Capacity Building - Building A Foundation For Success

The entrepreneurial process can be demanding and sometimes make you question whether you can get it all done.  The journey to establishing a successful enterprise presents many entrepreneurs with the following question, "How do I create a blueprint for business and personal growth?"  Answering this question can sometimes feel daunting.  One way to ease the pressures of creating a successful enterprise is to lay a foundation for pursuing your dream or vision by focusing on capacity building.  Capacity building refers to those activities that improve either an organization's ability to achieve its mission or an individual’s ability to define and realize goals and do a job more effectively.  For organizations, capacity building can relate to almost any aspect of their work: improved governance, leadership, mission and strategy, administration (including human resources, financial management, and legal matters), program development, fundraising, marketing, income generation, etc.  For individuals, capacity building can relate to leadership development, advocacy skills, training/speaking abilities, technical skills, organizational skills, and other areas of personal and professional development.  Motivational guru, Anthony Robbins, has stated that "Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all our resources on mastering a single area of our lives." 

While tenacity and fortitude are key ingredients for most entrepreneurial success stories, the extent to which an aspiring entrepreneur  develops personal capacity, as well as the capacity of his or her enterprise, can make the difference between success and failure.  To overcome the obstacles you will inevitably face in building your enterprise, you have to have a plan in place for pushing your enterprise past the tough spots and taking your vision to the next level.  The likelihood of your success depends on having the necessary support systems in place to make your vision a reality.  There is no question that capacity building is an essential step in achieving success as entrepreneur in order to create wealth and build an institution.  Whatever your idea, remember great ideas need great people and organizations behind them.  

ROADBLOCK: Refining a Positioning Strategy

I had a roadblock that I summarized as follows:

I am interested in any thoughts you have on how to refine a positioning strategy/positioning statement/unique selling proposition and then turn it into an action plan for generating leads and converting those leads into customers. I guess I am stuck at the point of not knowing when to move on from drafts of those documents and then how to develop an action plan around it.

I understood my goal to be the following:

Goal: Determine my preferential difference in the marketplace for the products I sell and effectively communicate to prospects in order to convert them into long-term customers.

Here is a summary of feedback I received from reaching out to my network to answer this question.

Refinement:

• Probe ideal customers.  Ask questions of your target market to discover what the relevant differences are for them.
• Identify Benefits of product/service and incorporate into messaging. Sell BENEFITS (to user) not FEATURES (of your product/service). Benefits are sometimes rational (i.e. costs less, does more) or emotional (working with this firm is prestigious). 
• Customer Centered Messaging.  Determine the key messages of the product/service and make sure they are’customer value’ centric, not ‘product/you’ centric.
• Incorporate information used by prospect in their purchase decision process.  In your messaging use key terms that customer will be looking for.

Actions after Refinement:

• Make a list.  Develop a List of Prospects and track them via your pipeline through the use of a CRM tool. 
• Create a lead generation strategy. Social Media has shown itself to be effective for this, and which vehicle to use to create lead generation depends on where your target market is, and putting your product, your marketing materials and your sales team all there at the same time. Also, events and contests might be helpful. Events that involve the target market. By nature an event creates a crowd, expectation is already there, you are just capitalizing on it, so then it becomes whether or not how you introduce yourselves is effective. In the alternative, you could create some sort of contest affiliated with this event, a talk or seminar, with social media getting the word out about it in advance for the attention. Use each to create momentum for the Close. Test which ones work for your company.
• Creativity is needed in developing a lead generation strategy. In particular, the interpretation of your key messages, “translated” for your audience, in a way that will get the right kind of attention, distinguish your brand from the competition, and communicate compelling reasons for your audience to remember you. Creativity can be applied to refresh your key messages while continuing to reinforce them.
• Identify where prospects receive their information. The product itself can give you a lot of clues as to where you need to be “present” for any communication to be effective, which also involves the writing and designing of your communications, and any symbols that can express how you’ve positioned yourselves to be different. For specific individuals or businesses identified as prospects, run them on LinkedIn. Otherwise try to find a way to get introduced or introduce yourself.
• Messages. Burnish a small set of messages (3) and pound them relentlessly but when you can creatively – ie with a little bit of a twist, or a surprise or a grin. Repitition and consistency are the key. Three is a magic number, you’ll find that not even the biggest marketers can support more then that. Try to choose tactics that synergize and work together. Also, Need to get these messages into the minds of your sales team and make sure they are trained, positioned and ready to be in front of prospects.
• For professional services firms, awareness advertising can be thought of as the equivalent of yellow pages listings. You have to be there so that when your services are needed, your potential clients recall your ad, your firm and can easily find you. 
• Collaboration. Consider developing partnerships that allow you to tap into your audience or new audiences by leveraging different partner networks and providing new ways that you can provide value to new clients 
• Significance of Word of Mouth. When it comes to choosing tactics, attempt to drive to Word of Mouth, because personal recommendations, whether in the B2C or B2B space, are much more powerful than any ad or promotion can be. Choose tactics that have a proven track record in your field, which you can partially glean from what successful competitors are doing. But don’t be afraid to experiment with new ways of breaking through the clutter. Just don’t jeopardize your positioning by using tactics that undermine your desired brand image (i.e. handing out flyers on the street for a law firm). 
• Marketing messages are given out in all aspects of Businesses Operations. That is, look at all the different things that make up your brand. We hear a lot about consumer touchpoints but few realise any interaction between the brand and consumer or rather any ‘meeting’ between the consumer and the brand can be used to stand out or to leave a bad impression. Remember employees are also touchpoints and no fancy 360 campaign is complete if they are not motivated to market the brand.From the people you hire and who answers your phones, to your involvement in industry AND client groups, associations, conferences and issues all have a powerful impact on your marketing success. Then layer in the advertising, PR, and promotional activities. Investment in white papers which are then distributed to prospective clients or used to get meetings are used with a lot of success in professional services industries. Every marketing tactic used, needs to speak to your customers’ needs/wants, whether its a brochure, radio commercial or blog, and it needs to be consistent in look, tone, etc. 
• Need to Measure. Make sure you try to build some success metrics into your plan as well, so you can understand what is really working and change anything if it isn’t. This means building some kind of tracking mechanism into each activity, especially promotional offers. Adjustments will need to be made, because these are hardly “one time events” to be checked off then forgotten.  

If Execution is Not Achieving Results

• Check how your target market responds to the unique selling proposition. If it doesn’t work, avoid closing the mental conflict with excuses for WHY it doesn’t work. Simply change the proposition. 
• Try checking your niche market in other countries. If it doesn’t work in one culture – it may work in other cultures – and the world is big. You’ll be surprised.

______________________________

Key Considerations Summary

Source of Volume: What market is going to give you the the most volume and the most profitable return on your efforts?

Marketing Strategy:
a. Segmentation: For this product or service, how would you segment the market? What are the different kinds of consumers, and how are their needs or profiles different?
b. Targeting: How have your competitors already met the needs of the different consumers? Is there a consumer need not being met, and is there a particular type of consumer that is not being addressed? Where does your company fit into this mix and how can it distinguish itself according to unique offerings and/or unique needs or consumers being satisfied?
c. Positioning: What is that unique direction that your product/service will take the market and what makes it innovative? Which consumer segment will benefit, and how will you do it?

Execution (5 Ps):

a. Product: What exactly is your product (or service)? 

b. Price: What is the appropriate price for your product? (To find the most profitable price, you take into account the consumer’s willingness to pay and the potential volume that you could sell. (Price*Units Sold)-Cost = Profit. Is there a special discount or offer that would be appropriate to introduce your product to the market and build your base of customers? 

c. Promotion: How will you tell the consumer about your product? Advertisement, social networking, etc. 

d. Place: How will your product or service be distributed? Who will be selling the product to consumers? Where will these sales people be located?

e. Philanthropy: How will you communicate to your customer that you are generally interested in them or their community?  How do you demonstrate that you truly are a "corporate citizen"?

