Author: Ethan Theo

Abe WalkingBear Sanchez is an International Speaker / Trainer / Consultant on the subject of cash flow / sales enhancement and business knowledge organization and use. Founder and President of www.armg-usa.com, WalkingBear has authored hundreds of business articles, has worked with numerous companies in a wide range of industries since 1982 and has spoken at many venues including the Shakespeare Globe Theater in London.

Categories
Work Life

Prepare For Your Career

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I’ve analysed what is happening and begun to point the way for those who want to pre-empt the changes rather than wait until they are overtaken by them. Now is the time to decide which category you come into.
Those willing to plan will be rewarded; those not willing to do so will have to take potluck. There are six essentials for your new work life:
Be a specialist in one area but make sure you are more widely qualified and trained than just for your specialisation.
Understand yourself as thoroughly as you can.
Doing this is not a ‘one-off’ operation. We all change as we learn more and grow. Now is the moment to find out what you really want to do. Those who are ambitious to make money have a chance to get themselves equipped to take advantage of the new workplace. Those who want to help socially can prepare themselves for the new needy. They will be quite different from those we think of as ‘poor’ today and their requirements will be much more challenging. Those who seek to advance science or enjoy an academic life will have to be closer to the application of their studies and teaching.
Write a career plan.
It doesn’t have to be a major document, bound in silk. One page should be enough to tell you where you are heading and how you are going to get there. But it has to be a well-thought-out page. You should take stock of your career at least once a year, however well you are doing. You wouldn’t leave your money unattended for any longer. Why leave your career to find it’s own way.
Based on your career plan, equip yourself with the qualifications you need. You don’t have to leave work to do this. There are many courses you can take outside work hours. Select the ones that will benefit you in the portfolio of jobs you will most likely be doing to which I referred previously.
Train and re-train so that you keep your skills up to date.
Just as a building needs retrofitting quite frequently, so your skills need honing and polishing, especially when they are concerned with the new technologies. Sales personnel who don’t know their products are going to the wall. Surgeons who don’t keep up with the new developments are going to the courts.
If you are not already equipped to handle the main new technologies, remedy this failing without delay. You are going to need all the resources you can muster. I already notice people who can’t or won’t understand the new communication technologies falling well behind their rivals – and that applies at the top of the organisation as well as at the bottom.
Prepare the family to be part of the work team.
Yes, even the young children should understand that the breadwinners are working for them and they must help in their own ways. You couldn’t prepare them better for their working lives.
Establish and cultivate your network.
Networking is already important – we all know that. In The New Work World it is going to be even more so. This aspect of your preparation for dealing with The New Work Revolution is so important that I am going to devote the next article exclusively to it.
JohnBittlestonPhoto.jpgJohn Bittleston blogs at TerrificMentors.com, a site that provides mentoring for those who wish a change in career or job, wanting to start a business or looking to improve their handling of people (including themselves).

Categories
Starting Up

Things to Consider before Starting a Business

consider-starting-business.jpgQuite often, when I talk to potential founders, I hear them say: “I have an idea. I guess, now I need a business plan.” Yes, right.

But before jumping straight into such an exercise (which most people by far underestimate in terms of time and effort required), there are a couple of completely non-business questions to be answered. Whenever you have trouble answer them, make sure to get them resolved before continuing, as they have a huge impact on any business plan:

Why do I want to do this at all?

A lot of aspiring founders are stumbling on that one already. To make a living? To get rich? To improve the world? To become famous? Just out of curiosity to see whether it would work? To earn some money on the side?

This question alone has some implications for your business plan: the aggressiveness of the plan, or the underlying business model (it’s not that difficult to make a living out of a one-person consulting business, but probably it will not make you extremely rich).

What price I am willing to pay?

Everything in life comes attached with a price tag, although not necessarily a monetary one. The price one has to pay while founding a business can be high. Reduced spare time, long working hours even on weekends, reduced time available for friends and family, financial uncertainty. The higher the price you are willing to pay, the better your chances are for succeeding.

What do my family and friends think about it?

This question has two aspects:

– What do they think about the business idea?

This gives you a first feedback from the market, at least on a high level (at least if you plan to have some kind of consumer business in mind). If all your friends and family tell you “Founding a travel agency selling trips to Mars is stupid” – you should at least evaluate their feedback. If they just don’t understand your business because it is some highly advanced biotech concept, you should seek feedback from people more familiar with the particular area you plan to start your business.

– What do they think about the fact that I want to start a business?

This is an important fact as you will need at least their understanding or – even better- their support in the upcoming months or years. It can be quite annoying when you hear every time you meet friends things like “Did I tell you already the story of the guy who went bankrupt when trying to start a business?”

Honest feedback is important, but it is much better to receive it with a “You can do it” rather with a “You are doomed” attitude.

How much risk can I bear?

This highly depends on your current circumstances and your financial resources. If you are single, just out of university and little monthly running cost, you probably can take a higher risk than somebody who has to earn money to support a family of five. But if the later has already made a fortune, the situation might be just the other way around…

Can I do it alone or not?

In general, I highly recommend to not start a business alone (unless you plan just a one-person consulting business). But whenever your idea gets more complex and goes beyond freelancing, sharing the burden with enhances the chances for a successfully start. If – you partner with the right person.

Do I partner with the right people?

I always say that starting a business with one (or more) partners is like marriage without a separation of property: You stick together for a major part of your time, a “divorce” is not easy and is usually painful. So, make sure you team with the right people.
Some criterias are:

– Although tempting at the beginning, partnering with friends is not always the best idea. Friendship can make you blind for some important aspects to consider.

