Category: Entrepreneurs

Article Contributed by Jeff Beals

While many indicators point to an improving economy, it’s far more difficult to attract clients now than it was a few years ago. Perhaps worse, many economists expect the job market to remain challenging into 2011 and possibly beyond. Credit is still hard to obtain and consumer confidence is far from robust.

When times are tough, the phones aren’t ringing and the low-hanging fruit has already been plucked. That leads many to pull back and reduce their work intensity for fear that their efforts would end up being applied in vain.

That’s the wrong response to a challenging market. In times like these, smart professionals develop new products, become more innovative, embrace creativity and market themselves harder than ever.

If you’re not working on as many projects as you would like right now, use the extra time to sharpen your skills. Read business books and invite people you admire to lunch, so you can “pick their brains.” Perhaps you’ve been thinking of developing a new product. This is a great time to work on it. Use the down time to reexamine what you do. Try to see your career and your business from different angles in order to find more effective ways to accomplish your mission.

A long time ago, the great businessman Henry Ford visited a beef packing plant in Chicago. Ford took great interest in the way workers processed the beef from whole carcasses into small cuts of ready-to-sell meat. As he observed, it occurred to Ford that if the process was reversed, all the cuts would go back together to form a whole steer carcass again. The metaphorical light bulb switched on in Ford’s head. “I can build automobiles this way,” he thought. Ford returned home to Detroit and promptly created the famous assembly line.

What can you learn from the methods other professionals use in their industries?
A challenging economy is no time to stop marketing. History shows that those companies and professionals that stay in front of their clients are the ones that prosper when good times return.

During the 1920’s, Ford was selling 10 vehicles for every one sold by Chevrolet. After the Great Depression, Chevy held the sales lead. Why? Marketing. Chevy didn’t let up during the bad economy. The same thing occurred in other industries. Before the Depression, C.W. Post dominated the breakfast cereal market. By the end of the Depression, Kellogg was number one.

Never let down times or any self doubt cause you to slow your efforts to foster relationships, build your brand and acquire new clients.

Business is cyclical. If it always moved at top speed, when would we have the chance to reinvent? Put your ideas into action now, because there might not be much time to finish them before things start booming again.

About the Author:

Jeff Beals is an award-winning author, who helps professionals do more business and have a greater impact on the world through effective sales, marketing and personal branding techniques. As a professional speaker, he delivers energetic and humorous keynote speeches and workshops to audiences worldwide. You can learn more and follow his “Business Motivation Blog” at http://www.JeffBeals.com.

Once a female entrepreneur has determined what caused her to stop living her ideal entrepreneurial type, and what she can do about it, she may feel ready to begin the transition to her new ideal type. At first, the transition may seem daunting – but with the right tools, strategies and motivation, a woman business owner can conquer her fears and rediscover the success she deserves.

A recent study from Jane Out of the Box, an authority on female entrepreneurs, reveals there are five distinct types of women in business. Based on professional market research of more than 3,500 women in business, this study shows that each type of business owner has a unique approach to running a business and therefore each one has a unique combination of needs. When a woman is living as her ideal entrepreneurial type, she feels satisfied, personally and professionally. This article outlines four steps a business owner must take when she is ready to make the change.

1.    Assess the gaps between the current situation and the ideal situation, for the business owner and for the business. If an entrepreneur has previously lived as her ideal type, then she knows what that feels like, and it will be relatively easy for her to determine the changes she needs to make to become her ideal type again, even if that is a different type than she lived as previously. Assessing the business-related gaps will determine what adaptations the entrepreneur must make within the business so that it functions as she wants it to (whether that means sustaining itself or growing).

Advice: In determining her ideal type, the entrepreneur already should have examined her own behaviors, habits and belief systems and determined which ones she needs to change to become her ideal type. Now it is time for her to begin to change those behaviors, habits and belief systems. That means that in every situation, she must choose to act like her ideal type, even when doing so feels uncomfortable, difficult or challenging. Of course, setbacks will occur as a business owner falls back into familiar habits, but over time, as she continues to act like her ideal type, she will become her ideal type. As for the business itself, the entrepreneur must find ways for it to adapt, just like she is doing. For example, if a business previously offered graphic design services only to high profile clients but is now running short on new clients and/or jobs, maybe the business owner needs to branch out and donate her services to a nonprofit organization as it launches a fundraising event. This particular job may not bring in a paycheck, but providing the service is a great marketing tool and allows the entrepreneur to use her creativity. Also, the business owner could consider calling her contacts and letting them know about promotional prices she’s offering, thereby gaining her some new clients.

