What are the general ingredients for success for an entrepreneur who is leaving his job to have his own set-up?

An idea. A business that is your hobby, passion or interest. So come up with a business idea. What hobbies or activities you like that can generate money?

Develop a business plan. Write down what your business will offer, how and to whom. Include your long-term goals. Writing brings clarity.

Do market research to check out your competitors. Who else is offering the same service? How do they promote it and at what prices?

Determine how will you market the product?

But when I look at all the people who left their jobs and are now successful small business owners, I find that they have different attitudes and behaviours. Everyone may not operate from the structured steps mentioned above. For instance, one entrepreneur would measure success by sales growth, while another by independent lifestyle.

Small business owners can be divided into five groups, each displaying distinct attitudes, according to a study conducted in the USA – Idealists, Hard Workers, Jugglers, Optimisers and Sustainers. While each type can be successful, they all take different routes to success.

Idealists: Twenty-four per cent of business owners surveyed, fit the Idealists mold, making this the largest of the five groups. Idealists start businesses to work on something special, according to the study. For example, Navin says. “I love creating content, developing software and doing all the designing.” After working for different organisations, he now owns his business that looks at interactivity of web-based applications.

Although they love creative work and are technically adept in their field, Idealists are impatient with administrative tasks. So they may not want to grow their business to an extent where all they would be doing is to manage people and administrative work.

Optimisers: At 21%, they prefer the personal rewards of entrepreneurship – freedom and flexibility for expansion. They do want growth, but the most important thing is the profit made.

Hard Workers: Representing 20% of those studied, they tend to put in more hours to achieve results. They’re detail-oriented, financially aggressive and the most growth-oriented group of entrepreneurs.

Jugglers: Accounting for 20% of the sample, they are the most personally involved in their businesses. They feel the pressure to pay bills, make payroll and keep cash flow positive. They’re technologically savvy and embrace the internet. They think nobody can do it like them and are consequently reluctant to delegate. Anup left his job as a senior designer while he was with a leading newspaper and now runs his own designing shop. While he has couple of junior assistants, he does most of the job and deals with clients himself. He is a one man organisation!

Sustainers: At 15%, these entrepreneurs are likely to have inherited companies rather than started from scratch. They might have left their job to join the family business or a friend’s business. They work hard and would rather put in more hours than apply technology to problems. They’re the most conservative group, often declaring they don’t want growth and are happy with the way things are.

We are always learning and will continue until dead. There is always something that could be improved and, to figure out, knowledge will facilitate the process.

I agree that many entrepreneurs develop their business skills with blood, sweat and tears, as I did. I co-founded two high tech start-ups and, after 25 years of “bloody times” and two companies, I decided to get my MBA.

In theory, having a couple decades of experience in running a business, I should already know almost everything about business management and development. But, actually, getting the MBA, I learned, rooted and improved a lot of processes and knowledge that I was already using, and also, I learned a lot of new things (state-of-the-art techniques, theories, new writers, new strategies, new “gurus”, and so on). I learned all that, even being a compulsive reader of everything about management, strategy, globalization and entrepreneurship, and had read hundreds of books about the matter, before deciding to return to school.

I think, that if small entrepreneurs want to go to the “next stage” a little more smoothly, they really need to have more base, more knowledge, more tools to define strategies, controls, costs, sales and marketing plans, know how to manage people and even to get better terms in a negotiation.

The MBA will not solve all the problems, inclusively maybe none, but it will give the path to go deeper in subjects that are relevant, in some moments, to the entrepreneurs.

Also, teachers’ profile and methodologies will be fundamental to the learning process of entrepreneurs. I believe (a little utopian) that it should be different the process of teaching entrepreneurs from the process to teach recent under-graduates (profiles are different, as well personal objectives and knowledge).

So, maybe the choice of the MBA, school and content, will be fundamental, but that it will add knowledge can not be questionable.

I would advise, if possible, to get an MBA.

Success Tip #1. Hold a Contest: Everyone loves a contest. They’re fun, generate client interest and they can get attention from the media. You can send a press release announcing the contest, keep the media posted throughout and then let them know about the winner(s).

You can create a contest around your business birthday, when you release a new product or service, or to celebrate holidays. You can use local celebrities to serve as judges to boost visibility. Don’t forget to get contact information and email addresses for everyone who enters the contest. It’s a great way to add to your marketing list.

Success Tip #2. Use Social Media: I use Linked In, Facebook and Twitter. The key to success with these tools is to establish relationships with people online — don’t just sell to them — especially when you first meet. I have to admit, I resisted Twitter for a long time after I saw that many people would post the trivia of their life — I really didn’t care what time they got up or what they ate for breakfast.

I’m now a convert. Using social media is a great way to build your list and get noticed (you could also announce your contests here!). I have had people refer my work to their “friends” (that’s what you’re called when you join someone’s Facebook page). I am reaching people I never would have thought possible through these amazing networks.

No, I don’t fritter away my time. I spend an average of 15-20 minutes a day nurturing these networks. AND I don’t have to get dressed and drive anywhere to meet all these nice folks!

Success Tip #3. Write Press Releases: You can use press releases to announce the launch of your website or blog, to draw attention to a new service offering, your contests, industry groups you’re joining, and pro bono work. Make press releases a part of your marketing calendar. Type “how to write a press release” into Google and you’ll see plenty of samples and formatting tips.

Success Tip #1. Know What You Want to Say and Who You Want to Say It To: What is the main point you want to get across? My example is “Self employment is the best road to happiness — you absolutely can be paid to do the things you enjoy doing.” Who are you talking to? Is your ideal customer/client within your local geographic area or are they national? Get clear on who you love to serve. Individuals or businesses. Consider demographics: gender, age, income level, educational level, etc.

Success Tip #2. Define which media you want to approach – what are your customers/clients reading and listening to? Which magazines, blogs, ezines are they reading? What radio stations or podcasts do they listen to? Which social networking (Facebook, Linked In) groups are they participating in? What has their interest right now? What problems do they have?

Success Tip #3. Create your own media list. Here are great resources to get you started:

The Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/div/news) lists newspapers for each state and all over the world. You can also choose subject areas and find blogs and groups you may want to get active in.

Technorati’s Top 100 Blogs (http://technorati.com/pop/blogs).

TVA Productions provides a media directory on their site with listings of major networks and cable programs. Once you identify those you’re interested in, you’ll need to Google to get current contact information.

MediaOnTwitter bwiki (http://www.mediaontwitter.com). This tool can help you find specific media contacts. And don’t be afraid to pick up the phone to call and ask for the appropriate contact person’s email address.

Bacon’s Media Directories: You can find these directories in the library: one for newspapers, one for magazines, one for TV/Cable, one for Internet — they’re pricey at about $495 each so you probably don’t want to get your own unless you’re doing a lot of research and “pitching”.

CREATIVE PRODUCTIVITY THAT WORKS FOR BOTH ARTISTES & A-TYPE PERSONALITIES:

1. APPROACH EVERYTHING AS A CREATIVE OPPORTUNITY. There is no separation between life and work. The same opportunities to express yourself or get great ideas are at the dinner table, in the stock exchange, and on the subway. Put yourself out there.

2. OBSESSION IS ESSENTIAL. Know your art and your science. Immerse yourself in the cultures you love and work in: read industry news, the teachings of spiritual masters and successful entrepreneurs, listen to what the people you serve are longing for, asking for, and leaning toward.

To foster obsession:

3. Read a LOT of magazines. And then read some more – about things related and unrelated to your work, Scientific American and Vogue, Dwell and Rolling Stone. Magazines are intensified viewpoints that can expand your perspective in just a few pages.

4. Create a style file or inspiration box of stuff that you love. Photos, articles, fabric swatches, postcards. I have an antique sake box filled with strange and lovely stuff. Sometimes I close my eyes and reach in to see what comes up – an Elvis coaster, a Zen koan torn from a divinity school program, an old essay or concert ticket.

5. Watch dox. I’m a documentary-phile (always looking for versions of the truth,) which gives me all sorts of weird, tragic, breathtaking imagery, inspiration, and facts to work with.

6. Engage with people that you don’t hangout with. Ask them big questions. Ask the cab driver what crazy stuff he’s seen as a cab driver, ask your friend’s teenager what they think about the future, ask your bank teller what it’s like to work with money all day.

To keep moving forward:

7. GIVE UP QUICKLY. If something feels like a drag and is not generating the right response – drop it like a hot potato. As Seth Godin says in his book, The Dip, “Fail fast.”

