefs. Do you have the
mindset that's typical of successful entrepreneurs?
Optimism:
Are you an optimistic thinker? Optimism
is truly an asset, and it will help get you through the tough times that many
entrepreneurs experience as they find a business model that works for them.
Vision:
Can you easily see where things can be improved? Can you quickly grasp the
"big picture," and explain this to others? And can you create a
compelling vision of the future, and then inspire other people to engage with that vision?
Initiative:
Do you have initiative , and
instinctively start problem-solving or business improvement projects?
Desire
for Control: Do you enjoy being in charge and making decisions? Are you
motivated to lead others?
Drive
and Persistence: Are you self-motivated
and energetic? And are you prepared to work hard, for a very long time,
to realize your goals?
Risk
Tolerance: Are you able to take risks, and make decisions when facts are uncertain?
Resilience:
Are you resilient , so that you can pick
yourself up when things don't go as planned? And do you learn and grow from
your mistakes and failures? (If you avoid taking action because you're afraid
of failing, our article on Overcoming Fear of Failure can help you face your fears and move
forward.)
Interpersonal
Skills
As
a successful entrepreneur, you'll have to work closely with people – this is
where it is critical to be able to build great relationships with your team, customers, suppliers,
shareholders, investors, and more.
Some
people are more gifted in this area than others, but, fortunately, you can
learn and improve these skills. The types of interpersonal skills you'll need
include:
Leadership
and Motivation: Can you lead and
motivate others to follow you and
deliver your vision? And are you able to delegate work to others? As a successful
entrepreneur, you'll have to depend on others to get beyond a very early stage
in your business – there's just too much to do all on your own!
Communication
Skills: Are you competent with all types of communication ? You need to be able to communicate well to
sell your vision of the future to investors, potential clients, team members,
and more.
Listening:
Do you hear what others are telling you? Your ability to listen can make or
break you as an entrepreneur. Make sure that you're skilled at active
listening and empathetic listening .
Personal
Relations: Are you emotionally intelligent
? The higher your EI, the easier it will be for you to work with others.
The good news is that you can improve your emotional intelligence!
Negotiation:
Are you a good negotiator ? Not only do
you need to negotiate keen prices, you also need to be able to resolve
differences between people in a positive, mutually beneficial way.
Ethics:
Do you deal with people based on respect, integrity , fairness, and truthfulness? Can you lead
ethically ? You'll find it hard to build
a happy, committed team if you deal with people – staff, customers or suppliers
– in a shabby way.
Tip:
You
can improve your people skills further by taking our How Good Are Your People
Skills? self-test.
Critical
and Creative Thinking Skills
As
an entrepreneur, you also need to come up with fresh ideas, and make good
decisions about opportunities and potential projects.
Many
people think that you're either born creative or you're not. However,
creativity is a skill that you can develop if you invest the time and effort.
Creative
Thinking: Are you able to see situations from a variety of perspectives and
come up with original ideas? (There are many creativity tools that will help you do this.)
Problem
Solving: How good are you at coming up with sound solutions to the problems
you're facing? Tools such as Cause & Effect Analysis , the 5 Whys
Technique, and CATWOE are just
some of the problem-solving tools that you'll need to be familiar with.
Recognizing
Opportunities: Do you recognize opportunities
when they present themselves? Can you spot a trend ? And are you able to create a plan to take
advantage of the opportunities you identify?
Practical
Skills
You
also need the practical skills and knowledge needed to produce goods or
services effectively, and run a company.
Goal
Setting: Do you regularly set goals ,
create a plan to achieve them, and then carry out that plan?
Planning
and Organizing: Do you have the talents, skills, and abilities necessary to
achieve your goals? Can you coordinate people to achieve these efficiently and
effectively? (Here, effective project management skills are important, as are basic organization
skills .) And do you know how to develop
a coherent, well thought-through business plan
, including developing and learning from appropriate financial
forecasts ?
Decision
Making: How good are you at making decisions?
Do you make them based on relevant information and by weighing the
potential consequences? And are you confident in the decisions that you make?
