Entrepreneur Ignores Advice bumps Head On Da White Meat

Entrepreneur blogger

The holiday season is the time to really escape the pressures of daily work schedules and really treasure time off with family and friends. For many entrepreneurs, its also a time of reflection on the life and business lessons learned over the previous 12 months. The biggest challenge in moving forward and making fresh breakthroughs for the New Year is deciphering it all and getting a fresh Key Perspective – a 360 degree perspective which includes determining what areas are your strengths and what areas you may need to seek advice and/or assistance in. With regards to getting business assistance, it is equally important in determining when, where, and how to receive it.

how to become a successful entrepreneur

A few years ago on a holiday trip back to my home town of Little Rock, Arkansas, I was able to spend a little quality time with family and some old friends. One day I found myself in a room with my rambunctious, 3-year-old nephew while others were in another part of the house. Perhaps happy and overjoyed to see me or on a sugar-induced escapade, he began jumping on the bed and bumping off the walls. Instinctively, I say to him something that my granddad would have said to me at that age. I said, Boy, keep that up and youll fall flat and bust your head right down to the white meat.

He pauses for a moment, stares curiously as if he just heard an odd foreign language, and then quickly returns to his super-hyperactivity running into another part of the house. Less than 10 minutes later, I hear a loud CRASH-Kabooom!! Immediately followed by crying. Within a few minutes, my nephew slowly walks back into the room rubbing both eyes and sits next to me. Softly and slowly he says, Uncle Ricky, I bump my head on da white meat.

Trying to hold in a good chuckle, I replied; Well, maybe not down to the white meat this time, but, what have we learned here?

Meet Our business development consultant Expert online at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dereklharris

As a business adviser, analyst, and mentor, Ive encountered this same scenario many times before. Not with three-year-olds, but mostly with young twenty and thirty-something entrepreneurs and a few middle-aged business owners as well. Usually because of our egos, pride and/or do-it-yourself tendencies, we sometimes ignore the good advice and/or business assistance available to us. And it sometimes takes a few bumps and lumps to get through to us. Believe me, as a young business owner in the 80s and 90s; Ive certainly had my share.

But as you mature into a successful entrepreneur and possibly into a Breakthrough Entrepreneur, you begin to learn from other peoples failures and mistakes and trust the expertise of others. You also begin to see the true value of outside assistance through advice, education and training. Youll even be able to translate those into measurable returns on investment. Of course no one person can know everything, be qualified to do everything, and/or keep up-to-date with all the details of your business. So thats why being able to filter, discern, and utilize the assistance of others is an essential skill you should develop. So, how do you go about getting the right business assistance?

Frame Your Business Problems, Dilemmas, and/or Ideas

Framing the Business Problem, Dilemma and/or Idea should always be your first step in finding the right answers and best solutions. When working with a client or mentee, I usually request that they follow a similar format to the one below to save on time and add clarity to the discussion.
Each question, problem, or dilemma should be written with pencil and paper in 1-2 paragraphs and in 5 sentences or less. They should answer these following questions:

What are the main objectives or ultimate goals for your business?
What are the backgrounds and core competencies of you and your business team?
What is the problem or dilemma and its background or history within your business?
What do YOU think are possible solutions?
What are the effects of each solution implemented 6-12 months down the road?

Its okay if you cant answer them all. It’s just an indication that you need help defining the problem or idea. This is more common than you think. If fact, as an executive business analyst, Ive met with several business owners that would often discuss what they thought were problems of their businesses. However, put under a microscope those problems turned out to be symptoms of a much deeper problem below the surface. In the complexities of business, it can be easy to mistake a symptom for a problem. Framing helps business owners and entrepreneurs think more deeply, focus, and begin to clarify. A wrong question never gets the right answer.

Determine what type of Business Assistance you need.

When framing, it is very important to think long and hard about what your life + business challenges are and how they relate to one another. Once youre clear on what questions you want and need answered, then youll be more apt to determine what type of assistance is actually needed. Usually it boils down to three types:

Business Advice
Business Skill-set Acquisition or Training
Business Education
Ive always said that some people just need advice; others need to acquire & develop skill-sets, while others may need a whole new level of education.