Human Capital needs to be Planned - Building A Foundation For Success

Noted recruitment and talent management expert, Allan Schweyer, has stated that "Human capital is a core corporate asset, just like financial and physical assets.  As such, it must be managed the way companies manage other assets.  This requires thinking strategically about how to invest in human capital, and figuring out how to optimize and measure its return." 

When laying a foundation for an entrepreneurial venture, planning is crucial.  Planning for every aspect of the future must be a priority.  An important part of planning for the future is developing a plan for full and effective utilization of human capital.   By human capital, I mean the employees, contractors, advisors, vendors, etc. who will help implement the mission of your enterprise.  Ms. Denise Rolark-Barnes, an owner of a Washington, D.C. based newspaper, recently shared with me that one of her greatest challenges as a business owner is getting and keeping great people.   Ms. Rolark-Barnes states, however, that she is not alone in this challenge.  According to her, all business owners will face this challenge at one point or another.  She advises that devising a plan for addressing this issue is something that all entrepreneurs should do to ensure the continuity and longevity of their business. 

Ms. Rolark-Barnes suggests addressing the issue of acquiring and retaining great employees in the following phases: Recruitment (create an attractive idea which will interest people in joining you); Training (mine potential by cultivating growth); Retention (“give 'em an excuse to stay”); Career Path (provide hope for upward mobility); Mentoring (encouraging model behavior); and Promotion (“move 'em along' and compensate accordingly”).  Ms. Rolark-Barnes’ work and forethought in this area have resulted in recent instances of highly talented individuals coming to her organization.  She believes these talented individuals will ensure that her company is well-positioned and ready for future shifts in her industry.

Planning for the human capital needs of your company is something all entrepreneurs must do.  Without a plan for attracting and retaining the best talent, you may find yourself unable to effectively utilize one of the most important resources your business will ever have.

Morning Clarity

I want to share a couple of simple ideas that have come to mind because of the activities over the last couple of weeks.  Each could later serve as an extended blog post.

• Implement Daily.  I was at a realtor association's banquet on Friday and had a great conversation with a realtor from Scottsdale, AZ.  While we shared a ton of ideas, this is what I will remember from her.  Those of us who lean towards being overly reflective, need to remind ourselves to put all of the great ideas we have in our head into action.
• Face Your Fears/Challenges Head On.  Name the issues and confront them 
• Get Organized. You might see some opportunity once you clear away the clutter
• Be a Guinea Pig.  I recently attended a Social media Bootcamp and out of that, two things happened that I couldn't have planned for. First, I received an interview on the spot that served as a blog post for one of the sponsors and I also struck up a relationship with another participant in which I am serving as a Guinea Pig for the early stages of an application he is building.
• Never too late to do the right thing.  If you know you should do something, DO IT!
• Be Thankful. Because bad can get worse.

Unleashing Creativity - Building A Foundation For Success

Creativity plays an important role in both the work of the artist and the entrepreneur. Like the artistic process, the entrepreneurial process requires creativity and fresh, uncluttered channels of thinking but sometimes you may wonder what to do when your creative energies seemed blocked or stymied.  A painter will stare vacantly at a blank canvas and a box full of paints with no vision while an entrepreneur may scratch his head struggling for the right approach to overcome a business hurdle. A creative block occurs when your mind is not functioning freely at its most optimal or efficient level.  You are no longer excited by your usual patterns of doing things and feel your talents are stale.

Despite having confidence in your abilities, you may get down when your ideas are not yielding the spectacular results for which you desire.  Mr. John Nelson, an entrepreneur and artist, has developed a method for overcoming his creative blocks.  When Mr. Nelson gets a creative block, he doesn't allow himself to succumb to the feelings of defeat that generally envelope one in an ebb of creative thought.  Mr. Nelson first gives his mind a rest, perhaps a vacation to Jamaica or a movie marathon weekend, something to distract his mind from obsessing over his "block" and inability to move forward.

