business success

Six Fundamentals of Success

June 3, 2020 By Isabel Isidro Leave a Comment

This article was originally published on March 25, 2010, and updated on June 3, 2020.

Is there a formula for success? According to Stuart Levine, there are fundamental elements to attaining success. In his book The Six Fundamentals of Success: The Rules for Getting It Right for Yourself and Your Organization he explains that mastering these fundamentals will show you that success is something that you can achieve.

The concepts he raised are nothing new, but the author masterfully presented them cohesively and in an easy-to-digest format. It is one of those books that may not look appealing or snazzy at first glance, but you’d find yourself unable to put down once you start reading it.

The book is geared towards the corporate setting. However, the rules Levine outlines are also applicable to self-employed professionals and entrepreneurs. According to the author, the six fundamentals of success are:

1. Make sure you add value.

According to Levine, you need to ensure that part of your daily work contributes to your business strategy. This is best achieved by knowing how your business creates value for the customer and focusing on those elements that are important to adding value. You can increase value to your business in four ways: help it sell more, cut costs, get higher prices, and improve quality for the customer. Other ways you can add value are:

Understand how your company spends and make money
Care passionately about customers
Continuously improve your skills so you can keep finding new ways to add value
Come up and test new ideas.

2. Communicate up and down, inside and out.

Communication strengthens relationships, improves products, and motivates employees. Communication is two ways: listening and knowing how you’re impacting others. The author suggests ways you can become a better communicator:

Establish a rhythm – any group that needs to work together needs to work together seamlessly
If it’s important and the stakes are high, say it twice. Follow up on a conversation with a note. Leave a voicemail or email. Make sure they got the message and ask for a reply to confirm they did.
Listen actively and stay open to other viewpoints
Pick your battles but face up to difficult conversations
Learn how to say thank you
Excel at giving feedback
Respond to calls and emails within 24 hours.

3. Know how to deliver results.

Getting results is all about knowing what you need to achieve and doing it in the most effective way possible:

Get disciplined about planning
Learn to distill data and take actionable results from the information
Provide clear expectations of the tasks at the beginning
Don’t be afraid to be realistic: if the project seems not feasible given the constraints you face, adjust your plans accordingly
Go for the buy-in: get inputs from key constituents
Deliver on your promises and follow-through: a lot of credibilities is lost between what you say and what you do

4. Conduct yourself and your business with integrity.

Nothing strengthens your brand more effectively than acting consistently and with integrity:

A trusted brand gets you the credibility and the staying power amidst the tight competition in the marketplace. It will bring you more business. Your brand is your most powerful asset – protect it firmly.
A leader’s brand must stand for integrity; its actions must consistently build confidence in its brand.
Set standards that reflect your value and live up to them.
Act with self-confidence. Treat others with respect. Surround yourself with ethical people. Set a good example. Always act ethically, and invest in relationships

5. Invest in relationships.

Strong relationships are the foundations of business. The return in investment when investing in relationships can result in a business advantage or just good feeling.

Adopt a relationship strategy
Set up a relationship radar screen, which lets you know where others stand in relation to you.
Give generously. Look for ways to help the other person. Do special things that people will remember
Never underestimate the importance of face time
Satisfied employees create loyal customers who in turn become apostles for your business.

6. Gain perspective.

Gaining perspective is hard in a results-driven environment. It’s easy to become so driven by emptying your inbox that you stop taking the time to determine what really matters in life.

Find a way to gain a more valid perspective to be able to see your actions, behavior, thought to affect your outlook, your personal relationships, and personal life
Know what you want: write down your goals and a course of action to achieve them
Setbacks make you stronger
Avoid arrogance – nobody does it alone
Admit your limitations
Know when to take a deep breath
Get comfortable with not knowing

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Strategies to Overcome Adversity

May 12, 2020 By David Heenan 1 Comment

By every conventional measure, J. K. Rowling was mired in her darkest hour. Her exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded. She had been sacked and was as poor as it was possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless. “By every usual standard,” she admits, “I was the biggest failure I knew.”

Against all odds, the spunky single mother poured her energies into finishing the only work that mattered to her—a book about a boy wizard. However, the publishing world hadn’t caught up with her genius. Twelve publishers rejected her manuscript before a small London house picked up Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. And the rest is history.

Like Rowling, in our small businesses we are all confronted with our own dark hours: equally traumatic, life-altering events. Some of us are unshakable in our belief that anything is possible if we find the courage to forge ahead. Others, however, can’t seem to escape the jaws of defeat.

For the past several years, I have been scrutinizing dozens of dark hours—precarious situations, as well as individual lives, spiraling out of control—and how talented people like Rowling refused to be trapped by them. Because personal stories are a lively and effective way to illustrate important points, I chose to examine a wide range of extraordinary individuals from history and contemporary life who overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

My heroes are as different as chalk and cheese. Chancellor Joel Klein took on the monumental challenge of trying to overhaul New York City’s long-embattled public schools. Coach Bill Snyder descended on another Manhattan—Kansas—to turn around college football’s losingest team. Spunky Joanne Boyle not only survived a life-threatening cerebral hemorrhage, but elevated her California women’s basketball team from oblivion to national prominence.

Similarly, world-renowned scientist and trailblazer Shirley Ann Jackson broke down racial barriers as the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate from M.I.T. and to lead a major research university, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Former Hewlett-Packard chair and cancer patient Pattie Dunn beat the odds to restore her reputation—and her health. Legendary Marine Gen. Chesty Puller, surrounded by overwhelming hoards of Red Chinese regulars, escaped the deadly fog of war at Korea’s Chosin Reservoir, so his troops could fight another day.