Core
decision-making tools include Decision Tree Analysis , Grid
Analysis , and Six Thinking Hats .
You
need knowledge in several areas when starting or running a business. For
instance:
Business
knowledge: Do you have a good general knowledge of the main functional areas of
a business (sales, marketing, finance, and operations), and are you able to
operate or manage others in these areas with a reasonable degree of competence?
Entrepreneurial
knowledge: Do you understand how entrepreneurs raise capital? And do you
understand the sheer amount of experimentation and hard work that may be needed
to find a business model that works for you?
Opportunity-specific
knowledge: Do you understand the market you're attempting to enter, and do you
know what you need to do to bring your product or service to market?
Venture-specific
knowledge: Do you know what you need to do to make this type of business
successful? And do you understand the specifics of the business that you want
to start? (This is where it's often useful to work for a short time in a
similar business.)
You
can also learn from others who have worked on projects similar to the ones that
you're contemplating, or find a mentor
– someone else who's been there before and is willing to coach you.
Tip
1:
As
an entrepreneur, you also need to be able to navigate the rules and regulations
that apply in the country you're working in. These websites will give you a
good start with this:
Australia
– Business.gov.au
Canada
– Canada Business Network
India
– Business.gov.in
United
Kingdom – Business Link
United
States – U.S. Small Business Administration
Tip
2:
If
you choose to learn more about a particular venture by working for another
organization, be aware of non-compete clauses in your employment contract. In
some jurisdictions, these clauses can be very restrictive. You don't want to
risk your future projects by violating the rights of another entrepreneur or
organization.
Is
Running a Business for You?
Armed
with this information, assess your skills in each of these areas. The harder
you work to build your skills, the more successful you're likely to be.
Having
said that, many successful business-owners are impulsive, uncomfortable with
risk, or belligerent with colleagues and customers. Still others have little
business knowledge, and have simply hired the talent they need to succeed.
You
can succeed without some of these skills, however, the more you're missing, the
more likely you are to fail.
As
you work through your analysis, you may feel that you're ready to take the
plunge into your own venture. Alternatively, you may decide to wait and further
develop your skills. You may even decide that entrepreneurship isn't for you.
Whatever
your choice, make sure that it feels right. Running a business isn't for
everyone.
Key
Points
While
there is no one "right" set of characteristics for being a successful
entrepreneur, certain general traits and practical skills will help you
succeed.
By
examining your own personal strengths and weaknesses and comparing these with
those of the typical entrepreneur, you can get a sense of how well this career
will fit with your personality.
Remember,
becoming an entrepreneur is a career decision like any other. Do your homework,
look at your needs and desires, and then decide whether this path is for you.
This
site teaches you the skills you need for a happy and successful career; and
this is just one of many tools and resources that you'll find here at Mind
Tools. Subscribe to our free newsletter, or join the Mind Tools Club and really
supercharge your career!
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/200730
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/200730
Regardless of your
definition of success, there are, oddly enough, a great number of common
characteristics that are shared by successful businesspeople. You can place a
check beside each characteristic that you feel that you possess. This way, you
can see how you stack up. Even if you don't have all of these characteristics,
don't fret. Most can be learned with practice and by developing a winning
attitude, especially if you set goals and apply yourself, through strategic
planning, to reach those goals in incremental and measurable stages.
The Home Business Musts
Like any activity you
pursue, there are certain musts that are required to be successful in a chosen
activity. To legally operate a vehicle on public roadways, one must have a
driver's license; to excel in sports, one must train and practice; to retire
comfortably, one must become an informed investor and actively invest for
retirement. If your goal is success in business, then the formula is no
different. There are certain musts that have to be fully developed, implemented
and managed for your business to succeed. There are many business musts, but
this article contains I believe to be some of the more important musts that are
required to start, operate and grow a profitable home business.
