Do Successful Entrepreneurs Always Take Big Risks?

One of the things that make people wary of entering the world of entrepreneurship is that they are risk-takers by nature and they believe that they are going to be able to be a successful entrepreneur without taking huge risks. One of the first things that always comes to mind is the business loan or investment in a company. A business loan for tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars is certainly a risky venture and when the economy is poor would-be entrepreneurs simply give up before they start because they are afraid of those risks. But do successful entrepreneurs always take huge risks? The Truth about Successful Entrepreneurs The truth is, while entrepreneurs do take risks once in a while and should take a risk if the chances of success are good, most entrepreneurs are actually very conservative when it comes to risk. For example, a successful entrepreneur isn’t going to spend a hundred thousand dollars buying inventory for an online store without first spending a few hundred dollars in designing a website in order to test whether or not the product would be popular; such as a website with the products listed but showing how to start when someone tries to buy one. This gives the business owner real numbers to evaluate risk with a tiny investment. How Entrepreneurs Prevent Risks Entrepreneurs to become successful rarely do it out of sheer chance. Although there have been a few cases where a person was in the right place at the right time, they still had to develop the product and get it in front of people. But the majority of the time, chances have almost nothing to do with it. Instead, analysis and smart decisions are the frameworks of their business, both things geared towards minimizing the risk as much as possible. How Entrepreneurs Minimize Their Investment Also, entrepreneurs look for ways to save money, even if it’s only a few dollars, because each cost-saving action can add up to quite a bit of money. That’s why they look for very low-cost or free things that will allow them to make their business better without costing them anything. Some examples of this are: software, marketing, web design and much more. Successful entrepreneurs minimize the risk, save money wherever they can, and end up with an investment that is engineered to succeed – and that’s the right way to approach entrepreneurship.

Doing It Right As a Team

There are several reasons why there is a need to explore and even implement periodic exercises within a team for spoken communication training. Some of the elements that should be addressed within the spoken communication training are as listed below: Ensuring that all involved learn to speak clearly and audibly is the first step to effective communication. Taking the time and effort to stop where the impact is needed for all listening to understand the importance of a particular point being made help to emphasize the point. Using “clever” or bombastic language is often more confusing than enlightening. By the constant use of such language the listeners would either lose interest in what is being said or worst still go about doing things in a way that is quite contrary to the purpose at hand, thus causing even further complications. The idea of effective communication is not to impress but to ensure the contents of what is being said is completely understood by all. When delivering important instructions, adopting a method where the listeners are asked to repeat the said instructions, ensures a complete understanding of what is required by both parties. Also giving the instruction in an orderly format helps to keeps confusion levels minimal. If the intention is to keep everyone relaxed, simple and easy-to-understand language should be used. Avoid making too many jokes especially if the connotations are ambiguous, as it can not only cause confusion but also cause misinterpretation and the feeling of being slighted. Using active rather than passive language patterns is also encouraged. There is more emphasis on the importance of the action requirement through active language patterns. Qualities of a Good Leader Supportive A good team leader should be able to encourage and support his or her team. This is what can help build a strong team. Enabling people to be the best that they can be, also improves the general performance of the team as a whole. A good team leader also listens to the grievances and requests of the team and presents this to the organization. The leader should be willing to effectively represent his team whenever the need arises. Great Interpersonal Skills and Strong Relatable Character A good leader should have good character. He should be someone that the team members can easily talk to. A good leader knows where to strike the balance between being friendly and authoritative at the same time. If a team respects their leader, they will be able to follow and work together effectively. However, a team that fears their leader will not be able to work well together. Confident A good leader should always be confident in everything that they do. A team may easily fail to follow a person who seems to be unsure about themselves or the tasks in hand. The team may also fail to respect such a leader. A confident leader can also easily inspire others to be their best and work hard at attaining their set objectives. A confident person is more likely to lead a team effectively. Committed to Excellence There are different types of teams. There is a team that may just try to complete assignments fast without paying attention to quality. There are others that can’t be bothered and normally fail to meet objectives or deadlines. These teams have weak leaders who fail to lead them in the right direction. A good team leader should always have integrity and commitment to excellence. They should seek to have the performance from the team. Such a leader ensures that the team remains productive at all times. As a leader, you have to set high standards and equally high expectation levels. This will help your team embers to aim high each time. Focused If a team leader isn’t focused then it’s very hard for the team to work together to realize their goals. A distracted team is likely to postpone assignments or even fail to work together if at all they don’t share common objectives. A focused leader will be firm at ensuring that every member of the team participates in helping achieve the set goals and objectives. He normally has his mind set of increasing productivity and the output quality of the team. Excellent Communication Skills You can’t lead people if at all you can’t express yourself effectively. Communication is about just being able to be understood. You need to watch out for small issues that may bring a communication breakdown. Learn to be polite and to talk to your teammates with respect. A leader who constantly yells doesn’t inspire his or her team. You should also not issue orders. Learn to discuss and make requests or assign roles. You should also learn to be listener. This is a very effective communication skill. You can learn a lot and get to work well with others if only you learn how to listen first. Innovative An effective leader should know how to think outside the box. Such a person will be able to make the team develop and progress well. Motivating A team will not be able to perform well if they aren’t motivated. You need to keep the team in high spirits. You don’t have to give incentives but just simple things can keep your team motivated. For instance, if someone does something good, it’s good to take not and compliment them. There are teams that acknowledge “the employee of the month/year”. This form of appreciation is also very effective as it motivates the team members to work hard. Once your team a member excels in a project you should congratulate or show them some appreciation. This will motivate them to work harder. Good at Conflict Resolution A team is normally made up of people of different personalities and ideologies. This means that from time to time, there will conflicts among members. A team leader should be able to resolve these conflicts without taking sides or making unfair judgment. He should always ensure that the team gets