In order to give up quickly, you have to…

8. COURAGEOUSLY EXPRESS YOUR FEELINGS. When something feels very wrong, totally uninspiring, say so – to yourself and your team. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you give up, it may spin you off into a better solution.

So that you can:

9. STICK WITH IT. If something feels fun, glimmering, exciting, and even one person has expressed wanting it from you – explore every angle about how to make it work.

And be assured that:

10. BACKWARDS IS FORWARDS. Know that there is no such thing as waste. A painted canvas that didn’t turn out, a pilot group that fizzled, it’s all useful. I trash stuff and start from scratch often. Sometimes, especially in terms of web development, you start knowing that you’ll have to scrap half of what you build down the road – starting over is never really starting over. It’s life.

Which allows you to:

11. CELEBRATE OTHER PEOPLE’S CREATIVITY AND PROSPERITY. Honoring other people’s creativity and success helps shake loose our own brilliance. Whether it’s a hot website, a terrific outfit on the street, or a well known author – go out of your way to say, “You’re great!” “Way to go!” “I love what you’ve created.”

And then keep on creating for yourself. Ever so productively.

It’s tricky stuff because I’m also deeply private. I ask more questions than I answer. I struggle with privacy issues and interruptions make me mental. Most of the time, I prefer to be invisible. And yet I’m very upfront about the fact that, vocationally speaking, I’ll be thrilled to be a household name someday. I consider contradictions a hobby.

When your persona starts to wag your person, you’ve got trouble.

So with all that introvert-extrovert creative tension I have to keep my persona in check. And it occurred to me that ever so subtly, I might be setting myself up to hide behind my brand. That I might be creating products and images that hemmed me in in the future. And while good branding makes for good commerce, it can be a real drag for freeing your art.

When I changed my Twitter name last week from @whitehottruth to @daniellelaporte I got some questions. (If you tweet, twit, twitter, then you know that your twitter handle is a very big deal.) @stephendavis02 wanted to know if my name was taken before and just got freed up? @ealvarezgibson wondered if my account had been hijacked. When @chrisguillebeau asked what was up, I told him I just got out of the witness protection program.

Names are hugely important. And yeah baby, White Hot Truth is damn sexy. That’s why I named my site that. But I’m not my site. Or my books. Or the stuff I make.

As Paula Cole puts it:

I am not the person who is singing
I am the silent one inside
I am not the one who laughs at people’s jokes, I just pacify their egos.
I am not my house, my car, my songs
those are only stops along they way
I am like the winter
I’m a dark cold female
with a golden ring of wisdom in my cave.

Okay, that’s a bit dramatic. But so am I. Stay with me.

3 KEYS TO GENUINE BRANDING…or UN-BRANDING. YOUR CHOICE.

1. Keep it pointed to where you want it to go. What do you want to be known for next year, and for years after that? If Twyla Tharp were on Twitter I think she’d go by twylatharp, not “creativehabit.” @EckhartTolle tweets, and he’s not “PowerOfNow”. Think like a legend.

2. Live artfully. I couldn’t bare to lock myself into a “brand” that I felt restricted by. I’ve done that and it hurts. A lot. I want to live like as an artist and it’s the “designer” kind of business model that works best for me. Donna Karan is “Donna Karan”. That leaves her free to do cashmere, fragrances, and Urban Zen. Keep your essence at the helm and you can’t go wrong.

3. Walk proud. Take deep breaths when you need to – it’s not always easy being authentic. Within a day of changing my Twitter name I got all strange and unsettled about it. Zoinks. Was that a bad move? Are my re-tweets going to plummet? I emailed my (amazing) virtual assistant and asked her if I’d screw up anything by reversing it…then quickly emailed her back and told her to ignore me.

Learning to trust that you’re enough, without a gimmick or a sidekick or a discount offering takes some faith and practice.

If you’re selling widgets or scaling a company that you want to sell off someday, then packaging is paramount. If you’re selling your soul – in the best possible way, remember that a little theatre goes a long way, but you still need to show up on stage as the real you. And when you do, applause will follow.

* Intelligence.
* Diligence
* Indulgence
* Negligence
* Indolence
* Tolerance

….and grow up as entrepreneurs as well, in times to come.

Eden was and is an example he set for us to enjoy and to emulate, as Life .
To: See, feel, sense, smell, jell, dwell, live, grow, pluck, share, care, cut, trim, hate, endure, propagate, replicate, and to fruition:
Love, Life, Death and Decay.
To live, eat, grow and to die for and out off, the fruition that happens in there, by default, as well.
Annually, bi-annually, perennially too!
As that is what Life is all about!
A not-so, vicious circle, if one emulates successfully, like successful entrepreneurs do, all the time, and have done so too, ever since!

How?

By seeing, observing, learning, and then finally duplicating and replicating the Almighty’s effort.
Thereby emerging as skillful entrepreneurs.
Through use of in-built inherent intelligence that loves soil, sweat, strife, toil, and competition.
Don’t we see nature’s efforts competing with one another all the time?
In various shapes and sizes and all kinds of hues of beautiful colors?
To attract, distract, to trap and be entrapped as well, to culminate in Fruition,
Splendidly to blend.
Thus emerging as observant gardeners first, and then as, successful entrepreneurs, next.

Life as such was built into that very garden.
Life happened out of that garden and other gardens too subsequently, that were later built, by people as such, as entrepreneurs morphed out of that example, well emulated down the ages.
Down the ages we have seen many a gardens happen and decay and die.
Like so, in these past few centuries, we have also seen many an entrepreneurs happen and then die, as well…
Very few have left a permanent mark on this earth.

Life happens in and out of gardens even today.
Unfortunately those types of splendid gardens are so few and far flung.
Both sung and unsung!
Like successful entrepreneurs are!
Gardens nurture, strive and are rife with life, which is invariably followed by death, time and again.
Within them.
As a wonderful meaningful learning experience.
As growth, sustenance and decay.
Life in there is: so dependent on seasons as such.
As the very reasons.
To live for.

Gardens are planned, sown, cloned and grown.
They are tilled and willed.
Roots, leaves, stems, limbs and flowers are groomed, treasured, measured and at times discarded and thrown, too.
So that fruition happens as it should…
Naturally.
In the bargain endure thorns and the pain they bring when pricked by them,
So that flowers convert to fruits and mellow sweetness in the end,
As they get consumed.
Post consumption discarding of stones/seeds happen naturally,
So that propagation endures itself,
Just like talent does too.

Through continuous propagation fruition continues to happen.
On time, in paucity or may be in plenty!
As nature is so mature that it can seldom be harnessed and nurtured as per human will,
Despite the best of toil and till and fill.
Fruition happens depending on the degree of nurture, it is subjected to by the caring/uncaring gardener!
Alas! if we only had those caring and devout types of gardeners by the dozens!
We would also have had plenty of entrepreneurs bearing the right fruition too.
As behind every successful businessman one that we get to see and live with, there are a hundred or more unsuccessful ones we don’t get to see and live with, too.

Fruition happens all the time, but it solidly depends on:

* The soil selected and tilled.
* The beds that are made and how they get to get made.
* The type of seeds selected and then sown.
* Seeds: When and how they get sown.
* Seeds: The zone they are selected to be sown in.
* Seeds: The season and the reason behind there sowing.

When one gets to observe and then compare these acts, one sees a remarkable similarity within a successful gardeners and talented entrepreneurs.

Here are a few of the commonalities…

* Both of them need to be acutely observant, committed for a life full of strife.
* Both of them need to be devoted with a love for labour and toil.
* Both of them need to be gentle and harsh (should know how to axe when called for).
* Both of them need to be good planners.
* Both of them need of be good selectors. (Business is all about location, location, location).
* Both of them need to be learners on the run.
* Both of them need of them to be depended on nature.
* Both of them need to master perseverance.
* Both of them need to learn from mistakes and not repeat it ever, if not often.
* Both of them need to learn to be dependent. (Business is all about people).
* Both of them need to know how save for a rainy day and also for dry spells.
* Both of them need to have an eye for details.
* Both of them need to know how to weed out and well in time.
* Both of them need to live, groom and bloom flowers and fruits among thorns.
* Both of them need to know how to package the produce to reduce decay.
* Both of them need to know how to learn, unlearn and re-learn.
* Both of them need to just-fully share the harvest and the produce.
* Both of them need to realize the importance of organic growth.
* Both of them need to know that money is like manure (In a mound it decays stenches and stinks, when spread and sown in fields it yields riches!).