1. Do what you enjoy.
What you get out of your
business in the form of personal satisfaction, financial gain, stability and
enjoyment will be the sum of what you put into your business. So if you don't
enjoy what you're doing, in all likelihood it's safe to assume that will be reflected
in the success of your business--or subsequent lack of success. In fact, if you
don't enjoy what you're doing, chances are you won't succeed.
2. Take what you do
seriously.
You cannot expect to be
effective and successful in business unless you truly believe in your business
and in the goods and services that you sell. Far too many home business owners
fail to take their own businesses seriously enough, getting easily sidetracked
and not staying motivated and keeping their noses to the grindstone. They also
fall prey to naysayers who don't take them seriously because they don't work
from an office building, office park, storefront, or factory. Little do these
skeptics, who rain on the home business owner's parade, know is that the number
of people working from home, and making very good annual incomes, has grown by
leaps and bounds in recent years.
3. Plan everything.
Planning every aspect of
your home business is not only a must, but also builds habits that every home
business owner should develop, implement, and maintain. The act of business
planning is so important because it requires you to analyze each business
situation, research and compile data, and make conclusions based mainly on the
facts as revealed through the research. A business
plan also serves a second function, which is having your goals
and how you will achieve them, on paper. You can use the plan that you create
both as map to take you from point A to Z and as a yardstick to measure the
success of each individual plan or segment within the plan.
4. Manage money wisely.
The lifeblood of any
business enterprise is cash flow. You need it to buy inventory, pay for
services, promote and market your business, repair and replace tools and
equipment, and pay yourself so that you can continue to work. Therefore, all
home business owners must become wise money managers to ensure that the cash
keeps flowing and the bills get paid. There are two aspects to wise money
management.
1.
The money you receive
from clients in exchange for your goods and services you provide (income)
2.
The money you spend on
inventory, supplies, wages and other items required to keep your business
operating. (expenses)
5. Ask for the sale.
A home business
entrepreneur must always remember that marketing, advertising, or promotional
activities are completely worthless, regardless of how clever, expensive, or
perfectly targeted they are, unless one simple thing is accomplished--ask for
the sale. This is not to say that being a great salesperson, advertising
copywriting whiz or a public relations specialist isn't a tremendous asset to
your business. However, all of these skills will be for naught if you do not
actively ask people to buy what you are selling.
6. Remember it's all
about the customer.
Your home business is
not about the products or services that you sell. Your home business is not
about the prices that you charge for your goods and services. Your home
business is not about your competition and how to beat them. Your business is
all about your customers, or clients, period. After all, your customers are the
people that will ultimately decide if your business goes boom or bust.
Everything you do in business must be customer focused, including your
policies, warranties, payment options, operating hours, presentations, advertising
and promotional campaigns and website. In addition, you must know who your
customers are inside out and upside down.
7. Become a shameless
self-promoter (without becoming obnoxious).
One of the greatest
myths about personal or business success is that eventually your business,
personal abilities, products or services will get discovered and be embraced by
the masses that will beat a path to your door to buy what you are selling. But
how can this happen if no one knows who you are, what you sell and why they
should be buying?
Self-promotion is one of
the most beneficial, yet most underutilized, marketing tools that the majority
of home business owners have at their immediate disposal.
8. Project a positive
business image.
You have but a passing
moment to make a positive and memorable impression on people with whom you
intend to do business. Home business owners must go out of their way and make a
conscious effort to always project the most professional business image
possible. The majority of home business owners do not have the advantage of
elaborate offices or elegant storefronts and showrooms to wow prospects and
impress customers. Instead, they must rely on imagination, creativity and
attention to the smallest detail when creating and maintaining a professional
image for their home business.
9. Get to know your
customers.
One of the biggest
features and often the most significant competitive edge the home based
entrepreneur has over the larger competitors is the he can offer personalized
attention. Call it high-tech backlash if you will, but customers are sick and
tired of hearing that their information is somewhere in the computer and must
be retrieved, or told to push a dozen digits to finally get to the right
department only to end up with voice mail--from which they never receive a
return phone call.
