As the co-founder and the CEO of the Endeavor company, Linda Rottenberg has served as an inspiration to many. She has made it her life’s mission to provide budding entrepreneursRead More
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]]>As the co-founder and the CEO of the Endeavor company, Linda Rottenberg has served as an inspiration to many. She has made it her life’s mission to provide budding entrepreneurs with the help that they need to turn their bright ideas into decisive action. Even if the person does not have a great deal of experience or a concept that seems outrageous, Rottenberg still takes the time to provide aid.
No idea is too crazy or out there for Rottenberg and her work serves as an inspiration to anyone who has been told that they cannot achieve their goals. After taking a dive into her book, Crazy Is A Compliment, these are the top five lessons I believe that every entrepreneur can learn from the works of Linda Rottenberg.
Whenever a would be entrepreneur comes up with a brand new idea, they are usually called crazy by people who cannot take the time to think outside of the box and see their vision. Rottenberg believes that anyone who is going to try something new and seemingly insane will experience blow back from a variety of sources. She is quick to tell her acolytes about the problems Henry Ford experienced on his way to the top and how Sam Walton’s Wal-Mart idea was considered crazy at the time.
It is important for an entrepreneur to realize that there are no physical barriers standing between them and success, their obstacles are purely psychological. One of the most enduring mottos that she shares in her work is that “crazy is a compliment.”
While most people see entrepreneurs as being wacky and adventurous types, Rottenberg is quick to tell her audiences that this perception does not always match up with reality. She is quick to speak about the importance of taking risks that may seem crazy to the outside observers, but are actually calculated in nature. A common piece of advice that she gives is to keep your day job while you are trying to get your business off of the ground.
Rottenberg speaks about how crucial it is not to bet the entire farm on one idea. Craziness and the ability to stomach risk taking are great qualities to have, but only when they are properly utilized. Even some of the biggest names in the world of entrepreneurs hedged their bets. Phil Knight worked as a tax preparation expert before Nike took off and even Richard Branson (who is seen as being wacky and nuts) talks about containing the potential for disaster. Rottenberg makes sure that these parts of the story are not left out.
Rottenberg takes great pains to dissociate people from the common mental image of the disheveled, rumpled entrepreneur who drapes themselves in old hooded sweatshirts, telling stories of women who launched successful enterprises in the comfort of their own kitchens at home. Despite what you may think, you do not need to be a young male clad in a sweatshirt in order to meet the stereotype of what an entrepreneur should look like.
Young males are no longer the predominant group of budding entrepreneurs. Statistics now show that an entrepreneur is just as likely to be an older male (over the age of 55) or a female. With more and more Americans being forced to work for themselves during this turbulent economic times, it is crucial to get with the current program or end up being left behind.
Many startups employ family members, not because they are the most qualified for the position, but because they have the time on their hands and are able to work for little to no money. That is why a startup prenuptial agreement is necessary. As your company grows, you may need to replace some of these beloved family members with people who have more experience in the particular areas of expertise that you require.
When you start your business, Rottenberg preaches the importance of coming up with a formal partnership agreement and having it in writing. The vision that you and your family members start off sharing for the company can change and in many instances, a family member may even want out, but be too timid to speak up. Avoid these circumstances by spelling out exactly what you expect from your employees and/or partners during the early stages.
Rottenberg often talks about her past as an extreme workaholic and attempts to teach her audiences about the importance of work/life balance. When you are a workaholic, not only is it difficult for you to maintain a normal lifestyle, but it can also be difficult to retain talented employees. Make sure that you get a life and encourage anyone who works alongside of you to do the same. After all, what good is success if you don’t take a moment to enjoy it?
The idea that you have to ignore your family or put the people you love on the back burner is a foreign concept to Rottenberg and she often speaks about the surprise in people’s voices when she mentions her daughter’s dance recitals or other family events. In order to be successful, your personal life does not have to fall by the wayside, a lesson that Rottenberg goes out of her way to preach.