Consider the Source or Pathways to Potential Solutions

Living in the information age, there are a variety of sources from which you can find solutions. The following are the basic pathways:

Inexperienced personal acquaintances & friends people who are often inexperienced in the subject matter but have no shortage of advice. Usually it involves something theyve heard someone else say or claim they have done.
Mass media sourcessuch as the Internet, social media, books, blogs, print, television, and radio. This is often the easiest and cheapest way to get educational assistance, but because there is so much information, it can be overwhelming and sometimes hard to determine what or who to follow.
Experienced personal acquaintances & friends people who are experienced in certain matters, but are not engaged as a professional in your particular business or industry. They might offer some very good pearls of wisdom, but youll have to tailor the assistance they offer to your own situation.
Experienced professionals people who are experienced in the subject matter and can engage with you one-on-one to address the specific needs of your business. You can get advice, skill-set training, and education from this option. Most people consider it the most expensive route, but it really depends on what your intended outcome is. Most times, it offers the greatest ROI.

Evaluate which Resources Works best for Your Situation

You should further consider the following before determining which best serves your needs.

Complexity of the issue Is the issue too far outside your area of expertise? How serious are the consequences of making a wrong move or decision?
Implementation Is the solution difficult or time intensive to implement? If you implement the solution yourself, will there be any further implementations needed that affect your bottom line, customers expectations or other business operations?
Impact What is the potential impact if you do or dont heed the advice, acquire a skill-set, and/or educate yourself on a particular subject matter?
Price How much will the assistance cost versus its return on investment?

Once youve gone over all of the considerations, youre ready to move forward accordingly. But a word of caution: you should never think of getting business assistance as an exact science, no matter where you get it from. Because we live in a world of constant change, we have to manage and think in terms of probabilities. You should constantly and consistently monitor the outcomes and results of the business assistance you receive or act upon. To minimize risk, you should always take your time and review multiple sources and weigh the differences. Eventually, youll find resources that you trust and people with whom you can develop strong, mutually-beneficial business relationships.

Still, for most business owners and young entrepreneurs, reaching out for help for your business is usually a hard thing to do, but take heed to the advice here: If you keep going down the path of entrepreneurship and ignore the plethora of valuable business assistance available to you, you will inevitably bump your head.

And for the really stubborn: Youll see the real value of this only after you fall flat and bust your head right down to the white meat.

Well, maybe not right down to the white meat.

Are you considering (or ignoring) some type of business advice, skill-set training or business education that may resolve a nagging business problem or dilemma? Do you have a particular experience youd like to share? If this article been helpful let me know. Id love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment below.

Happy Holidays and Cheers to Your Fresh Breakthroughs!

Do You Really Need To Go To College To Be A Successful Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur blogger

The best course of action to take sometimes isn’t clear until you’ve listed and considered your alternatives. The following paragraphs should help clue you in to what the experts think is significant.

How can you put a limit on learning more? The next section may contain that one little bit of wisdom that changes everything.

Is there really a college education needed to be an entrepreneur? This is a question often asked by aspiring entrepreneurs.

Well, it all depends on the individual. There are times even when those that have no educational business background are still able to make it big in the business world. Some say that they owe it all to patience, hard work, and dedication. Most of the successful entrepreneurs on the other hand claim that it would take good education to become an entrepreneur.

So what will it be? Well, if you can afford to study for a business degree, then dont let that chance pass you by. You’re quite lucky if you can attend college especially for a business degree. You have to dedicate your time studying all your lessons because in due time, you will be able to use such information to the advantage of your business.

You can choose to study in a local university or college or those individuals with more money to spend can study abroad if they want to. The important thing is to take your education seriously because you can use them when the right time comes. And while you’re studying, you have to develop all the needed skills and characteristics of being an entrepreneur.

There are many business degrees that you can choose from like commerce, business administration, economics, and many others. Make sure that you choose a course that you like and one that you can afford. Remember, passing alone is not important. You have to learn every step of the way and dont forget the things that you’ve learned.