Once Nelson feels rejuvenated, he then goes inside of himself and works his way out.  He accomplishes this by getting inside his mind and finding a challenge.  Mr. Nelson challenges himself by picking something hard to do.  Usually, he sketches a set of drawings and concepts related to human hands.  According to Mr. Nelson, drawing human hands is very difficult.  So, the challenge of accomplishing this task is his method of working his way out of a creative block by focusing his talents and energies on a challenging task.  As he struggles with a new set of challenges, he suddenly 're-discovers' his lost inspiration and finds the energy to get going again.   Mr. Nelson reminds us there is always something out there beckoning in the distance to help us work through our creative block to renewed energy and fresh thought (If you are at a loss, I would propose volunteering with a local non-profit or school to work with underprivileged children).  Sometimes we take for granted our talents, failing to nurture them. Consequently,  things become so automatic that our brains become lazy and stifled by routine. We are no longer challenged by our work, but  in the process of rising to a challenge, we can bring our minds back on course, unleash our creative thinking and reap even greater success and joy with a renewed perspective.  

A friend asked me a few questions about when and how to make the jump from a 9 to 5, to pursue an entrepreneurial idea.  I decided to deliver the answer to them as a videocast.  Let me know what you think.



What other topics would you have covered?

How should your Social Media strategy fit into your Marketing?

This is the first of a seven segment series.  I thought it was very good.  It will help you think about what you need to do prior to implementing your social media strategy.



Let me know how you would build on his ideas to produce more sales.  Conversion is key.

The Entrepreneurial Process: Building a Foundation for Success

How many times have you had what you thought was a great idea that would revolutionize an industry or simply bring ease and enjoyment to your's as well as your neighbor's lives, but were stopped short because you lacked the business experience or know how to develop the idea or build the product or service? Coming up with the idea that is going to change your life is challenging enough. But once you have done that, and have claimed your entrepreneurial spirit, how do you move from having a concept in your head to actually implementing the idea?  How should you develop your idea?   These are questions that asked by people everyday as they try to move through the entrepreneurial process to develop a successful business.

Moving from idea formulation to idea implementation creates a new set of challenges for the entrepreneur that can determine the success or failure of a project.  However, through building a foundation, which should include setting aside time to think through your vision, planning how to incorporate great people into your project and capacity building, you can overcome these challenges.  Such steps can help in developing the proper foundation of systems, procedures and people which will help a "would be" entrepreneur from succumbing to the pain and fear described by noted author Michael Gerber, in his book The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It that sometimes results from an "entrepreneurial seizure".  Over time your foundation will expand to include a well developed business plan, which will not only address the inner workings of your business, but also a marketing strategy of the final good or service.  For many, these can be formidable challenges; however, they are not insurmountable. Through the next couple of posts, I will explore a series of steps you can take to begin building a foundation that can serve you on a path to finding your inner entrepreneur.    

Work to Create Your Own Opportunity - the Path to Being an Entrepreneur

                                                                                                                           Picture by Flckr JAM343

To be a successful entrepreneur may require you to put forth extra effort.  Opportunities for change and success do not come by chance.  To gain them requires constant, persistent effort.   It has been said that “luck” occurs when preparation meets opportunity.  If this is true, then there is no such thing as luck.  Opportunities come as a result of preparation.

While Washington, D.C.-based real estate developer, Adrian Washington, didn't start his career with a well-defined plan (he let his interest lead him), success came to him through opportunities he worked to create.  Mr. Washington did his homework.  He worked diligently to build his knowledge base and learn his trade.  He worked to develop his network, with the understanding that business opportunities are really about connecting with people.  He also built his reputation by completing a series of successful projects that spoke to his capabilities and increased his presence in his profession.  With these accomplishments, opportunities came.

