It's a REAL business

From Phoenix b2bhints: Fail to plan or plan to fail? Gary Durkin gives advice on how (and how not) to treat any business undertaking:

The fundamental reasoning behind so many failures in small business, is the clear lack of willingness to act like a real business. Many people may ' have a go ', they could ' give it a try ', or ' let's see what happens ' - all with the.. ' what have I got to lose? ' attitude. THAT, my friends, is one of the biggest secrets to FAILURE.

A few points to consider:

• Manage your time well.
• Plan. Plan carefully, honestly, and realistically.
• Plan for success.
  

Pathetic

Pathetic.

That's what my wife just called the business I'm currently focusing on. She said it was a pathetic way to make a living.

Now in any startup, an entrepreneur would definitely face challenges and adversity. It is not uncommon to encounter ridicule, especially if your idea is not as mainstream a business concept as would be considered by many. Hence, I tried to anticipate this attitude of my family, and I tried to be reasonable in addressing this.

It's very unfortunate that I come from a family of non-entrepreneurs. Members of my family, both my parents and siblings, and now my wife, are more into a stable means of making a living. They want jobs. They want security. Even signing up for under-paying over-loading jobs would be all right, just to make ends meet.

But I'm fed up with having to time in and out at the office at given times of the day. I'm fed up with the limited salary and paltry benefits I receive. I thought I must act, and this I must do NOW if I intend to take off sooner.

An entrepreneur should expect support from his/her own family. And it is quite painful for one to experience not being appreciated.

More lessons from young entrepreneurs

From an article in a Philippine Daily Broadsheet that featured students' having the chance of pushing their business ideas to the bigwigs (and getting fundings/commitments):

... Team leader Aaron Jarveen Ho said his group learned more from this experience than from any subject in school and made them even more serious about going into business rather than joining multinational companies after graduation.

"The shift in mentality from employment to entrepreneurship is stronger and more pronounced, especially among young people. As early as now, students are asking themselves what business can they go into, what new product can they create?" Ho said.

Filipinos have traditionally looked at employment in multinational companies as the way to success, a mindset that other more successful Asian countries like Singapore have already shrugged off as ineffective.

Poor economic and political environments cause Filipinos to go for the safer route of employment instead of taking calculated risks to develop their own product or service. Ho says, however, that the difficult economic and political environments are "things beyond our control that we just have to deal with".

Employment, indeed, is the safer route. But the person willing to take the risks attributed to developing, marketing, and selling his/her own ideas, products or services would most likely
be the person who would gain the most in the end.

There is a pronounced need for a shift in mentality from employment to entrepreneurship, especially in these days of hardship and economic slump. One can no longer depend on the usual sources of income, because these may not be enough. We must learn to innovate, to revolutionize, to evolve.

Business is difficult, yes. But it is also very fulfilling if done right, and at the right time.

Startup suicide?

Being a newbie at this entrepreneurship game, I often look equally into what NOT to do as well as with what I'm supposed to do in starting up my business. Found a few handy tips I found from a site I frequent. From the Microsoft Small Business Center (via Business Opportunities Weblog): Easy to make mistakes that can kill a new entrepreneur's startup:

• Mistake 1: Driving a fire engine without a route.
• Mistake 2: Selling way too cheap.
• Mistake 3: Starting a business just for the thrill of it.
• Mistake 4: Clueless about marketing.
• Mistake 5: Being a pal instead of a boss.
• Mistake 6: Blowing through your capital.
• Mistake 7: Overlooking your loved ones.

Read more.

Lessons from another young entrepreneur

I recently met with a colleague who's about to leave the company. I was surprised at how enterprising this person was. Aside from his day job, he operates quite a number of other businesses ranging from retail to tech. Wow! Talk about diversifying one's investments.

I asked him what he was working a day job for. He said he gets into regular work for the experience. He loves working with multinational firms. He loves the diversity of culture, the pressure, the excitement of the job.

This is one professional guy.

What he earns from his businesses, he re-infuses into his endeavors. He basically makes money grow. He only spends on his everyday necessities and luxuries with his day job salary.