Preview Crazy Is A Compliment with Linda Rottenberg herself
Buy Crazy Is A Compliment by Linda Rottenberg on Amazon today
Visit LindaRottenberg.com to learn more about Linda and her work
Visit Endeavor.org to learn more about Linda’s company
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]]>Carol Sanford has risen to prominence as a consultant in the world of business development and is also well known for speaking to potential business owners in a number ofRead More
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]]>Carol Sanford has risen to prominence as a consultant in the world of business development and is also well known for speaking to potential business owners in a number of different settings. She has authored a book, The Responsible Entrepreneur, where she discusses the importance of responsibility and accountability in the entrepreneurial field and her insights continue to be shared in the business community time after time.
“Entrepreneurism isn’t born within a rare few; it’s a fire waiting to be lit inside us.” – Carol Sanford (highlight to share)
There are a number of lessons that every entrepreneur can learn from Carol Sanford and the following list focuses on the five that I find to be the most crucial for you to learn more about how you can emulate Sanford’s tactics.
An entrepreneur does not fail or succeed based exclusively on his or her own merits, a lesson that Sanford teaches in all of her works. Success is achieved within a team context, while failures are typically achieved alone. The entrepreneur who tries to do it all by themselves or ignore the needs of those underneath is setting themselves up for continued disappointment.
One of the most common pitfalls that a budding entrepreneur falls victim to is the perception that they need to take on each of the most important tasks by themselves and minimize the amount of help they need from partners and staff members. However, a truly successful entrepreneur knows how to hold themselves accountable and delegate duties to those who are more talented than themselves. No one ever rises to the top alone, but there are certainly more than a few would-be entrepreneurs who have sunk to the bottom all by themselves.
Carol Sanford speaks about the importance of self-awareness and talks about what it takes for a person to leave their mark on the world. She communicates her thoughts and ideas about the traits needed for a person to reach their full potential. One of the ideas that she regularly touches on is that a successful person does not take any event that takes place in their life too personally. In order to achieve success, an entrepreneur must be able to look at the bigger picture.
Instead of allowing the outcome of certain situation to affect how they feel about themselves, Sanford talks about recognizing the impact of their actions and remaining focused on the task at hand. No one rises to the top without experiencing a few setbacks along the way and none of these issues should ever be taken personally. Your higher aim is what matters most.
When Sanford speaks to her audiences, whether in person or through her writings, she consistently focuses on the responsibilities that come with along with responsible entrepreneurial work. No one starts off their entrepreneurial journey knowing it all or being able to predict the future. Problems lie ahead and while there is no way to control them, you can control the manner in which you react to them.
Rather than being waylaid by every single challenge that comes along, Sanford shows her acolytes how to use them as learning experiences, as a method for enriching themselves intellectually. Thanks to her years of experience, she knows about how rewarding it can be to face a challenge head on and learn from it. There is going to be resistance along the way as you climb the ladder to your ultimate goal, so embrace these challenges and use them as a tool for self-improvement.
We often have moments in life where we feel a certain magnetic pull that encourages us to shoot for a certain goal or to pursue a particular endeavor. Carol Sanford encourages her audiences to stop ignoring those feelings and start pursuing the goals that will truly make them happy. When you pursue the goals that are most important to you, your capabilities will be stretched to the limit, which is the best way for a person to shake off their current comfort zone and grow into a successful entrepreneur.
Your capacity to grow is as limitless as your imagination. If you are someone who is constantly doubting themselves and refusing to see the bigger picture, then you are going to struggle to pursue your true calling. We all have that magnetic tug inside of us, that little voice in our heads that encourages us to stop working at jobs that we hate and to go after our dreams. Sanford ensures that her audiences do not continue to ignore that voice.
Another area of emphasis for Sanford is the importance of self-reflection. She urges her audiences and readers to take a moment to really reflect on what is important to them. What is your goal and even more importantly, what are you going to do in order to reach it? Goals are great, but without a definitive plan, a goal is merely a dream.