Sacagawea was the lone Indian, the lone teenager, the lone mother on the Lewis and Clark expedition, one of the most foreboding journeys ever undertaken. Equally adventurous, Gary Guller became the first one-armed man to scale Mount Everest, while also leading the largest cross-disability group to its base camp, at 17,500 feet. Retired Navy Commander Scott Waddle fought to remove the stain of the USS Greeneville, which accidentally sank the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru, killing nine people. Tarnished Time Warner ex-chairman Steve Case plotted his own miraculous comeback through an eclectic array of New Age businesses.

Whatever their route to success, these courageous and inspiring men and women prove that taking on a truly hellish situation is not necessarily a death sentence. Bright Triumphs From Dark Hours celebrates those who are able to face adversity—and transform near-defeat into a bright triumph. And let’s face it, during this economy small business and sole proprietors are facing some very difficult times. So, what I did learn from these relentless bravehearts? Here are six lessons, exemplified by the individuals profiled in my book.

1. Learn From Adversity

“Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm,” said Winston Churchill, whose life was littered with disappointments. The Last Lion, as William Manchester called him, was the dominant personality of the last century. He understood that setbacks are inevitable when we pursue a bright triumph. What set him apart was his incredible grit. To Churchill, anything was possible. Victory was always at hand. Remember his words at Harrow: “Never give in!” he told students. “Never give in, never, never, never never!”

Like Churchill, the folks I have profiled refused to equate the occasional setback with defeat. They expected some dry spells along the way. Dark hours—let’s face it all are inevitable, and we can learn from them. Expect some dry spells—and move on.

2. Fashion a New Dream

Oftentimes, it’s necessary to recalibrate your dreams. Corporate titans, for example, inevitably make mistakes, new competitors emerge, new technologies and consumer habits disrupt established practices in unseen ways. When things begin to spiral downward, successful folks make the appropriate corrections. The alternative to grime-encrusted lenses isn’t rose-tinted glasses: It’s a healthy dose of reality.

3. Sell Your Vision

“A leader must be a dealer in hope,” Confucius wrote. Those who can illuminate the darkness are experts at restoring people’s faith in the future, especially the faith of talented people who have run into brick walls. Even if you’re the only person running your business, you have customers and clients, vendors and sub-contractors who need to see your vision.

The golden core of leadership is the ability to raise aspirations. Transition is an ideal time to do so. Our intrepid adventurers are unflagging optimists. In many respects, this special species of leaders is “delusional,” according to veteran executive coach Marshall Goldsmith. “They are not as good as they think they are, but they have the confidence to pursue big things.”

So tune out the cynics and second-guessers who say you can’t beat the odds. Don’t let pouting pessimists rob you from pursuing—and capturing—your dreams.

4. Share Your Dream

“We can do as partners what we cannot do as singles,” Daniel Webster observed. Therefore, build alliances. In one example profiled in the book, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s recruitment of outsider Joel Klein as the head of the city’s schools succeeded where a long line of predecessors had failed. The talented twosome—working together—used their close links to affluent New Yorkers to lure much-needed funds to their reform effort. These powerful allies, in turn, have been invaluable in helping turn around the Big Apple’s long-troubled school system.

So keep good company. Create a brain trust of people you can call on in tough times in dark hours. Share your dreams!

5. Focus, Focus, Focus

Make life as simple as possible. Focus on what you know you can do. Know what you’re capable of on any given day, what you can count on. Do the simple things well, and then use that confidence to forge your own bright triumph. Learn to differentiate between what is truly important and what can be dealt with at another time.

Technology giant Steve Case, now getting his second wind at Revolution, refuses to get sidetracked. He believes zeroing in on the endgame has led to his success in business and beyond. “Anything is possible,” he says, “but it all starts with having a dream and sticking with it through thick and thin.” People like Case possess a tenacity that eludes those who wilt in the face of adversity. They don’t let a few potholes in the road erode their confidence. They share a steadfast determination to secure a bright triumph.

6. Start Now

As Teddy Roosevelt said, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

Let new ideas take root. Explore. Rattle hidebound thinking. Chuck yesterday’s assumptions. Don’t rely on what made you successful, but no longer works. The worst baggage we can carry is the baggage from a successful past.

Set goals that are specific and attainable, then break them down into manageable pieces—one step at a time. In the process, passing each milestone builds confidence and creates momentum. Self-confidence, in turn, develops much like a coral reef—layer on layer compresses into a solid base.

Don’t lose sight of your main goal by focusing on intermediate objectives. Take a wide-angle view of the challenge. As Gary Guller slogged his way up Mount Everest one painful step at a time, he never forgot the endgame: shattering stereotypes of the disabled. Summiting the top of the world was simply part of the process.

But don’t dillydally. “A degenerative disease will not be cured by procrastination,” said management guru Peter Drucker. “It requires decisive action.” Unlike sports, you can’t call for a time-out when things get rough. You must get out of the blocks quickly.

Remember the U.S. Navy Seals’ favorite slogan: “The only easy day was yesterday.” Properly scripted, tomorrow can become better than today.

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10 Common Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

December 1, 2019 By Contributor 6 Comments

America has always been a beacon of entrepreneurialism because it is so deeply rooted in our history. Our country was founded and then settled by innovators willing to sacrifice old certainties for new opportunities. The people who came to America a few hundred years ago looking for a better life were risk takers in every sense.