Are you a potential entrepreneur?
Why don’t you let go of your gardening instincts at the same time?
So that you learn and mature early, as an entrepreneur par excellence!

Were you a successful entrepreneur?
I am sure you were one, and are now, a successful gardener once again, now that you have hung your gloves, as an entrepreneur, and are back on your knees, digging, sowing, weeding, growing life.

After all that strife as a successful entrepreneur.
As on date, our Earth needs more gardeners like you, and in large strengths and force too.

* Thanks to the man-made: global warming.
* Thanks to extreme axing over the years.

Come let us save our Eden, alias Earth, as entrepreneurs!
As we are not God,
We are observant emulators.
And we should emulate and replicate goodness, as we are very good emulators of both good and the evil.
Let’s emulate the good and be good gardeners to begin with,
Before it gets too late.
If we do not, we are bound to collectively decay and finally obliterate.
Sooner than later.
Entrepreneurship of the eternal kind will happen…naturally only then.

STEP ONE : Write out a vision for it.  I know…I know.  You don’t think this is important.  I’m telling you…if you’re not willing to do this step then you are not committed to creating this profit center and setting yourself up for failure.  Albert Einstein was no dummy when he said, “Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.”

You are able to relive a past experience vividly in your imagination, can’t you?  Well you can also get a preview of upcoming attractions with that same mind.  Denis Waitly, one of the great speakers on the topic of success says, “The more vivid the image, the more real the design for the future.”

You can use a beautiful journal notebook dedicated to your new profit center or you can create a Word document journal.  Take time to write out this vision.  Get a picture of where you are working in this vision, the time of day, who you are working with, activities you are engaged in, and how you feel at the end of the day.  What will having this extra income do for you?  Imagine how it will feel when you pay off debt, or have a dream trip, or buy some things you’ve been longing for.

STEP TWO: Decide how much money you want to bring in from this profit center in the first year, then second and third years.  Now double those figures.  I know from experience that most of you shot too low in your first projection.  I recently went to a conference where most of the audience were self employed men.  In a conversation with one guy, I shared that I was doing ok…I was making six figures…he didn’t miss a beat and said to me, “each month?”  Ok – money isn’t the only measure of success but I KNOW that you can bring in more than you think.

STEP THREE: What will you need to do to make this happen? Danielle Steele, the prolific fiction author, wrote many of her books during the night hours – she and her husband have eight children between them and she vowed to give the kids quality time during the day.  If she can do it, you can too.  If you are working full-time and want to grow a profit center on the side…you might just have to stop watching some television or playing computer games or checking email 20 times a day…you know what your time wasters are.  Find one you can live without or cut back on and use that time each day, five days a week to grow your profit center.

What will it take to bring in the level of income from your new profit center in the first year?  Get specific and concrete.  In my new profit center, if a certain type of writing project typically brings in $5,000 and I want to bring in $50,000 in the first year, I know that I’ll need approximately 10 projects in the first year.  Then break it down further – I’d need 1 project a month. Then what will it take to get the projects?  Do some research; find out how to reach the clients/customers you’re looking for.  Then create a plan to find them and get the projects/clients etc.

Ask yourself, what do I need to do this month toward my goal?  What do I need to do this week?  And what can I do TODAY to move this goal forward? Create YOUR plan!

STEP FOUR: Who will support you in this profit center?  Remember…dreams die in isolation.  So share your plan with at least one supportive person.  And, get help if you need it.  Don’t let the lack of a piece of information stop you – use the internet or pick up the phone and call someone to ask for help.

Research your idea on the internet; find professional associations dealing with it, read articles about it.  I found an information product through a trusted source that was created by someone who is already successful in the area – so I purchased it – it will save me incredible time in research and will save me from making some mistakes.  I am in coaching groups where I can get support, ideas and be held accountable.  I know I’ll succeed and have fun in creating this new profit center.  As Dolly Parton said, “When I’m inspired, I get excited because I can’t wait to see what I’ll come up with next.”  I’m excited for you and look forward to hearing about what you come up with next!

I love Ralph Waldo Emerson’s writings. He lived in the 1800’s and was a philosopher and essayist from Boston. In his essay, Self-Reliance, he says “There is a time in every (wo)man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.” I believe he was not speaking literally here about farming…but rather telling us to “till” the life and gifts given us in order to tap into that endless good.

He also says, “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you…nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind.”

A coach once gave me some great advice that I embraced. She said, “flaunt your quirks.” The quirkier the better. What this means is that all the qualities and characteristics that make you unique are part of your essential, true self. And when you are being true to yourself you are attractive to others. You will attract just the right people into your personal and business world. Think of someone who you consider successful. Can you name some of their “quirks?” Chances are you can.

Being authentic doesn’t happen in one fell swoop. It happens daily in the choices you make – if a decision is based on what you imagine society thinks you “should do” or when you make a choice based on what you think will impress someone else…that’s probably not authentic.

When you have defined what’s important to you –where it is important to expend your time and energy on this planet –and you make your choices guided by that…you’re being authentic.

Learn from others. Sure. Take what you like from them and integrate it into who you are. Don’t imitate…that makes your soul wither…let your unique spirit shine in the world!

This article focuses on one important aspect of your business – who you serve.  Here’s an exercise I did when I first got started and if I find myself attracting people who are not ideal for me to serve. I revisit my vision  very often to keep my ideals clear.

I encourage you to do this process (or call it a game if you like!) in a chair where you would typically work.  If possible, have a second chair next to yours. Now think back to a client you’ve had in the past who was ideal for you or at least as close to ideal as possible.  Consider all the interactions you had with this person.  What was it you enjoyed about serving this person?  What are the positive qualities, attributes, and characteristics of this person?

Take out a piece of paper or computer document and write a list of all these qualities, attributes and characteristics of your ideal client.

For example, my ideal client: has a sense of humor; is interested in his/her spiritual development; takes action; values my time as well as their time; possesses and demonstrates mental well being; is intelligent and has common sense; understand and demonstrate that he/she deserves to be successful; has a financial cushion allowing them to buy my products and services; wants me to be successful and make a profit; subscribes to my weekly ezine; enjoys referring my services to others; has realistic expectations about what can be achieved and when; has clarity and focus; are open-minded; is heart-centered; is a learner; is true to himself/herself.

Now, if you can, switch chairs – put yourself in your client’s chair.  Ask your ideal client these questions: What are they struggling with that brought them to you? What is the biggest change they experienced as a result of the wonderful work they did with you?  What are the results they have now as a result of their work with you?

Next, make a list of at least 10 problems your ideal clients/customers want to solve.  What change/breakthrough do they want to experience and are they willing to pay you to help them get there?  List 10 results they could get from working with you.

Once you are clear on their challenges and results you deliver, you will not only be setting into motion the attraction factor – you now also have plenty of authentic words to use in your marketing materials!

If only we were so real at business conferences. Venture capital, ROI, cash flow, cost of goods – there’s always lot’s of strategy talk, but rarely a drill down into specific dollars. So did you raise a million bucks or did you put $10k on your credit card? What does “turn a profit” really mean? How close is a ‘close call’? Facts give perspective. So let me throw out a few numbers for all you entrepreneurs and artists making your way:

$150,000 = the book advance my former business partner and I received for writing Style Statement. Originality goes a long way in publishing.

$70,000 = (yes, seventy) the production cost that we carried for the book – portrait and product photography, set dec, travel, graphic design and materials. That was a dumb move. We should have shared creative control with the publisher and let them carry the design costs.

$1.87 = approximate book royalty per book (which the author gets only if the advance is earned out). Note: very few authors ever earn out their advance.

$6000 = cost to design my site. I could have done it myself more austerely, but it would have taken 3 months to launch instead of the 8 weeks we did it in.

$128 = cost of a Logitech Laser mouse, which has brought me untold delight.

$600,000 = capital-raised for my last company.

$11,000 = my income for the first year in business at my last company.

$17,000 = my income for the second year in business at my last company.

$85,000 = my salary for the third year in business at my last company.

$0 = what I left with from my last company.

$7000 = annual cost of full time daycare for my four year old.

$170 = hourly rate for my accountant.

$3000 = my standard speaking fee.

$250 to $350 = what you should expect to pay for a good lawyer.

$600 = money I saved using Picnik for photos instead of buying Photoshop.

$25 = the donation I make to Women for Women International or Kiva on behalf of each Fire Starter client.

