10 Surprising Assertions From Elite Entrepreneurs

Most people agree that entrepreneurs have to think differently and take risks to have much chance of building a successful business. Yet I have found that serious entrepreneurs usually go way beyond these platitudes in their actions and thinking, and often won’t volunteer their real views, for fear of alienating “regular” people, and being branded a fanatic.
In his new book “The Entrepreneur Mind,” by serial entrepreneur Kevin D. Johnson, he outlines 100 essential beliefs, insights, and habits of serious entrepreneurs. Most of these are predictable, like think big and create new markets, but I found a few, like the ten below, that will likely raise the hackles of many people outside this lifestyle, and many “wannabe” entrepreneurs.
Yet, based on my own years of experience “in the business”, mentoring many entrepreneurs, and following stalwarts like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, even these potentially controversial mindsets ring true to me:

1. All risk isn’t risky. Entrepreneurs surely understand the high probability of failure, but they don’t necessarily like to gamble. Instead, they take calculated risks, stacking the deck in their favor. They must have enough confidence in themselves, supplemented by expert knowledge, solid relationships, or personal wealth, to see the risk as near zero.
2. Business comes first, family second. This view isn’t a selfish one, but a recognition by serious entrepreneurs that family well-being is dependent on the success of the business, not the other way around. This is why airlines ask you to put on your oxygen mask first. Should you forego closing a million dollar deal to attend a ball game with your son?
3. Following your passion is bogus. Look for a good business model first. Your passion may be for a good cause, like curing world hunger, but it may not be a good business. In any young business, you inevitably find things that are not enjoyable, but need to be done, like cold calls or firing unproductive employees. Just doing fun things is a myth.
4. It’s not about being your own boss. Great entrepreneurs aren’t interested in being bosses at all. People who crave the freedom to do what they want when they want generally make terrible entrepreneurs. In order to be a successful entrepreneur, discipline is a must, and accept your new bosses as investors, partners, and customers.
5. Fire your worst customers. We have all had customers who take advantage of us, to the detriment of other good customers. The best entrepreneurs are quick to make the tough decisions to bypass bad customers, with proper respect, to minimize frustration, resource drain, and reputation loss. You can’t please everyone all the time.
6. Ignorance can be bliss. It’s great to be highly familiar with the industry in which you plan to compete, but many times people see too many challenges, and never start. In other cases, entrepreneurs are opening up new business areas, so no one yet knows the challenges. Serious entrepreneurs trust their ability to beat a new path to the opportunity.
7. You’re in no rush to get an MBA. If you are already an entrepreneur, more education, including an MBA, will only slow you down. Consider it a waste of time. If you plan to become an entrepreneur, and already have business experience or an undergraduate business degree, skip the two-year delay and cost of the MBA.
8. You are odd, and it’s OK. Entrepreneurs, especially those in technology, usually don’t start out as well-rounded, well-adjusted leaders. In fact, being odd is quite the norm. According to other studies, attention-deficit disorder (ADD) is common, as well as host of other personality disorders. It’s actually cool to be a geek in this lifestyle.
9. A check in hand means nothing. Every entrepreneur remembers their naïve days when that first customer check bounced. When you receive a new purchase order, a check, a verbal agreement, or even a written agreement, don’t get too happy and excited. Save the celebration until you have cold cash in hand, or the funds are verified.
10. There’s no such thing as a cold call. If you are an elite entrepreneur, you don’t go into anything cold. With the Internet and a plethora of other resources, you can warm up any call quickly, and not waste your time or theirs. Doing your homework first is one of the best ways to get an advantage over your competition.

If you think Johnson is on the right track, see his book for 90 more challenging insights. Even if you disagree with some of these, try to open your mind to the value of the seemingly backward way of thinking required to be a great entrepreneur – others seek refuge, they take risks; others want a job, they want to create jobs; others follow the market, while they define the market.
Have you caught the entrepreneur bug yet? If so, prepare for a lifetime commitment, and learn from the elite. There is no turning back.

Marty Zwilling
http://blog.startupprofessionals.com

Why hire an Entrepreneurial Coach?

If your reason has to do with time or money, then my response is: you can’t afford to be without one.

In an era of stiff competition both on domestic and global scales, no family business or any enterprise owner needs to be an island. Even the CEO of Google once said, ‘Everyone needs a coach.’

There are generally three problems for the typical business owner/entrepreneur:

-You are overwhelmed with ideas and information and you need a trusted source to help you design and implement a compelling action plan to take your business to the next level.
-You need to learn more business and marketing skills so you can increase revenue and grow your business.
-You know what you need to do – but simply can’t find the time to juggle all the responsibilities of owning a business.

Without support and knowledge in running a business, you’ll end up struggling to make your business a success, and all your passion and enthusiasm will drain away. Presuming you know all the basics, what else can an Entrepreneurial Coach do for you?

Let’s go to sports. If we examine the word ‘coach’ and think of sports, we ask how coaches function to enhance the performance of their athletes.

One way is by imparting new skills, tricks of the trade that they learned or figured out for themselves, that aren’t intuitively obvious to their players. Coaches get their players to play harder. They do this through all kinds of means, among them goal setting and encouragement, to name a few.

 

Coaching addresses the loneliness of business owners who just don’t have anyone they can turn to in order to discuss their challenges. Left on their own, struggling entrepreneurs or start-ups will be tempted to kick back, especially after achieving only moderate success. This can lead to backsliding and to a downward cycle of achievement. With a business coach, they’ll get a prodding, pushing, and occasional kick in the pants that they need to reach peak performance.

