8 Qualities of a Successful Entrepreneur
When you think about the people in the world who are highly successful, making money beyond their wildest dreams, and hear their success stories, do you wonder what it was that brought them success? Were they just lucky, or superbly talented, or did they just have a product that was seriously needed in the marketplace?
What exactly are the qualities these people possess that brought them success? Does everyone have those qualities, or is it just reserved for the few millionaires and billionaires who seem to turn everything they touch to gold?
Well according to Loral Langemeler, a financial coach and strategist, and founder of Live Out Loud: “You may think that successful entrepreneurs are free-spirits who despise structure and are renegades who would rather work alone, only reluctantly hiring a team because there’s no other choice.”
This is not the case – and it’s not as difficult as it may seem – most claim it is the behaviors that successful entrepreneurs possess more than personality, or intentions.
Behaviors that have proven to be successful, time after time. After all, an entrepreneur is just a businessperson with a belief in him/herself, who takes risks, has a mission, and organizational skills beyond the norm.
Have a mission:
Successful business owners had a mission, they knew what they wanted to do, and had a very detailed business plan in which to accomplish this mission.
Work on strengths:
In starting a business know your strengths and weaknesses, and rather than try to work on those weaknesses, build your strengths and hire your weaknesses according to Langemeler. Hire the people who can compliment those weaknesses making the business venture stronger, because your strengths are emphasized and your not so strong points are covered.
Courage:
Know that this venture is not going to be a cakewalk – in other words, it is going to be great some days, and really tough other days, but the conviction in yourself and your business will carry you through. Be fearless and strong and don’t let the little details that are mounting and troublesome get you down.
Set Goals:
Detail (on paper) the vision you see for the business, and measure your progress. If you don’t see progress it is typical to want to give up, especially on the most difficult days, but when you see progress, it inspires you to keep going.
Be Resourceful:
Use others successful business to model your own, not exactly of course, but keeping on top of who is doing what, and what brings success will allow you to spend more time building customer bases, than trying to figure out everything on your own.
Learn how to seek advice and guidance when you feel overwhelmed. Ask others for help who are successful, and more times than not, you’ll be surprised at how willing they are to guide you.
Persistence:
Never give up on your dream or vision. Many times things go pretty rough, and some people will think it’s time to throw in the towel, but if you have a great business, and know that it deserves success – stick with it through thick and thin and think positive. Never think that failure is an option.
Form the managerial mindset:
Find your driving force and realize that even though you want to break away from that 9 to 5, and do things your way, you cannot do it alone – you’re going to need a team, and some help. You cannot have that strong do it yourself attitude if you want to succeed. Be the manager of your business!
Most failures of the self-employed entrepreneur is that they try to do everything themselves – and burn out. And remember the strengths and weaknesses section? These are vital to the business mindset.
Design a business that can run with or without you, and remember that getting help is not failure, but the next step to entrepreneurial success.
Build your personal skills:
Successful business owners are relaxed and secure relating to others and building relationships in the business world as well as with employees. The more extroverted they are the more approachable and likable they are and in turn leads to people wanting to do business with them.
These attributes lend a better working environment, as well as success with employees and their needs to communicate and interact. It creates a strong team and allows others to flex their positive muscles, and be more apt to interact with customers in a more friendly way.
Of course not all executives possess all of the characteristic that bring success, but the ones who don’t make up for their shortcomings in hard work. They lean on the people on their teams who do possess what it is they lack, and are competent, supportive and great leaders.
They are respected, admired and looked upon as an expert in their field of business, through plenty shoe leather, or credentials, and never doubt their abilities.
Although there are tons of books written about being a successful entrepreneur, the basics are listed here to get you started, but attending a seminar or buying a great book would be highly beneficial – and having a good product and a good dose of self-respect doesn’t hurt either!
About the Author: This article is from Will from Credit Card Finder. Discover some of Australia’s leading entrepreneurs at the Credit Card Finder Inspirational Australian Female Entreprenurs Awards.
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8 Businesses You Can Start Today With No Cash!
