Entrepreneurs, what are you waiting for?

Entrepreneurs, what are you waiting for?

I was a late bloomer. It took me 25 years to finally become an entrepreneur!

When I finally graduated from college after the war in ’73 (that’s 1973, not 1873), there was a recession going on and the only place that offered me a job was Kroger company unloading trucks, stocking shelves, ordering merchandise and running a checkout stand during busy hours.

Pretty glamorous, eh?

About four months of that grind was all I could take. Resigning quickly from Kroger was unheard of at the time and my friends thought I had lost my mind.

Then Levi Strauss & Company, one of the best then and now, hired me.

From Strauss I went to work for a smaller company in Indiana.

I had become an entrepreneur.

During my 7 years at the Indiana company, a large a success Medical Device company, I had been executive director over quality, regulatory and involved deeply in New Product Development.

Yet when, at the end of every year, as our company kept bringing in new business, making money and winning awards, at least one of the other companies would be losing business and money, thereby always reducing my bonuses and raises.

I finally decided that if I was going to truly benefit from my efforts, I might as well lose the training wheels, run my own show and take my own risks.

So, at age 52, I became an entrepreneur.

My only business plan for this new venture was knowing that I was going to succeed.

I picked up my first major client, five months after resigning from the previous company. And while the word “entrepreneur” conjures up swashbuckling, sexy, romantic images to many, to me it was always tough, sometimes lonely and never predictable.

I wouldn’t have traded it for anything else. For the first few months I was a one-man band working out of my small home office (it did have a window!). I worked long hours 5 days a week and spent the weekend doing what most people have an assistant to do.  The rest, as they say, is history – albeit a modest history of which I’m proud.

Tips from a conservative entrepreneur: 

•         Pace yourself. Take the long view. You’re building your future. 
•        Work hard and play harder. That’ll strengthen your perspective, which, of course, is your edge. 
•         Pay your  vendors before you pay yourself. 
•         If you have employees, make sure your employees feel that they work with you, not for you. 
•         Encourage your employees to become and think like entrepreneurs. 
•         I you have to start with debt, become debt free as soon as possible and stay debt-free.
•         When you hire or utilize associates, focus on a few people smarter and wiser than you are. 
•         Learn from others wisdom; don't be afraid to ask for help.
•         Always remember in the market place, you’re only as good as your last piece of work.
•         Believe in yourself, not your own press.
•         Whether it’s good, bad or ugly, don’t be inflated or deflated by what others have to say about you.
•         Just be who you are, but know yourself very well.
•         Manage your expectations to prevent what may feel like early failures.
•         It’s never about how big you are, it’s how good you are. That will draw people to you.
•         Size only matters when it comes to the magnitude of your ideas.
•         Be boldly responsible and accountable.  Never blame

Fear stands between you and being your own boss and a successful entrepreneur. Nothing is ever easy, especially those that bring huge self satisfaction and personal success. 

Can I really start my own business? 10 Signs you’re ready to launch Your Own Business

Can I really start my own business? 10 Signs you’re ready to launch Your Own Business

You probably know that starting a business can be an intimidating process necessitating a great deal of hard work. But the query has been lingering with you night and day. Maybe you are just not happy with your present position. Probably you have always imagined of launching your own consulting firm or shop.

Everyone isn’t equipped to be a business owner, but there is a great number of us who have the skills but do not recognize our own potential. Let’s go over 10 qualities that entrepreneurs typically have. (Hint: Most people have these)

The Creative Type

If you are fed up with having your creative concepts/ideas go to waste, then probably it is time to move out of that 9-5 and work for yourself.  Don’t waste your precious time and creative energy at jobs that wont supply you with the money you need to live the life that you want!

You’re Motivated

You do not need something or someone to get started simply because you have that inner drive to motivate yourself. You’ve vision, direction, and you’re passion about your idea is the only thing you need to get started doing whatever is you are doing(such as duties in your 9-5).

You’re Independent

This implies that you are a problem solver who’ll try to discover most issues on your own and solve them. You do not need anyone guiding you each and every step of the way. You’re smart enough to understand when you require help but independent enough to know not to depend on others to complete the job. These people who are independent can make exceptional business owners.