2.    Create a plan for change. Many entrepreneurs find that creating a written plan, or “to-do” list, helps keep them motivated when they’re making a change. Writing down each step in the transformation provides an excellent visual reminder of each goal, and allows the entrepreneur to make changes and additions as she needs to. Plus, crossing off each completed item gives a business owner a sense of accomplishment.

Advice: Business owners should write down every single goal they want to accomplish, whether it’s creating a new system for office organization or designing a new company web site. Then, they should break each main goal down into smaller steps. For example, the new system for office organization may require the entrepreneur to clear out or destroy her old files, create new file folders, relocate her filing cabinet to a location more convenient to her desk, buy a desktop organizer with designated slots for incoming and outgoing mail, buy a desktop calendar, clear the clutter on her desk and empty her desk drawer. Also, business owners should always closely monitor their progress, so they can celebrate their accomplishments and make adjustments where necessary.

3.    Recruit a support system. No one can reach her goals alone, so business owners must not be afraid to ask for help and support in different forms.

Advice: Support systems can include several types of people: those actually doing the work with or for a business owner, those who can provide advice or resources that make doing the work easier, more efficient or less expensive, and those who can support the business owner as an individual with moral support or by holding her accountable.

4.    Recognize and reward hard work. As women, we beat ourselves up a lot. Every business owner deserves to recognize and reward herself for confronting her challenges head on, and for making the sometimes-difficult changes necessary to fuel their transformation. The vast majority of people perform much better when they are praised and recognized, than they do when they are afraid of punishment.

Advice: Female entrepreneurs should give themselves loving care whenever they need it, so they can keep moving forward, ever more positively, and arrive at their final destination. Whether times are so tough they need to celebrate every single phone call they made without procrastinating, or they just need to celebrate the major milestones, those celebrations are important.

Taking the actual steps to shift to an ideal situation from one that feels less-than-ideal is gratifying, confidence-building and inspiring to business owners who have experienced setbacks in their businesses. By following these four steps, female entrepreneurs will find success.

About the Author:

Michele DeKinder-Smith is the founder of Jane out of the Box, an online resource dedicated to the women entrepreneur community. Discover more incredibly useful information for running a small business by taking the FREE Jane Types Assessment at Jane out of the Box. Offering networking and marketing opportunities, key resources and mentorship from successful women in business, Jane Out of the Box is online at www.janeoutofthebox.com

While most recent graduates are frantically looking for a job – any job – during these tough times, these ten individuals used their formidable college years not to party and study, but to start multi-million (and sometimes billion) dollar companies. Yeesh. If you feel the need to be inspired, just take a look at these students who completely redefined what it means to be a success during college.

1. Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook, the most popular social networking site on the planet, emerged from this kid’s Harvard dorm room in 2004. 500 million dollars, 300 million users, and a full-time, self-created job later, I’d say he’s doing okay for himself.

2. Bill Gates: Also a Harvard student, Gates never returned to his studies after his leave of absence in 1976. During his hiatus from higher education he worked with Paul Allen at MITS in New Mexico, which is where the first Microsoft office called home. Gates is known to be amongst the world’s wealthiest people, reaching his highest rankings between the years 1995-2009. In 2008, his wallet weighed in as the third-thickest and he now donates much of his time and billions to helping others.

3. Michael Dell: At the age of 19, Dell began selling computers from his UTAustin dorm room. The company, PC Limited, developed into the world-wide recognized Dell Computers. As a company, Dell reported approximately $52.9 billion in raw revenue.

4. Fred Smith: The idea for the global shipping company now known as FedEx was outlined in an economics paper Smith wrote while attending Yale University. In his paper, Smith addressed his personal need for an overnight shipping service. At the time, no such service existed without paying arm-and-a-leg prices. With his detailed business idea drawn up, Smith prevailed: FedEx raked in around $35.5 billion in 2009 (as of May 31).