Having done his homework and put in the time, Mr. Washington was prepared.  As a result, he was able to take advantage of the opportunities that came his way.  According to Mr. Washington, preparation is key.  It requires investing time and effort, while constantly seeking ways to increase your knowledge and understanding of your chosen field.  To achieve success as an entrepreneur requires that you focus not solely on immediate gains, but also on future success.  A successful entrepreneur understands the benefits of delayed gratification.   As a developer, Mr. Washington enjoys a unique and gratifying position.  He has built a company that yields monetary gains for its employees and shareholders.  At the same time, however, he does not do it by tearing down communities or displacing its residents.  Rather, he builds communities and in many ways re-vitalizes them by hiring people in the neighborhoods he seeks to build.  By doing so, Mr. Washington helps to fundamentally improve the communities around him.  He has enjoyed this rewarding challenge and is excited that he has been presented with such an extraordinary opportunity.  However, it wasn’t chance or luck that brought this opportunity to him, it was his preparation that enabled him to capitalize on the opportunity and make it a reality.

What do you first do when you learn to swim? You make mistakes, do you not? And what happens? You make other mistakes, and when you have made all the mistakes you possibly can without drowning - and some of them many times over - what do you find? That you can swim? Well - life is just the same as learning to swim! Do not be afraid of making mistakes, for there is no other way of learning how to live! –Alfred Adler

On-going Challenge: Converting Potential Customers into New Customers

The slides above attempt to share some insights into the challenging task of getting the customer for your service or product over the "Goal Line", through the use of an on-line system.  I found the insights shared to be helpful and will try to put them into practice with HIA Toys.

What key insights have you gained on the process of conversion?

Blogging: Building a Conversation around your Important Ideas.

There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in. -- Graham Greene


Do I need to pay $1,000.00 to start a blog?....Short Answer: No!

This is a question I received from a neighbor when we were chatting about a project he has to refine some of his current writing into a book. It highlights some of the disconnect in the transfer of “New Media tools (blogs, microblogs, e-commerce sites, etc. ) to regular people who might be able to utilize the tools for a project they are working on.  It also highlights the problem that there are individuals who hold themselves out to to be an expert in using these tools, but can't back it up.  (I didn't make it up -- someone actually told a 65+ year old man, who wanted to start a writing project, that he needed to pay him $1,000.00 before he could get going).

 A number of people and organizations make claims about how they can be helpful to individuals with bringing an idea alive, but they can’t deliver. I recommend trying to get a basic roadmap in place before seeking assistance, to ensure that we are not taken advantage of during the process. While there is a lot of free information “out there”, I have been extremely lucky to find an internet strategist Lethia Owens, who has been extremely helpful to me.

In this instance, I played that role for my neighbor and shared  few fundamentals on bringing his blog along (He gets the added benefit of me recently attending the Netsol Social Commerce Boot Camp on Saturday and Roots Camp).

Reasons why you might use a blog:

• A blog is a free resource to use to share ideas and develop conversations around them.
• In setting up a blog you have numerous options, but you might try WordPress or Blogger (Blogging applications)to start along with a corresponding Twitter Account (micro blog application)
• Understanding your Market. A blog is useful to see if there is any audience for your broader project.
• Networking. A blog may lead to connecting you to people or organizations who your ideas are helpful and could lead to getting your ideas off of the ground.

I was able to assist Fitz in establishing a blog using Blogger, but that’s the easy part and it only took him 30 minutes to get going. But in order to achieve maximum success, he will need to do the following:

• Establish goals for this medium (know what you want your final outcome to become).
• Build the Community (Engage and Interact with the Community to Gain Support)
• Give them GOOD content
• Get them involved (Give your community actions to do on your behalf)
• Get them Investing (time, money, action)
• Share the Success with the community (Goals accomplished)

I explained to him that while he’s just starting to get involved in Social Media. He will be part of a larger effort that is transforming how the world does business and exchanges ideas. Some have coined the term “Social Commerce”.