If you’ve been wanting to get into business for yourself, but money is holding you back then don’t fret! There are plenty of opportunities available to those who don’t have the start up cash in their pockets. While having a little money on hand for business cards or fliers certainly helps; here’s some businesses that scrape the bottom of the barrel to get you going.
1.) Lawn Care
People are lazy. They don’t want to mow their grass. I’m one of those people and I happily pay somebody else to come and cut my grass for me. If you’ve got a truck, and a mower you could already be on your way in this business. Print up some fliers, start offering to mow friends or family member’s lawns, and post an ad up on Craigslist. A small investment in a magnetic sign for the side of your truck doesn’t hurt either!
2.) Cleaning Service
Again, people like cleaning about as much as they like mowing the lawn. Starting a maid or cleaning service can also be a quick business to get going. Try going door to door to local businesses that are full of busy professionals in small offices. If they don’t have their own full time cleaning staff they may be interested. Again, Craigslist is a valuable tool for starting a local business fast.
3.) Junk Removal/Scrap
My friend’s Dad helped put her through college doing this. If you have a truck or ideally a trailer so you can haul more stuff you can make a pretty penny with scrap or junk removal. You can either charge people to come and get their stuff or just pick metal up for nothing and sell it to the junk yard. There’s plenty people who just drive around on trash day and pick up washers, dryers, and other big metal appliances and are literally picking up dollars off people’s driveway. The home owners are happy to have it gone because they would have otherwise had to make a special call to Waste Management which they may have to pay for themselves. Most people also don’t have enough scrap themselves to bother taking it to the junk yard. It’s a bulk sale type of business.
4.) Start An eBay Business
If you’d prefer to do something online you can start an eBay business. Ebay is generally a very quick way to get started selling online, because the traffic is already there. You can get started immediately by selling things you have laying around your house. This could be old electronics, clothing, ect. A lot of people buy things from yard sales or Craigslist locally and then sell them on eBay where the price is much higher. You could also think about finding dropship suppliers if you want a more reliable product sourcing method and want to upgrade your eBay business.
5.) Start A Consignment Business
Technically this also goes into the eBay business category, but not exclusively! Don’t have any of your own stuff to sell? Why not sell somebody else’s! A consignment business advertises an item for sale by a third party and then collects a commission. If you have a place with high visibility or you know how to move merchandise you could make some cash doing this. Several people in my town with property on busy roads sell cars off of their lots.
6.) Start A Internet Service Business
The internet is also full of busy people who don’t have time to do everything. Web masters are one of them! If you can do something useful like write articles you could turn that into a business as well. The thing about web masters is they usually have a lot of sites to run and don’t have time to write for them all consistently. If you’re a good writer they could be willing to pay in bulk for your writing services. Try signing up for sites like Fiverr or posting on webmaster discussion forums like Digital Point. Many of these places have a market place where you can sell services like this!
7.) Design Service
If you have any skills as a designer either through graphic arts or web site design you could start working for yourself. There’s probably a lot of small business owners in your area that would like a website or need a high quality logo created for them but don’t know how to get it done. Try marketing your business to local people. If you can meet any face to face at an event it would help you out a lot most likely. The only start up costs for this business are your time and a computer to work on.
8.) Pet Sitting Business
This one is incredibly easy, but can make you a surprising amount of money. I know several people that do this regularly. Most of the time they just go to the person’s house and baby sit their dogs for the weekend or while they are on vacation. If you love animals then this could be a great fit for you. Try advertising in the paper, offering this service to friends, and online. You could also try asking places where people with animals visit if you can put up fliers on their window or cork board. For example the vet, dog groomers, or the pet store. An additional business tactic? Offer the business owner a referral fee if any of their customers purchase your dog sitting service!
These are just a couple ideas, and I’m sure there’s plenty more you can come up with! Do you have any ideas for a great business you can start this weekend with little or no up front capital? Post it in the comments section!
Penny writes more about online business, finance, and investing on her personal finance blog. If you’d like to see more articles from her you can check out PennySeeds.com!
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To Startup or Not To Startup? Five Things to Consider Before Launching Your Own Company
Why start your own business? After all, it may be one of the most masochistic decisions any individual can make.