Hiring an Entrepreneurial Coach will:

-Help business owners and CEO’s clarify their vision and goals;

-Craft a cohesive action plan for growing your business;

-Turn breakdowns into breakthroughs;

-Show you how to accomplish more by working smart and not just working hard;

-Identify and put into action: what‘s working, what’s not working, what’s missing and what’s next;

-Develop momentum and keep one from diverting from one project to another before completing the previous one;

-Create a culture of accountability by holding the owner accountable for the goals he/she sets and never let reasons or excuses justify weak performances;

-Manage/resolve conflict and build teams;

-Show the owner ‘the forest through the trees’ more clearly by identifying effective, as well as ineffective behavior patterns that others might not see or be aware off;-

-Improve communications throughout the entire organization;

-Generate substantial increases in sales and profitability;

-Increase revenue and profits;

-Provide a complete toolbox of coaching skills for managers to use to inspire employees.

 However, let me point out that entrepreneurial coaching is not consulting. What’s the difference between an Entrepreneurial Coach and a Consultant?

Like a sports coach, an entrepreneurial coach works on bringing out the best that’s already inside you. In small business coaching, you will be asked to focus on the ‘bigger picture’ of what it is you want to create for your business (and your lifestyle), and talk about what will keep you motivated to move forward on your dreams, goals and tasks.

A consultant will tell you what to do regardless of whether it suits you and it’s up to you to put the plan in motion. Very often, clients do not implement the plan because they have no motivation or they do not like the plan. An Entrepreneurial Coach will help you figure out what you do best, make a plan, push you to do more, and will stay with you as you implement the plan. It’s no accident that professional athletes have coaches – they know the value of partnership.

Entrepreneurial coaching is not a quick fix. Rather, it’s a partnership between coach and client lasting from several months to several years. Building a business takes time and energy. True success comes from doing the work necessary to achieve results. You must be ready to do the work that will maximize your potential.

There is a good analogy that illustrates the difference between an Entrepreneurial Coach and a Consultant:

-An Entrepreneurial Coach will help you understand how and why you ride a bicycle, help you to determine what’s holding you back from riding properly, and jog along next to you as YOU ride;
-A Business Consultant will explain you why one bike is superior to another, teach you how to ride the bike, and if necessary, ride the bike for you.

Which one is best for you is based on your needs, values, as well your time constraints and deadlines.

Professor Enrique Soriano III (Ateneo de Manila University)

Article first published in Franchising.PH

How Entrepreneurial Instincts Can Boost Your Career

 

The days when you locked and loaded your career in school, and then blasted away down that same narrow path the rest of your life, are gone, never to return. Career survival today requires thinking and acting like an entrepreneur starting a business, staying nimble and resilient, willing to pivot, and supersensitive to the market realities of supply and demand.
Over the years I have spent mentoring entrepreneurs and startups, I often notice the similarities between successful professionals managing their careers and successful entrepreneurs building a business. Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn, helped me crystallize these similarities with his book “The Start-up of You.” Here are key survival skills for both lifestyles:

1. Adopt the mindset of a permanent beta. Finished ought to be an F-word for all of us. We are all works in progress. Each day presents an opportunity to learn more, do more, be more, and grow more in our lives and careers. Keeping your career in permanent beta forces you to acknowledge that you have bugs, and intend to improve yourself.
2. Regularly assess and refine your competitive advantage. Your competitive advantage is the interplay of three different, ever-changing forces – your assets, aspirations and values, and the market realities of supply and demand. Smart professionals constantly assess the market, and strengthen and diversify skills.
3. Plan to pivot as you learn. Change is the only constant in this world, and every change is an opportunity to learn. Plan to adapt, and start it every day on the side. Don’t wait for something to fail before you learn, or before you consider a change or pivot. The best pivots are to take advantage of an upside, rather than avoid a downside.
4. Build and use your network. World-class professionals don’t try to take on the world alone. People playing a solo game will always lose out to a team. Successful entrepreneurs are ones who put together the best teams. Build your network with people smarter than you. With effective networking, who you know is what you know.
5. Pursue breakout opportunities. Success begins with opportunities, but these mean nothing unless you execute on them. Others taking breakout opportunities can be dismissed as lucky, but more often it’s the result of their work to be at the right place at the right time, with the right mindset. Be curious, confident, and willing to learn.
6. Take intelligent risks. We are all risk takers. But we are not all equally intelligent about how we do it. In a changing world, minimizing risk is one of the riskiest things you can do. The most intelligent risks are those where the potential downside is limited, but the potential upside is virtually unlimited. Those are the risks every business jumps to take.
7. Maintain that sense of urgency. Entrepreneurs know that in business, change overtakes the best of big companies, and even startups have to maintain a sense of urgency to stay ahead of the curve. For every professional, opportunities come and go at an astonishing speed, so only a continuing sense of urgency will keep you alert.

In addition to you and the network around you, there is a broader environment that shapes your career potential. It’s the local culture and society around you. So think carefully about where you choose to live and work, or where you choose to start a business. Your maximum potential may be in another place in the global environment, or as a volunteer versus an employee role.
In the bigger picture, I’m convinced that we were all born as entrepreneurs, with the instincts listed above to survive, grow, and prosper. How many of these career survival instincts have you used lately to deal with the changes we all see?
Marty Zwilling

http://startupprofessionals.com