A lesson I learned way back was this:

If you want stability, then get a job. If you want profit, then get into business.

It's a cliche, I know. But my friend reinforced this idea, both explicitly and in an implicit manner.

A 9-to-5 job will give you stability, sure. The perks may be good, and the experience may be excellent. But it will not give you financial freedom to finally spend that quality time with your loved ones, and to finally get to spend on the things you want (or save, or invest even further).

Be creative. Be innovative. Be passionate.

And most of all, be persistent and determined.

More on determination and persistence

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

- Calvin Coolidge

I blogged recently about lessons shared by a young entrepreneur, the first of which is that "it's all about perseverance."

True, enterprises succeed not because of sheer talent, genius, nor education. There are, indeed, a great number of talented, educated, or very intelligent people who don't succeed in this world simply because they do not have the passion and the drive to achieve what they want. Most of the time, in the first place, they do not even know what they want to achieve.

Set goals. Identify these goals and internalize them. Then be determined and persistent to reach these goals one step at a time.

Determination and persistence are the key to one's success.

Lessons from a young entrepreneur

From Business Opportunities Weblog:

1. It's all about perseverance.
2. Understand the value of mentorship and teamwork.
3. Stick to your niche.
4. Stay on top of news that affects your clients.
5. Communication is key.
6. Capitalization is crucial.
7. Communicate unwavering honesty and integrity.
8. Stay on top of the curve.
9. Take ownership in your clients' success.
10. Never stop marketing.

In business, perseverance is the key to success. If you're focused and you know that you have an excellent, sellable service/product, keep in mind that your efforts are not being put to waste. Be prepared to pump-prime. Be prepared to spend the resources and exert the effort at the early stages of the endeavor. You'll realize the benefits soon enough. Quit, and you lose.

Remain focused, and stick to your goals.

The power of leverage

In an enterprise, leverage is always important in getting the most out of your investment. The power of leverage enhances the power of efficiency, and thus translates to savings and better productivity. Once the entrepreneur gets leverage, he/she expects good returns to his/her investment efforts and funds. The entrepreneur gets 80% of the work done or the benefits with 20% of the effort. It's the fulfillment of Pareto's Law.

After all, it's easier to distribute a single task for 100 people doing 1% of the work each, than have one person do 100% of the work, especially if it is daunting a task.

Leverage is the key to succeeding in business. Leverage is the key to getting rich.

Leadership in a frustrating world

What is leadership?

There are a great number of ways by which leadership can be defined. Many are the denotations and connotations of the term. But to an entrepreneur, leadership is best defined as the ability to inspire others towards coming up with a shared vision. Through this inspiration, a leader has the ability to empower others towards working for a shared goal. Whether it be fortune, fame or glory, no end is too hard to attain if one adopts the mindset of a true leader.

And this leadership shall help this entrepreneur in my quest to build my business empire.

I shall not waver in my quest to inspire. I shall not falter in my desire to achieve my goal.

Failures may come, but I will rise again to my feet and beat the odds. In the end, the benefits will outweigh the losses. Success will come. For it is in investing time, effort, blood, sweat and tears that one gets to sow the seeds of success. And the return-on-investment is more than enough---more than worth it. It's not just the monetary gain, but the experience and the thought of having brought about prosperity through one's own hands.

Welcome to my world

This weblog is dedicated to the entrepreneur, that formidable driving force behind economic growth and development in the world.

At this point I shall not divulge my real identity. I have yet to earn my way to becoming recognized as a successful entrepreneur. I am on my way to my first million, but I today I start from humble beginnings.

While it would be easier to keep to myself as I learn along the way, I thought it would be beneficial both for me and the public-at-large to keep a weblog of my experiences and lessons learned. And I surely hope one way or another, I can inspire. But first, I must inspire myself. And there's no better way ot do it than express myself and share my thoughts to the world.

Today I have conquered myself, my fears, my doubts, my inhibitions, my second thoughts. I have fought the enemy within in my intent to gain economic freedom. And tomorrow, I shall start conquering the world--one step at a time. I shall make my first milion--one cent at a time.