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Will You Add? - The Entrepreneurial Difference
I’m sure, at some point, some of us have that itching desire to “be your own boss”. We imagine all the wonderful benefits of calling the shots, deciding the direction of the business, and having heaps of money because of successful businesses.Some of us then decided to take the natural step and “just do it”. We would then proceed to dip into our savings, borrow money from friends and financial institutions, or perhaps sell some equities we are holding on to. And we merrily register a company and start working! The scenario sounds really familiar!That was me! I sold off my home to raise capital for my ventures into fund manageme
What is stopping you from really getting what you want from your business? This is a question I ask small business computer consulting company owners on a regular basis. Many times business owners are like waves crashing onto a beach. They approach a project much like a wave does, starting out many miles away from the coast or, in this case, project or idea.A great idea gets started much like a wave does out in the ocean and it starts to gain momentum as it gets closer to the coast as well as rising and showing form. Many business owners follow this same approach to their projects or business needs in general. They start off with
Think about your own childhood and youth. Did you sell lemonade in the front yard? Rake leaves or shovel snow for a few extra bucks from neighbors? A lot of us did.
Unfortunately, the drive and ambition associated with those youthful undertakings are often not developed or encouraged by our school systems, parents, and society as a whole.
For generations, people were raised to think that success required doing well in school, going to college, and pursuing a career with intentions of making a long-term commitment to a company. We see this in the older ranks of the baby boomer generation and our parents. Did your parents work for an employer for 20-plus years, whether they were happy and fulfilled or not?
Work often overshadowed any urge to go the independent route, since society often frowned at mavericks who followed their own path. Compound that negative stigma from a by-gone era with the fact that the 40-hour per week commitment to one’s employer left little time to even turn a hobby into a part-time business or to express the entrepreneurial creativity in other ways. People just went to work.
Now don’t get me wrong, many people pursued the entrepreneur’s route in earlier generations, but not to the extent they are today. This trend is, in part, due to the fact that times have changed and companies no longer employ people from college to retirement nor do employees feel the loyalty to stay. It is not frowned upon to leave an employer after a year or two, as it was in the past. The trend can also be attributed to a growing desire to feel self fulfilled and enjoy life (including work), even though as a society we work many more hours per year than our European counterparts who recognize the im
The PrincipleI remember reading about the Rhino Principle in Forbes Magazine a few months ago. The basic theme behind it is doing what the rhino does best: Charge! The rhino as an animal has survived for so many years because of its undying single-mindedness and natural aggressiveness towards achieving a single goal. The rhino is not particularly clever, nor is it unsusceptible to the other animals in the Savannah. However, it takes initiative when it sees something it wants and leaves all other thoughts of pessimism or doubt behind. Apply this same mindset in your own lives, whether it is as an entrepreneur or in any other aspect of
Unfortunately, the drive and ambition associated with those youthful undertakings are often not developed or encouraged by our school systems, parents, and society as a whole.
For generations, people were raised to think that success required doing well in school, going to college, and pursuing a career with intentions of making a long-term commitment to a company. We see this in the older ranks of the baby boomer generation and our parents. Did your parents work for an employer for 20-plus years, whether they were happy and fulfilled or not?
Work often overshadowed any urge to go the independent route, since society often frowned at mavericks who followed their own path. Compound that negative stigma from a by-gone era with the fact that the 40-hour per week commitment to one’s employer left little time to even turn a hobby into a part-time business or to express the entrepreneurial creativity in other ways. People just went to work.