The home business owner
can actually answer phone calls, get to know customers, provide personal
attention and win over repeat business by doing so. It's a researched fact that
most business (80 percent) will come from repeat customers rather than new
customers. Therefore, along with trying to draw newcomers, the more you can do
to woo your regular customers, the better off you will be in the long run and
personalized attention is very much appreciated and remembered in the modern
high tech world.
10. Level the playing
field with technology.
You should avoid getting
overly caught up in the high-tech world, but you should also know how to take
advantage of using it. One of the most amazing aspects of the internet is that
a one or two person business operating from a basement can have a superior
website to a $50 million company, and nobody knows the difference. Make sure
you're keeping up with the high-tech world as it suits your needs.. The best
technology is that which helps you, not that which impresses your neighbors.
11. Build a top-notch business
team.
No one person can build
a successful business alone. It's a task that requires a team that is as
committed as you to the business and its success. Your business team may
include family members, friends, suppliers, business alliances, employees,
sub-contractors, industry and business associations, local government and the
community. Of course the most important team members will be your customers or
clients. Any or all may have a say in how your business will function and a
stake in your business future.
12. Become known as an
expert.
When you have a problem
that needs to be solved, do you seek just anyone's advice or do you seek an expert
in the field to help solve your particular problem? Obviously, you want the
most accurate information and assistance that you can get. You naturally seek
an expert to help solve your problem. You call a plumber when the hot water
tank leaks, a real estate agent when it's time to sell your home or a dentist
when you have a toothache. Therefore, it only stands to reason that the more
you become known for your expertise in your business, the more people will seek
you out to tap into your expertise, creating more selling and referral
opportunities. In effect, becoming known as an expert is another style of
prospecting for new business, just in reverse. Instead of finding new and
qualified people to sell to, these people seek you out for your expertise.
13. Create a competitive
advantage.
A home business must
have a clearly defined unique selling proposition. This is nothing more than a
fancy way of asking the vital question, "Why will people choose to do
business with you or purchase your product or service instead of doing business
with a competitor and buying his product or service?" In other words, what
one aspect or combination of aspects is going to separate your business from
your competition? Will it be better service, a longer warranty, better selection,
longer business hours, more flexible payment options, lowest price,
personalized service, better customer service, better return and exchange
policies or a combination of several of these?
14. Invest in yourself.
Top entrepreneurs buy
and read business and marketing books, magazines, reports, journals,
newsletters, websites and industry publications, knowing that these resources
will improve their understanding of business and marketing functions and
skills. They join business associations and clubs, and they network with other
skilled business people to learn their secrets of success and help define their
own goals and objectives. Top entrepreneurs attend business and marketing
seminars, workshops and training courses, even if they have already mastered
the subject matter of the event. They do this because they know that education
is an ongoing process. There are usually ways to do things better, in less
time, with less effort. In short, top entrepreneurs never stop investing in the
most powerful, effective and best business and marketing tool at their
immediate disposal--themselves.
15. Be accessible.
We're living in a time
when we all expect our fast food lunch at the drive-thru window to be ready in
mere minutes, our dry cleaning to be ready for pick-up on the same day, our
money to be available at the cash machine and our pizza delivered in 30 minutes
or it's free. You see the pattern developing--you must make it as easy as you
can for people to do business with you, regardless of the home business you
operate.
You must remain
cognizant of the fact that few people will work hard, go out of their way, or
be inconvenienced just for the privilege of giving you their hard-earned money.
The shoe is always on the other foot. Making it easy for people to do business
with you means that you must be accessible and knowledgeable about your
products and services. You must be able to provide customers with what they
want, when they want it.
16. Build a rock-solid
reputation.
A good reputation is
unquestionably one of the home business owner's most tangible and marketable
assets. You can't simply buy a good reputation; it's something that you earn by
honoring your promises. If you promise to have the merchandise in the
customer's hands by Wednesday, you have no excuse not to have it there. If you
offer to repair something, you need to make good on your offer. Consistency in
what you offer is the other key factor. If you cannot come through with the
same level of service (and products) for clients on a regular basis, they have
no reason to trust you . . . and without trust, you won't have a good
reputation.