Top 3 Business Strategies for Online Entrepreneurs

So, you want to be a successful entrepreneur. But which business strategy do you choose? There seem to be so many out there, with each so-called guru touting a different philosophy, that it can be very difficult to narrow down a business strategy that actually works. However, when you remove all of the window dressing and break the strategies down to the basics there are only three that makeup nearly all of the entrepreneurial ventures that are out there. Which one you choose will depend on your personal preference, your unique skills, and where you see a hole in the market. Service Providers The first of our three top strategies is providing some type of service. There are many occupations that provide a service where someone can become an entrepreneur. Graphic design is one good example; freelance writing is another. Whenever you are doing a service for somebody else and they are paying you for it (while not in the employee of another person or company) you are an entrepreneur. Affiliate Marketing Another big boom in Internet entrepreneurship is affiliate marketing. With the creation of websites like Clickbank, the affiliate programs offered by leading retailers like Amazon, and the big profits that could be potentially earned, affiliate marketing is one of the most popular entrepreneurial ventures today. With affiliate marketing, you find the customer, send them over to the seller to buy the product and the seller pays you a commission. Of course, you have to find the right product not to mention have a solid plan for getting in front of people that can be difficult. Info Product Creation Rather than being the person that receives the commission when someone buys a product from someone else, you could be the person that they are buying that product from. You could create an info product of some kind that you’ll be able to sell to the Internet at large. One of the more popular ways to do this is by publishing Kindle content on Amazon, but the products on Clickbank are also part of this strategy. Combining Strategies Of course, you don’t have to just stick with one. You could combine two of the above strategies or you could combine all three if you like. There are no rules when it comes to entrepreneurship. If you can create something that sells, or make money at something and be successful, you are an entrepreneur.