To begin, startups come with financial risk, and impact of failure on one’s finances can be severe. Moreover, starting a new business is a sure-fire way to distance oneself from friends and family. Startups can be all-consuming, leaving little time for much else—including personal relationships. Finally, starting a business can take a heavy physical and emotional toll. Late nights and meals at one’s desk are not a healthy lifestyle, and the highs and lows of the startup game can drive a person mad.
Here is why I love being an entrepreneur. In short, starting a business is one of the most exciting, challenging, and rewarding ways to spend my working years. Yes, it can be hard and cruel, but six years into it, I haven’t experienced a single day of boredom.
Startups are not for everyone. Here is some advice if you are considering whether to get into the game:
(1) Get some experience first
Some recent academic literature has concluded that the ideal age for entrepreneurship is 40. This is no doubt because can help to have working experience before you start a business. For one, it provides an opportunity to save up some potential capital to invest. Moreover, you will inevitably pick up some useful skills and knowledge along the way—some of which could prove handy, even if your new business is in a field outside of your expertise. In addition, as you work, your network of contacts will grow. This can prove useful in a variety of ways, including client development, recruiting, the pursuit of capital, to name a few.
(2) Analyze your opportunity costs
If you have nothing to lose, it is easier to take the leap into entrepreneurship. If you are the sole breadwinner for a family of 5 with a limited nest egg, it probably makes sense to save up some cash first, and think very carefully about the impact that a bombed startup would have on your life. One other word of caution here in a different vein: Be aware of the risk of your opportunity cost rising too high. Although an increasing employee paycheck is generally a good thing, the higher your salary rises, the more difficult it can become to quit your job and scratch that entrepreneurial itch.
(3) Build a detailed financial model for the business and test your assumptions thoroughly
Once you begin reducing the business to a spreadsheet, the realities of the numbers will begin to emerge. Taking into account all of your expenses and revenues, as well as when they should occur, will give you a sense of whether the business can make money. It will also give you a sense of how much capital you will need and by when. While there are always financial surprises in the startup experience, waiting to build your projections until after you commit to a business is a dangerous proposition.
(4) Speak to potential clients
Treat your new venture as a sophisticated investor would treat a new potential investment and determine whether your idea can be monetized. Do some due diligence and explore whether there is interest in your product or service. Ask client prospects whether they like your value proposition. If you are entering a competitive industry, ask what it would take for clients to switch providers. Knowing what potential clients want and need is critically important to know if there is room in the marketplace for your business.
(5) Ask yourself whether you have the right DNA
Jumping head first into a startup is not for everyone. If you are the type who needs others to motivate you, or who has trouble staying focused when times get tough, starting a business is probably not be the right move. But if you have self discipline, a fair amount of confidence, passion, and a good deal of intestinal fortitude, you may well be the perfect fit for entrepreneurship.
Keep in mind that starting a business is not for everyone. But for those who have what it takes, becoming an entrepreneur may be the most fulfilling professional path.
About the Author: Paul Mandell is a Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Consero. In this role, Mr. Mandell provides strategic leadership for the company with a rigid focus on excellence at every level of the business. Prior to founding Consero, Mr. Mandell founded and was the President of a national legal support company that was acquired in 2007. The successor entity was recognized as one of the world’s top legal process outsourcing companies during his continued tenure as President the following year. Prior to entering the business world, Mr. Mandell practiced law at Arnold & Porter LLP and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in Washington, DC, and New York, New York, respectively, where he focused primarily on antitrust and pharmaceutical litigation. Prior to his law firm experience, Mr. Mandell clerked for the Honorable K. Michael Moore of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
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Start Up Don’t Shut Down
As people have lost their jobs and struggled to find employment, many of the more spirited professionals have struck out on their own to create the jobs that they cannot seem to find. Read more
Top 10 Small Business List Posts of 2009
List pots have always been some of our most popular articles here at SmallBizBee.com, so what better way to showcase the the best of the best for 2009 than with a list post? Pure genius right?
The Best of the Best Lists of 2009
So here it is, the ultimate list, list. The list inside a list if you will.
Whatever you call it you’ll find some excellent advice, tips, suggestions and resources to use in your businesses in 2010!