Do not mistake being a risk taker with being reckless. Risk takers must also become risk analyzers — evaluating the pros and cons, then trusting their instincts and recognizing and seizing an opportunity to create their own businesses. We, as a nation, must regain our appetite for risk in order to embolden the hearts of our entrepreneurs.

RELATED: What are the Talents of Successful Entrepreneurs?

You may have recognized common traits that bind these entrepreneurs. We don’t believe these shared traits are merely a coincidence; we think they are the keys to their success. We hope you’ll apply these traits to your own strategy for success for your future or existing business. We’ve highlighted them in every chapter throughout the book and now present them together, along with examples of their application by our entrepreneurs.

1. Trust Your Gut

Successful, independent-minded entrepreneurs know when to trust their gut. An expanding body of research from a number of fields — including economics, neurology, and cognitive psychology — confirms that intuition is a real form of knowledge. It’s a skill you can develop and strengthen — one that’s particularly valuable in the most chaotic, fluid business environments, when you must make critical, high- pressure decisions at a moment’s notice. At such times, intuition usually beats rational analysis.

Trusting your instincts also emboldens you to carry out new, untested ideas and ventures, even when nobody else believes in them. It’s about seeing the need for a product or new service and just knowing you can make it happen. You may not have the cash on hand to commission a market study or conduct a focus group, but you’re still willing to stake your reputation and money on that idea. Why? Because that’s what your gut tells you to do.

2. Buck the Conventional Wisdom

Ignore those who say, “It won’t work” or “It’s never been done that way.” Our profiled entrepreneurs succeeded in large part because they veered away from established formulas and ways of thinking. Don’t just blindly accept the so-called best practices of your industry. Look at them with a hypercritical eye. Dissect them, slice and dice them, contemplate different what-if scenarios. Challenging convention can open the door to competitive advantage.

3. Never Let Adversity or Failure Defeat You

Don’t accept the limits that others or circumstances place upon you. The ranks of successful entrepreneurs are filled with men and women who refused to stop believing in themselves, despite the derision of others or heartbreaking failures in their past. As an entrepreneur, you’ll undoubtedly experience stressful moments that will test your faith, especially in the beginning when you’re still trying to establish your brand and separate from the pack. Just remember, the antidotes are persistence and resiliency.

4. Go on a Treasure Hunt and Find an Undeserved Niche

In the business world, there’s nothing more exciting than finding an underserved niche representing a lucrative market that everyone else has failed to spot and target. That’s like finding gold bullion at a crowded beach — it was there for everyone else to see, but you were the one who took notice of the golden glint in the sand. Even a huge multi-billion-dollar company can’t offer something for everyone. Look for ways to fill a niche — a road even small start-ups can take. Many niches are too small for giant corporations to consider.

6. Hit ‘Em Where They Ain’t

Casey Stengel, legendary manager of the New York Yankees, loved to tell the story of baseball great “Wee Willie” Keeler, who stood at just 5′ 4”, weighed 140 pounds, and began a streak of eight seasons with two hundred or more hits. The Hall of Famer’s bat was only thirty inches. Once a sports reporter asked him how such a small guy could get so many big hits. Willie replied, “Keep your eye clear, and hit ’em where they ain’t — that’s all.” The same holds true in the business world. Whenever possible, set your sights on areas that your competitors have neglected or ignored.

If you want to succeed, find an underserved niche representing a lucrative market that everyone else has failed to spot and target Double tap if you agree! #success #quotes #businesstips #entrepreneurs #smallbusiness #startup #startuplife #bloglife #leadership #management #startingabusiness #motivation #marketing #inspiration #organization #niche #motivationalquotes #successquotes #successfulwomen

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7. Just Start

If you have an idea for a business, truly believe it will succeed, and are willing to push yourself harder than you ever have before, then take the risk and just get started. If your gut is telling you this business idea is a winner, take action now. The “perfect” time for a business launch will never present itself. More often than not, waiting just gives would-be competitors the opportunity to beat you to the punch. None of the entrepreneurs we interviewed waited for a sign from heaven or until a long-forgotten aunt died and left them $300,000 in seed money. Many faced tremendous financial hurdles. Nonetheless, they saw a market opportunity and grabbed it.

8. Save Your Bucks and Get Noticed Without Expensive Advertising

If your start-up business is on a tight budget, there are plenty of ways to get customers’ attention without spending money on advertising. Get your creative juices percolating and try something different. And when an opportunity arises to expose your brand to the masses, don’t think twice — jump right in. Use your own creativity to make your company stand out in a crowd.

9. Exploit Your Competitor’s Weakness and Make It Your Strength

The sharpest entrepreneurs have a knack for viewing the world from the perspective of their customers. That quality can help identify your competitors’ vulnerabilities and shortcomings. If your number one competitor has a reputation for slow deliveries, for example, make certain your deliveries arrive in less time. Engage and listen to customers to identify such weaknesses.

10. Never Stop Reinventing Your Company

You know the old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? The problem with that piece of advice is that it invites complacency — and complacency in business is like a slow leak in a tire. You may not notice the damage it’s causing until the thing is completely flat and you can’t move forward. Top-performing entrepreneurs aren’t afraid to take chances and keep expanding their product line. They’re not afraid to give their business a major overhaul now and then to keep pace with changes in the marketplace. And sometimes a complete face-lift is in order.

We hope that you will find these traits beneficial for your own entrepreneurial journey and adapt them to your own strategy for success. We hope you can apply them toward a new venture or use them in your existing business.