You are Passionate

If there is one business idea which stays with you that you have absolutely fallen in love with, most likely you can turn it into reality. Business owners and entrepreneurs are really passionate about what they actually do and will do anything possible to make their vision into a service or product for the rest of the planet to enjoy. You have a "Passion for business";  the common thread amongst entrepreneurs.

You’re Organized

Organizational skills are a must for running a business. You’ll need to organize your daily objectives, your finances & your employees(if you get any). You’ll eventually require a financial adviser for your taxes & an attorney for your legal records. Great organizational skills are crucial in building a profitable business and keeping the headaches away.

Helping People Is Your Specialty

Do you want to help others? You are able to design a business which is not just about generating money, it is about offering a service/product that makes someone's life better. Providing support & developing a community with a shared passion is also a great way to help people.

You Are an Expert

You have accumulated thousands of hours working on or with your craft; you’ve gotten to the point where you know more than the average person(it doesn’t take much) on a particular subject. This indicates you have a great level of understanding & experience to know what potential customers want to buy or want to know(you can sell knowledge too!). Operating your own business lets you bring your uniqueness and your interpretation of your craft to the table and give tremendous value to people.

You Are Brave

You aren’t afraid of failure…well we all are but some of us have a higher will to succeed than a fear of failure. You are possibly going to experience a failure at any moment as a business owner. If that does not scare you, then chalk that up as one more sign.

You’re a Born Leader..or at least can act like one

Having an excellent idea is a very important factor, but being capable to lead a profitable business is a real skill. If you’re an excellent leader, motivator, or just a person that can put everyone on the same page as you.. then the world of entrepreneurship is for you.

You Want to Prove Yourself

You have an idea and absolutely nothing drives you more than when individuals inform you that you cannot do that or it will not work. You will need to show them you are right. If establishing your own business from this concept and proving it can be done tickles your fancy..then you need to start your business today!

Do you’ve a business concept/idea that you’d probably enjoy launching & it has the possibilities to be successful or profitable? Do you have some of the above qualities? You don't have to have them all, because you know you are a quick learner. If so, now is the great time to make that start to success!

10 steps for achieving success in the Hidden Job Market

10 steps for achieving success in the Hidden Job Market

Step 1: Give Up the Job Seeker Label
Declare yourself to no longer be a job seeker and stop telling people you are looking for a job. This is perhaps the most difficult step, but it is the most important.

There may be a temporary vacuum caused by not knowing how to think and speak of yourself but not to worry, this gap will be replaced very quickly with a new, refreshing and empowering sense of professional identity, one that restores a sense of clarity, dignity and sense of personal power to your professional life.

Step 2: Adopt a New Empowering Identity
Declare yourself to be a problem solver, solution provider, fulfiller of unmet needs, consultant, adviser or mentor, whichever name appeals most to you. Choose a name you really like and one that you can identify with easily. 

If you cannot think of a good name, brainstorm with your friends or coach if you have one but most importantly stop talking about getting a job and being hired unless you like having doors slammed in your face. 

Labels are a form of branding or positioning which either open doors or close them. The employee label is a diminishing, self limiting label that often results in giving your power away. This is ultimately damaging to your self esteem and self respect. 

Step 3: Get to Know the New You
You will need to spend some time getting to know the new you, the person associated with the Real Me Hat. With support, you will find this to be a fun, exhilarating and immensely validating adventure. 

Your challenge is primarily in letting go of old outdated notions and beliefs that no longer serve you and which are simply no longer effective in the marketplace. The world has changed. It is time to wake up.

Acknowledging the truth about this to yourself may be difficult in light of the fact that so many advisors continue to tell you to revise your resume yet again and to do more networking.

Note: Networking is meaningless term unless you understand precisely what it means and have the tools and skills to bring about the end result. Without having all the tools, you are likely to get yourself more frustrated. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link.