5. Ally Perry: Co-founder of Inogen, Inc, Perry and two of her close friends at the University of California at Santa Barbara took inspiration from Ally’s personal life to develop an oxygen concentrator that has revolutionized the field of home-medical devices. Perry credits her grandmother with the idea for the product, but Perry and her colleagues won the UCSB business plan contest, setting the trio’s careers in motion. At the time, they were all just 19. In 2005, Perry, her co-founders, and Inogen received Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award. Today the company reports over $55 million raised in venture capital.

6. Taylor Mingos: For those of you who have tons of receipts hidden away in shoeboxes awaiting organization, send them to Mingos’ company, Shoeboxed. Mail in your receipts and Shoeboxed will scan and organize them for you. Mingos started the company while attending Duke University and it officially launched in 2007 to great success.

7. Sean Belnick: A freshman in college at age 20, Belnick started Bizchairs while enrolled at Emory University. The company provides quality discount chairs and furniture for offices, homes, schools, businesses and more. Using a well-put together Internet site, Bizchairs saw over $25 million in 2009.

8. Andrea Marron: This optical engineer/fashionista launched Studio 28 Couture while at Rochester University. Her website put the design in the consumer’s hands while keeping all dresses at an affordable price of $200 or under. Local seamstresses processed the dress orders, and buyers had their custom design in 3 weeks. Marron has taken on other projects, and as a result, Studio 28 no longer distributes, but the site’s design tool is still available for use.

9. Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman: These two “college hunks” started hauling junk with a borrowed cargo van to make extra cash during school. College Hunks Hauling Junk has turned into a national chain, with over 20 locations in the US.

10. Seth Berkowitz: Catering to his buddies stricken with a bad case of the munchies, Berkowitz developed his late-night baking sessions at University of Pennsylvania into a lucrative cookie business known as Insomnia Cookies.

These successful college entrepreneurs made their millions before the age of 25. Colleges and universities have taken notice, with many adopting entrepreneurial programs to help urge young people to continue taking initiative.

What I like about my business is attracting conscious entrepreneurs whose businesses are evolving. But sometimes we can get stuck in our heads and unconsciously hold ourselves back. People have a lot of “good reasons” for not moving forward. But many of us who are self-aware know that our reasons are often our beliefs, and it’s our beliefs and perceptions that are holding us back.

Here are two common “good reasons” why people don’t move forward, and then an example of an amazing entrepreneur who overcame both and is succeeding beyond her wildest expectations.

Reason: “The smart thing would be to get a job now and then come back to my business later when the economy is better.”

Now I’m not going to refute this reason. The state of the economy is causing lots of changes, and if you need to get a job to pay your mortgage, then it might be a good move.

The thing is, you need to make a decision about what you’re going to do. Too many people spend far too long in contemplation mode. They’re sitting in Starbucks doing their work and thinking about how great and easy it would be to be a barista, serve lattes all day and then go home and not think about work.

You need to make a decision because all that time contemplating can be detrimental to you business: there’s part of you not committed to your business. You’re stuck in this observation mode and you’re not engaged, you’re not “all in.” So if you feel like that at all, make a decision. Draw a line in the sand and decide. And once you decide you can be all in or not. And if you’re not, that’s okay. You may as well stop the agony and get a job and move forward. But it’s the contemplation that’s holding you back.

Reason: “I can’t raise my prices because I just don’t attract the kind of people who want to pay me that much for my services.”

I made a quantum leap in 2009, going from eight years of just below my six figure goal, to making that leap above six figures. But I had to completely throw out the way I was charging for my services and create a new model. And I needed to live on the planet of my mentors – the planet where they charge $10,000 a day or $800 per hour rates.

It’s really important to be able to articulate your benefit to people so they know and understand what they’re investing in. If you’re prices don’t reflect your service and what you deserve, you’ll feel resentful of your clients. And that’s not good for business.

Therese Skelly is a very successful business transformation expert who has more than 20 years of experience in the world of psychotherapy. It took Therese some time to go “all in” on her business and learn to value herself and her services.