Until you can look deep within and decide on what your true goal entails and what you are willing to do in order to achieve it, you will remain in your current state. An entrepreneur is someone who is not afraid to challenge themselves and a person who thrives when they are pushed out of their preferred comfort zone. Thanks to Carol Sanford’s lessons, what once seemed like a dream can become a reality, when you are ready, willing and able to put in the work necessary.
Preview The Responsible Entrepreneur with Carol Sanford herself
Buy The Responsible Business by Carol Sanford on Amazon today
Buy The Responsible Entrepreneur by Carol Sanford on Amazon today
Visit CarolSanford.com for the free workbook deal and more info on the book
Follow Carol Sanford on Twitter and Facebook
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]]>Who is Bo Burlingham and what you can learn from him: Bo Burlingham is a shining example of what can happen when a person does not take no for anRead More
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]]>Bo Burlingham is a shining example of what can happen when a person does not take no for an answer and simply finds a new way to do their own thing. After years working for Inc during the early 1980s as an executive editor, he resigned that position down to an editor-at-large in order to pursue his own interests.
From there, he wrote many successful books about life in the modern business world, giving out helpful tips to all of his readers about how employees can own their own companies. There is a great deal that an entrepreneur can learn from Bo Burlingham, so let’s focus on the five most crucial lessons.
It would have been easy for Bo to get comfortable and settle down at Inc. After rising to the position of Senior Editor, Burlingham could have allowed himself to become satisfied. Most people would have been fine with remaining in that position and thinking of ways to advance the company that gave them the job.
It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to make it to any sort of senior editing position at a major publication. Most would not have wanted to see all of that effort potentially go to waste while they take the time to chase after a dream.
However, Bo Burlingham is not most people. Instead of settling in, getting comfortable and allowing himself to fall into complacency, Burlingham decided to strike out on his own path, leaving Inc to publish his own books. Had he not had the courage to do this, he never would have had the time to write The Great Game Of Business, a book that has sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
Burlingham wrote a book entitled Small Giants. In this book, he does a deep dive into what makes small businesses successful. One of the main reasons he discovered? Smaller companies are more able to train their focus on being the absolute best at what they do. Whereas larger companies may find that it is more important to be everything to everyone, a smaller company spends their resources on performing one particular task.
By specializing, smaller companies are able to stand shoulder to shoulder with their larger counterparts and experience many of the same benefits. People are not looking to make purchases from the largest company possible. The consumer is all about finding the best quality at the most affordable price. The company that provides a top notch service and does not allow themselves to be hemmed in by traditional success definition is the one that will prosper over the long haul.
Small Giants delved into a variety of smaller companies, with the objective of showing readers how all of these companies were able to become so successful, so quickly. Whether it is a record company, a deli or a microbrewery, there are a variety of principles that define prosperous small businesses.
Even a tiny company can go about the same tasks as a corporate giant and experience continued success. While these tasks take place on a smaller scale, a company still must raise the necessary capital, invest the funds wisely and choose the right times to expand their operations or make pivotal acquisitions.
One of the most pivotal that an entrepreneur can take from the works of Bo Burlingham is that it does not matter how big or small a company is. The route to success is the same as it would be for a large company. Small business owners are encouraged to take the lessons that have worked for big companies and apply them to their own situation.
A common mistake made by entrepreneurs is that they do not trust their employees to get the job done. In Burlingham’s book, The Great Game of Business, he outlines the benefits of an open book management style. He did not come up with these strategies in a Fortune 500 boardroom or at a high end business meeting.
Instead, Burlingham investigated the plight of a company known as International Harvester. When all of the employees of this heartland factory stood to lose their jobs forever, they banded together and came up with a solution: the open book management style.
When employees feel like they are truly an integral part of the equation, their performance becomes much better. Burlingham has preached the importance of allowing your employees to know about how the company is functioning as a whole. This keeps them from being taken by surprise when certain events occur.
