Category: Entrepreneurs

There’s a huge temptation when you have a crazy idea to keep it all to yourself but if you read the stories of those people that truly challenged convention you’ll often find a theme of sharing their idea with others that the mainstream media hasn’t really picked up on.

From Nike to Starbucks, the last 50 years have seen the creation of some huge brands by focused entrepreneurs who stand as figureheads to thousands of employees and billions of annual revenue. Yet despite being vastly different in operation, both of these giants hid a secret in plain sight.

The people behind these conglomerates may have been individually lauded as the men behind their respective brand success, but both openly admit to having shared the responsibility of growing their businesses and wouldn’t have succeeded without having done so.

Successful entrepreneurs get help early

While Howard Schultz of Starbucks brought onboard people with experience far in excess of his own right from the start to effectively run the operations of his business leaving him to concentrate on starting new stores; Phil Knight of Nike benefitted hugely from the passion and drive of his first hires to effectively operate their own stores independently of him.

In fact both of these wildly successful businessman didn’t even name their own companies. While Nike was a last minute decision with a cheap swoosh that Mr Knight thought he could change at a later date, Starbucks was actually an established coffee roasting company that Howard Schultz bought the rights to after starting his own coffee shops Il Gornale.

Both Knight and Schultz benefited greatly from not only the realisation very early on that they couldn’t build their dream alone, but the acceptance that there were better people out there to build their dream but them.

Follow the Starbucks example

At the outset they worked out the various components that it would take to launch their businesses, and set about recruiting great people to help them. At Starbucks Schultz figured out that roasting coffee wasn’t revolutionary, in fact neither was ensuring a range of drinks was available but what hadn’t been done before was bringing the Italian sense of community to stores, ensuring you weren’t just drinking the best coffee but escaping from the hustle and bustle of everyday life too.

Because of this, Schultz recruited great operations people to run the behind the scenes part of Starbucks while putting his main focus onto doing something different with the shops (the part he couldn’t recruit for).

Schultz effectively worked out that the bits he didn’t need to revolutionise he could get other people to do. Like grandmasters of chess, these people had been there before, roasted tonnes of coffee and as such he chose to benefit from their compiled wisdom, learnt from years of mistakes and successes to frog leap the trials and tribulations of starting up a new company and turbo charge his operations team.

At the same time he threw his heart and soul into fund raising and launching new coffee shops, safe in the knowledge that his operations were well taken care of.

The fact that he could rely on other people meant that he could put all of his efforts into the parts no one else could do rather than spread himself too thin.

The common mistake when getting help

Yet often the opportunity to recruit other people to help you can be misunderstood. In an effort to protect their crazy idea entrepreneurs hire low skilled people they have to micro manage which adds to their workload and takes them away from the areas they should be focusing on in order to make their crazy idea work.

Of course having low skilled workers, or at least those that aren’t the grand masters of their area of expertise is also part and parcel of building a team. Once your leaders are in place you need to reinforce them with the troops that can help them build capability within your business.

Build capability by being attractive

In fact building capability was one of the main focuses in the early days for both Nike and Starbucks. While most entrepreneurs concentrate on the weird and wonderful periphery parts of running a business like logos and brand names, Knight and Schultz chose to focus on building their people.

Schultz recognised the importance of people early on, introducing a healthcare scheme that was unheard of at the time while also allowing employees to comment on developments at the company.

A simple but highly effective way to motivate the people you work with towards your end goal is to give them a voice. Schultz chose to do this by allowing any employee to comment on a company decision in reference to the Starbucks mission statement. If a manager, product or action didn’t adhere to the cultural mission statement they could highlight it and were guaranteed a response within two weeks.

Learn to listen

While most business love to play lip service to employee schemes, Schultz realised that such schemes only work if the employee recognises an action is undertaken as a result. It’s simply no use in letting people comment and then taking no notice of them.

It’s the same reason why Phil Knight didn’t call Nike Dimension Six, he loved the name but when he presented it to his employees it went down like a lead balloon. Great entrepreneurs listen.

