TP Javeton WebNet

Category: Entrepreneur

Individual skilled in a specific field or area working independent of established “salaried job” setting. Best described by the term “spirit of the entrepreneur”, this type of person is known to carve out his/her own niche, call his/her own shots and work according to his/her own schedule.

  • Handling Failure The Successful Entrepreneur Way


    There are many differences that separate the winners in business and life from those who are struggling and falling by the wayside. One big difference is how they handle failure. Successful entrepreneurs have a positive mindset around the experience of failure. When they fail, they look at it as a result. In other words, they took “x” steps which produced “y” result. Since “Y” didn’t work, it’s back to the drawing board to change the formula and try again.

    Many new business owners don’t make it out of the gate because as soon as they fail, they figure, “Who am I kidding? I knew it wouldn’t work” and then quit. In other words, they were unable to convert stumbling blocks into stepping stones which inevitably lead to failure. If everyone had that mindset, we wouldn’t have electricity, airplanes, vaccines … actually, we’d have pretty much nothing.

    Every single success in this world was preceded by one, two — a thousand failures! Babe Ruth set a record for the most home runs. Did you know he also had the record for the most strikeouts? Thomas Edison failed more than a thousand times before he perfected the light bulb.

    If you’re not failing, you’re not pushing yourself enough. You are remaining in your comfort zone and cannot expect to reach the level of success you’re capable of. Failure is what allows you to learn and grow. If you quit as soon as you meet with failure, you will always remain exactly where you are.

    Albert Einstein once said, “You cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.” And, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” What these statements teach is, in order to overcome failure, you must think differently and act differently. It is what separates the ordinary from the extraordinary.

    You might have to seek out guidance from someone else who can offer the expertise you need. You may need to inject new perspectives and talent by forming a team around your project, but fear of failure is one of the biggest obstacles that hold new business owners back. Failure should not be feared, but embraced because a life lived in fear is a life half lived.

    If you’re stuck and unable to move forward because of fear of failure or because you have failed in your previous attempt, bring someone else into the mix to offer support and guidance. Tweak your plan and give it another go.

    Engrave the words of the following masters into your mind and never, EVER give up:

    • Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein
    • He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat. – Napoleon I
    • Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. – Robert Schuller

  • Innovative Way To Finance The Entrepreneur Dream


    Borrow from your future

    Statistics show that more than one million people in the United States start a new business each year. That number would be much higher if all the would-be entrepreneurs had the financing required to get a business up and running. In order to accomplish their dream of business ownership, entrepreneurs are finding new and innovative ways to finance their new ventures.

    According to Leonard Fischer, President/CEO of BeneTrends, one of these new financing options is the use of a person’s existing retirement funds-a pension, profit sharing, 401(k), IRA-which allows that person to start the business he or she has always dreamed of without tax penalties, consequences or mountains of debt.

    Under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), retirement funds can be transferred into usable capital for business investments or operations. If a person has more than $40,000 in a retirement account and is not currently employed by the company that holds those funds, he or she qualifies for this Small Business Administration (SBA)-recognized financing approach to start a business.

    Permissible uses of funds

    Retirement funds can be used for any business purpose, including:

    • Purchasing a franchise or existing business
    • Start-up expenses, such as purchasing property, equipment, etc.
    • Working capital, including paying salaries, franchise fees, etc.
    • Business expansion, such as funding additional franchises, locations, etc.
    • Equity toward SBA or other loans.

      The thought of dipping into one’s retirement can cause some apprehension. Through this investment strategy an individual actually has more control over his/her retirement-instead of gaining minimal growth dependent on the stock market, those savings are actually being invested in one’s own business. This approach often allows an individual to set aside more money for retirement than ever before.

      Use a plan expert

      “Today’s entrepreneur faces an environment of tremendous competition, complexity and opportunity, so starting a business the right way is more important than ever,” says Dr. Germain Boer, Director of Vanderbilt University’s Center for Entrepreneurship. “This financing method is a good option for an individual who has accumulated funds in his/her retirement accounts.”

      The entire process generally takes two to four weeks to be completed, and can be done by phone, email, fax, FedEx and regular mail.