Believe that growth and opportunity for this nation’s economy are inevitable. Look at the world through the eyes of an entrepreneur. Use your imagination to identify market opportunities that others have overlooked. Believe in the power of your ideas and just start the pursuit of your own entrepreneurial dream. It’s up to you to reclaim the American Dream.

—————–

The above is an adapted excerpt from the book The Risk Takers: 16 Women and Men Who Built Great Businesses Share Their Entrepreneurial Strategies For Success by Renee & Don Martin. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Author Bios

Don Martin, co-author of The Risk Takers: 16 Women and Men Who Built Great Businesses Share Their Entrepreneurial Strategies For Success, epitomizes the rags-to-riches entrepreneur success story. Raised in poverty in a small town in the Ohio Valley, over the next four decades he founded and built the largest privately held insurance brokerage in California: Cal-Surance. Ranked in the top fifty of insurance brokerages in the U.S., Cal-Surance generated over $200 million in annual revenue.

Renee Martin, co-author of The Risk Takers: 16 Women and Men Who Built Great Businesses Share Their Entrepreneurial Strategies For Success, was a dynamic real estate broker when she switched careers entirely, to work in community service. She became a rape counselor, a court-appointed special advocate for The Children’s Court (CASA), a director of community relations of a child abuse crisis center, and a public relations spokesperson for many community organizations. After publication of the book, she and Don coauthored, The Survival Guide for Women, she became a frequent and popular speaker at women’s seminars across the country.

The Martins also collaborated on TeamThink: Using the Sports Connection to Develop, Motivate, and Manage a Winning Business Team. They live in Palos Verdes, California.

Article originally published on May 20, 2010, and updated on December 1, 2019.

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Key to Business Success

May 10, 2016 By Isabel Isidro 2 Comments

What is the secret to business success? Is it the wow-inducing business idea? Is it the high profile startup founders? Is it the well-crafted business plan? Is it the business’ viral appeal?

All of above factors help a business achieve success. What really drives success in business is simple: make your customers happy.

However, Brian Tracy, in his book Personal Success (The Brian Tracy Success Library) says that a business needs to go beyond that. Instead of just making customers happy, a business need to strive to make customers happier. He explains that the key to business success can be summarized in two letters: ER

A photo posted by PowerHomeBiz (@powerhomebiz) on May 9, 2016 at 6:15pm PDT

There are a number of things that you can do today to keep your customers happier.

The first thing is to start by giving more than expected, which will help elevate your business above the competition. Susan Friedmann in her article 10 Commandments of Great Customer Service gives three points to help you do this:

What can you give customers that they cannot get elsewhere?
What can you do to follow-up and thank people even when they don’t buy?
What can you give customers that is totally unexpected?

In the article “How to Keep Customers Happy,” Jennifer Fulbright advises:

Promise only what you can keep
Be reliable and consistently good
Avoid giving customers the run-around
Open your lines of communication
Have a comprehensive customer service policy

From the article “Customer Service: How to Knock the Socks Off Your Customers,” here are some additional ideas to keep your customers happy:

Take good care of the look and cleanliness of your place of business, which is a non-verbal communication signal that tells your customers how you value your business and put premium on your customer needs.
Know the needs of your customers by listening to what they say, and not making the mistake of assuming what customers want.
Provide special services offered to customers, especially at “no charge”
Deliver what you promise
Show care in the packing of the customer’s purchase
Ooze with professionalism — from your ads, marketing, business cards, website, etc. to the way that you deal with your customers and clients.
Send out handwritten thank you cards to customers on special store stationary.

So what can you do to make your customers happier today?

Recommended Books on How to Keep Customers Happy:

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What Makes Entrepreneurs Successful?

November 2, 2015 By Isabel Isidro Leave a Comment

What makes entrepreneurs successful? Is it inborn talent or hard work and determination? Are entrepreneurs born to win? If you don’t have the entrepreneurial DNA imprinted in your genes, are you doomed to fail?

As an avid figure skating fan, these questions remind me of the rivalry between Olympic figure skating gold winner medal Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir prior to the 2010 Olympics. In a New York Times article, the world-famous coach Frank Carroll was interviewed on Lysacek’s chances of winning the Olympics:

“I looked at Johnny and said, ‘My God, this is the most talented man I’ve ever seen’ … Then I looked at Evan and said, ‘My God, this is the most determined man I’ve ever seen.’ I looked at the two of them and thought, who will be the best? Will the one with the natural ease and talent win? Will it beat the one with determination, intensity and work ethic?’”

Like skating, a person naturally talented in business has distinct advantages. In fact, a Gallup poll of 2,500 U.S. entrepreneurs found that having higher levels of “entrepreneurial talent” increases the chance for business success. Entrepreneurial talent “… seem to make some people better at noticing new business opportunities and more likely to be risk-takers, natural salespeople and adept at cultivating social networks — all traits that support entrepreneurial success.”

The Gallup study found that innately talented entrepreneurs are:

three times more likely to build large businesses and to grow them significantly
four times more likely to create jobs
four times more likely to exceed profit goals
five times more likely to exceed sales goals

But as the 2010 Olympics showed, the determined Lysachek won gold over the naturally talented Weir. Lysachek’s hard work, persistence and determination helped him win the Olympic gold. As Lysacek admits:

When I first started skating I had no talent at all. I had no feel for the ice. It takes your body a while to adjust. I wasn’t like a natural, which you hear a lot of skaters say. It was something that I learned.