The Components of Social Commerce are:

• Social Shopping
• Ratings and Reviews (core)
• Recommendations & Referrals
• Forums & Communities
• Social Media
• Social advertising

Social media isn’t the end-all-be-all, but it offers marketers unparalleled opportunity to participate in relevant ways. It also provides a launchpad for other marketing tactics. Social media is not an island. It’s a high-power engine on the larger marketing ship.  ---Matt Dickman

Align Yourself with the Right People - the Path to Being an Entrepreneur

Building an enterprise with sufficient capacity to fully capitalize upon an idea and compete in the marketplace is a key component to building wealth. One way to ensure that an organization has the capacity to compete in the business world is to hire the right people. While hiring smart, dedicated, and loyal people is a critical step in the right direction that alone is not enough. It is also important to develop a strategic plan for hiring employees. Initially, Washington, D.C. based real estate developer, Adrian Washington, hired his employees based on instinct. Early on, he looked to hire smart people who would work hard for his young company. As his business matured, however, Mr. Washington became more strategic in his hiring practices. He began to focus his hiring strategy by evaluating needs and identifying voids in his company. He then implemented a plan for identifying and attracting individuals who possess the requisite skills and qualifications to fill those needs and voids. In this regard, Mr. Washington developed a strategic, incremental plan for growing his enterprise. Having a plan for effectively utilizing the skills of those with whom you align yourself is just as important as identifying the individuals with whom you would like to work.

Mr. Washington stresses the importance of communicating to new hires the importance of their position and how it relates to the overall mission of the organization. As one noted business author, Michael Gerber, has suggested, "As an employer, you are going to have to create an environment in which 'doing it well' is more important to your people than not doing it." Having your employees buy into the vision and mission of your organization is key. The strength and capacity of your company depends on your employees’ dedication to its success.

As you continue seeking to align yourself with the right people, don’t forget these other key points. Remember always to surround yourself with the best and brightest minds you can find. Balance experienced veterans with young, hungry, smart, talented people. Give people enough autonomy and freedom to develop confidence in their ability to perform their job. Expect people to "know their stuff," and demand excellence without excuses. Create an environment in which hard work is rewarded. Allow employees to make mistakes, but fire people who fail to deliver results. Always lead by example, and make sure your employees see you working harder than them. Finally, make decisions quickly and definitively. Never allow issues to linger without resolution.

Refuse to Live in Comfortable Mediocrity - the Path to Being an Entrepreneur

IT entrepreneur, Michael Warren, once revealed to me that one of his greatest fears is being relegated to a life of "comfortable mediocrity."  For Mr. Warren, the status quo is not an option.  The refusal to live a life of comfortable mediocrity is a common denominator that most successful entrepreneurs share.  It is their refusal to be satisfied with the status quo that keeps pushing them to set and achieve new goals. 

In today's society, it is easy to fall into a life of comfortable mediocrity.  Once we have our graduate degrees, "good" jobs, beautiful homes, and nice cars, it becomes very easy to stop challenging ourselves to move to the next level of achievement, whether that next level is setting new financial goals, implementing a new vision, or being more involved in the community.  Mr. Warren has determined that one of the ways he knows it is time for him to leave one professional opportunity to create another is by asking himself the following question:  "If everything goes according to plan, where will I be?"  If that answer is just the next rung of the corporate ladder or a position that does not require him to stretch himself intellectually or learn new skills, he knows it is time to leave for a new opportunity.   Mr. Warren says we should constantly aspire to be “something we'd like to be, but are not.”  He believes the key to success is to be the best at what you do so that people believe if they don't invest in you, the competition will.  Once you adopt this as part of your belief system, there can be no room for comfortable mediocrity.

Michael Warren also reminds aspiring entrepreneurs that as you seek to accomplish the goals of building wealth and creating institutions, it is important to act in a "patient, but relentless" fashion.  Acting in this manner will help you develop fortitude and staying- power, while strategically and carefully implementing and executing your vision. 

It's not going to be easy but....

Getting the word out - Guerrilla Marketing Tips from Top PR Pros

48 Guerrilla Marketing Tips from Top PR Pros : Money :: American Express OPEN Forum This article has gathered a good set of ideas on how to get the word out about your business for minimal cost, except for some time and sweat equity.