17. Sell benefits.
Pushing product features
is for inexperienced or wannabe entrepreneurs. Selling the benefits associated
with owning and using the products and services you carry is what sales
professionals worldwide focus on to create buying excitement and to sell, sell
more, and sell more frequently to their customers. Your advertising, sales
presentations, printed marketing materials, product packaging, website,
newsletters, trade show exhibit and signage are vital. Every time and every
medium used to communicate with your target audience must always be selling the
benefits associated with owning your product or using your service.
18. Get involved.
Always go out of your
way to get involved in the community that supports your business. You can do
this in many ways, such as pitching in to help local charities or the food
bank, becoming involved in organizing community events, and getting involved in
local politics. You can join associations and clubs that concentrate on
programs and policies designed to improve the local community. It's a fact that
people like to do business with people they know, like and respect, and with
people who do things to help them as members of the community.
19. Grab attention.
Small-business owners
cannot waste time, money and energy on promotional activities aimed at building
awareness solely through long-term, repeated exposure. If you do, chances are
you will go broke long before this goal is accomplished. Instead, every
promotional activity you engage in, must put money back in your pocket so that
you can continue to grab more attention and grow your business.
20. Master the art of
negotiations.
The ability to negotiate
effectively is unquestionably a skill that every home business
owner must make every effort to master. It's perhaps second in importance only
to asking for the sale in terms of home business musts. In business,
negotiation skills are used daily. Always remember that mastering the art of
negotiation means that your skills are so finely tuned that you can always
orchestrate a win-win situation. These win-win arrangements mean that everyone
involved feels they have won, which is really the basis for building long-term and
profitable business relationships.
21. Design Your
workspace for success.
Carefully plan and
design your home office workspace to ensure maximum personal performance and
productivity and, if necessary, to project professionalism for visiting
clients. If at all possible, resist the temptation to turn a corner of the
living room or your bedroom into your office. Ideally, you'll want a separate
room with a door that closes to keep business activities in and family members
out, at least during prime business and revenue generating hours of the day. A
den, spare bedroom, basement or converted garage are all ideal candidates for
your new home office. If this is not possible, you'll have to find a means of
converting a room with a partition or simply find hours to do the bulk of your
work when nobody else is home.
22. Get and stay
organized.
The key to staying
organized is not about which type of file you have or whether you keep a stack
or two of papers on your desk, but it's about managing your business. It's
about having systems in place to do things. Therefore, you wan to establish a
routine by which you can accomplish as much as possible in a given workday,
whether that's three hours for a part-time business or seven or nine hours as a
full-timer. In fact, you should develop systems and routines for just about
every single business activity. Small things such as creating a to-do list at
the end of each business day, or for the week, will help keep you on top of
important tasks to tackle. Creating a single calendar to work from, not
multiple sets for individual tasks or jobs, will also ensure that jobs are
completed on schedule and appointments kept. Incorporating family and personal
activities into your work calendar is also critical so that you work and plan
from a single calendar.
23. Take time off.
The temptation to work
around the clock is very real for some home business owners. After all, you
don't have a manager telling you it's time to go home because they can't afford
the overtime pay. Every person working from home must take time to establish a
regular work schedule that includes time to stretch your legs and take lunch
breaks, plus some days off and scheduled vacations. Create the schedule as soon
as you have made the commitment to start a home business. Of course, your
schedule will have to be flexible. You should, therefore, not fill every
possible hour in the day. Give yourself a backup hour or two. All work and no
play makes you burn out very fast and grumpy customer service is not what
people want.
24. Limit the number of
hats you wear.
It's difficult for most
business owners not to take a hands-on approach. They try to do as much as
possible and tackle as many tasks as possible in their business. The ability to
multitask, in fact, is a common trait shared by successful entrepreneurs.
However, once in a while you have to stand back and look beyond today to
determine what's in the best interest of your business and yourself over the
long run. Most highly successful entrepreneurs will tell you that from the time
they started out, they knew what they were good at and what tasks to delegate
to others.