85 Absolutely Free Online Business Classes
Our most read article of all time here at Smallbizbee.com, and for good reason. It’s chock full of business classes you can take online for free – how can you beat that? A big time education that once cost $1,000′s of dollars can now be had for free via the wonders of the Internet.
105 Absolutely Free Online Business Videos and Lectures
For the visual learners who still want to cash in on some free education, this post links to 105 free business related videos and lectures. It’s like taking a class at Harvard without having to wear a cardigan.
10 Ways to Market Your Business When You’re Broke
Short on cash but looking for ways to spread the word about your business? This one is for you.
10 Ways to Advertise Your Business On the Cheap
2009 was a tough year for a lot of us, it’s no wonder you all were looking for even more ways to get the most out of every advertising dollar.
13 Ways to Win Customers for Free
Matt Heinz of Heinz Marketingcontributed this one. Matt shares 13 customer acquisition strategies that won’t cost you a dime.
10 Tools Every Small Business Marketer Should Have on Hand
In this guest post Hannah Watson shared with us her top 10 tools every (busy) small business marketer needs, to help us get more done in less time.
9 Powerful SEO Tips for your Small Business Website
The catch phrase for this extremely popular post became “If you don’t know your CEO from your SEO, this post is for you!” Contributed by David Gurevich.
Over 90 Field Tested Guerrilla Marketing Tactics
Guerrilla Marketing just sounds cool…not only that, it’s effective. Here’s 90 guerrilla marketing tactics to get you started.
5 Things They Don’t Teach You in Business School About Being an Entrepreneur
I went to business school. Later in life I became an entrepreneur. Here’s five things I think they missed.
20 Surefire Ways to Use Twitter for Business
Twitter for business, we talked a lot about it in the last year and this post captivated thousands of readers. Great tips to get you on track to using Twitter for your biz.
Conclusion
So there you have it, our most popular list post of 2009 and some of the most read, linked to, shared, and commented on articles we’ve ever published.
As I look over these posts it’s no wonder they are so popular. They are bite sized pieces of actionable small business tips, right at your finger tips – now that’s a sweet deal! Let’s all take a moment and thank Al Gore for inventing the internet.
5 Lessons Learned From My First Business
It seems like a lifetime ago that I started my first business, maybe that’s because it is. I learned a lot of lessons from that first venture, most about what not to do.
My First Business
The year was 1984 and I was 7 years old. I was the sole proprietor of a newspaper distribution company, call it old media, but newspapers were my game.
This was back in old days, before the internet, when people would get their news by reading words written on actual pages – don’t laugh, but many people would actually pay to get their news this way, including my parents.
At 7 I knew enough to know that I wanted some money, I was sure if I could get my hands on some cash I’d be out on my own in a couple years living the good life.
I also knew that these things called “papers” would stack up for a couple weeks before my parents finally took them to the trash.
An Idea is Born
I thought if my parents were reading these papers, and paying for them, the neighbors probably were reading them too, but maybe not all the neighbors.
I asked my mom how much a paper cost, then asked her if I could have the old ones, she said ”you can have the old ones, but don’t go leavin’em laying around the house!”
My business is born! I would go door to door with the old papers my parents had and see if I could sell them for less than a new paper to any of the neighbors.
I thought maybe they didn’t get the paper so would happily pay for mine, or possibly they missed an issue and would want to catch up. If they didn’t have this thing called a “subscription”, heck maybe I could sell them a paper everyday.
My distribution mechanism was simple. I loaded up the papers in a duffel bag and headed out, knocking on every door within the neighborhood within my limits.
At that time I had boundaries set by my parents that I wasn’t supposed to cross. I was the paper czar of nearly 5 square blocks – I was in business!
5 Lessons Learned from My First Business
So that is how I spent everyday after school the two weeks I was in business. Knocking on doors trying to sell yesterday’s paper (or sometimes yester-weeks paper).
As I think about it now, it seems silly. As adults, we all can spot the flaws in my thinking, and even though I wouldn’t try something similar today – I made money!