More important than talent or anything is your heart. You’re either born with the heart of an athlete or not, because in sports you go through so much adversity. You want to quit. In any sport — in soccer or baseball — you have a bad day and you want to quit. But the most important thing is to be persistent.

Natural business talents can definitely help you succeed. But even if you don’t have the innate entrepreneurial gift, you can compensate for it with rigorous practice, hard work, self-motivation and support from others, as Lysacek has shown. In addition, you need to work hard to learn the things that don’t come naturally to you. You need to adopt compensating strategies that will plug your weaknesses. You will need to work harder and smarter than someone who has the natural talent for entrepreneurship.

Start by deep personal introspection to help you point out your strengths and weaknesses as an entrepreneur. Avail of training and education to help you improve the entrepreneurial traits that do not come naturally to you. There are a number of ways you can become a better entrepreneur and increase your business acumen such as:

Find mentors who can help you and teach you about business. Mentors can be people in your daily life, or those you’ve networked with online and offline. It will not be easy, as strangers you’ve chatted with a few times online and off may not be willing to share with you their expertise and mentor you. They need to see your potential, talents or your passion and believe that you have it in you to succeed. Be patient, and make time to continue developing relationships with people you want to mentor you.

Plan a party or big event, to help teach you about organization skills, finding and negotiating with vendors and keeping everything on schedule and budget. It doesn’t have to be at the level of a party planner (unless you are planning on becoming one), but dealing with logistics and seeing something from start to finish can give you lessons you need. It’s an unconventional way to learn but helps develop the skills that entrepreneurs need to succeed.

Read books on business and entrepreneurship, such as howtos and stories of successful entrepreneurs. Biographies and autobiographies of successful entrepreneurs can give you important insights on their philosophies, insights and how their mind works. For books to read, check out our Small Business Bookstore

Become a volunteer to help you network and acquire skills that you may not possess. One organization that you may want to be actively involved Is your local chamber of commerce. (Read the article How to Get the Most of Your Local Chamber of Commerce Membership).

Practice how to become a better communicator by watching your body language, removing unnecessary fillers in your conversation, or even finding places where you can practice such as Toastmasters Club or improve classes. (Read the article How to be an Effective Communicator)

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What are the Talents of Successful Entrepreneurs?

February 8, 2015 By Isabel Isidro Leave a Comment

There’s an endless fascination as to what makes a successful entrepreneur. There are a number of studies and articles written to identify the traits and talents that propel an entrepreneur to success.

It is not easy to pinpoint exactly why one entrepreneur succeeds and the other doesn’t, but there are some characteristics that consistently show up in different studies and lists of traits of successful entrepreneurs.

Here are some lists of talents of successful entrepreneurs from top publications:

The research company Gallup conducted a study of 2,500 U.S. entrepreneurs, and created this list of the 10 talents that best explain success in entrepreneurship:

Business Focus: You make decisions based on observed or anticipated effect on profit.
Confidence: You accurately know yourself and understand others.
Creative Thinker: You exhibit creativity in taking an existing idea or product and turning it into something better.
Delegator: You recognize that you cannot do everything and are willing to contemplate a shift in style and control.
Determination: You persevere through difficult, even seemingly insurmountable, obstacles.
Independent: You are prepared to do whatever needs to be done to build a successful venture.
Knowledge-Seeker: You constantly search for information that is relevant to growing your business.
Promoter: You are the best spokesperson for the business.
Relationship-Builder: You have high social awareness and an ability to build relationships that are beneficial for the firm’s survival and growth.
Risk-Taker: You instinctively know how to manage high-risk situations.

Inc. Magazine produces an annual list of the 500 fastest growing private companies in the United States. According to Inc.com, here are the 10 talents that the “average” Inc.com 500 entrepreneur demonstrates (according to importance):
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Risk taker = enthusiastic about taking on challenges, have an overly optimistic perception of risk, yet take a rational approach to decision making in order to mitigate risk.
Business Focus = emphasize profits, goals, and metrics and align employees with company goals.
Determination = tremendous work ethics, confront and overcome obstacles, and are undeterred by failures or roadblocks.
Delegator = readily delegate authority and responsibility, proactively collaborate, and recognize and draw on other people’s abilities.
Creative Thinker = imagine beyond the boundaries of what exists now, constantly dream up new products or services, explore options, and think their way through problems.
Confidence = present themselves effectively, take initiative, and have conviction in their ability to build businesses.
Independence depend on themselves to get the job done, can handle multiple tasks successfully, and have a strong sense of responsibility.
Knowledge seekers = acquire in-depth information about every aspect of their businesses, use knowledge as a competitive advantage, and anticipate knowledge needs.
Promoter = speak boldly on behalf of their companies, make their cases effectively, and communicate their companies’ vision to customers and employees.
Relationship Builder = you have high social awareness and develops mutually beneficial relationships

Forbes.com has published a number of lists of the top talents and traits of successful entrepreneurs. In their article “Checklist of Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur” , they list down six traits:

Confidence = You must believe in yourself, and believe in your vision.
Self-motivation = you must be motivated to work toward the realization of your vision.
Tenacity = Successful entrepreneurs do not lay down in the face of adversity.
Understanding of your own limitations = you also need to be able to view your own abilities objectively
A healthy disrespect for the rules = Illicit risk-taking behavior is a common trait among entrepreneurs, and that translates into the ability to defy conventions that stand in your way
Willingness to fail = Successful entrepreneurs fail, then they go back to square one and try again.