$9 = what I paid for my last pair of jeans at Value Village. Stretch Dickies. Fantastic.

1 = the singular principle that guides me: evoke the truth.

Now, let’s clarify what I mean by “love.”  That little four letter word has tons of different meanings in the English language.  For the purpose of today’s article, let’s go with “affectionate concern for the well-being of others” and “strong predilection, enthusiasm, or liking for anything.”

If you want to be successful, you have to genuinely care about others.

When I was a teen, I read the famous 1936 book by Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People. When you’re a teen, you REALLY want to win friends.  It resonated with me and I immediately began to implement the principles he outlined.

Six Ways to Get People to Like You As Recommended By Dale Carnegie:
1.    Become genuinely interested in other people.
2.    Smile.
3.    Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4.    Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5.    Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
6.    Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.

Sound simplistic?  Believe me it’s not.  Watch how people talk to each other today and see if you can find people who do this well.  Better yet, start practicing yourself.  The practice of being curious about others (not nosy…. in a way to dig up their “dirt”) but rather a genuine curiosity about what makes them tick, what they long for, what are they proud of….combined with a love and enthusiasm for the service or product you provide –  to me, this is the most powerful business “secret” there is.

Start practicing this with the very next person you meet.  If it’s a brief encounter, perhaps at the market with a clerk –you can at least make eye contact, smile and say thank you.  If you have more time, try asking a question that gets a person talking about one of their interests and then… LISTEN.  This item four of Carnegie’s list, “be a good listener,” is an area in which most people need practice and reflection.

Through all the training I’ve invested in and received in coaching and ministry, I’ve had the gift of being listened to deeply and to in turn, given the gift of listening deeply to others.  What do I mean by listening deeply?  I mean giving them your FULL attention – when you’re in person with them – looking at them, staying focused on their words AND the tone beneath the words.  Keeping your mouth closed – both figuratively and literally – so many people are just chomping at the bit to respond with advice or a “that happened to me too story” or to finish the sentence with words that they think the talker is going to say.  Allowing them to completely finish what they were telling you and then to acknowledge what they’ve said – that’s honoring them and that’s a rare gift.

You can accomplish the same things on the phone – the difference is – you’re not looking at them. I often close my eyes when listening to a client on the phone – it helps me stay focused and allows me to really hear what’s going on beneath the words – whether there is genuine excitement in what they are saying, or some trepidation that needs to be addressed and supported…or perhaps resignation – it just might be time to let go of a direction that just isn’t right.

So, what’s love got to do with it?  Everything.  Start loving your clients/customers today and see what happens!

Ann Ronan, Ph.D. is an author, speaker, certified career coach and self employment expert, and vision generator.

Ann delivers smart, simple ways for people to acknowledge what they love to do and do more of it.  Her articles, products, and books have motivated and inspired readers in numerous print and online publications.  She regularly leads coaching programs, tele-seminars and live retreats, bringing the message to audiences internationally that living a passion-based life will bring prosperity and success.

She was recently selected from a nationwide search to be featured in Discover Your Inner Strength. The book features best-selling authors Stephen R. Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), Brian Tracy (Million Dollar Habits), and Ken Blanchard (One Minute Manager).

http://www.authenticlifeinstitute.com/selfemployment.htm

Tip #1:

Offer a class related to your business at your local community college and/or adult education center. There are two great advantages to this tip. One is that teaching a class can feel less scary than being a “presenter.”  Chances are that you are passionate about the services or products you offer.  When that’s true, it’s easy to create a class/workshop to share what you know with others.  For an hour to an hour and a half class, decide on 3 main points you want the audience to know about.  Think of some stories or examples related to each of the 3 points and write those down.  Finally, create some kind of interaction that can be done around each point (for example, share their experience with the person next to them for 5-10 minutes, or ask for examples from the audience that are shared with everyone, or have them do a written exercise).

A 2nd advantage of this tip is that these organizations print the catalog and have large lists of folks who receive them.  Check out other presenter’s listings, particularly those who have several classes listed, or who are regularly brought back to teach.  Follow the format they use to describe your class.  It’s typically about 3 sentences followed by 3 learning objectives (what you will get when you take this class) and a short 2-3 line bio.  You’ll need to remember that these folks need to hear from you early.  If you want to present in the fall, you need to contact them in the spring.  They have a several month lead time in order to publish their catalogs.

Tip #2:

Contact local networking and service groups to let them know you are available for speaking. Get online and research the groups in your area.  Create a list of 2-3 topics with learning objectives, along with your bio, and send it to all the groups you can find within the distance you’re willing to drive to speak.

For example, this fall I will be speaking at a chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), at a Volunteer Center and at a Rotary Club meeting.  I don’t charge for any of these, but I do ALWAYS collect the contact information, including email as well as postal addresses, of almost everyone in the room.  You can do this by offering to email them a special report you’ve written in exchange for their information or you can hold a drawing for a book or one of the products you sell to those who give you their contact information.  Don’t forget to get testimonials!  Again, spring is a good time to contact these folks.  Their program officers are usually setting up a calendar of speakers for the following September through August.

Tip #3:

Offer to give a seminar at your spiritual home or local library. These organizations have plenty of experience in promoting activities to their members.  In the case of spiritual communities, it is common to share the workshop proceeds if there is a fee; however, you can also sell your books/products “back of the room” and make as much, if not more, from these sales as from the workshop fees.

Tip #4:

Get some free publicity. Most newspapers and radio stations have a “calendar” or “weekly section” that will list your workshop at no charge.  Craigslist is another great place to post your workshop at no cost. Appearing on radio talk shows to discuss your program builds great interest in your topic. Start to develop a network of contacts within your business and media communities.  Write and submit press releases about your workshops (that’s the topic for another article!).

About the Author:

Ann Ronan, Ph.D. is an author, speaker, certified career coach and self employment expert, and vision generator.

Ann delivers smart, simple ways for people to acknowledge what they love to do and do more of it.  Her articles, products, and books have motivated and inspired readers in numerous print and online publications.  She regularly leads coaching programs, tele-seminars and live retreats, bringing the message to audiences internationally that living a passion-based life will bring prosperity and success.

She was recently selected from a nationwide search to be featured in Discover Your Inner Strength. The book features best-selling authors Stephen R. Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), Brian Tracy (Million Dollar Habits), and Ken Blanchard (One Minute Manager).

I’ve been hammering on the same concepts with lots of folks. I am known to hammer. I’m clear that I am not a coach – I’m an adviser, so I can get away with being passionately opinionated.

MY 8 EMPHATIC SUGGESTIONS FOR ROCKING YOUR BUSINESS:

1. ONE STOP WEB SPACE: SIMPLIFY AND LEVERAGE. Stop thinking of your site and your blog as separate things. Just stop it right this instant. There needs to be a paradigm shift whereby entrepreneurs create ONE on-line space for themselves that includes the “brochure ware” that is the critical function of sites, and regularly updated, juicy, and informative content, aka, a blog. Having a site with a “BLOG” button that pushes users out to a totally different space (usually not even reflecting the aesthetic brand of your primary website) is like having one clothing store that just sells pants, and sending your customer down the street to your “other” store to buy a shirt. Keep your customers under one umbrella so that they can explore and utilize your universe. Create a seamless one-stop portal of all that you do so you are capturing the various interests of your visitors in one fell swoop: to read inspiring stuff, to buy a product, to hire you as a speaker or for a service you provide. The more they know, the better. If you architect it with logic and simplicity, you can accomplish a lot in one space. Having a separate blog usually screams “after thought.” Repeat: If you have more than one on-line space that is essentially talking about what you do or sell – collapse it all into one. This also helps with search engine optimization and ranking. And erase the word “blog” from your consciousness. Think in terms of regular, engaging content that you can deliver.

2. GIVE UP IMMEDIATELY. Stop doing what’s not working. It will feel amazing. It will free up energy to leverage the stuff that has the truest, greatest potential.

3. THERE IS POWER IN BEING SOLO If there is no “we” to your company – if YOU are it, then just say so. People are hiring you. You don’t hear me saying “We at White Hot Truth…” Of course, if you need copy writers, or web designers, finance people, I’ve got a crew I’m always referring to, but, me is me, not we.