Step 4: Translate Your Accomplishments into Solutions and Value
Most people are aware of their accomplishments but are often unclear on how their skills, talents and experiences translate into solutions and value to organizations. Since it is critical for you become clear and articulate about your unique value, it will be important to extract your special problem solving abilities from your accomplishments. 

The easiest way to do this is to start with one recent and important accomplishment. Go back in time to just before your accomplishment happened and take a visual snapshot in your mind of the state of affairs in the organization or environment in which you were working. Then ask yourself this key question: what were the chief problems or needs that existed? Write them down. 

Now fast forward to right after you completed your accomplishment and once again, take a snapshot of the situation and environment. Ask yourself these questions and write down your answers.

• What changed from one picture to the next?
• How did the change occur? 
• Utilizing a problem-solution framework, what were the solutions that made the critical difference? 
• What previously unmet needs got fulfilled?
• How did you personally create and implement these solutions? 

Instead of focusing on your talents and skills that you usually take for granted, focus instead on the value that you brought to the situation. Now continue this process with your remaining accomplishments. When you have done this exercise with all of them, take a step back and look for the dominant pattern of solutions and value that you repeatedly bring to each situation. If you look closely, you will find this pattern. This will then become the focal point in your letter of introduction in step 6 below.

Step 5: Stop Using a Resume
A resume is a fundamentally limiting tool because it promotes the label of you as a job seeker. The resume is also an ineffective marketing tool because the intrinsic expectations and formal rules of resumes prevent you from selling yourself on paper in a compelling and effective manner. Professional resume writers may disagree but their "improvements" are still limited to a defined context. 

If you decide to actively pursue the 30% of advertised positions, use a functional resume only and keep a chronological work history separate from this document. Only provide your chronological work history if requested in an interview but otherwise do not even speak about it. Why? 

Chronological resumes are NOT effective marketing tools no matter how well they are written. They will also tend to pigeon-hole you into a stifling corporate mindset. A good example is the familiar gap in your resume, used by interviewers all the time to disqualify you.

Do you really want to play this game? Do you insist on punishing yourself in this manner? Here is a good response to the question "what were you doing between job A and Job B?"; "I was living my life, how about you?"

Step 6: Develop and Use a Letter of Introduction
In the place of a resume you will learn to use an amazingly powerful document called The Letter of Introduction. The advantages and uses of this tool are vast. The longer you use it, the more you will marvel at its many applications and level of effectiveness. 

Even the act of writing this letter is transformational because it opens the door to a freely expressive channel in you which allows you to convey who you are, the greatest value you have to offer and what you are seeking. 

The letter of introduction works equally well as an prelude to a serious business conversation and a networking interaction which can put you in touch with key people very quickly. You may want to have a few versions of your letter for different purposes. Learning to write and utilize a letter of introduction begins to awaken you to the world of effective marketing, something significantly absent in most job seekers.

The Letter of Introduction has several main components which are as follows:

• Opening paragraph to establish rapport and your reason for writing
• A Second paragraph honing in quickly and powerfully on your major value to organizations
• A short bulleted list of examples where you implemented solutions validating your assertion
• A Third paragraph briefly summarizing the most ideal projects for you.
• Final paragraph expressing why a phone conversation would be beneficial to both of you. This is virtually always the intended outcome of the letter.
• Important: Never use the words job, employment, interview, getting hired or salary anywhere in your letter!

You will acquire in depth tools and support for writing and utilizing your letter of introduction.

Step 7: Use Social Media Strategies to Identify Matching Problems and Needs
Once you know your specialty as far as solving problems and satisfying needs, your next step is to use all online and offline resources to identify potential sources of these needs. A good way to start this process is by asking a series of marketing questions that will allow you to effectively hone in on your target market and speed up the process of locating key people that match your profile. Here are some sample questions to get you started:

• What is your major targeted industry?
• What is your ideal company or organization?
• What are the primary problems or needs you have identified to be your greatest strengths?
• What are the people within organizations most likely to have direct involvement with these needs or problems?

Once you have answered these questions you can then start your search and sorting process. You will want to concentrate on LinkedIn and Twitter to establish connections but another great resource will be industry specific networks and contacts.