Listening and deciding when to take action is a corner stone of being a good leader and it’s something you’ll need to do if you’re going to build your crazy idea from the ground up.

But there’s one last part you mustn’t forget. If you’re going to listen and take action, then you need to not only communicate that action to your team (what, when & why) but you need to allow your team to feel the benefits of that action if it’s a success.

Make people accountable

Both Knight and Schultz did this through incentive schemes that made people’s pockets accountable for their actions. While the first people to join their teams (at a senior level) were rewarded with stock, bonuses linked to company profits were essential. This doesn’t always mean putting extra money in someone’s pay packet. Starbucks led the way with a “Bean Stock” campaign that awarded stock options to every single employee they had, allowing them to buy into Starbucks and benefit from its growth as the share price rose they would become richer too.

By making their employees feel a partner in the crazy idea, they assumed ownership and were motivated towards the end goal. No matter the level of employee or the area they work in, building a team that’s focused on your end goal is a must.

No one can do it alone.

 

Entrepreneurs often have a lot of unique qualities. They tend to be willing to take risks when it comes to business and their careers, and they’re often creative and think outside the box. That’s a lot of what propels them toward being entrepreneurs and building their own companies.

When you do have your own company, there are some unique investment strategies and considerations to keep in mind, however. There are ways that investing as an entrepreneur may be different than someone who works for a company, for example, and invests a portion of their salary.

The following are some things to consider if you’re an entrepreneur and you want to build a smart, sustainable investment strategy.

Have a Long-Term Business Model

Before you can start looking at specific investment strategies and asset allocation objectives, when you own a business and are an entrepreneur, it’s essential that you have a business model that works not only presently but also plans for the long-term.

When you’re an entrepreneur your principal investment is your business, so that should always be your top priority.

Make sure you have the components in place that are necessary to build over time, and that you’re planning for the future as far as your business is concerned, then you can move outward from there.

Be Careful with Risk Outside of Your Business

Here’s a critical area where investment strategies might be different for an entrepreneur versus a non-entrepreneur.

When you own a business, you’re already invested in something that is potentially high-risk. You might want to build much of the rest of your portfolio around more stable, less risky options.

However, if you feel like your business is at a point of stable growth where you can be a bit riskier, you might create a portfolio that pairs long-term investments such as ETFs with something that has more risk. Explore options that are diversified away from your business and your industry. For example, consider reading the Tim Sykes challenge review to see where you could invest in industries or sectors that are well outside of your business, to protect you in the event of a downturn impacting your industry.

Build Your Savings

Key to a successful investment plan for any entrepreneur isn’t just having money in diversified investments outside of your industry. You also need to make sure you’re saving money as well, and that you have access and liquidity if you need it.

This is actually an area where a lot of entrepreneurs struggle. By nature, they tend to be willing to take more investment risks than most other people, but they’re less willing to save money, instead opting to put it in the stock market or back into their business.

These are important objectives, but having an emergency fund is as well.

Protect Assets

To wrap up this list of essential investment strategies for entrepreneurs, make sure your financial and investment plans protect your assets. You want to structure your business, your personal assets and your investments in a way that protects the personal aspects of your portfolio and finances in the event your business experiences trouble.

You want to make sure you have assets structured in a way that they’re not only protected against business debts but also so that they transfer appropriately to investments for your spouse or family.

In an age of businesses being introduced to customers almost exclusively via websites, entrepreneurs have been forced to become more than just business people. Entrepreneurs who want to succeed today have to be part businessman, part artist, because it is through multimedia that they will reach and engage with the most customers. Here are the top four artistic skills that all modern entrepreneurs should have at their disposal.

An Ear for Music and Sound

Although often disregarded, audio still plays a huge role in business marketing. Online advertisements frequently use backing music to set the tone and mood for customers, while podcasts have become their own marketing tool. Entrepreneurs who want to capitalize on these elements of business don’t need to train themselves into classical composers, but an ear for tone and musical melody can be a useful asset in the entrepreneur’s toolbox.