25. Follow-up
constantly.
Constant contact,
follow-up, and follow-through with customers, prospects, and business alliances
should be the mantra of every home business owner, new or established. Constant
and consistent follow-up enables you to turn prospects into customers, increase
the value of each sale and buying frequency from existing customers, and build
stronger business relationships with suppliers and your core business team.
Follow-up is especially important with your existing customer base, as the real
work begins after the sale. It's easy to sell one product or service, but it
takes work to retain customers and keep them coming back.
James Stephenson is an
experienced home based consultant with more than 15 years of business and
marketing experience.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236128
While the debate rages
on as to whether entrepreneurs are born or made, one thing can’t be disputed:
polishing certain skills can help you be a better entrepreneur. Whether you’re
already great at the following skills or could use a few pointers, these are
the areas you should focus on for success.
1. Communication. When
you’re a solopreneur, you may think communication is less of an issue, since
you don’t have staff to interact with. But you’ve still got to maintain clear
lines of communication with your customers via email and phone, as well as
ensure that the message you send through your website and social-media profiles
is the one you want.
Related: Leaders Can
Achieve 'Personal Mastery' With These Simple Steps
If you do have staff,
communication is even more important. After all, poor communication skills can
lead to decreased productivity with your staff, as well as low morale and
opportunity for them to make more mistakes if they don’t understand your
instructions.
Tips for improvement:
Even if you’re not a skilled communicator, paying attention to how people react
to you can clue you in to how well (or not) you’re reaching them. Getting
puzzled looks whenever you speak? Ask the person you’re talking to if what you
said makes sense, and give them the opportunity to ask for clarification.
2. Branding (personal
and business). Whether you’re striving to brand your business or looking to
establish yourself as an expert in your industry, knowing how to do so online
is essential to your success.
Branding starts with
being active on social media, and is shaped through content publication,
whether on or off your website. Be aware, though, that poor content can lead to
negative branding. It’s important to know how to deliver content and resources
that your target audience wants and will find valuable.
Tips for improvement:
Not a born writer, or feel like social media is too difficult? Take it in
bite-sized portions. Start by writing one blog post a week, or hire a writer to
do it for you. Ramp up as you gain confidence, and you’ll boost your following
and web traffic. These articles provide fantastic resources, as well: “5 Ways
to Build Your Brand in Short Chunks of Time” and “The Definitive Guide to
Marketing Your Business Online.”
3. Sales. You may not
identify with salespeople, but the fact is, if you run a business, you’re
involved in sales. You might have a sales team that handles all of your
company’s sales, but every time you deliver your elevator pitch about your
business, negotiate with a vendor, or even just persuade anyone to do anything,
you’re tapping into sales skills.
Tips for improvement:
There are plenty of strategies for selling without selling. Think about
conversations you have with potential customers. The ones that resulted in a
sale probably weren’t really hard pitches to get them to buy from you. They
probably centered around helping the potential customer find a solution to a
problem.
Related: No Matter What
You're Selling, This Strategy Should Do the Trick
If you focus on
helping, rather than selling, you’ll feel more confident about the sales
process, and make more sales, too.
4. Strategy. It’s easy
to think about the “right-now” aspect of your business, because the results are
easy to see. But what about the bigger picture, long-term challenges and goals?
How often are you thinking about those?
Without a constant eye
on your business’ strategy and skilled assessment of that strategy relative to
the industry and your competition, you can’t hope to grow it over time and
remain competitive in the marketplace.
Tips for improvement:
Dedicate time to simply dreaming about what you want for your business. Where
would you like to take it? What’s your vision for it? Now, how can you get
there from here?
Set your goals, then
develop an actionable plan to make them a reality. Then, don’t forget about
those goals. Keep them front and center to everything you do.
5. Finance. While you
don’t need to be a CPA to run a successful business, you should still have a
decent understanding of your finances, profit margins, cash flow and funding.
The more comfortable you are with all of these numbers, the more confident
you’ll be, and the better decisions you’ll make.