Another Forbes.com article lists the 7 traits of incredibly successful entrepreneurs :

Abounding Curiosity = means asking questions, which in turn inspires learning resulting in domain knowledge and customer understanding
Bursting with Creativity = Not only do you have to be curious as an entrepreneur, you must also be creative.
Clarity of Vision = Crucial to have a crystal clear vision of who you are; what you want to do; and where you want to go.
Ability to Communicate = communication affects influence, relationships and results
Leadership Acumen = you must be able to lead your team – not just employees (you may not have them) – but vendors, partners, mentors, contractors and more
Loving Risk and Taking Action = in the end; you have to get off your tail and take action.
Tenacious Beyond Belief = true entrepreneurs never, never, never quit.

From the above lists of traits and talents, do you think you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur?

Recommended Books on the Talents of Successful Entrepreneurs:

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4 Qualities of Great Entrepreneurs

January 17, 2013 By Contributor 1 Comment

I have found that many entrepreneurs struggle with the same basic difficulties. We are often so caught up in our own ideas that we forget the aspects that are essential to our success. This is not to say that we should not be enthusiastic; on the contrary, you want to be excited and confident in whatever it is you are doing. It is only when we revert to selfish gains that we neglect the most important entity of entrepreneurism, which is the customer.

There are four qualities that make a great entrepreneur, each one equally significant:

The first is integrity.

It is the foundation to any business that was ever worthwhile. Does your product really do what you say it does? Can your customers really trust you and your company? Does your service provide a benefit? Do you care more for your customer’s satisfaction than making a sale?

The second is to treat every person like they are a million dollar customer, because one day they may actually be that or lead you to someone who is.

Those whom you treat well in the beginning will be with you throughout your journey to success and will possibly be part of the reason you get there. Aside from any success, everyone deserves the right to be treated equally. I’m a big fan of Rudyard Kipling and his idea of treating Kings and paupers the same way. This is also something my mum instilled in me from an early age when I used to sit in the back of the delicatessen where she worked behind the counter. I watched how she treated the bank manager and the street cleaner with exactly the same grace and respect. It has really influenced me in my business endeavors. Whoever you are communicating with, in that moment, they have become your most important customer whether they are buying from you or not. Treating them like a million dollars will never harm you as an entrepreneur. That street cleaner took extra pride in keeping the sidewalk outside the shop immaculate, and years later became one of the shop’s biggest customers when he was hired as the town’s livestock auction messenger. One of his tasks was to fetch lunches for all the farmers who attended the twice-weekly auction.

The third quality is humility.

It amazes me how easily high-ranking business people forget that the customer always comes first, and without the customer they could not possibly succeed. At some point they often seem to think that communicating with the customer is beneath them, or it is the responsibility of their employees. Companies go awry when the leader stops listening to the customer. I have seen this challenge with CEOs where egos get out of control. They focus on what they are going to get out of it rather than what they have to offer. I have even had potential entrepreneurs tell me about their great business plan, and then admit that they have not done any market research or they cannot provide me with potential customer feedback. Those meetings are cut short.

Fourth is your purpose.

An important thing to consider is what your customer will get out of your efforts, either as an entrepreneur, a CEO, or a company. What is the benefit to them? That benefit defines your purpose, keeps you on track as well as in perspective. By constantly reminding yourself of the benefits to the customer, you are ensuring that the customer will always be your first and foremost goal.

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10 Successful Entrepreneurs Who Started Businesses in College

August 2, 2011 By Contributor 7 Comments

The common line of thought is that a career does not start until after college. Many college students have summer jobs and work study positions, but very few consider these careers. While graduation is traditionally the time in which people start discussing careers, many individuals have successfully begun their careers in the midst of their academic pursuits at college.

Some of the most successful entrepreneurs throughout history began their business ventures in the dorms and classrooms of colleges and universities. With some of the most intelligent and creative individuals all thinking within four brick and mortar walls, universities are bound to turn up some ingenious entrepreneurial notions. These are 10 of the most successful entrepreneurs in history who started their companies in college:

1. Larry Page and Sergey Brin: While these two names may not sound immediately familiar, the company that they founded certainly will. Larry Page and Sergey Brin are the founders of Google. They met in college while pursing their PhDs in mathematics and computer science. Becoming fascinated with search engines and data mining, the rest will go down in history.

2. Mark Zuckerberg: While many expected this name to top the list, I just could not bring myself to put The Zuck above Google. However, with his story now widely known after a major motion picture, various documentaries, and several biographies, Zuckerberg is nonetheless phenomenal. Founding Facebook as an Undergraduate student at Harvard, Zuckerberg revolutionized social interaction in our society today.

3. Michael Dell: While in college as a pre-med student, Michael Dell started his small business Dell Computers. This small business soon became the personal computing giant, Dell, worth billions of dollars. Dell was named the youngest CEO to ever have his company ranked in the Fortune 500 in 1992 and has a net worth of over 13 billion dollars.

4. Bill Gates: Widely known as one of the smartest and richest men in the world, Gates was once a brainy college undergrad at Harvard. Gates has founded various super companies, including Microsoft, Apple, and others. But it all began when he was in school, messing around with computer interfaces and processors.
5. Frederick W. Smith: Though he did not actually launch his company while he was in college, Smith wrote a paper as an undergraduate at Yale detailing the future of delivery service. Smith’s paper was the young skeleton of the later uber successful package carrier FedEx.