Resource - LinkedIn

There are numerous tools that exist or are to be launched in the social media space.  I engage or experiment with a number of them regularly, but LinkedIn stands high above the rest for being a place where real value is created, not only for my personal, brand, but also to my ability to solve problems.  In particular the feature that allows you to ask questions of individuals within a particular industry has been extremely helpful to me.  I sometimes use it to confirm a hunch and other times to get the sense of options that I might have related to a problem.  The attached link will walk you through where to find the feature and give some additional insights.  LinkedIn Q&A. (The video focuses more on the lead generation aspect of the feature than I use it for).

What social media tool do you gain the most bottom-line value from?  How do get the most value from LinkedIn?

Developing Your Skills By Gaining Experience – the Path to Being an Entrepreneur

To allow your inner entrepreneur to emerge, first you have to identify your talents and skill-set so that you can begin to refine and focus them.    Previously, I had the opportunity to talk with Adriene Washington, a successful Washington, DC based entrepreneur who has been very successful as a real estate developer.  Knowing what he knows now, Mr. Washington suggests a path he would encourage would-be developers (or entrepreneurs generally) to take to help refine their entrepreneurial skills. 

 He suggests first going to a large, well established, first class company to train, learn best practices, and gain an understanding of what it takes to play in a large arena.  After a couple of years, having checked off a list of pre-defined experiences, move to a smaller organization that has an entrepreneurial spirit and learn how to play bigger with less resources.  Begin to make a name for yourself and establish key relationships.  After a few years at a smaller organization, set out on your own and start your own company.  Mr. Washington believes such an approach might have mitigated a key low point in his career when he was out on his own and found himself to be 'undercapitalized' and 'under experienced'.

Developing key skills before you cast your lot as an entrepreneur will go a long way in allaying concerns and fears that you may have about starting your own business.  Preparation through experience is a touchstone for any successful entrepreneur.  

A Personal Challenge

Reading after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits.  Any man who reads too much and uses his brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking. -- Albert Einstein


Anyone who knows me knows I love to read.  At an early age, I was encouraged to take a book where ever I went.  This has followed with me into adult life.  While there are much worse habits to have, as an entrepreneur,  too much reflection can slow you down.  As a friend has said to me, it can lead to the Paralysis of Analysis.  I am challenging myself to PUT THE BOOK DOWN, and be even more action oriented.  I am not cutting out reading altogether, but am going to do a better job of keeping it in perspective with all of the other things that need to be accomplished to meet my goals .

Do you have this challenge?  If so, how have you attempted to address it?  If this is not your entrepreneurial challenge, share an insight into a challenge you are working to improve upon..

The Path to Being an Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is a person willing to take-on the various risks related with bringing an idea alive--to bring it to market.  As defined by Wikipedia, an entrepreneur is a person who undertakes and operates a new enterprise or venture, and assumes some accountability for the inherent risks.

Have you ever wondered, “Do I have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur?” Or, have you ever thought, “I’m just not sure I’m the ‘entrepreneurial type’.  If so, you’re not alone.  Many talented people with great ideas believe they don’t have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.  For many, the thought of running their own business leaves them feeling anxious and apprehensive.  For most people, the notion of leaving a secure job or profession creates a host of questions, fears, and uncertainties that kill their dreams before they even have a chance to breathe.  I believe the fear of becoming an entrepreneur stems from a flawed thought-process, which if corrected, can help you find your inner entrepreneur. 

Most people believe that entrepreneurs somehow emerge from the womb at birth.  Many of us believe that being an entrepreneur is an innate skill, and you’re either born with it, or you’re not.   While I agree there are certain people who know virtually from birth that their one mission in life is to found a start-up “widget” company, take it public, and then spin it off into several international widget conglomerates, most of us don’t find our inner entrepreneur quite as naturally. My conversations with many successful entrepreneurs of all ages, sexes, and races have led me to this conclusion.  Entrepreneurs are not born.  They are made.  Being entrepreneurial is not an innate quality that some of us get and others of us don’t.  Rather, an entrepreneur emerges from an individual’s identification of his or her talents, which he or she develops through a course of intentional acts and persistent conduct.  I hope to share insights from my personal journey through this blog and hope that it might be helpful to you in finding your inner entrepreneur.