Some entrepreneurs didnt have the proper educational background and yet they’ve become successful in their chosen field. The fact is, there are many successful entrepreneurs without the proper business education. How many times have you heard of an entrepreneur who started from scratch and yet ended up having a high-profit earning business? Perhaps there’s more to just education.

You see, aside from education, you have to possess the right qualities and characteristics of being an entrepreneur like leadership, creativeness, risk taker, and many others. Even if you have the proper educational background, you can’t become a successful entrepreneur if you dont have these qualities and characteristics.

It seems that education and the right characteristics go hand in hand in producing an effective and successful entrepreneur. If you can have them both, take advantage of it right away. Education is something that money can’t buy in an instant and besides, you can use your knowledge for the best interests of your business.

This is not to discourage those that can’t afford to earn a business degree in college. If you want, you can use the resources available on the internet and learn everything you can about being an entrepreneur. You must also develop the right attitude and characteristics as early as possible. If you can pull it off, then no one can stop you from entering the business world.

Vince Premchand Thadani – A Prominent Financial Entrepreneur of Indian Origin

Entrepreneur blogger

Many people of Indian origin have from time to time risen to great prominent in different fields of activities. One such person who has now become a glowing star in the horizon is Vince Premchand Thadani, a financial entrepreneur in his own rights who has earned laurels not only in United States but in the entire world. Over the years he has not only been one of most successful financial entrepreneurs but has also been an inspiration for numerous budding entrepreneurs in the market who are looking to open up the entrance door to success.

Huge Experience

One of the reasons that make Vince Thadani most sought after financial entrepreneur in the industry is his huge experience in various types of businesses. His experience is immense especially in respect of technological industries and financial management. His knowledge and experience in form of guidance has helped many entrepreneurs to find out that road to success that was eluding him so far.

Brand Promotion

Expertise of Vince is most pronounced in the realms of brand promotion and financial management. Components of the process are reduction of losses and maximization of profits that is the objective of any enterprise across the globe. With his immense knowledge and expertise he has been able to help many enterprises land with exponential growth in their profit and income. In the process of brand promotion, Vince Premchand Thadani often uses the social networking media and he is quite apt in utilization of the vast potential offered by the social media sites like Face Book, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, and YouTube etc and this on turn has resulted in numerous business houses gaining the prominence that they were looking for but were not able to achieve despite best of their marketing efforts.

Academic Background

It can be concluded also that the glowing academic background of Vince Thadani has helped him immensely in gaining the reputation he has earned today all around the world. Initially he completed his preliminary education from the School of Business from the Indiana State University. Before that he also had courses completed in the Canadian Academy in Kobe in Japan as well as the Schiller International University in London as well.

Commendable Characteristics

Commendable Characteristics that have helped Vince in becoming a leading financial entrepreneur in United States and world are that he has invaluable and great experience in respect of finance and technologies. His perfect leveraging of mortgage banking systems has nevertheless facilitated huge growth of share values of the brands promoted and sponsored by him in the market. It is such commendable characteristics that makes him one of the most renowned and reputable personalities in the industry. Thadani can speak and use multiple languages like English, Hindi as well as Japanese.

Vince Thadani has put his hands on various businesses including the only escrow company in Canada and covering multiple business houses, today he manages a company with around 500 employees in Santa Clara in California. In fact he is the Vice President of Arada Systems.

For More Details Visit Here: Vince Thadani

Are You Really A Real Estate Investor

Entrepreneur blogger

By accident, I believe that our industry does us all a disservice. How? By calling us real estate investors.
How many of you call yourselves real estate investors? Lots. How many of you feel a little queasy when you introduce yourself as a real estate investor? (No need to confess you just need to recognize that feeling).

Do you want to know why you may be feeling queasy? I’ll tell you. It’s because of the incongruent language we are using on ourselves. Let me prove it while helping bust the number one fear of real estate “investors”.

What do you think of when you hear the word investor?
I bet it’s “cash” or “credit”. Right? Maybe something that you feel that you don’t have. So if your business card declares you a real estate investor and you don’t have any cash, do you feel funny, or out of integrity, or incongruent? Maybe a little?

On the other hand, what do you think of when you hear the word entrepreneur? The answers to this question usually range from “opportunist” to “opportunities” to “ideas” to “deals”, etc.