6. Marc Andreessen: At one point, Netscape was the dominant web browser on the market. Andreessen was a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign when he developed the concept for the browser. Andreessen fully released Netscape after he graduated when he was only 23 years old.

7. Steve Wozniak: Known as “the other Steve” of Apple, Wozniak co-founded Apple computers with Steve Jobs when he was a student at the University of California Berkeley. Apple Computers became one of the largest and most successful computer companies in history. What began as a product to impress members of the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, California would soon take the world by storm.

8. Bo Peabody: As students at Williams College, Bo Peabody and Brett Hershey, began their design for what is known today as Tripod.com. This site was dedicated to web hosting services for college students and young adults.

9. Shawn Fanning: As a student at Boston’s Northeastern University, Shawn Fanning developed the file sharing system Napster while working at his uncle’s internet company. Though Napster ran into several legal issues, the company was still hugely successful and revolutionary for its time.

10. Zach Kaplan and Keith Schacht: Though not as widely known as the other names on this list, these two entrepreneurs founded two companies as students at University of Illinois. Inventables creates “how-to” materials for entrepreneurs, inventors, and engineers and Lever Works, Inc. develops internet applications.

About the Author:
Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges . She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @ gmail.com.

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Tale of Two Ice Skating Videography Businesses

May 26, 2011 By Isabel Isidro 4 Comments

[tweetmeme]I’m an ice skating mom. My two oldest boys, aged 8 and 6, are both passionate about ice skating, and we spend a great deal of time in the rink.

My boys recently started doing the rounds of figure skating competitions in and out of our state. Local figure skating rinks typically hold a 1- or 2-day competition once a year for various age or test level divisions. During these competitions, the ice skating rinks typically hire an official videographer to capture every performance on the ice.

It was during these ice skating competitions that I met two videography businesses that are an interesting study in contrast. While they offer the same product — videos of the kids competing in the ice skating events — the two home-based businesses are so different that they are almost like night and day.

One is the official videographer of an ice skating competition in Maryland, and the other is the official videographer of a competition in Virginia. Both are home-based operations: the one in Maryland is run by a husband and wife team, while the one in Virginia is run by a couple of twenty-something guys.

The first difference is in their acceptable modes of payment.

The Virginia twenty-something videographers accept credit card payments in addition to checks and cash. They use an iPad that has a credit card processing app provided by their merchant account provider, with a small credit card swiping mechanism. Customers sign on the iPad using their fingers, and an email confirming the receipt of payment is immediately sent to the buyer. Talk about the wonders of technology!

In contrast, the Maryland couple only accepts checks and cash. They don’t have a mobile or remote credit card processing equipment, so they dissuade customers from paying by credit cards. If customers insist on paying by credit cards, they have to write their credit card numbers and information in the order form. If the kids compete in more events, the higher the price the parents have to pay — cash that they may not have with them during the event.

The content of their videos is also different.

The videos produced by the twenty something Virginia videographers showcase the events with no editing done and no sleek introduction. If your kid skated in Event 20, you get the video of the entire Event 20, including other kids in that event. The benefit is that it allows you to see how your kid’s competitors performed.

On the other hand, the video from the Maryland couple has been edited to show only your kids. It also includes an elaborate intro of the whole ice skating competition to give viewers a sense of the experience, including footages of the other vendors in the event and montage of other kids that participated.

But the biggest difference between the two vendors is the speed of delivery.

The Virginia twenty something videographers processed the videos right there on their makeshift table outside of the ice skating rink. I was able to get and take home my kids’ videos about 30 minutes after the end of their events.

On the other hand, the Maryland couple sent the DVDs two months after the event. The editing and the production of the intro may be the reasons why it took them a long time to deliver the product.
Two similar businesses, possibly even competitors, but such huge difference in how they run their businesses and deliver their products.

Every business needs to look at the competitive landscape. It can give a sense of how your business is doing, provide ideas on what and how to improve, and identify opportunities based on your competitors’ weaknesses.

In any economy, your business stands at a huge disadvantage if you can deliver your product two months after the purchase when your competitors can do it immediately. You lose any competitive advantage, more so if you are in a sector that requires competitive bidding (you will not get any jobs!)

Here are some of the things that the Maryland videography business can do to improve their business:

1. Solicit feedback from customers.

In ice skating competitions, there are participants that compete elsewhere and regularly. Others belong to different ice skating clubs (including out-of-state). The parents of these kids are most likely to have ordered videos from other videographers in various ice skating competitions. While these parents are filling up order forms or choosing the events they want to order, the Maryland couple could take the opportunity to inquire about previous videos the parents have ordered. They could casually chat with the customer and ask questions like, “Is this your first event” … “If you participated in other competitions did you order their DVDs” … “What do you like to see in an event video” … and “How do you find the other vendors,” .. etc.

When you have the opportunity to interact with customers — whether face to face or online — ask them what they want, what they really think about your products, what do they want to see in your products, and even what they think about your competitors. Many of these customers will be willing to share their stories and experiences with other vendors. You not only get to know your customer, what they want and need, but you also get the inside intelligence of what others are doing.

2. Determine what is the most important factor for the customer.

The two businesses differed in timeliness of delivery and quality of content. The Maryland couple should have asked their customers: What is more important for you — that you get to take home the video immediately, or that the video be slickly produced? My personal preference is to get it as soon as I can so my kids can watch how they performed. I’d rather get the product quickly than see a slick video montage introduction that takes 2 months to complete. Plus, with the advent of social sharing, I’d rather have the video as soon as I can so I can share it with my friends and families.