4. TALK TO ME: WRITE IN FIRST PERSON. People are hiring you, paying attention to you, coming to see you. So they want to here from…YOU. This is the stale old 80′s approach: “Danielle is a former think tank executive and communication strategist, who now works with entrepreneurs to develop their careers.” This is the magnetic/heart approach: “I ran a DC-based think tank for futurists, helped put a few authors on the map, and now work with entrepreneurs to rock their careers.” Who would you rather hire? Besides, anyone you want to work with is smart enough to know that the third person copy is probably written by…You.

5. TURN THE MUSIC OFF. If you have music that automatically starts playing when people log on to your site – turn it off. It’s annoying. People are working in shared spaces, have their own music playing on i-Pods and radios, and don’t need the interruption. If you simply must have music, at least give users an obvious icon to click it off or adjust the volume.

6. WORK WITH A WRITER FOR A BIT, EVEN IF YOU’RE A GOOD WRITER YOURSELF. Working with a talented copy writer can create quantum leaps for you. They will “interview” you and tease out angles, bio points, and creative notions that you may not have seen yourself. The right writer is an essential creative partner when you’re packaging yourself and/or designing your services. In the past two weeks, I have recommend the following ladies at least four times: Grace Kerina, Lindsey Lewis, Emma Alvarez Gibson.

7. BUILD IN WORD PRESS. I’m religious about WordPress and refer to designers who are masters of it: Paul at twothirty, and Sarah at S.JoyStudios, and Kate at ThreeSquare Design. (it bears mentioning: I don’t get/accept kickbacks for any service referrals, ever).

8. BLOW YOUR HORN Look, I’m tellin’ you: you are amazing. I don’t care who you are, you’ve got something to give. You are likely an expert in something, a gifted contributor to some form of life or avenue of industry, you’ve probably been around the block a few times and as a result, have much to give. And if you’re a newbie starting out, you sure as hell have passion to burn. So sell it, baby, sell it. Stand in your place of knowing and contribution and give it. The world needs you.

When I left behind that “academic identity” 10 years ago, I knew it would be important for me to get out and meet people to share information about my career coaching services and to establish myself as an expert in this field that was new to me. I was quite nervous about this activity but recognized the value enough to talk myself into attending 3 different networking meetings each month. This week, I want to share what I learned with you about what works in networking.

Strategy #1: Know Your Intention.

Before you attend a meeting, get clear in your own mind, what you would like to have happen. Play the scenario out in your mind like a movie. My intention is usually to meet at least 2 people who can help me by referring clients to me and whom I can help in some way that will be important to them.

Try out a networking event before you join. Each has a different flavor – find the ones that are comfortable for you. I recommend joining three. I currently belong to my local Chamber of Commerce, my local chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO.com) and a mastermind group. I usually attend one breakfast meeting, one lunch meeting, one dinner meeting and one 5:00-7:00 pm “mixer” each month.

Strategy #2: Be Curious About Others

Be curious about people. Here’s a simple formula that works every time. Set a goal to have this conversation with at least 3 people each time you attend a networking event. Approach the person and say, “What is your business or what is your work?” Once they tell you, say “What kind of person is your ideal client? I’d like to know so I may be able to refer people to you.” Ask them for 2 or 3 cards that you can share with others. When they hand you their card, look at it for a moment, comment on it if you like something about it and jot down a note on it to remind you of how you might help them.

When you get back to your office, put them in your database. If you have an ezine or newsletter, send them your most recent issue with a note saying, “This may be of interest to you or may benefit someone you know. If you’d like to subscribe, click here (to your subscriber link) or if you don’t yet have an electronic database set up, say, “If you’d like to subscribe, shoot me a message back and I’ll add you to my list. If you know of someone who would benefit by this information, I’d appreciate it if you’d forward it along. If you have a newsletter or ezine, I’d also like to see yours.”

During the following weeks, if you see an article that contains information that pertains to that person, forward it to them with a note. If they are helpful to you in anyway, send a thank you card. The fact that you are thinking of them and wanting to help them will help establish a relationship.

Strategy #3: Practice answering the question – “What is your business?”

You need to have a quick, specific answer that you can say with ease and confidence. This takes practice and fine tuning and that’s ok. As I mentioned early in this ezine, I just attended a conference this past weekend. I was struck by how many people could not answer this question easily when I asked it of them. Many people said to me, “Wow, you are so clear.”

Here’s what I said when someone asked me what my work was: “I work with women over 40 who want to be self employed. They either can’t decide what business to start, or they have started a business and need help growing it so they can make plenty of money.”

Strategy #4: Use Both Sides of Your Business Card.

Don’t agonize over your first business cards and don’t spend a ton of money on them. No doubt, you will change your mind about the design/content over time. I recommend Vistaprint.com. Don’t forget to use the valuable space on the back of the card. You can use this space to list your key services or speaking topics or include a great testimonial here.

Ann Ronan, Ph.D. is an author, speaker, certified career coach and self employment expert, and vision generator.
Ann delivers smart, simple ways for people to acknowledge what they love to do and do more of it. Her articles, products, and books have motivated and inspired readers in numerous print and online publications. She regularly leads coaching programs, tele-seminars and live retreats, bringing the message to audiences internationally that living a passion-based life will bring prosperity and success.
She was recently selected from a nationwide search to be featured in Discover Your Inner Strength. The book features best-selling authors Stephen R. Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), Brian Tracy (Million Dollar Habits), and Ken Blanchard (One Minute Manager).

What make me develop this article was to contradict the people that suggest the worst scenario for our future.

I will confine my comments to the Brazilian macroeconomic environment. I will also not get into the current stage of development of the business and social environment in Brazil, because to really understand it, one needs to come here, especially to Sao Paulo, to see, feel and negotiate.

With around 20 million people living here, Sao Paulo has one of the most sophisticated gastronomy worldwide, shopping centres, theatres, infrastructure and business centres with the same sophistication as in any top capital of Europe or USA. Obviously, it has also serious problems with security, identical to any large city, New York, London or Paris.

We have global companies like Vale do Rio Doce, a mining company, operating in five continents and with more then 100 thousand employees, we have Embraer that is one of the largest aircraft manufacturers with more than 20 thousand collaborators, and here we can also find almost all of the transnational companies and banks as Santander, HSBC, Citi, J. P. Morgan, UBS, Siemens, Bosch, Mercedes, Mittal, Telefonica, TIM, Telmex, IBM, Microsoft, HP, Dell, Google, Samsung, Motorola, and so on.

Despite the predictions of bad times for developing countries, and before give some important figures about Brazil, I would like to suggest, that before assuming as a truth any opinion or prediction, to check the source of information and if there isn’t any other interest of the writer. Example: If it isn’t connected with any investment fund.

So, the sources of information that I will use are from Brazilian government finance minister and central bank.

Brazil had, from 2004 to 2008, a sustainable average economic growth rate of 5%.

The Public Sector Net Debt is 38% of GDP.

It has around 200 billion dollars in international reserves.

The crisis impact on Brazilian car manufacturers’ production in January 2009, related to January 2008, was -8%, in USA -36%, Japan -19%, Germany -14%, Italy -32%, Mexico -28%.

Brazil is not a very open market so the exportation represents only around 14% of the GDP and the universe of customers are not only in developed countries.

The currency is stable, despite recent events, it sustains its value and the inflation is estimated at level of 4.5% in 2009.

The internal market maintains a good level of consumer confidence and the demand did not diminish to the extent it did in the developed countries. Industrial activity in January 2009 already reflects improvement in some sectors.

The Brazilian Central Bank is still working with a prospective GDP growth rate of 3% in 2009 and the private banking system is working with a 1.5% growth rate.

According to the Basel rules about security assets’ level of the banking system, the suggested level is 11%, in Brazil the average is 14%.

We could continue with more figures, to demonstrate that in Brazil the economic environment is controlled, but the already exposed figures give a perspective of a balanced situation. Obviously the crisis has arrived here, but the shock wave is mitigated and the consequence will be far from dramatic as in developed countries or in economies structured to supply services, commodities or products that don’t have a strong internal market.

Since the end of last century we are seeing global changes never seen in recent or old history. The iron wall collapsing and the Soviet Union breaking in pieces are unique events in history because never a large empire disappeared so smoothly. Coupled with what we saw in China, moving from communism to capitalism. Never thought!

Now, with the global warming we are also seeing the burning of trillions of dollars!

Without doubt we are in a special moment of humankind.

What can we learn?

First, nothing is for ever.

Second, we need to have a longer vision and prospective scenarios without greed and special interests, and thinking global and acting global or our children will not have a world to live.

Third, the markets need control without any possible doubt even though many “easy money factories and agents” do not agree.