Software-Based Image Creation and Editing

When you first encounter a new business, chances are your initial interaction consists of seeing a single image somewhere online. Image-based advertisements, logos and email images will play a huge part in online marketing efforts, so be sure to create striking visuals that will draw customers in. The best way for entrepreneurs to tackle this element of their business activities is to become familiar with one or more forms of graphic design software. Once you know how to manipulate images using modern software, you can create everything from book cover by using tools such as Adobe Spark’s Wattpad cover maker to promotional brochures with ease.

Storytelling Abilities

Today, customers are more interested than ever before in the backgrounds of the brands they are considering making a purchase from. If you want to enhance your ability to sell, you need to have basic storytelling abilities. Your story could be about yourself as an entrepreneur or about the company you have created. Ideally, your story should have a problem-and-solution format, wherein you explain exactly what problem your brand is trying to solve. Adding relatable personal experience to your story is also useful, as it can help potential customers connect to your brand on an emotional level.

Acting, Presentation and Video Creation

In 2015, a survey conducted by Vidyard found that 70 percent of marketers saw better conversion rates with video marketing than from other types of content. Video is more important now than ever, and entrepreneurs must develop video creation skills in order to succeed in the modern marketing environment. These skills include both technical abilities, such as lighting and video editing, and more artistic abilities, such as acting and presenting information in a compelling manner. Entrepreneurs who master the process of video creation will be positioning themselves for success in the most important marketing medium of our time.

Though entrepreneurship and artistic skills are intimately linked, these four skills are the most important for entrepreneurs to learn and master. In modern business, artistic creations are used first and foremost to engage potential customers and increase their interest in your brand. If your creations are better than those of your competition, you can expect success and sales.

Having remote employees is becoming a standard among entrepreneurs. The concept has opened up opportunities to tap into a talent pool that may not be available locally. Also, with reduced overhead operational that demands significant budget allocation in a conventional office-based venture, entrepreneurs are being open to implementing distant working policies.

But managing staffers who are not present in the office has its own unique set of challenges. Mentioned below are some of the pitfalls of having a distributed team that can breed dissatisfaction and frustration among employees.

1. Money Transfer Problems

Managing international salaries can be costly for your business because of the transfer fees involved. Banks usually charge a high commission on international wire payments. While freelancer service websites provide payment solutions where they accept the responsibility of transferring money from your account to the account of the remote worker, they too charge a high commission and the recipient has to go through multiple steps before being able to receive payments.

But entrepreneurs still go for these options because they’re not aware of Ria Money Transfer and other similar options. These often-neglected options provide you with a straightforward way to transfer money globally while charging low fees and providing great rates. Such options also benefit the recipient as they’re able to choose whether they want the funds to go in their bank account directly or they want to pick up cash from a specific location.

2. Time Zone Problems

Managing a remote workforce requires you to cover the globe, in terms of time zones. It implies working with people in areas where the time is different from the time in your country. So, if there’s a work-related problem on your end and the fix lies with the remote team, you may have to wait until they’re awake to resolve the issue.

To avoid time zone issues, you must mention in the job description the origin of your company and your preferred time for communication with remote employees. This will give potential staffers an idea that as a company, you have a specific work schedule even though you’ll be logging in remotely. Experienced remote workers are familiar with such conditions.

3. Personal Communication Problems

Lack of personal communication (face-to-face meetings, for instance) is a usual challenge you’ll encounter when managing a remote workforce. Face-to-face communication with employees ensures that the workers are in tune with the goal of your venture and their values align with your culture. It also encourages employees to stride towards the end goal as they develop a strong relationship with their employers.

If your resources allow, conduct in-person meetings periodically. If that isn’t an option, face-to-face virtual meetings is a viable alternative to stay connected. Solutions like file sharing services and video conferencing will enable you to communicate and collaborate with your employees more effectively. They also enable staffers to get together and share their thoughts, which can encourage team building.

4. Hiring Challenges

Although many candidates will be willing to work from home and insist they love doing so, the truth is not everyone is suited to this lifestyle. If it is the first time for an employee to work remotely, he/she may develop feelings of isolation, which would affect their productivity as well as the productivity of your business. That’s why it’s critical to find people with some remote working experience.