It is important to get feedback as to what factors are important for customers. In fact, big businesses conduct market surveys about their customers’ preferences, so they know what their customers view as important. They typically draw up a list (say, top 10) of features of their products, and make the customers rank these features. They then incorporate these factors into the product development, and highlight those features that consumers say are important to them in their marketing and advertising campaigns.

Take for example ice skating videos — the factors could include speed of delivery, elaborate introduction, shareable formats for easy upload to Youtube or Facebook, getting the videos in a DVD or the more portable USBs, etc.

You may not have the resources to hire a marketing firm, but you can talk to as many customers as you can and ask what is important to them. If possible, ask them to rank these factors in order of importance.

3. Embrace technology.

The Maryland couple used paper forms, and didn’t even have a computer in their table during the ice skating competition. The twenty somethings had computers, DVD replicator machines, printers and an iPAD with mobile broadband access that allowed them to accept credit card payments and deliver the product right on the scene. With everything right there on their small table, the twenty-somethings were able to produce the product immediately. They didn’t have to spend the next two months creating, processing and delivering the DVDs, unlike the Maryland couple. Instead, they are ready to move on to the next job and earn more revenues for the business.

Technology could change the way you do business. It is important to always be on the lookout at what technologies could help you become more efficient and effective. After all, the equipment and technologies you buy are considered business expenses that you can claim as deductions for your business taxes.

Your competitors can show you opportunities to improve your business. Take the time to see what others are doing. Look at what they’re good at. Understand what makes them attractive to customers. Find things that they do poorly that you can improve upon, and use that to your advantage. In business, you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes, all you need is to look around you and see how others are running their businesses.

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Lessons from a Shopping Mall

May 4, 2011 By Contributor Leave a Comment

[tweetmeme]On a cloudless summer day in suburban Chicago, a woman put her two children in the car and drove to the shopping mall. There she met one of her best girlfriends, who also came to the mall with her kids.

The group of two moms and four kids spent the whole day at the mall, having lunch in the cafeteria and then leisurely strolling, shopping and people watching. An afternoon movie in the attached theatre and malted milkshakes at the ice cream parlor finished off the mall excursion before the women drove back to their respective homes to prepare dinner.

These two women absolutely loved the mall. In their minds, it was one of the greatest places on Earth. After all, the mall was exciting, full of the latest and greatest retailers, a state-of-the-art movie theatre and plenty of free parking. Even better, the climate controlled indoor environment made it possible for a whole day of shopping and entertainment without being subjected to Chicago’s often extreme weather. No doubt about it; the mall was THE place to see and be seen.

That was 1968. It was the heyday of the enclosed regional shopping mall in America.

Here’s how this story might read in 2011:

A well-educated, working mom is able to duck out of her office for a couple hours at lunch to catch up on some long-deferred errands. With the kids in school, it’s her chance to actually get things done. That’s critical, because evenings and weekends are filled with dance lessons, soccer practice and select-league baseball games that often require the family to spend weekends at out-of-town tournaments.

Her challenge is to fit a whole day’s slate of errands into two hours. She drives her minivan to the power center located along the freeway. There she takes advantage of a 30%-off discount card she received in the mail from Kohl’s department store before stopping by the Wal-Mart Super Center to stock up on non-perishable consumables mostly manufactured in China. She takes care of mailing packages and dropping off dry cleaning at her friendly mega grocery store’s customer service counter.

Next, she speeds over to the lifestyle center, an outdoor mall with heavy landscaping, upscale national-chain retailers and a nice-but-fake-looking façade. There she purchases high-end cosmetics (the all-natural kind that are never tested on animals) and a dress for the coming weekend’s formal dinner. Before jumping in the minivan, she grabs a double latte, a little reward for getting so much done so quickly. She must head back to the office and cram in her work before picking up the kids from their after-school program.

Indeed, times have changed.

As the lives of retail customers have evolved, the retailers and the shopping mall owners have had to change in order to keep up. Today’s harried shopper simply doesn’t have the time to spend the whole day at the mall. Speed and convenience are critically important. Shoppers still want luxury and entertainment, but they have to be easily accessible and located close to homes or offices.

Consequently, we now see many of those old malls, the ones that were gleaming and glorious in 1968, being torn down and replaced with big-box retailers, open-air lifestyle centers and mixed-use “walkable” villages.

A perfect example is Randhurst Mall built in 1962 in the Chicago suburb of Mt. Prospect, Ill. According to Midwest Real Estate News, the once-popular Randhurst is now desolate, so crews are demolishing most of it to make way for a mixed-use center that will be home to offices, a hotel and a bunch of entertainment businesses in addition to an updated mix of retailers.

Retailers and retail landlords either keep up with the trends or they die.

Well, retailers certainly aren’t alone, are they? Your business needs to adapt too.

Keep in mind that, as a person, you are essentially a business. You are a business of one, a business unto yourself. In a lot of ways, you (as a business of one) have much in common with retailers. Like a retailer, you are selling a product (yourself). Like a retailer, you want to portray your product in the most desirable way while making it extremely convenient to your customers. Like a retailer, you must adapt to the changing needs and preferences of the public.

Regardless of what you do for a living, you must place your clients on a pedestal. Their needs and wants are not only paramount, they’re moving targets.

Are you doing whatever it takes to keep up? Are you willing to tear down a 1960’s-era mall and replace it with one of today’s hot new shopping developments? Stay ahead of the trend or risk being squashed by it!

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 JeffBeals.com.

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