Fourth, remember a basic strategy: Never keep all your eggs in the same basket, referring to the investment of all your reserves in one economy or market.

Fifth, balanced global power (economical, political and military) is fundamental to a democratic world and the mitigation of inequalities.

Sixth, we are in a changing world, nothing is static, no one is the owner of the truth of the right way of doing thinks, team work and uncompromised actions are more than ever necessary to get things on path again.

Seventh, we are on daily basis learning!

Eighth, this is an endless list.

Now, let’s talk about market control and threats, and put on practice the third lesson. I am highlighting this matter because I just read some news of the World Economic Forum, where an executive made a statement that governments should help the market now and then quit because they aren’t efficient market managers.

I am not so sure that the market works as it should do.

To be clearer it does not work!

Despite all theories and free market evangelists. It needs to have strong regulations! As kids need to know their limits when educating them, the greed and unlimited need to create value to the shareholders and bonus to the board need to be controlled.

And the sixth lesson induces us that more than ever we need to work as a team. 

Small and medium businesses (SMB) have, and always had, a special role in regional economies and employment. To accelerate the turnaround of this international crisis, it is a key issue to leverage globalization and entrepreneurship of small businesses and start-ups.

It is the same strategy of the internet beginning with the military application. Do not depend on one spot only. Divide the intelligence on several servers and geographically separated. So, if one spot blows up the net will continue working perfectly.

Making an analogy with small businesses, if we have a network of small entrepreneurs working and trading globally, the effects of local and global crisis will be mitigated in their businesses, because the connections and relationships worldwide will facilitate new opportunities, the research and discovery of new places where the crisis didn’t have large impact or had less effect.

That’s why I endorse and believe in initiatives that leverage entrepreneurship and support small and medium businesses, and the possible impacts of it’s’ success on people’s life.

–

Mario is a seasoned manager and entrepreneur with a broad technical background, coupled with multi-cultural experience and multi-lingual skills, co-founded two high tech start-ups, and now is developing a non-profit project to leverage globally the business development of small entrepreneurs.

Friendship groups amongst colleagues are very much in vogue today. And these friendship groups are very prevalent in industries such as IT, ITES, and media. Every month, these friendship groups across different companies and their competitors, meet to discuss the latest happenings in their respective work lives. High profile projects, star performers, opportunities to travel abroad, and other juicy events are discussed during such meetings at restaurants or in a cozy home. 

Though these meetings are seen as healthy amongst employees, managers view it from a very different angle. Managers’ fear that sensitive information about clients, flaws in their systems, loopholes, and best practices of their company get leaked outside their companies during such heart-to-heart sessions. This fear prevents a small business owner or manager to openly discuss the strategies of their enterprise with all their associates.

I have seen a few entrepreneurs openly lament that a few employees of their companies started their own business after learning the tricks of the trade in a few months. Such fears of losing an employee to competition or to another industry prevent employee engagement.

So, enterprising employees are never included in important discussions such as tender quoting or pricing, project evaluation and design, training programs, and promotions. Thus the company loses out on the experience and engagement of a senior associate.

How do we avoid this dilemma or locked horn situation? One factor that has to be taken into account is that a lot of employees are ignorant of the ill effects of the information sharing they innocently engage in. Non-disclosure agreements that employees sign is a good first step. But many employees forget the agreement the moment they finish putting the sign.

So, a more humane method can be followed. A human resource person or a trusted senior can conduct mini meetings to discuss criticality of non-disclosure with practical examples. And tell the employees they value them as much as they value the company’s confidentiality.

There are a lot of fun activities that can be conducted without the company investing money. In one of my workplaces, all the associates had to dress in shades of orange for “Orange Day.” And the best dressed male and female were selected by a simple survey and announced via e-mail. Or all employees can be asked to dress up in attire akin to different Indian traditions or states. Such simple, colorful, participative, jubilant, and zero investment activities can engage employees to a very large extent. Just a bit of commonsense has to come into play.

Entrepreneurs have to be broad-minded and understand that they play a larger role in the industry and society. And hence look beyond their own vested interests.

Three cheers to confidential and penny-wise employee engagement activities!!!

–

Anitha is an engineer with a masters in human resource management. She has conducted and been a part of syncronous and asynchronous training in technical and soft skills subjects. Her interests include reading, cooking, singing, and listening to music.

But actually planning is a natural and embedded activity that we practice everyday. We plan the best route to go to the office.  We plan when we go shopping. We plan our vacations. And so we do with other diverse actions of our daily activities (professional and personal).

With strategic planning we have a scope enlarged, a little more of variables, an expanded timeline, defined methodologies (tools) and usually we need to write it. But it continues to be an extension, or an improvement, of what we are accustomed to do.

Talking with focus on Start-ups and SMBs (small and medium businesses), the strategic planning is a fundamental tool to avoid “lose the path in the middle of the running”.

It is like a “compass” and a “user manual”, to help entrepreneurs to surpass initial stages of start-ups and to help SMB to go to the second level and increase business and results.

As a strategic plan is not a static document, it should be revised periodically and updated. We are in an extremely fast and mutable business environment; it would be a utopia if we want to define a business scenario for the next five years (or even three) and expect to be 100% correct.

When you define (write) a strategic plan, you are organizing your ideas, defining the business scope, vision, mission, values, targets, products, analysis of the competitors, marketing and sales strategy, key figures, resources, points of control, feasibility,  costs, cash flow, financial needs, break-even point of the business, and so on.

Finishing the plan, you will be in control of the situation; it will have a pleasant feeling.

You will have a reference and a document to share with your partners and collaborators to develop synergy, motivation and synchronicity.

You will have a document, if needed, to present to your bank account manager, in the “bad times”.

You will have a set of “tools” already developed, to correct quickly any deviation of your original thoughts and plans.

You will sleep better with everything planned, organized and controlled!

Given below is a simple structure to write a basic business plan or strategic plan.

Executive summary

Depending on the objective of the plan and its audience, the executive summary can have different approaches and content. If it is to sell the company, get venture capital, implement an internal expansion, enter in new markets or make a turnaround.

The business

Description of the business, products/services, strategy, the mission, vision, values.

Market analysis

Here we discuss about the target market, competitors, and SWOT analysis – analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. We also analyse macro-environment factors which are the political, economical, social and technological factors, and this analysis is called the PEST analysis. We can also analyse the marketing mix (the four Ps: product, price, place, promotion), key success factors, and so on. The detail will depend on how deep we want to go with the analysis.

The strategy

Now we clearly define the objectives, the strategy and the operational plan involving administration, human resources, production, marketing and sales and financial analysis. An important point is to define timings and key performance indicators, which we will use to control the plan implementation.

Conclusion

Here we present the final thoughts and reinforce key points that we identify as unique or differential aspects that make the plan attractive.

About the document

Usually the overall document should have around 20 pages. Its content and number of pages will depend on your target readers and application, and obviously on what kind of business we are talking about. Our focus, here, is on SMBs (Small and Medium Businesses) and Start-ups.

Final Thought:

So, organise your work, have more productivity, control it better and have more time to be tickled by life.

–

Mario is a seasoned manager and entrepreneur with a broad technical background, coupled with multi-cultural experience and multi-lingual skills, co-founded two high tech start-ups, and now is developing a non-profit project to leverage globally the business development of small entrepreneurs.

The challenges thrown at the entrepreneur are merely tests to ascertain the level to which s/he is capable of understanding his/her business: “Do your homework.”
If it’s a partnership you’re involved in, the VC needs to know if you can gel. The VC needs two areas covered in such a situation – “someone who can build and someone who can sell.”
On the flipside, the entrepreneur needs a number of things of his/her VC. Number one on an entrepreneur’s list of priorities is chemistry. The question must be asked: “Is this someone you can disagree with.” The VC must be the first person you are willing and able to call when you are struggling with a problem. You must be able to ask of the VC if future rounds of financing are safe. Are your operating values soon going to be seen by the VC as operating problems?  These and many other questions relating to compatibility or chemistry must first be answered before jumping to conclusions about how the relationship is going to work.
Secondly, what do you need? The stage in which your enterprise is in and the ability of the VC to understand future variations in revenues depending on the timeline of the business are vital.
There was plenty of debate regarding valuation and liquidation references, but the simple core of their advice was this:  create demand for the product, get people excited in it and you are in the driver’s seat, with the VC riding shotgun.
Of course businesses have different gestation periods depending on the models they use, but as long as you have found a VC who understands the machinations of the industry, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Questions were soon raised about the general fear of ideas being stolen. The panel was quick to retort that the only way to protect an idea is to run with it. Ideas are meaningless without execution. The cost of making and executing the idea must be less than what the customer is willing to pay. And naturally the scalability of the idea depends on the market for it.