Being able to make money selling old news taught me a lot about business, here’s five things I learned:
Lesson #1: When You’re in Business People Buy You as Much as Your Product
I was a moderately cute kid, with tons of ambition, and nothing but confidence in my paper business. When I talked to people at their door step they felt that. When they bought a paper from me, they were buying me, not the news that happened 6 days ago.
This lesson is as applicable today as it was then. Although we may not all be fresh faced kids anymore, people will sense when you are passionate, confident, and believe in what you are doing – and that’s what they’ll be buying a good portion of the time.
Lesson #2: Great Entrepreneurs Think on Their Feet
I learned quickly that in order to sell these papers, that weren’t as desirable as I thought they’d be, I better have answers to their questions – which mean’t thinking on my feet.
I remember on that first day being asked, “Why would I want to buy yesterdays paper, that stuff’s already happened”…I replied with “Well, today’s paper is filled with stuff that already happened too, but mine’s cheaper.” He bought a paper. My mom said I was being a smart aleck, I politely disagreed.
If you want to be a great entrepreneur you need the ability to think quickly on your feet. Responding to demands, making quick (good) decisions, and dealing with the numerous curveballs are essential to success.
Lesson #3: Competing on Price Alone is a Tough Game
My only selling point, and the only way I could sell even one of the old papers was to give discounts. At the time I thought this was shrewd, now I think it’s dangerous.
I had no competition in my neighborhood, and probably never would have selling old news, but what if another 7 year old (or a super bright 6 year old) had of come up with the same idea? We’re both knocking on doors, how do we compete with each other? Most likely price, which means it wouldn’t be too long until the pennies I was making didn’t justify the trouble, and I’d have a hard time making it up on volume.
Same goes later in life. You may be the only game in town now, but what happens when you’re not. Will you be competing on price alone, or do you bring something to the table your competitors don’t?
Lesson #4: Think About Scale Early in the Startup
I gave this absolutely no thought. I just wanted to sell some papers, and beat myself ragged going door to door I guess. If this venture had been a huge success I would have had no way to meet the demand – shoot, my parents only let me go about 5 square blocks, I would have been sunk right there.
The lesson here is that early on begin to think about how you may scale up if you’re business becomes successful. How will you reach more people? Who will do the additional work? Can you scale? If you charge per hour, there are only so many in a day – how do you get more revenue without raising your price? If you sell a physical item, how many can you get and how can you distribute to more people? Just ask yourself these questions early, and prepare for growth going in.
Lesson#5: It’s Hard to Overcome a Flawed Business Model
We can all see the problems with my business model. Yeah, I sold some papers, but long term the flaws were going to bring my business down. If you’re not going into a venture on solid business foundations, you’re house is going to start leaning, and eventually fall over.
The Long Defunct Newspaper Distribution Company
I’ve been out of the newspaper distribution business now 25 years, but some of the lessons I learned back then are still with me today.
The real lesson in all of this is it doesn’t matter if you sell newspapers when you’re 7, lemonade when you are 10, or run a multimillion dollar company when you’re 40, the fundamentals of business don’t change.
Keep moving forward while learning from the past and you should be okay. And for anybody thinking about it, I can’t suggest you getting into the newspaper distribution business!
Photo Credit: Meanest Indian
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Keep Moving Fourward Entrepreneurship Competition
Frank Carnevale, of Keep Moving Fourward, has an exciting announcement in this guest post for High School students intereseted in entrepreneurship. Take it away Frank…
Attention High School Students Nationwide…
The Keep Moving Fourward Entrepreneurship Competition is officially under way!
Have you ever thought about what you’re going to do with your life after high school or after yougraduate college?
Have you ever thought about working for yourself, while doing something that you love? Even if you haven’t, now is the perfect time for you to find out if being an entrepreneur is right for you!
The Competition has Two Main Goals?
1) To show high school students that they do not necessarily have to work for someone else for the rest of their lives… They do have another option: They can be an entrepreneur. In other words, they can be in business for themselves, doing something that they truly like (or hopefully, LOVE) doing.
2)To give the competition winner the tools necessary to successfully get their business idea off of the ground.
Where Should I Start?