      Working with an experienced employee benefits plan expert, starting a business is as simple as these four steps:

      Next steps

      1. Establish a C-corporation.
      2. The new corporation creates a retirement plan.
      3. Funds are rolled over into the corporation’s new retirement plan.
      4. The new retirement plan purchases the stock of the corporation.

        “So many people have watched their dream of owning their own business go out the window due to lack of funding options. We help people achieve that dream every day using money they already have,” says Fischer.

        If you’re ready to explore this innovative financing option, be sure to consult an expert to guide you through the specialized process.

      1. Laser Focused Entrepreneur’s Niche Market Selection

        One of the keys to being a successful Web Entrepreneur is choosing a niche. Among the challenges of the World Wide Web is its expansive reach and versatile nature. According to the old adage, the best thing about the Web is that you can do virtually anything; the worst thing about the Web is that you can do virtually anything.

        Pick a starting point that you’re interested in and stick with it until you are successful or you have established that your idea is not as profitable as you originally thought. So, when you begin to market, you may ask where do I start? Obviously you don’t want to compete with some of the large mega companies on the Web. However, there are great opportunities for small operators who have a lot of flexibility.

        Analyze what you are selling or what you want to sell. It should be in an area that you know a lot about or want of learn about. It may have wide appeal, but think of the people it appeals to most. For example, does your product appeal to musicians?

        That’s a pretty wide market. Narrow it down. Who is most likely to be interested, singers or instrumentalists? From there you might want or need to narrow it even further. For example, your product might appeal to musicians of a certain age, or musicians who favor a certain kind of music or even a particular singer.

        After narrowing it down as far as you can, think of appropriate keywords. Search on Google to see how many sites come up using these keywords. Next use a site that tracks keyword usage (such as Word Tracker or Overture) to see if there are plenty of users looking for that information. If there are enough potential customers and the competition is low, you may have found your niche.

        After you have chosen your niche, try to use it in your Website title. This can help your Website ranking. Another tool for choosing a niche is to study the competition and find out how to make your site unique. Choosing a niche will help your Website stand out. Find one with plenty of potential customers and little competition and you have a very good chance to accelerate your business growth.

      2. Dealing With Entrepreneurial Failure


        To be a successful entrepreneur you are going to have to learn to deal with failure. There is no way around it. Thomas Edison tried over ten thousand different experiments before he finally demonstrated the first incandescent light bulb on October 21, 1879. Bill Gates’ first company, Traf-O-Data, was a failure.

        Michael Jordan was once quoted as saying: “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot; And missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

        In my short stint as an entrepreneur I’ve failed more times than I can count. I have also had my share of success, but it’s not even close to equal. The failures far outweigh the successes, and I’m sure I have a lot more failure ahead of me. I’m OK with that because I know that as soon as I stop failing, I have stopped trying to innovate. It’s the nature of the business of being an entrepreneur, and of success in general.

        If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. It is naive to think that every good idea that you have will result in a successful business venture. I have yet to hear an entrepreneur say “every single idea I come up with seems to work.” More likely, you hear something like “I failed at my first five businesses before this one took off.”

        Think about that for a second. Five businesses. Sometimes the number is three, sometimes it’s 20, but the important point is that most entrepreneurs don’t hit a home-run with their first company. It really does amaze me – how many people have the chuzpah to fail five times and still start a sixth business. You have to be supremely confident and treat those previous five times as a learning experience for the sixth. And if number six fails, you have to do the same and move on to number seven.

        In my opinion, the most important thing is how you deal with failure. Once you accept that it’s inevitable, you are able to learn from your mistakes and move on. It’s easy to let the failure consume you – not so much because you are pessimistic, but more because it is hard to see something that you poured your heart and soul into be ignored or rejected.

        As soon as possible you need to come to the realization that your business is what they are ignoring or rejecting, NOT you. The sooner you do that, the sooner you can objectively analyze why you failed and learn the things necessary for improvement in the future.