Because she had worked for so long in the world of therapy, it was hard for Therese to change her business model. She thought of herself as “only a therapist who had a few business clients,” she said to me.  “It was painful how slow the growth of my business came because I wasn’t owning my gift. It took me awfully long time to claim my expert status and stop apologizing for just being a therapist because in reality that’s what made me an expert.”

Once Therese owned her value and started attracting high paying clients, she was no longer in contemplation mode about her business. She went “all in” and has never looked back. Today she teaches other entrepreneurs how to discover their value and shows them how to leverage that value by creating a business around it.

Maybe you see a part of yourself in this scenario? If one of these “good reasons” is holding you back I urge you to take a hard look at it – and yourself.  Take some time – but not too much time – to think about where you want to be, and then take some action so you can move forward. And value yourself and your services. Once you do, you’ll be able to get where you want to go.

About the Author:

Lisa Cherney, the Juicy Marketing Expert, is President of Conscious Marketing, Inc., an organization she founded in 1999 to help business owners find their authentic marketing voice so they can attract their Ideal Clients. Lisa spent 15 years advising Fortune 500 companies and leading advertising agencies working with brands like AT&T, Lipton, Nissan, Blue Cross and Equal™.  Lisa is available for speaking to business owners and offers Stand Out & Be Juicy workshops, and coaching. Visit her website for more details or call 888-771-0156.  http://www.consciousmarketing.com

Entrepreneurs tend to be so focused on getting their initial operations going that they often neglect to fill out their initial management team to align with prior patterns for success.  Like it or not, investment companies and their investors are still licking their wounds over errors made during the past decade, even back to the burst of the dot.com bubble.  Much of the available capital for startup ventures has unfortunately gone to propping up these mistakes, leaving not only less funding for original ideas, but also establishing a highly risk averse mindset in those still willing to invest in early stage development companies.

It is therefore highly advisable to form a more than adequate team at the outset, not only to meet the expectations of the investment community, but to benefit early on from the additional skill sets brought onboard.  Far too often, two partners will come together with an idea, limited funds, and the entrepreneurial spirit to march forward, but are reticent to add new people to the schema.  Typically, they each come from similar backgrounds and believe they have all that is necessary to build a great company.  Bringing other professionals of comparable stature into the mix seems too much to ask.  Why add more overhead at the start?  No sense hiring any of those types until we really need them.

This error in judgment has been witnessed so many times that a first impression never has a chance to be made.  Investors turn off immediately.  If our young entrepreneurs corrected their error by bringing on two junior individuals, they only compound their error for all to see.  The number one reason that new startups have failed over the past decade is that they address the need for a strong sales department far too late in the process.  The number two reason is that there is not a seasoned financial professional on the scene at the outset.  Typically, a commission-based junior sales type person is hired after the initial planning is completed, and the financial person, if hired, tends to be a junior bookkeeper type who adds nothing to early planning efforts.

Sales and related revenues are the lifeblood of any enterprise.  The crucial need early on is to have a veteran onboard that understands the market, knows what distribution strategies will work and under what circumstances, and who can provide critical guidance during the development stage to ensure success down the road.  The sales process must begin in concert with development in order to be off and running when the final product or service comes off the assembly line.  If not, revenues are slow in coming, and more times than not, the product must be completely redesigned to get any traction in the marketplace.

Take a look at any successful marketing or IT development venture and you will find a strong financial person joined at the entrepreneurs’ hip.  Experienced financial people are not overhead.  They pay for themselves by preventing common mistakes from occurring during the critical start up process.  They understand what it takes to raise funding from a fickle group of investors.  They understand how to keep everyone focused on the end game and how to prevent distractions from steering anyone off course.

Partners tend to worry too much about diluting their ownership positions when starting their various enterprises.  Strong sales and financial people are assets that will only enhance the value of the company from the beginning.  More value means more pie to divide, not less.  Investors understand this equation.  Entrepreneurs would be well advised to understand it, too.

About the Author:

This article comes to us today from Tom Cleveland of Forexfraud, where experienced professionals provide expert advice, educational tools, forex market commentary, and best practices guidance to craft a better online forex exchange trading experience for everyone, everyday.