A Complete Guide to Human Capital Management

Any company that wants to achieve great success needs to pay close attention to human capital management. The employees of a company are the biggest asset it has and by keeping that asset strong, the company has the best chance of success. A company that pays little attention to its employees will end up with a team of employees who are unmotivated and unproductive. Human capital management can be the difference between a company with a winning team of employees all pulling together toward a shared goal and a demoralized group who are providing little overall value. It is important that each and every member of the team is considered as an individual, each with their own set of strengths and weaknesses. Human capital management assumes that any lack of knowledge amongst the employees of a company is purely down to lack of training or teaching, rather than looking upon it as a fault of an individual or a team. Human capital management provides a strategic approach to managing staff at a company. It differs from traditional HR practices as it is concerned less with administrative tasks and procedures and focuses more on getting the most out of staff for a happy and productive team. Companies that currently do not have any type of human capital management program in place should think carefully about implementing one. The employees benefit greatly from human capital management which in turn means the company benefits greatly too. The approach to managing and organizing employees through a human capital management program is done in a number of ways. In essence, the approach should provide a fully inclusive strategy from even before a new employee is hired right through to their exit. Another important part of human capital management is succession planning and talent management. Being able to identify key members of staff as possible future managers can make the decision-making process for current senior management more straightforward, and allow for greater ease with forward planning. Employees at a company reap many benefits from having succession planning tools and strategies implemented. Being able to construct their own career path and identify future roles and responsibilities can also place them in a better position when considering their future. Helping employees with their career development is of benefit for everyone, especially the company itself. If you have a company and are interested in having a human capital management program implemented then there are a number of options available. You could either outline a program yourself and attempt to implement it, or you could outsource it to a specialist company. There are professionals in this field who can design and implement a thorough strategy for your organization. No matter how large or small an organization is, there are a host of benefits to be gained from implementing some human capital management strategies. Not only will the staff benefit as their own career paths begin to unfold, but the company benefits too as the productivity and motivation of the team increases. If you want to compete in the very tough marketplace, then investing in the employees could make all the difference. If you hire experts in human capital management then you can have that peace of mind that it is being carried out by those who know how to get the very best out of staff. With strategies such as a leadership assessment, one-to-one interviews, and even employee surveys, they can help improve the morale and productivity right across the workforce of your organization. Ensuring 360 feedback is always given and using proven way to identify talent, strategize for future success and plug knowledge gaps through training programs, a team of professionals can bring invaluable help to your team and your organization.

The True Meaning and Significance of Team Building

The term team building may not be new to us but it is not surprising that many of us still do not have a full understanding of what this term really means. More often than not, we see team building as an opportunity to get away from the humdrum of everyday work and experience a paid vacation with our colleagues. To others, it is merely a waste of corporate or organizational time and money as it does not really help build teams, but only gives employees a reason to take a long break from work. It can be quite difficult to fully define what this term really means. When used in a business context, it refers to a wide range of activities geared towards the improvement of team performance. It can be pursued through many different kinds of practices which can range from simple bonding activities or exercises to complex work and situational simulations to multiple day retreats that are all designed to help build or develop a team. The term should not be confused or interchanged with team recreation, because team recreation merely consists of different activities for teams that are purely recreational. Team building is often associated with business organizations and is generally discussed within the theory and practice of organizational behavior and development. However, it is not limited to enterprises and organizations alone – it can also be applied to school groups, civic organizations, sports teams, and many others. Many business and organizational executives, managers, leaders, and even regular employees believe that this concept plays an important role in any environment because it focuses on and specializes in bringing out the best in a team and in each of its members. With improved team performance, teams can better ensure that there are enhanced leadership skills, positive communication, and self-development within the team. This can result to an improved ability to work closely together as a team to solve problems more effectively and efficiently. While there are business enterprises and organizations that focus on specific individuals and personal goals (with rewards and recognition that single out the achievements of certain individual employees), this does not mean that teams no longer have a place in the company or organization. This tendency of focusing more on individual achievements only emphasizes the growing challenge of developing effective teams within the workplace, civic group, sports club or school organization through team-building activities.