        Can't go wrong when the science is right

        Failure isn’t easy and is extremely frustrating, but it’s a necessary part of success. Don’t believe me? Ask Thomas Edison, Bill Gates or Michael Jordan! Ok, asking Thomas Edison might be a little tough, but you get the idea

      3. Women Entrepreneurs Prove It’s Not Just A Man’s World


        The she factor

        I recently read an article about women entrepreneurs and their performance as it relates to their male counterparts. I must admit that what I learned, although not shockingly surprised, was in many ways very enlightening and I’d like to share some of it with you.

        According to the Center For Women’s Business Research there are over 10 million women-owned businesses in the US, employing 18 million people and generating $2.32 trillion in sales. Women start businesses at two times the rate of men, and women-owned businesses account for 28 percent of all businesses in the United States and represent about 775,000 new startups per year and account for 55% of new startups at the time of this writing.

        One thing that I found particularly interesting was that the top growth industries for women-owned businesses in recent years were construction, wholesale trade, transportation/communications, agribusiness and manufacturing, industries traditionally dominated by men.

        Trust. Intuition. Balance.

        In the past 25 years the number of women-owned firms in the US has doubled, employment has increased four-fold and their revenues have risen five-fold. Here is the question I sought particularly to answer: Do women approach business differently than men? I’ve been compared to a bull in a china shop when it comes to business. Would a female counterpart approach things differently? More gracefully, perhaps? As my lovely bride would say, “Duh.”

        In her book, How to Run Your Business Like a Girl, Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin explored common female traits and how women entrepreneurs – and perhaps men, as well – can use those traits to their entrepreneurial advantage. Baskin reported that women tend to use three unique strengths more than their male counterparts: trusting their intuition, focusing on relationships, and putting more emphasis on keeping their life in balance.

        Trust your gut – Women are much more likely to make a decision based on a gut feeling. Women may gather the facts and figures necessary to back up that feeling, but they generally know what they want to do based on intuition.

        Build strong relationships – Men play the game of business like a sport. They are out to win and dominate. “Women,” Baskin says, “are much more interested in establishing a connection.”

        Find A Balance Between Work and Life – A number of women interviewed for this book cited on quality of life as their reason for starting a business, alluding to their desire to find a way to juggle family and work. “If having more time for your family is important to you, find a way to work that into your day. It’s not so much how much work you do, but being able to decide when you’ll do it.”

        Good advice

        Baskin offers one more piece of advice to women in the early stages of their business:

        You Don’t Have To Know Everything.

        My wife would argue this point because she really does know everything, but Baskin says when it comes to business, thinking you know everything is not the key to success.

        “It’s amazing how many women say they didn’t know anything when they started their business,” Baskin said.

        “Don’t be afraid to ask for help – you don’t have to be perfect at everything.”

        Solid business advice: for guys and gals.

        Here’s to your success!

      4. Catch the Spirit of the Entrepreneur


        Action is key

        Grabbing opportunities with open arms is often easier to talk about than to actually do. Most people find themselves dreaming about being rich but never actually doing anything about it. A combination of procrastination and ‘what if’ syndrome can cripple your creative spirit and might mean your idea will never become a reality.

        Socrates said “Action equals knowledge’. He was one of the greatest philosophers of our time. What he meant was that it is through action that we achieve results. For example, you could think about learning a foreign language for months, imagining the holidays you will take and the people you will communicate with. You can dream forever but accomplish nothing unless you actually make the effort to start taking lessons.

        Much like the martial arts approach, the idea is to take action immediately and avoid over analyzing the situation.

        Do you want to start your own business but are afraid of what kinds of things can go wrong? What if your initial investment doesn’t pay off? There are millions of things that could go wrong, but likewise there are many things that can go right! Fear can be paralyzing. When thinking about starting a business, particularly if you keep waiting for the right time. There will never be a perfect time. It’s now or never when it comes to starting your own business.

        Beat back fear

        • Overcoming your fear is a step by step proccess.
        • Do you have a clear idea of what kind of business you want to start? A clear plan will help keep your worries at bay.
        • Do you have access to the resources you will need? This includes the necessary start up cash as well as anything else you will need.
        • Do you have access to clients or do you know enough about marketing basics to ensure you will have enough interest in what you are offering?