Some VCs saw the coming year in an optimistic light drawing attention to the fact that this downturn will result in a lot of experimentation with new business models and constant innovation.
Essentially however the tone was Darwinian at best. “The bar is being raised”, “Survival of the fittest” and other such phrases were designed to assure entrepreneurs that funding would be available to those who adapted to changing situations.

Chairing the special panel discussion titled ‘From Adversity to Advantage: Opportunities for Growth & Investment’, Sonjoy Chatterjee, Executive Director, ICICI Bank suggested that the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India was finding sustenance despite the economic downturns. Atul Punj mentioned that this could also be opportunities for companies to make good acquisitions/investments as the price point of some of the companies would provide attractive upsides in the times to come. Hari Bhartia on the contrary mentioned that cash is king and companies must be conservative in spending cash and use Lean and Six Sigma techniques for process improvements.

In a session titled, “Are you ready for venture capital”, a star panel with varying expertise addressed issues relating both to the availability of capital and whether or not acquisition of that capital is a good idea.
Sudhir Sethi of IMD-IDG ventures that deals primarily with early stage enterprises, spoke about the question being how to expect the funding market to change. Sudhir Sethi is Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of IDG Ventures India, a US$150 million early-stage technology venture capital fund backed by IDG, the world’s largest IT-focused media company. He founded IDG Ventures in 2006 after 26 years in the technology and venture industry.

He classified this impact of uncertain capital markets under the following:

Fund-raising and general partner/team quality

Limited partners, he said, would become very selective as regards the quality of teams they bet on. Few general partners in India, he believes, possess a “full cycle GP experience of deal flow generation, investment, monitoring, exits, and fund raising”. In effect, first-time funds with teams that do not have much chemistry will hit road blocks raising capital. On the other hand, second time funds with a well-planned investment strategy and a “full cycle venture experience”, will find it easier (in terms of adaptability to the market) to gain funds.

Deal flow

Panellists expected a slowdown in deal flow. Start-up venture funding saw a decline, as the number of newer start-ups fell. There appears to be a slowdown in entrepreneurial movement from corporate to start-ups. Expectations abound, in an optimistic VC atmosphere, for the quality of deals to grow.
Tier-two cities such as Pune, Coimbatore & Mysore may also see a piece of  the action in terms of deal flow.

Valuations

Sethi also mentioned having seen falling valuations in deals with early stage ventures. This trend will probably continue.

Exits

Dependence on IPOs will continue to fall as companies are being constructed increasingly to exit by acquisition. Founding teams may be pushed to build significantly tech differentiated models so as to harness greater valuations at exit.

Co-investments

Yet another impact of unstable capital markets discussed at the summit was the increase in co-investments. Sethi quoted the example of his own IMD-IDG ventures where out of 7 investments, 4 are together with co-investors.

–

Some challenges that the industry may face in the near future were addressed. The Venture industry will be seen in the next 4 years to be one where opportunity management is vital.

The industry is however currently strong and flexible enough to support more funds. This was evidenced by fact that IMD-IDG met numerous limited partners who communicated the intention for IMD to continue to focus on venture investments. The difference between first time and second time funds in the near future would be the latter’s ability to raise funds easier and faster.
There appears also to be a healthy trend in terms of greater numbers of disruptive product ventures.
Another big challenge however is that of maintaining the teams they have gathered while private equity firms are cropping up.

Venture funds will face a challenge of retaining their teams with more private
equity funds being formed.

Clearly, there is much to be considered in the coming year. Funding will be scarcer than ever and survival of the fittest will function in its bluntest form.
That is not to say that VCs are now a completely excluding mechanism. If you’ve got the idea, the passion and the vision, coupled with effective execution, funding should not be a problem.

A grand event at the Hotel Lalit Ashok in Bangalore, the TiE Summit brought together leaders in business and budding men and women entrepreneurs eager to switch cards with the big guns.
The speakers covered numerous topics bringing forward solid, practical advice to all present.
Basic questions were asked leading to much discussion that revealed to a great extent, the bare fundamentals of business, and the secrets to success in the field.
Speakers were flown in from all over the corporate world to share their insights with an enthusiastic congregation.

Most points were however prefaced by the doom & gloom of the world economy.
Although there was some talk about this not being the “ideal” time to enterprise, this was quickly followed up by a core fundamental: If you’ve got a great idea, great enthusiasm and great persistence, the struggle for funding will be insignificant.

Innovation was a topic of much discussion. Martin Kleem, the keynote speaker of the second day of the summit, gave his path to innovative success. He introduced the one greatest source of invention as the violation of “Unquestioned Mindsets”. The unquestioned mindsets of the accounting software industry in 1991 were that more features were always better than fewer and that double entry accounting (credits and debits) was the sole supreme market need.
Quickbooks, Scott Cook’s  product had half the features of its competitors, was twice the price, was an unknown brand, had bugs in the software and within 1 month of its launch had 70% of market share.
This shocking success was a result of a change in mindset or rather a challenge to the established mindset.
As Prof. Theresa Amabile put it, “Entrepreneurship is finding and seizing opportunities that others miss.”
Quickbooks saw a large untapped opportunity in marketing simple uncomplicated accounting software. They noticed that many small businesses functioned much like a family where one of the partners took care of the finances without any real accounting qualifications. They needed a simple mechanism to maintain accounts.

How did Scott Cook notice this market and keep it? He “went there and saw”. Scott and his team went to the offices of local businesses, met with the “accountants” to figure out what they were missing. He solved “big customer problems”. And the “delight” that it brought customers was Quicbook’s marketing.

Operating values were a major theme at the summit that almost every speaker addressed. It starts with the employees. Give them a great place to work. They are the driving force of business, the one factor you can count on to give you more, if you give them more. Then come the customers. Give them better ways to live, making life simpler. Both these operating values need a quality that many expounded on: Empathy.
An old Indian proverb was quoted: “Empathy is not just about walking in someone else’s shoes. First you must remove your own.”
The key to being an entrepreneur is the ability to adapt. This was intricately tied in with empathy. The skill to change
Another key operating value that was noted by Mr. Raj Jaswa, President TiE Silicon Valley, was the fact that as an entrepreneur you can write your own rules. You don’t need to follow any rules, not even the values that seemed to have worked for these entrepreneurs. Only when you develop your own values will success follow, says Mr. Jaswa. Mr.Jaswa also recommends that budding entrepreneurs or those who are planning to upscale their businesses must first position themselves in such a manner as to first scale themselves and their skills up to size.
Top class management material available online was suggested. For example, the Million Dollar Club of Insurance Salespeople is said to be chock full of valuable information available online. Remember says Mr. Jaswa, “The company grows after you do.”
K. Ganesh, IIM graduate who founded and heads TutorVista spoke about his own operating values as well. The most inspiring story I heard at the summit as far as garnering venture capital is concerned was Mr.Ganesh’s value creation from $500,000 to $65 Million with no venture capital.
He prescribed a few questions that must be asked before starting to enterprise –
1.    To start or not to start – ask yourself “Why do it at all?”
2.    External capital or bootstrapping
Base this decision on
•    Capital needed to break even
•    Your own risk appetite
•    Non-financial benefits of VC Capital specific to your sector
3.    Profitability vs. scalability
4.    Built to last vs. built to flip
5.    Identify/ealuate greenfield opportunities

Innovation is key, says Mr.Ganesh. Be a pioneer and look for opportunities for a scalable business. Do not try and have a head on conflict with the big players.  His golden advice: Be prepared. Plan for every event.

Will Basil, CEO and founder of FabIndia spoke about the importance of the team.
He expounded on the theory of the “third dimension” in decision making.
“Future business books will be written about the third dimension”, he said.
When building a team, Basil says, it is important to include people with diametrically opposite means of thinking. When this happens and a conflict is seen between the two dimensions, a third dimension, one of a combination of ideas, arises. Again the primary operating value of FabIndia was, “Never bullshit the customer because sooner or later, you know, they can smell the bullshit”.