Now don’t get me wrong, many people pursued the entrepreneur’s route in earlier generations, but not to the extent they are today. This trend is, in part, due to the fact that times have changed and companies no longer employ people from college to retirement nor do employees feel the loyalty to stay. It is not frowned upon to leave an employer after a year or two, as it was in the past. The trend can also be attributed to a growing desire to feel self fulfilled and enjoy life (including work), even though as a society we work many more hours per year than our European counterparts who recognize the im
Everyone knows that they need to talk about their experiences at their former jobs and community activities in a job interview. However, what most people need work on is providing an interviewer with enough details so that they can actually picture you doing that activity. Let me give you an example:Question: Tell me about a time when you had to work with other people to pull together an assignment under a tight deadline.Here's an example of a candidate's typical response:The first thing I can think of is a time when I was working in the arts. Our House Manager was out of the office on a
Work often overshadowed any urge to go the independent route, since society often frowned at mavericks who followed their own path. Compound that negative stigma from a by-gone era with the fact that the 40-hour per week commitment to one’s employer left little time to even turn a hobby into a part-time business or to express the entrepreneurial creativity in other ways. People just went to work.
Now don’t get me wrong, many people pursued the entrepreneur’s route in earlier generations, but not to the extent they are today. This trend is, in part, due to the fact that times have changed and companies no longer employ people from college to retirement nor do employees feel the loyalty to stay. It is not frowned upon to leave an employer after a year or two, as it was in the past. The trend can also be attributed to a growing desire to feel self fulfilled and enjoy life (including work), even though as a society we work many more hours per year than our European counterparts who recognize the im
Working late is NOT weird or strange but it definitely has its pros and cons. I am writing this article now for two reasons. One, to make myself feel better about sitting beside my computer with a bowl of popcorn and my endless to-do list and two, to help you realize that there are some good sides and bad sides to working through the night.Pros1. Absolutely NO interruptions. Nothing from callers, clients (well, most of them anyway!), friends, family, spouses, children, pets, telemarketers, door-to-door solicitors, utility “lock-in-your-current-price-before-it-sky-rockets” guys… No one. Pure peace and quiet.
Now don’t get me wrong, many people pursued the entrepreneur’s route in earlier generations, but not to the extent they are today. This trend is, in part, due to the fact that times have changed and companies no longer employ people from college to retirement nor do employees feel the loyalty to stay. It is not frowned upon to leave an employer after a year or two, as it was in the past. The trend can also be attributed to a growing desire to feel self fulfilled and enjoy life (including work), even though as a society we work many more hours per year than our European counterparts who recognize the im
Do you have sacks of money to burn on your marketing and advertising? All of the small businesses that I’ve come across say they don’t. Yet there are a good number of small businesses that have held their own marketing and advertising budget bonfires.How does this happen? A conclusion I’ve come to is that many small businesses burn sacks full of money in advertising with miserable results because they just don’t understand the core basics of how advertising works.A common mistake made by many small businesses is doing "a little bit here, and a little bit there". Here’s an analogy to think about. Have you ever been around s
For these two reasons, there is an epidemic of people starting businesses in their 40s, 50s and 60s. Women start 424 new enterprises every day. Nearly half (46%) of new female business owners fled corporate America for the freedom to set their own hours according to the Center for Women’s Business Research. In addition, 65% of women who have started businesses in the past decade honed their skills from being managers in big corporations.
Now you may ask, what are these attributes that distinguish entrepreneurs from other people? While this is not scientific, it is based on years of interaction and observation with business people.
Entrepreneurs are courageous. As Julia Cameron expresses it in her book, The Artist’s Way, “Leap and the net will appear.” That’s what entrepreneurs do. They trust and take calculated risks to start the business and then every day after that. This was my mantra when I was leaving my former employer after 17 years.
Entrepreneurs are passionate. They believe in what they are doing and pursue their vision with gusto. They immerse themselves fully into the project or idea.
Entrepreneurs are tenacious. A study of 1,165 self-made female millionaires over a three-year span shows “their defining characteristic to be perseverance,” according to Thomas J. Stanley, author of the book Millionaire Woman Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen. He concedes that women are more goal-oriented and have had to work harder than men. Anyone who makes cold calls and adheres to a good follow-up program knows it takes tenacity and perseverance.
Ent
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