        Just like anything else – taking action is the most important part. Make an itemized list of what you feel needs to be done in order for you to start that business you always dreamed of.

        Prioritizing your list will help too. Don’t wait for all your ducks to be in a proverbial row before you begin but make sure you have all the basics covered. Don’t wait for that ‘perfect someday’. Make an imperfect start.

        Don’t over think everything. Sometimes the best approach is to just jump into the deep end. And don’t wait to start discovering your own entrepreneurial spirit. Take action today!

         

      5. The Entrepreneur’s Checklist


        Hardworking self-starter

        The question was asked of me some time ago, what personality traits I thought were important for entrepreneurial success? My immediate reply was a spontaneous one about passion, dedication and hard work. Later that week and after considering the question a little deeper, I decided to elaborate a little more.

        The result was this self-examining article pertaining to what it takes to achieve entrepreneurial success, which is by no means definitive, but you can lay odds that if you don’t possess most of what’s contained in these paragraphs, your chances of business success will be greatly diminished.

        You must be self motivated, and if you don’t have the wherewithal to bounce out of bed each day without your spouse drenching you with cold water, chances are you don’t have the self motivation or discipline required to be an entrepreneur. Business demands that you take action based solely on your own volition. You have to do a hundred things every day that will not get done unless you make yourself do them.

        Another requirement is hard work. You can’t be afraid of hard work because if you think working for someone else is hard work, try starting your own business. You will be required to give every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears you can muster and then some. You will have to work long hours and be on call 24/7, at least in the beginning. If the mere thought of hard work makes you tired, it maybe advisable that you just keep your cushy day job.

        Experience and resilience

        If you can’t locate your car’s engine you have no business buying an oil change franchise. The most successful business owners have prior experience in the industry in which they have set up shop. Consider working in an industry at least part time for a year before jumping in with both feet.

        And you must be able to climb back on the horse. I always say: “If business was easy, everybody would be doing it.” Starting a business is hard work and the odds for failure are against you in the first few years. If you want to ride herd on your own business, you must be willing to fall off your horse and get back on a few times without giving up.

        Support and humor

        You need the support of your family. When you start a business you may have to spend more time away from the family than you like. The business may also put a strain on you financially, and you will have enough obstacles in your way without having to worry if you have the support of your family and those closest to you. In fact you’re going to be met with challenges big and small so you will have to develop a sense of humor to replace any thick skinned-ness in your make-up.

        If your feelings are easily hurt, keep your non-threatening day job because business is not for you. Many days in business, rejection awaits you around every corner and you must be able to handle rejection without taking it personally.

        Interaction and delegation

        You must interact well with others in order to be a successful entrepreneur. Interaction is a requirement in most business pursuits and an entrepreneurship is most certainly a business, so interacting with a variety of people, from your own employees to vendors to customers to investors. You must have the ability to effectively manage people without offending them; the ability to accept good advice from mentors and politely discount the bad; the ability to overlook mistakes or quietly rectify them; and the one I have trouble with: the ability to tolerate incompetence without losing your cool (at least not on the outside).

        And while we’re at it, let’s not forget money, the lack of which is perhaps the number one cause of business failure, so the deeper your pockets the better. Before you start your business you should have access to enough capital to see you through until the business can sustain itself and replace your previous income.

        This is a skill that you’ll have time to develop as it may not be required until your entrepreneurship becomes relatively successful and you have hired on some help. That skill is the ability to delegate. Running a business requires the performance of dozens of simultaneous tasks and it’s foolish to try to handle them all yourself. You must learn to put your trust in others. If you can’t dish out responsibility without worrying over the result, your business growth will be limited.

        prior business experience
        A primary business tool on hold

        Previous business ownership is a plus but it is not a prerequisite. Of course you would have an advantage over budding entrepreneurs who lack such experience so it can’t hurt. Many successful entrepreneurs have the skeletons of past businesses rattling around in their closet.

        Think of it this way – Business is a lot like marriage: you learn a lot from the first one that may come in handy the second or third time around. With that kind of advice you can see why I didn’t go into marriage counseling. But, according to the old adage…Grab the Bull by the horn and dig in to make your business a success!