Step 8: Begin Conversations With People Matching Your Profile
As soon as you locate people who appear to be connected to your target market or industry, it is important to be proactive, to reach out and make contact. If you have some inkling that a person has a need you can address, it is best to make contact right away but be sure to establish rapport and make a connection before diving into the specifics of the situation. 

The art of relationship building and relationship based selling is one of our most powerful courses at Growth Innovations.

You will also find that you can share your goal and directly ask people for referrals to people and organizations that match your profile. Sending them your letter of introduction is usually ideal at this juncture especially if they give any indication of interest or receptivity.

Be sure you have a clear plan on how you are going to present yourself and the best way to interact with new contacts. You can work out these details with your coach if you have one and if not, you can do some role plays with friends or family. The aim is to get comfortable and confident with your approach and get it refined to the point where you can carry the conversation forward to completing a deal if appropriate.

Step 9: Complete Profitable Agreements With Best Organization(s)
Once you have started a conversation and identified the need or problem which matches your area(s) of expertise, you are ready to move into negotiation and make something happen. 

This can be a very quick and straightforward process when you have really clicked and have what the person needs. In other situations it may take several meetings to complete the deal.

Either way, you will want to be clear on the entire conversation and sales process and also clear on how you will take the person through the important steps. This is a stage where having a buddy or a coach for brainstorming is important. Role playing is the perfect tool for gaining clarity, skill and confidence in presenting yourself. 

Step 10: Utilize an Effective Learning, Coaching System to Ensure and Accelerate Your Success
If you feel able and confident completing all these steps on your own, great. Go for it! On the other hand, if you would like some assistance, I'm available to help you. 

The ideal starting point is a phone consultation in which we will assess your personal situation and then devise a complete plan of action tailored to your personal needs.

Keep in mind that most significant growth and learning in life takes place in the context of supportive relationships. No matter what your circumstances may be, working in partnership with others will have profound impact and value.

Words of wisdom for you.....

Body Lanquage Can Cost You The Job!

10 Body Language Tics That Could Cost You The Interview -- And The Job

Michael Tally, a 31-year-old sales manager at a New Jersey-based packaging firm, walked down the long hallway leading towards his office, eyeing up the three candidates in folding metal chairs. “Two were nervous-looking, ruffling through papers in neat manila folders,” he recalls. It was the morning of the third and final round of interviews for the newest member of his sales team and there was a lot on the line. Nerves were normal.
What he saw as he passed the third candidate, a twenty-something woman, neatly dressed and armed with her resume, was not. “She was picking at her split ends,” Tally says, “Literally, snapping off the ends of her hair and dropping them on the ground.”
“I hate to prejudge people, and I knew she was completely unaware of what she was doing. But since the position was my call I can say with absolute certainty that it cost her the job.”
“Every person has physical habits—in poker, you might call them ‘tells,’ says public speaking expert Matt Eventoff. “Many of them are fidgets, for some people they’re grooming gestures or postural things like a slouch.” In everyday life these habits are no big deal, he says. But in an interview setting they can become a distraction, taking the hiring manager’s focus off of your talents and onto your… bad hair day.  “You’re in a high-stakes situation with a stranger, he says. “There’s a lot of pressure and an imbalanced power structure.” If there’s ever a time to get distracting (or worse, offensive) habits under control, this is it.
Body Posture
The experts agree that aiming for a neutral posture is your best bet. “Leaning back suggests boredom or lack of interest,” says Karen Friedman, author of Shutup and Say Something: business Communication Strategies to Overcome Challenges and Influence Listeners.  “People typically lean into a conversation when they like someone, so leaning back can signal the opposite.
But beware overcorrection for your lounging ways. Experts agree that leaning forward can be just as problematic, as it can seem overly solicitous or even threatening. “Don’t crowd the interviewer by leaning in too closely or over his or her desk,” cautions Amanda Augustine, job search expert at TheLadders.com.
Instead, aim for a neutral spine, says Eventoff. “Posture should be the classic ‘sit up straight,’” he says, as if a string were tied from the top of your head to the ceiling. “It seems so simple, but it’s amazing to me how many people ignore this important advice,” says “charisma coach” Cynthia Burnham, whose  expertise is in helping top-tier executives polish their public appearances. Standing or sitting up straight sends a message of self-assuredness—but it also makes you appear taller, which around the world is seen as a sign of smarts, confidence and credibility.
Physical Gestures
“Avoid chopping gestures,” says Burnham. “Whole arm karate chop gestures can psychologically cut up the space between you ad your interview in an aggressive way.” While not all of us have a tendency to “karate chop,” there are variations of the martial arts move. Pointing is often perceived as an aggressive motion and in some cultures is considered incredibly rude. Eventoff says any fast, repeated or aggressive hand gestures should be kept to a minimum.
As in posture, erring on the side of caution in an interview setting can also be problematic. If you shove your hands in your pockets, behind your back or even crossed in front of your chest you run the risk of appearing closed off, stiff or belligerent. “You should appear open and approachable,” says Friedman, “which means your hands should be in front of you and ready to gesture naturally.”