If you have an
accountant to handle all the number crunching, that’s great, but don’t use them
as a crutch to keep you from digging in and really understanding where your
money’s going. It’s your duty to rein in costs, optimize efficiency and find
ways to grow revenue.
Tips for improvement:
Start by spending some time in your accounting system. You can learn a lot
about your profit and loss, average client revenue and expenses from reports. A
tool that helps you visualize your revenue and costs is especially helpful (I
use Godaddy Bookkeeping and find it very useful).
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243059
Can you really teach
entrepreneurship? That question gets asked a lot, both in business and
academia. Some claim you can learn the skills necessary to be a successful
entrepreneur. Others say you either have “it” or you don’t, whatever the heck
"it" is.
But I think we're asking
the wrong question. It's not about whether youcan teach skills to
be a successful entrepreneur, but rather what skills need to
be taught or learned. For instance, when it comes to the hard skills, anyone
can learn them, either in a classroom or on the job. These include things
like finance and accounting or branding and marketing or legal. They are the
skills that lead to specific action… the “doing” of running your business.
But, more important are
the soft skills. These are trickier to learn. They don't come in a
textbook or a webinar. They don't even necessarily come from working hard at
your job. They come from inside you.
Rather than be taught
them, you need to unlock them and foster them.
Fostering (or
"learning") soft skills that don’t come naturally to you might seem
challenging and even very uncomfortable. But know that you have more soft
skills available to you than you’re currently using. Perhaps you’ve never
considered some of them. Or maybe you’ve not had the opportunity to work with a
mentor or boss to show you by example. But if you’re willing to look inside
yourself and you’re open to making significant changes, you can learn to access
and use the many soft skills available to you within yourself. Here are a few
examples:
Drive, Ambition and
Stamina.
Let’s face it -- being
an entrepreneur is really hard at times. You have to push yourself every day to
be better when things aren’t going your way. It’s a major effort to keep going
when you feel like nothing is right. But that’s why drive, ambition and stamina
are necessary. We all have it. We’re born with it. Some have more than others,
but you can strengthen yours by looking for inspiration from those with a ton
of it and following their lead. It’s like a muscle that if you exercise regularly,
it will become stronger.
The Temperament to
Manage Adversity.
It’s no secret that
entrepreneurship is full of adversity. That’s why people with unbelievable
ideas never take the plunge into the entrepreneurial sea. Some entrepreneurs
have such trouble managing tough times that they go grey, gain weight, lose
their hair and age 20 years from the experience. Then there are those who’ve
never looked or felt better from it. These are the people who approach
entrepreneurship with joy and who remain calm even in the worst of situations.
They don’t let the worst of it get the best of them. While it looks like some
people are just born with this kind of temperament, I can tell you that I’ve
known many people who have learned how to be this way as they’ve grown as
people and as entrepreneurs. They learned to let go and have faith that
everything will be OK.
The Capacity
to Embrace Change.
If you don’t evolve with
the world around you, specifically with your customers’ ever-changing needs,
your success will be short-lived. Most people hit a ceiling on growth and
become stuck in their ways. Nothing can be more detrimental to running a business. If
this is something you struggle with, consider forcing yourself to engage in one
activity every day or every week that you’ve never done before that
kicks you out of your comfort zone. Or perhaps try taking a new path to
work, stopping at a new coffee shop or trying a new food that you’ve never had
before.
A Ton of Chutzpah.
You’ve heard the term,
“Fake it til you make it?" Some people are just really good at this. We
usually call them bullshit artists. But even if you think you’re well prepared
for your entrepreneurial journey, you’ll more than likely uncover a few holes
that you’ll have to mend on the go. At some point you’ll likely find yourself
pitching for business that you are pretty sure is out of your league or you
might have to pull out all the stops and get in front of people to sell your
business who might expect you to be much more experienced than you are. I never
advocate for lying about anything but there is a way to message your business
that isn’t lying but makes you sound pretty darn good! But if you aren’t
willing to fake it, you’ll never make it or it will take you a much longer time
to.