– Diversity of skills: Does your team has all the necessary skills you require? Business, marketing, technical skill, whatever is required. Chances are that your friends have similar skills if you know them from studying or former work.

– Same level of risk tolerance and same motivation: Make sure the people you partner with share both your willingness and ability to share risk( e.g. live of from savings for some time) and the same motivation. If one of you wants to build the next Google, while the other juts wants to do something next to his regular job, a major clash is just a question of time.

What are my No-Go criteria?

My last (and probably most important) advice is to clearly define No-Go criteria even before you start, and make sure that everybody on the team subscribes to them. This could be a deadline for a agreed business plan, for getting funding, for a technical proof of concept. Not every idea is as bright as it seems at the beginning. More often than not, founders find out during business planning that their concept does not support a company, has too little room for growth or faces high technical risks. Have the courage to pull the plug early on. When you willing to do that, based on clear criteria, you can be sure you continue building your business on a good foundation.

KlausWiedemannPhoto.jpgKlaus Wiedemann is Founder and Managing Director of Daisho Blacksmith GmbH, a product and consulting company dedicated to support todays professional with software and methodology to sharpen their competitive edge. He blogs regularly at Not For Slaves, focusing on the working environment of the 21st century and its implications and opportunities for the individual.

Categories
Entrepreneurship

Be An Eagle Entrepreneur

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YoungEntrepreneur: She never wanted to run her own business; she just wanted to be the best mom she knew how to be. But today, what began as a single children’s educational video that she filmed in her basement with a friend’s camera and her cat as a prop, has morphed into a billion dollar company that continues to be an industry leader.
According to Aigner-Clark:
“About a year into my daughter’s life, I started thinking about the whole idea of making a video for babies. Something stimulating and positive. I wondered, ‘Why isn’t there a way to expose her to the arts and sciences?’ I found the marketplace completely lacked what I was looking for.
I started this company because my children are at the age when you start to worry that they know about stranger safety, especially when they are on the Internet. I wanted a video that would be fun for them to watch as well as teach them. I am passionate about this and I am optimistic in its success.
I knew my baby. I knew what she liked to look at. I assumed that what my baby liked to look at, most other babies would, too.
The first Baby Einstein video took off because it was a completely new concept. It was an entirely new idea. No one else had videos for babies.
There was nothing on the market that I felt was any good, so I decided to make something myself.”
To be successful as an entrepreneur you need to sell a unique product or service. If you are selling the same product as everyone else you are unlikely to break through and create a successful company.
Is your product or service really something that is unique and valuable?
Find Something Nobody Else Is Selling [YoungEntrepreneur]

Categories
People & Relationships

Positive Workplace Relationships

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Entrepreneur: “Why can’t we all just get along?”
Rodney King’s 1991 plea has become part of our nation’s vernacular. While the dialogue on diversity has led to passionate conversations about what it means to be civil, we still struggle with the essence of the question: Why can’t we all just get along?
At the core of “getting along” are rules, obligations and norms that, when shared, provide the foundation for strong, stable relationships and flourishing communities. Through such conventions of civility, we learn about what polite behavior and manners mean to the community. Some might say these rules provide a sense of order; others would suggest that civility fosters feelings of well-being and positive relationships.
So, what can we do to foster workplaces that are more civil and respectful? First, we can have conversations about what being civil means for different people. This would provide some sense of shared norms, with the ultimate goal of creating respectful, valued relationships, strengthening communication, and fostering interpersonal and team collaboration. Some simple actions that we can all take include:
– noticing your point of view, particularly when you’re holding tight to it, and making a point to seek out and truly listen to perspectives different than yours;
– being curious about and interested in others;
– choosing to speak with someone face-to-face if you think there may be room for miscommunication via e-mail or over the phone; and
– speaking up when others are excluded.
Being civil means being constantly aware of others and weaving restraint, respect and consideration into this awareness. Civility is attending to the community at large in our everyday interactions. The goal is moving beyond politeness, tiptoeing around conversations so as not to offend, or saying what you think you’re supposed to say, to more authentic sharing.
The Unwritten Rules of Civility [Entrepreneur]

Categories
Sales & Marketing

Tips For The Gift Of Gabs

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BusinessKnowHow: If you’re a savvy marketer, you’ve got all kinds of clever ways to get the word out about your business. You might have a blog or a customer newsletter, take out paid ads in newspapers and magazines, or submit press releases when you have news. You might donate products or services to charity, use free directories, have a page on MySpace, or offer free consultations.
There are myriad free and low-cost ways to promote your business. Have you considered public speaking? Public speaking includes not just giving speeches, but also attending mixers, networking events and referrals groups.
Public speaking is a free and easy way to promote your business. Here are some ways to make it work for you.
1) Make friends and build relationships through networking – How you present yourself at these events (and any time you talk about your business) is how people will remember you and your business. Make an effort to get to know people and find out how you can be a resource to them in ways that might or might not include your business.
2) Offer your services as a speaker – Contact businesses, nonprofits, and associations in your community by e-mail, or call to get information about their needs. Provide them with professional marketing materials if they ask; at minimum, have a website they can refer to for more information. Tell them about your expertise and most significantly, how you can help them.
3) Promote your business by not promoting it – Be a resource to people. Teach them something new. Leave them wanting more. And make sure to bring your marketing materials and business cards so they can find you later.
Three Tips for Promoting Your Business Through Public Speaking [BusinessKnowHow]