Tips for Running a Creative Business

Creative businesses often have the same challenge. That challenge is how to be creative and successful. This isn’t always easy to achieve, so these ten tips have been provided to help you in your venture. 1. Put your focus into one area and become good at it. If you focus on what you’re good at as opposed to doing what people want, you’ll notice you have a greater chance of success. This is because you specialize in one area, allowing you to offer more value in your specific area of work. 2. Plan where you want your business to go. If you have a good vision of what you want, this will be very helpful. You can always change your plan as things in life change, but having your plan written down will keep you focused on your goals. 3. Do different things. When you change things up a little bit, people are bound to notice and pay attention to you. Realize that if you only offer the same things as everyone else around you, you won’t stand out in the crowd of businesses. Taking risks gets you noticed. 4. Pay attention to the numbers. You may work in a more creative field but that doesn’t mean you can forget about numbers. You have to ensure that you have a regular cash flow and without an organized way to go through all of the numbers, you’ll never know how successful you are. 5. Share your ideas to revolutionize. Talking to others is the key to a successful business. Having a great diversity of ideas can help you to adopt an innovative way of doing things for your business. Collaboration helps you to succeed in this world. 6. Have proper protection of your ideas. You don’t want to ever run into the issue of someone stealing your ideas. Be sure to be able to defend your ideas if you ever do run into this unfortunate issue. Your ideas are the essence of what you and your business are, so ensure that you know how to protect yourself including use of trademarks and/or copyrights as needed. 7. Take a digital approach to your business. Engage with your customers, employees, and suppliers. Learn how to use different social media platforms to help promote your business. This will help you to extend the boundaries of your business and how to appeal to people to support you and your business. 8. Don’t lose hope. People always make mistakes but it’s important that you move away from them and learn from them. You need to be determined to run a business of your own so don’t give up easily. 9. Always strive to improve. Continuous improvements help to make a business succeed. This includes looking back at things that went wrong and making them better. 10. Have fun. You’re supposed to have fun while running a creative business. Having fun makes work enjoyable, even the more routine tasks that form part of any business. It’s not easy running your own creative business but when following these tips, hopefully, it can help your business run a little bit easier.

How to Inspire Your Team

Now you have a broad idea of what it means to be a good leader, it’s time to break this down and to examine each of these points in more detail. But the most important point we can discuss is inspiration. If you can inspire your team to work, then you can get the very best out of them no matter what else. If they believe in your vision, they will be absolutely loyal and absolutely committed to what you’re doing. They will work harder and longer hours and they will drive your business, department or startup forward faster than anyone else. Notice the word ‘vision’ here. That’s very important and we’ll come to why in a moment. What’s more, is that if you have a vision for your team, you’ll help to inspire others. That means your customers and your potential business partners. More people will want to work with you. More people will want to buy from you. And more people will want to be loyal to your brand and to think of themselves as a ‘part’ of what you do. It goes deeper too. That’s because having a vision can also help you to make the right decisions for your organization. We talked briefly about the importance of not just keeping your team afloat but of growing and avoiding catastrophe? That all comes from having the right vision. Your vision is what gives you your goal. And if you get it right, it should also be what gives you your drive to succeed and makes that passion contagious. Many of the points we talk about later in this article will stem from that vision. Introducing: The Golden Circle Perhaps the best way to illustrate what is meant by this, is to look at a concept in business known as the ‘golden circle’. What is the golden circle? Well, if you believe the highly popular TED talk by Simon Sinek (who first proposed the concept), the golden circle is the difference between innovating companies that grow and thrive and those companies that fail. Why is it that Apple is constantly creating more exciting products he asks? (This was a while ago, bear in mind). Why is it that the Wright Brothers’ succeeded where others failed, others who had more resources and more means? The answer is the golden circle. The golden circle is made of three ‘rings’ which can be seen like layers. On the outermost ring, you have the word ‘What’. Inside that, you have the word ‘How’. And on the innermost ring, is the word ‘Why’. So as a leader, you need to think about these three things: What? How? Why? For the sake of simplicity, we will start by focusing on this question from a business perspective. That means we can change these questions into: What do you do? How do you do it? Why do you do it? And the key aspect to all this is that last part – the why. The most important question you can possibly ask yourself as a business is why you do what you do. And what might surprise you is that a lot of people can’t answer this question. What they tell you is that they are in their business to make money. Other than that, what ‘why’ is there? This is where your company ‘mission statement’ comes in and this is something that all the most successful businesses in the world have in common – great mission statements. It is the company with the mission statement that actually believes in something, that has a strong brand and that other people can get behind. Some examples: Ikea At IKEA, our vision is to create a better everyday life for many people. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. Amazon It is our goal to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Coca-Cola To refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit. To inspire moments of optimism and happiness through our brands and actions. To create value and make a difference. Facebook Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share make the world more open and connected. Google Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Intel Delight our customers, employees, and shareholders by relentlessly delivering the platform and technology advancements that become essential to the way we work and live. McDonald’s McDonald’s brand mission is to be our customers’ favorite place and way to eat and drink. Microsoft Our mission is to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential. This is important because it is what makes the brand something that the audience, the employees, and the leaders themselves can believe in – and it is what sets the long-term course for the journey. And as Simon Sinek puts it: people don’t buy what you do, people buy why you do it. The objective is not to sell to people who need what you make, the objective is to sell to people who believe in what you believe. Those are the people who will be loyal to your brand. And the same goes for employees. Employees who believe in your mission statement will stay up late at night working because they believe in what they do – they’re excited by it and they want to see it happen. Heck, people on Kickstarter will even pay to see your mission statement become a reality even when there’s nothing in it for them. Oculus’ mission statement is to: deliver incredible, affordable, and ubiquitous consumer virtual reality to the world. This is a mission that people believed in so strongly, that they essentially funded the organization and allowed it to become a real-life company. A good business starts