To overcome this challenge, you’ll need to get more thorough while interviewing people. Sharp attention to detail will enable you to spot a wrong recruit and avoid restarting the entire hiring process all over. Give final candidates deadlines and mock assignments to gain greater insight on how well they’re suited for your company.

These tips will ensure you manage a remote team without stresses.

The idea of being an entrepreneur is built into the American psyche. From a young age, we’re taught that in the U.S. you can do anything if you put your mind to it, including owning your own business. The truth is, being a successful entrepreneur isn’t easy. It takes an extraordinary amount of time, energy and dedication. You have to sacrifice just about everything to make your business your focus.

Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone. Throughout history, many of the most successful entrepreneurs have shown common characteristics and personality traits. If you have the traits below you just might be a natural entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs Aren’t Afraid of Failure . . . They Learn From It

No burgeoning entrepreneur is going to make all the right moves right off the bat. Being an entrepreneur means you’re going to have to overcome failure and learn from your mistakes.

Take Danny DeMichele, for example. This investor and internet marketing entrepreneur created one of the first nutrition websites nearly two decades ago. He sold the website to a big established conglomerate in exchange for stock. He quickly learned about diversification when the company that bought his website went bankrupt. Instead of letting the experience kill his entrepreneurial spirit he took it in stride and took the knowledge with him to his next venture. Danny has gone on to start other successful businesses, including eVisibility, which was acquired in 2010.

Entrepreneurs Ooze Charisma

The old saying you can attract more flies with honey than vinegar should stand out in the mind of every entrepreneur. Some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs are extremely charismatic people. And those that aren’t naturally engaging learn ways to become more charismatic.

People are drawn to charismatic individuals. They want to be around them, befriend them and do business with them. Entrepreneurship requires a lot of networking. The more you can win people over the easier it is to be successful. A prime example of this is President Barak Obama. He came from extremely humble beginnings, but was able to become not only the leader of the free world but the United States’ first black president at the relatively young age of 47. Many people have noted that his ability to charm just about anyone has definitely helped him professionally.

They Are Super Resilient

Resilience is defined as the ability to recover quickly when things don’t go as expected. In order to overcome adversity as an entrepreneur and turn failure into a learning opportunity, you have to be resilient.

No matter how many projections are made, entrepreneurs are guaranteed to come across many hurdles and setbacks. It isn’t a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. It takes a fair amount of resilience to bounce back each time, and hopefully walk away better off in the long run.

They Are Adaptable

This personality trait is very closely related to being resilient. Successful entrepreneurs know how to pivot when they need to in order to make an idea or business work. They’re able to adapt to the situation whether it’s a high-profile networking event, grand opening of a storefront or cutting costs to make payroll during the off-season. Even the most well thought out plans have to be adjusted here and there, and adaptable people are able to make it work.

They Have an Inquisitive Mind

Many entrepreneurs are problem solvers. They see a market segment with a need and they figure out a way to fulfill it. Their inquisitive minds troubleshoot the problem until they find the best solution.

Bill Gates is such a voracious thinker that he didn’t stop with a game-changing computer software company. He set his sights even higher with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Now he and his wife work to solve some of the world’s most pressing societal problems. Figuring out how to boost the performance of U.S. schools, wipe out aids and bring clean drinking water into arid environments takes a lot of creative thinking.

They Aren’t Afraid to Take Risks

Striking out on your own or developing a product from nothing is far from a sure thing. Entrepreneurship involves a lot of risk. Successful entrepreneurs aren’t afraid to bet on themselves and go big. They fully understand the risks, but are able to mitigate and manage it.

Barbara Corcoran of Shark Tank once pointed out in an interview that risk isn’t just financial. Putting all of your energy and focus into one thing is also a big risk that entrepreneurs have to take.

They’re Passionate

Businesses are called a labor of love for a reason. In order to make it through the 60+ hour weeks, the uncertainty, the periods without a paycheck and the stress you have to be passionate about what you’re doing. Passion is what fuels the drive and determination of entrepreneurs who are able to create a business out of nothing more than a concept.