When Burlingham came together with Norm Brodsky to write Street Smarts, he did so with one goal in mind: showing people that there is no magic list of bullet points that an entrepreneur can hit that will guarantee their long term success. He preaches the importance of your overall mentality when trying to start a new business and displays the importance of street smarts.
Being book smart is not enough. An entrepreneur needs to know how to read people and judge a situation that may not come with a helpful handbook. Burlingham also teaches his readers that there will be mistakes made along the way and that these mistakes do not have to come to define you. It is how you rebound from these errors that determines your level of success.
Preview Finish Big with Bo Burlingham himself
Buy Finish Big by Bo Burlingham on Amazon today
Visit BoBurlingham.com to learn more about Bo and his books
Visit SmallGiantsBook.com to learn more about Small Giants
Visit TheKnack.info to learn more about Street Smarts
Visit EvolveUSA.org to learn how Evolve is using Finish Big to build its organization
Follow Bo Burlingham on Facebook and Twitter
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]]>Who is Peter Voogd and what you can learn from him: Peter Voogd has received a great deal of attention from a variety of outlets, due to his inspiring trueRead More
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]]>Peter Voogd has received a great deal of attention from a variety of outlets, due to his inspiring true story. Voogd was completely and totally broke, but did not allow his circumstances to define him. He set out on the path to riches and was able to go from being dead broke to having six figures within a mere six months. Peter Voogd was not content to sit back and rest on his laurels, so he wrote a book. The book, entitled 6 Months To 6 Figures became a bestseller.
The following are some of the most important lessons that every entrepreneur can learn from Peter Voogd and his book:
While most people would be inclined to give up when they are completely broke, Voogd did not let his situation bring him down. As a result, he was able to triumph under difficult circumstances. If nothing else, Voogd’s story should serve as inspiration to every would be entrepreneur out there. No matter what your current situation is or how many obstacles stand in your path, there is way to make all of your wildest dreams come true.
“Never let someone who gave up on their dreams talk you out of yours.” – Peter Voogd (highlight to share)
So many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of allowing themselves to be defeated before they have even had a chance to begin. Voogd did not. Since his story is no fairy tale and he provides realistic ways for his readers to achieve the same goals as he did, there is no reason why an entrepreneur should not be able to take some level of inspiration from it.
A regular complaint from the majority of entrepreneurs who are starting out is that there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. Voogd knows this and his work is dedicated to showing entrepreneurs more efficient ways of doing things. He shows his readers how to get their bigger tasks accomplished in much less time, without taking any shortcuts that could potentially damage the quality of the work being produced.
His strategies are not sugarcoated for mass consumption and he did not rely on any sort of gimmicks to achieve his fortune. Voogd was able to make himself a millionaire several times over by the young age of 27, so his tactics are proven to work. His success is what gives him an immense amount of credibility in the entrepreneurial community.
A lesson that Voogd constantly preaches to his acolytes is the importance of selecting your inner circle wisely and knowing about the dangers of associating with the wrong kinds of people. There are certain people in your life who are just not as vital to your day to day survival as you may believe they are. There are some people in your life who do not matter and never will.
If you hang around with people who do not have goals and plans for their life, then you will end up in the same boat as them. On the other hand, if you spend your time around those who are driven and goal oriented, then you are able to soak up the lessons that their presence teaches you.
The term that Voogd uses to describe this phenomenon is “circle of influence”. In an ideal scenario, a person’s circle of influence would include several people that they can look up to, some true role models. While the term is bandied about too much in modern times, it is crucial for an entrepreneur to spend time around like minded people that they can gain valuable perspective from.
Voogd preaches the importance of being able to do more with less time and not being afraid to tell people no if what they are asking for will interfere with your ability to accomplish all of the necessary tasks for the day. Organizing your schedule is key and Voogd shows entrepreneurs how to organize their schedule in a manner that leads to maximum productivity.