Grooming Gestures
“Grooming gestures are common in high-pressure settings,” says Eventoff. “It’s just nervous energy and a natural desire to appear your best.” And for the most part, he says, they’re not even an issue. These small movements or habits—playing with one’s hair, fingernails and jewelry—only become a problem when they are a distraction to the interviewer.
But Eventoff says these nervous habits, which seem so intrinsic and unavoidable, are, in fact, the easiest to kick—at least for the limited time window of a job interview. When I tell him of the incredible urge I feel to repeatedly tuck my hair behind my ears when stressed or uncomfortable (think: interviews, too-swanky nightclubs and dates one through three), he tells me to pull my hair back. “I always tell people to avoid rings, watches and jewelry for exactly this reason,” he says. “If it’s not there, you won’t play with it. If you don’t play with it there’s no chance of distracting your interviewer, which will keep his attention where it should be: on your conversation.”
Facial Gestures
“I can say with certainty that the body language I find to be the most damaging in an interview setting is facial gestures,” Eventoff says. From eyerolls to staring to darting, beady looks, the secret of successful interview communication is all in the eyes.
“Don’t stare,” says Augustine of TheLadders. “While it’s important to be confident and look the interviewer in the eye, but locking eyes with someone for an extended period of time can be interpreted as aggressive, not to mention a little creepy.” Cynthia Burnham’s rule of thumb here is a good one. “We break eye contact when we feel a connection kick in,” she says. The next time you feel that “click,” she says, hold eye contact for just a moment longer and then beak away. “Do this especially when shaking hands or meeting someone for the first time,” she says. It shows just the right level of engagement—without a whiff of creep.
Of course (and now this is becoming a familiar tune), avoiding all eye contact to keep from staring is also a bad tactic. Shifty, beady-eyed looks aren’t ones to be trusted, and the experts agree that a question answered while staring at a bookcase or glancing at your smartphone is an opportunity lost. “You’ve basically handed your interviewer a reason not to like you,” says Eventoff. “If your interviewer appears distracted during a meeting it may be rude, but it’s forgivable. If you appear distracted or disengaged, forget about it.”
In toto, the best bet for managing your body in all of its quirky weirdness in an interview is to practice moderation. Moderate posture, moderate gesturing and a moderate level of eye contact are the neutral canvas you can use to tell your story—and to sell your best self to win the job.
But the first step in fixing your flaws is accepting them. If after all this advice you’ve found yourself questioning your every move, you’re not alone. What are your bad habits? Are you a hair tucker like me or a karate chopper or a sloucher? “Your friends aren’t going to tell you this stuff unless you ask them,” Eventoff says. “And even then, they might not want to offend you.
No, like in all things, you are your own best and worst critic. Eventoff says to take the time to video a mock interview to get a sense of your performance under pressure. Grab a good friend and your smartphone and spend five minutes practicing answering questions on-camera (Eventoff’s only tip is to take it seriously or you won’t project the right amount of nervousness for your habits to kick in). Play it back and watch for habits that might be distracting.

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