“So what kind of business should I start though?” a student might ask. Well, what are some things that make you want to keep moving fourward? What are you passionate about? What subject or topic can keep you interested for hours on end? What kinds of things make you the happiest? Thinking this way plus constantly asking yourself good questions, will usually lead to an idea you can run with.
Other Questions to Get You In the Entrepreneurial Mindset
Here are some more questions one might ask themselves to get their entrepreneurial juices flowing:The point of all these questions is that one question will lead to another question, and another question,and another question. At the end of your series of questions lies some type of solution.
What is it about X that you love so much? Is there anything you could think of that would make you love X even more? If so, do you think it would do the same for other lovers of X?
What is the one thing that annoys you most about X? Why does it annoy you? Do you think it annoys others as well? What two things could you immediately do to make X less annoying? And so on…
Now for a dose of reality: Just because you’re passionate about something, and have a good idea related to it to pursue, does not necessarily mean that it would make a worthwhile business.
You need to also ask yourself whether the idea has the potential to generate revenue. Can this improvement on X put some money in your pocket? Can you make money consistently from a business in X? How much money will it take to get X going?
Ready To Get Started?
Get the picture? Good, enough of these questions.
For more information on the competition, and to sign up, go to http://keepmovingfourward.com/.
If you have questions or comments please email me at: frank (at) gofourward.com
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The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur
The word Entrepreneur holds a certain level of mystique in our society.
On a daily basis we are reminded of the entrepreneurs who have started with nothing only to rise to celebrity status. Or maybe we see our next door neighbor who, while not a celebrity, has done very well for themselves starting and running small businesses.
The mystique comes from believing these individuals have something different in their genes, or a predisposition to business that has made them a success. Perhaps they were just lucky. Who knows?
The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur
Today, thanks to The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, we are one step closer to understanding the make up of an entrepreneur.
In their July 2009 report, The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur, The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation attempt to gain a little more clarity into what makes an entrepreneur tick.
They surveyed 549 company founders in a variety of industries, including aerospace and defense, computer and electronics, health care, and services. They asked the founders detailed questions about their backgrounds, motivations, and experiences in launching companies. Here’s what they found.
Key Findings
Below is a sampling of the key findings within the report, for detailed statistics and charts please find the full report linked at the bottom of this post.
- Company founders tend to be middle-aged and well-educated, and did better in high school than in college
- Most entrepreneurs are married and have children
- These entrepreneurs tend to come from middle-class or upper-lower-class backgrounds, and were better educated and more entrepreneurial than their parents
- 71.5 percent of respondents came from middle-class backgrounds (34.6 percent upper-middle class and 36.9 percent lower-middle class). Additionally, 21.8 percent said they came from upper-lower-class families (blue-collar workers in some form of manual labor).
- 52 percent of respondents had some interest in becoming an entrepreneur when they were in college, but 34.7 percent didn’t even think about it, and 13.3 percent had little or no interest. Those from lower-upper-class backgrounds were more likely to have been extremely interested in starting a business than the average (25 percent vs. 18.5 percent)
- The majority of the entrepreneurs in our sample were serial entrepreneurs. The average number of
businesses launched by respondents was approximately 2.3; 41.4 percent were starting their first businesses - 74.8 percent of respondents indicated desire to build wealth as an important motivation in becoming an entrepreneur. This factor was rated as important by 82.1 percent of respondents who grew up in “lower-upper-class” families
- 60.3 percent said that working for others did not appeal to them
Get the Full Report
The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur – PDF, 24 pages
Conclusion
I found this report fascinating and I think you will too. What I saw were some people who “looked” like me and others who did not. It reinforced the idea that entrepreneurs are as diverse as the companies they start, but education and a desire to pave their own way, build wealth, and capitalize on businesses ideas are a consistent theme throughout.
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Passion Isn’t Static, Neither is Your Business
The other day we discussed the traits most often associated with a successful entrepreneur.
Anytime you have a conversation about what it takes to be successful, you inevitably end up agreeing that passion (or a close relative of passion –> desire – heart – will) is a must have in order to be successful.
If you’re late to a meeting and just want to scan this post for the answer – sorry, it’s just full of questions…thought I’d save you a minute or two.