Successful Entrepreneurs Take Personal Responsibility

There are certain attributes that you can find with almost every successful entrepreneur out there. Drive and persistence are among those, but another huge one is their willingness to take personal responsibility for their life and their livelihood, which is why so many of them are successful. Have you ever met someone who believed that everything that happened to them was someone else’s fault even when it was clearly theirs? That kind of person will never be a successful entrepreneur because they believe that things happen to them instead of them making things happen, either positive or negative. So, how can you cultivate this personal responsibility to be a successful entrepreneur? The World Owes You Nothing Successful entrepreneurs feel as if the world is theirs for the taking, but they don’t feel like they are owed something by the world. They believe that if there is something that they want or need, the responsibility to go out and get it is theirs and theirs alone. They don’t believe that someone is going to come along and hand them a check, without a great deal of hard work beforehand. That’s why they are so good at recognizing opportunities – because they are looking for them, and they are willing to act when they see the opportunity present itself. They Do Not act like Victims There are people out there who have what is called a victim mentality, which simply means that they believe that some metaphysical someone – like fate – is out to get them, and that’s why they haven’t had the opportunities that other people have. They think of themselves as a victim and so have negative thoughts and beliefs which is an attribute not suited for entrepreneurship. Successful people know that when something bad happens it’s just chance, and they have the opportunity to rise above it. They Learn from Their Mistakes and They Are Grateful Finally, a successful entrepreneur not only has no problem making mistakes – they know it is going to happen whether they have a problem with that or not – they actually embrace their mistakes because they have the opportunity to learn something from them. When something bad happens, they considered it a learning experience and they improve so that it doesn’t happen again in the future. Most of the time, entrepreneurs are very grateful for the learning opportunity as well, because they might have continued making that mistake if it hadn’t been brought to their attention.

How to Protect Your New Business Idea

Pitching a new business idea can be very nerve-wracking. You don’t know how it will go and what people will think of it. And probably the worst thing you could have happen is having your idea stolen. With the three steps given below, you can help prevent this from happening. You should know that legal protection falls into three different categories: copyrights, trademarks, and patents. 1. Copyrights This type of legal protection covers any of your artistic and musical ideas including but not limited to songs, paintings, photographs, and books. Copyright protection is put into place when an original piece of work is set into a tangible form, meaning that you must be able to prove that you came up with the idea. Once this is accomplished, you have the legal right to produce your work. If you live in the U.S., you’ll notice that there is no requirement to register your idea. However, if you do have it registered, there are benefits to doing this. Once registered, you have a public record of your copyright which can help you with any infringement claims. The registration process is different according to the type of material created, but it always involves a processing fee and sending in a copy of your work. The copyright time varies too, but usually, it lasts for the duration of the creator’s life plus an extra 70 years. 2. Trademarks Trademarks apply to names, symbols, and words that identify and represent a company or a product. Similar to copyrights, you do not have to register your idea for protection. Also like copyrights, you get benefits if you do register your idea. When you register, the public is aware that you own the mark. The law will then see that it is your idea and you gain the right to use the registered mark. This means that people cannot then use a similar mark to your own. If you do decide to register your idea, it’s important that you get your application done professionally, particularly when registering for a trademark as it is more intricate. Getting approval of a trademark has been known to take months, even years. 3. Patents Patents protect the inventor’s rights to their inventions. Inventions protected by patents can range from machines to plants. Unlike copyrights and trademarks, you must register your idea for protection. Getting a patent can be very time-consuming as it can take years to approve. It can also be very costly, with amounts going up to six figures. While it may take years for your patent to be approved, you get protection as soon as you apply. A patent lasts for 20 years and you have the right to exclude others from making, selling, and using your invention in the U.S. Some ideas may require that you have a combination of protection. Remember, if you ever run into an issue of dispute about your idea, ensure that you have early drafts of your idea and detailed records of the development of your idea to prove that it’s yours.