The definition of an entrepreneur is someone who uses the time, talent and treasure of other people to realize their idea or vision. Read that again because this a subtle but important point about your real estate success.

The number one limiting belief of real estate “investors” is “I cannot do this business because I have little cash and/or bad credit.” And if your subconscious holds this belief, guess how hard you are going to work to find deals. Guess how many deals your are likely to do. That’s right, you will do ZERO.

Good news! This limiting belief is easily busted.
You are not a real estate investor. You are a real estate entrepreneur.

What’s the difference? Well, entrepreneurs bring the deals to the money. Investors bring the money to the deals.

By DEFINITION, entrepreneurs are not expected to use their own cash. They are expected to raise cash for their deals and projects. That’s what we do. We find the one thing that is much more valuable than the cash which is the deals.

Money is easy. Finding the deals is the part that requires a little work. But most real estate “investors” get hung up in marketing or making an offer because they don’t have the cash sitting in their checking account. They freeze.

You need to declare yourself a “Real Estate Entrepreneur.” That’s what I do. At this stage of my life, it’s more fun being the entrepreneur and putting deals together. It’s my form of creativity. It’s my art. Being the investor and putting up the cash is OK but it’s kind of like being the guy that furnished the paint to Michelangelo. Nobody remembers the paint supply guy.

I urge you to adopt 2 new affirmation(s):
I am a real estate entrepreneur.
I am leveraging the time, talent and treasure of others.

Penny Chenery, The Entrepreneur Behind Secretariat

Entrepreneur blogger

Some Thought That Secretariat Was A Film Just about Race Horses

I finally got a chance to view the film Secretariat. In general I believe it really is tough to create a good movie when everybody knows how its likely to end when they walk into the theater. Therefore my hat’s off to the folks that made this movie it was a great one. I expected a fun movie about horse racing and the incredible will to win from the horse.

But what actually got my attention was the entrepreneurial spirit belonging to the owner. Penny Chenery, is an amazing entrepreneur who was willing to do whatever it took to hold on to Secretariat and ensure that she was in a position to be an integral part of her horses legacy. For me the scene in the film that explained it all occurred right after her father had passed away.

The family was going to lose the ranch because of inheritance taxes and needed to get $6M to cover it. Her whole family wanted her to sell Secretariat, except she refused. This scene showed the difference between a pragmatic business person and an entrepreneur. As pragmatic individuals, all they had to do was sell the horse, they could have kept the ranch and had money left over to keep it going.

But Penny was all in, she believed she had a winner and was prepared to risk everything because her belief was so strong. She might have lost it all if she was wrong. We all know how it turned out. But this is a superb illustration of what it truly requires to become an entrepreneur. So for anybody who is pondering whether or not you’ve got what it takes. Place yourself in Ms. Chenrey’s shoes and ask yourself, could you have risked losing the whole thing to gamble on your dream.

Entrepreneur’s Have To Be Sure

If you are not certain which way you’d go on this one, perhaps you are not able to be an entrepreneur. There is nothing wrong with that, but better to recognise ahead of time and not take risks which you could’t follow through on.

By the way, there is one added part to the story, that also showed what sort of an entrepreneur Penny Chenery actually is. Once she decided to go ahead with her plan to raise the cash to race Secretariat, it did not go well. She failed practically every time to get investors on board. Except she kept going and going until she finally was able to crack the code and once she did, she raised over $6M and was able to race the horse. Ask yourself, what number of telephone calls would you be ready to make once you got rejected again and again, till you gave up.

Entrepreneur’s Focus On Winning The Race

It did not get any better for that Secretariat race team, when he lost a necessary race just prior to the Kentucky Derby. Thus, another chance to throw up their hands in defeat. But again, because of their unwavering will to succeed, they pushed forward and, well, you already know the rest.

The bottom line here is that difficulty and problems are a part of what it takes in order to be a successful entrepreneur. You also have to dust yourself off and get back on the horse (sorry for the bad pun), no matter what. If you can’t take the Penny challenge, then you should run, not walk away, because you are not meant to become an entrepreneur.