Passion Isn’t Static…
But my experience has been that passion changes somewhat over time. What I was madly passionate about 10 years ago, doesn’t seem so important anymore. And things that take up none of my time today, may dominate my waking moments in 5 years.
Maybe there is that one true passion in life, but more realistically I believe our passions change over time as we as people change and develop.
…Neither is Business
Business is constantly changing too. Markets shift, customers come and go, and you need to be nimble in order to react and survive. But during these natural changes what if you have to concede some of what you are passionate about?
With any business there are things we have to do that we don’t necessarily love. Comes with the territory. But what if your business turns into 55% something you love and 45% “other”, just something you do?
How far can you bend and still be doing something you love, have the passion, heart, will and desire to succeed at it? What if the 45% you currently not jazzed about something you used to love?
A Marriage of the Two?
Possibly the only hope is to create and sustain a business that incorporates your passions over the course of many, many years. That would be extremely fortunate but probably rare. If you love to paint houses for a living, but after a few years you loose your passion for it, you’re pretty much sunk, right?
I’m certainly not the same person I was 5 years ago, yet I am still running the same business – what will I be like 10 years from today? And will I still love what I do or be able to adapt a business to fit?
This all reminds me of a quote I heard from a woman who had been married to her husband for 30 years, she said:
“In the past 30 years I’ve been married to 5 different men, luckily I’ve loved them all”.
I think businesses are like that –you hope you stay in love with them as you and your passion changes, or just hope you love what you both become.
What say you? Would love to hear your thoughts on this…
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Photo Credit: David Reece
Adapt or Die!
Below is the sixth article of six in our $100 competition, submitted by Jennifer who you can find at http://innerlight.nsedreams.com Good luck to everyone who contributed an article!
A consistent characteristic of all entrepreneurs is adaptability.At this time in history it has never been more important to make the most of opportunities, jobs are disappearing at an alarming rate and job security is a joke. This is precisely why I have never had a real job. For years I have worked for myself and when I got married we started working together. It has been a pleasure and a struggle, like anything in life, with up’s and down’s.
We are watching our particular industry crash and burn in the recession, and just like other creative professionals we can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. My husband and I have had a photo studio for ten years. As Artists it has been especially hard to survive. Even with a business in place with the studio we have had to be creative and come up with new markets over the years. In our case diversifying our services has been essential, but that also adds to the challenge of staying focused.
We shoot primarily food and beverages now, but have worked on just about every type of project. We have had a nice business but recently we have been discussing what to do next to compensate for the scarcity of good paying photo jobs these days. Having exhausted most of the areas we could in Photography we are now thinking about adding something new to the mix. Change can be scary but not taking a risk can be scarier.
We are all born equally capable, it is just a matter of how we use our skills and take advantage of opportunities.
“Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.”
-N. Hill
Whether you think you have it or not, chances are, if you are willing to take a risk and want it badly enough you will succeed.
I have spent the last few years writing and marketing my cookbook, which my husband also was involved in. We took skills, interests, and what was happening in our lives with raising a child and created a source of income with a book. It has been a huge learning experience, mostly fun and rewarding, and relatively profitable. I always thought of us as artists, but have come to learn we have other hidden talents. I learned that I love marketing, connecting with people and networking. As a result, I now feel confident enough to apply these skills to whole different business.
So now is the time where we need to make a decision about our future and the future of our child. Do we stick with what seems comfortable or do we take a risk and use newfound talents? There are a million opportunities out there; it’s just a matter of deciding what you can be passionate about.
We have recently researched and found a business that fits our interests and skills. It’s fun, has huge potential for growth, and we don’t have to re invent the wheel either. When a friend first told us about her success with a new anti aging skincare technology product we scoffed. However, our ability to never ignore an opportunity has paid off again. We are on a quick road to building a whole new business that is filling the gaps in our other careers.
Sure, there is still a lot of risk in jumping into something new, but there is a lot of risk is not jumping these days too. Never be careless, always do your research, and don’t be afraid to jump!
http://innerlight.nsedreams.com
Jennifer Carden
jen.carden@gmail.com