How Team Building Benefits Your Business

In many companies, individuals are often appointed for their technical ability rather than their interpersonal skills. Communication, motivation, negotiation, and listening skills can be overlooked as part of the recruitment process. The failure of teams to function successfully can often be attributed to a lack of these softer skills on the part of members of the team, particularly those in management or leadership positions. In today’s business environment, it can be that employees do not actually meet other members of their team or see them infrequently making it difficult to strike up and maintain successful business relationships. Homeworking, offices located at multiple premises, and on-the-road roles can all contribute resulting in isolation for an individual and a lack of feeling like part of a team. This isolation can also make it difficult for individuals to focus on the overall aims of a business rather than their own personal goals and targets. The purpose of team building is to overcome these obstacles to business success. Team building seeks to draw out the individual strengths of employees and bring them together into a coherent whole so that business objectives can be realised. At a basic level team building is about getting to know and understand co-workers. By building relationships communication improves, the workplace becomes more enjoyable and motivation is higher. Those participating in team-building learn more about their own strengths and weaknesses and the strengths and weaknesses of their co-workers. As a result, individual strengths can be utilised in the workplace, leading to increased productivity. So what exactly is team building? Team building can encompass a wide range of activities designed to develop participants’ ability to work together successfully. There is often the use of games for team-building activities. Sometimes children’s games are used, sometimes more complex games, designed with specific tasks in mind. Team building games can take place over a period of time, at one-day events or over several consecutive days. There is no one set way in which team building should take place. Exercises should be appropriate to the individual needs of a business. Team building games generally relate to specific skill sets. Successful teams need to be able to communicate, make decisions, plan effectively and trust each other and it is around these areas that the exercise usually focus. Sessions are usually run by trained facilitators to ensure focus and flow to exercises. A team-building game can be very simplistic, such as a social activity designed to get employees talking to one another. It may be centered around personal development, for example, physically challenging or adventure activities such as treasure hunts or learning a sport. Team building can seem excessive particularly when it comes to small businesses. All businesses, however, whatever their size need to have a shared direction of where they are heading and what needs to be done to achieve this. Team building can actually be exceptionally valuable to smaller businesses as organizations with fewer employees tend to have roles with very specific accountabilities and little overlap. This can lead to a lack of focus on the overall objectives of such organizations, in an environment where there is little margin for error. So what results should a business expect to see after investing time, money, and effort in team building? When using good exercises and games team building has benefits for both the business and the individual. At a fundamental level, a successful team-building event should lead to employees having a clearer understanding of business goals and direction. This is essential if everyone is to work together towards the same ultimate goal. Team building games are about enabling employees to successfully work together to achieve the aims of a business. Team building is not a one-off exercise, however, but a continual business need. Businesses are not static and operate in a constantly changing environment. Staff turnover, the economic environment, business relationships and changing customer needs all mean that teams need to be dynamic and able to evolve to meet the many challenges that they will encounter. From start-up businesses to mature organizations, a company’s best assets are those that it employs. For a business to be successful all employees should be working towards the same goal. To do this competition between different parts of an organization needs to be eliminated. Employees need a sense of ownership of their own role and need to understand how it interacts with others, working collaboratively towards defined objectives. It is only by everyone, whatever their role, actively participating in developing a business that it can truly flourish.