The retail sector was also a topic of much discussion. The sector was said to be young and the media was blamed for creating a perceptive lull in consumer spending. Mr. Arvind Singhal, Chairman Technopark Advisers, was clear about his thoughts stating that there was “no indication”, that consumer spending had fallen or that consumption was stressed. In absolute terms, he said, consumption would grow at 15%.
The main takeaway from this session was this: A retailer at this stage must not compromise on spending on the customer, because when we come out of this “perceptive” slump, you will have a large and loyal market share. While your competitors were cutting costs with the customer, you stood your ground.
Another important point for retailers – short-circuit the supply chain because cutting supply chain costs reduces the risk of losing customers.
A counterpoint to this suggestion was the fact that this required investment and that this is not necessarily economical at this point in time. It was argued that it would be easier to bring in discipline.
During the growth phase that we enjoyed, retail became prosperous and in effect inefficient. It “gathered flab”. In that regard, the slowdown was well-timed for this sector. There also appears to be a lot of opportunity at the lower end of the retail market with new formats, models, systems and markets.
In conclusion, do not make changes in consumer propositions – keep with it. Do not short-change the customer.

The BPO sector was another topic of great focus. After a barrage of statistics, Mr. Raman Roy concluded that there was still a massive market to be outsourced in the form of companies that were beyond Fortune 1000. Small & medium enterprises represent a large chunk of business that can be outsourced. He called it, “Moving away from dozens of companies worth millions to millions of companies worth dozens.”
Where is the industry? We are still growing at 7% which is a tremendous figure given the state of Europe and the US. Our industry is deep in terms of the number of companies. And our industry is tremendously flexible having gone through numerous downturns in the past and having come out much stronger.
We will see an experimentation with new business models and constant innovation as the industry manoeuvres itself into a revival.
The future however, appears harder to predict. The panel did predict though that the industry for the most part would have a bright future, given its depth.          Getting together at TiE to discuss the future of entrepreneurship provided 1700 budding and experienced entrepreneurs with an opportunity to share ideas, create opportunities and network.

There was a lot of disagreement among panelists at the summit, but there was one sole point that all could agree on.
We are in a remarkable period of economic history with very low visibility where finding funding will be difficult, but if you have the model and the passion, never let the entrepreneurial spirit die.
Those who succeed now, will be judged by history as true “economic warriors” of the 21st century, who fought with the weapons of prosperity.

The successful entrepreneur is well-organized.  The more organized the professional the easier the day. The best and most successful understand how to move around the hurdles in a structured manner so that they accomplish more – with less.

I recall many years ago living in New Jersey and commuting to Manhattan, one frequently stopped to pay tolls. These necessities are required for road improvements, etc. yet they become an annoyance and add time to your commute. Tolls create agitation because you need to stop and restart, they frustrate you as you fumble for ways to weave through the longest line to ease your commute and finally, distract you as you watch other foppish commuters.

There are three tolls in your life and your business that disrupt your day. They are:

1.    People
2.    Problems
3.    Processes

Each of these factors contributes to a waste of time, energy and euphoria and manages to throw your days into pandemonium. For you to gain instant organizational momentum you must embark in three ideologies:

•    You must have some selfishness.
•    You must keep in mind moments do not return.
•    You must embrace the issue and make an immediate change.

If you keep these in mind throughout the day your disarray will lead to order.

When we look at organizational skills we need to first understand what gets in the way of efficiency and organization and the most common cause of disorder. Procrastination detains you. When you steer away from confrontational or imperative issues you back up other issues creating a domino effect.

There are a number of major reasons for procrastination such as is a FEAR. The issue takes too long to complete, is too boring or simply is ridiculous and takes time from something else. Yet, research shows that in 98% of instances when procrastination exists, the excuses for procrastinating actually take more time than the issue itself.

If you find yourself not dealing with things, paperwork is piling up and calls unreturned then you must absolutely begin to change you habits. Paperwork, calls and reports do not disappear because of avoidance they grow LARGER!!!

Self-management is simply the result of developing good habits and letting them control you. Another way to look at it is don’t let bad habits control you  – you are in charge – so you make choices. In order to overcome procrastination one must meet it head on. Moreover, there are numerous things you can do to refrain from procrastination. They include:

1. Get the things you hate to do completed first. Stop putting things off until tomorrow or the next day since it will not get accomplished anyway. Get the calls, the reports, the meeting with the nasty client all out of the way first and the remainder of the day is easier.

2. Stop seeking alternatives through email and voice mail. Many individuals hide behind electronics. Refrain from wearisome habits and confront the issue. The manner in which to stop poor behavior is confronting it. This is what you tell your clients, isn’t it?

3. Stop pondering. More time is spent on not conducting the task then physically doing it. When surveyed, 93% of participants stated that blowing off the issue took more time than the physical issue. Pay bills twice per month; make calls and emails first, etc.

4. Prioritize. Most people simply lack good planning and goal setting. The only way to stop sputtering is simply to prioritize. Plan the day and stick with it, do not enable interruptions.

There are also some additional guidelines for sanity and organization:

1. Create time frames – block out times in a day for specific activities and events. Do not enable interruptions during these imperative times.

2. Hold yourself accountable – ensure success by keeping to times and to goals. You hold your clients and relatives to specific schedules why not yourself?

3. Keep only one list – good organizers place information in one place so that they are not distracted. The problem with most people is that they don’t keep a list at all. Others have too many, to remain atop the issues have one list such as a to-do and keep it in a location where you are most apt to view it.

4. Keep a notepad wherever you are – One of the best methods for organization is to keep pen and paper with you at all times, if you are technologically desirous then a recorder. During a single day individuals have numerous thoughts. When was the last time your great idea would place you as the world’s wealthiest person only to forget the idea hours later? With so many distractions interrupting our days it is best to record those precious moments. Keep a notepad wherever you go: auto, airplane, business bag, knapsack, nightstand, bathroom etc. Never lose another thought. Once you create the memory then transpose the idea to your main list for ultimate success.

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Drew Stevens is a business growth expert. He speaks and consults around the world for organizations that require expertise in leadership and marketing. Visit Drew at www.drewstevensconsulting.com/freestuff and get hundreds of dollars in FREE selling tips.

There are some people who will continue on to live like this and hate it every step of the way, then there’s some of you who will heed the call, get the message and finally see how easy it is to get off this roller coaster we call the daily grind! It’ll take a little effort, a lot of determination and the trust of something bigger than yourself yet accessible enough that it flows within you… The Universe.

Sounds like a bunch of hooey right? Hear me out because I’m going to let you in on a little “Secret”.

If you have ever dreamed about branching off on your own and making your own way financially instead of depending on some corporate guy in a white collared shirt who doesn’t even know your name to sign your check, you could very easily make it happen. This whole world was built on the foundation of those who had dreams and truly believed in themselves to make it happen! What they may not have realized, and yourself as well, they’ve always had the power of the Universe behind them that helped them to cultivate their wishes and they were able to draw from that power by a simple act…THOUGHT. They THOUGHT their lives into existence, they THOUGHT their dreams into fruition and I’m here to tell you, they were not the only ones who held such power, we ALL have it!

You may not have known it as it has been tucked deep down inside to the very core of us but it has always been there and has been working behind the scenes since you took your first breath. How is that possible? It’s the law, the Law of Attraction. It is so ancient that no one can really depict it’s origins but it does exist and for a long time has been selfishly kept from the eyes of everyday man, until now. This law has secretly been in use by the worlds most powerful people but recently has been been brought to light so that EVERYONE can benefit from it. Simply stated, the Law of Attraction is based upon the principal of like attracts like, you get what you give, you reap what you sow. The mind is such a powerful thing and combined with the soul, it is virtually unstoppable when it’s owner truly believes in the things they are thinking, and with those thoughts manifests the life for which we believe we are meant to live, good or bad. In other words, we really do create our own reality. You think about great things and great things you shall have, same with the bad. That’s not to say you don’t have to work for it, every truly successful venture has always required some type of effort but once it’s applied to a dream, the sky is the limit!

You can free yourself from the shackles of the daily grind, you just have to believe in yourself enough to do it. And I know that belief in yourself isn’t quite enough, you also need a plan. With the right system, a network of people who truly believe in the power of positive thinking and believe in your success just as much as you do, well, then you’ve got more than most. The Universe heard you, it brought your wishes to this page, it’s up to you to recognise and follow it…

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Russ Sutton,RN Empowers individuals and assists them to succeed as Entrepreneurs by outlining a step by step method to Achieve their goals. Contact Russ for a FREE Personal consultation at http://www.Achieveit.Biz and begin your new life of Abundance Today.