Whereas some entrepreneurs believe that spending 80 hours a week working is the path to success, Voogd shows them how to work smarter and not harder. He realized that he was using 80 percent of his effort to accomplish 20 percent of his goals and made the needed changes so that he could flip those numbers to his benefit. He began to focus on the most important 20 percent of his daily activities, the ones that created 80 percent of his overall results.
Voogd speaks about confidence and why an entrepreneur needs to destroy their insecurity to move forward. In order to have the utmost confidence, an entrepreneur must have clarity. Clarity only comes to those who have done the proper amount of thinking and know what their goals are and what it will take for them to reach these goals.
An entrepreneur does not get anywhere unless they have a take charge attitude and believe in their own ability to make things happen. No one is going to come along and make things happen for you and this is a lesson that Voogd spends his time teaching to younger entrepreneurs who are struggling with uncertainty.
Talking about success is one thing, but having the guts that it takes to go out and actually pursue it in earnest is quite another. Obstacles are always going to be in your way, but a confident person knows that they have what it takes to overcome them.
Preview 6 Months to 6 Figures with Peter Voogd himself
Buy 6 Months To 6 Figures by Peter Voogd on Amazon today
Visit 6FiguresBook.com to learn more about Peter’s book
Visit GameChangersMovement.com to learn more about his academy
Join the 6 Months to 6 Figures accountability group on Facebook
Follow Peter Voogd on Twitter and Facebook
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]]>A summary of things you should know about What’s Next? according to Michael Price: Introduction In this episode Michael Price takes a deep dive into his book, What’s Next, whereRead More
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]]>In this episode Michael Price takes a deep dive into his book, What’s Next, where he gives you a guide for surviving and thriving in the real world.
In his book, Price teaches you how to decide if college is right for you, how to escape Corporate America and pursue your passion, and how to use the Internet for continuing education, networking, building a business, and turning your passion into profit.
This book is perfect for aspiring entrepreneurs between the ages of 15 and 33 who are seeking an all-inclusive guide to finding the right education and entrance into the world today.
The book is tailor-made for millennials and a more comprehensive book. In addition to entrepreneurship it touches on a lot of other topics like education and employment. This has personally worked for me and I see it becoming a trend working for a lot of others.
It depends on the age level and the station of life the reader is in. The reader can jump in and pick up from where they are in their life in that particular point of time. The age group of a millennial is between the ages of 15 to 33.
I would want the reader to really understand the impact of the world that we live in today and most importantly the world that we are going to live in tomorrow.
The book opens up in chapter one titled Welcome to the Real World. I believe that millennials are extremely unprepared for the real world and I think it’s largely consequence of the way we were raised and the society we were brought up in. You can have all the opportunity in the world but if you don’t have a large sector of people that are willing to embrace that opportunity and know what to do with it, you have a big issue. We have the most highly educated generation in history but at the same time they are also the most unemployed generation in history. A lot of these issues are covered in the book and help break down the history of that.
Chapter two explores the notion of the internet age, social networking, real world networking and how to build business. This chapter helps people understand this phenomenon that we are seeing.
Chapters three and four discuss education. These chapters help the reader really understand what education is and what it’s not. These days there are so many different ways to educate yourself in terms of learning whatever it is necessary to get you to the next point in your life. The reader will get a lot of insight into that and alternative solutions should they not be able to or desire to go the traditional route of education.
In Chapter five we get involved in the brand building component of business and entrepreneurship. This book takes the reader down this path to entrepreneurship but it focuses very heavily making sure that they survive and thrive in their career as an employee. I believe that employment is the new training ground for entrepreneurship.
Chapter six is titled Surviving Corporate America and has 15 of the best pieces of advice that I could provide working in the corporate environment at a very high level for several years.
And chapter seven is titled Escaping Corporate America. This chapter helps give real insight to what you can expect when you take the plunge to quit your job and to go all-in as an entrepreneur.
In chapter eight we discuss some basic financial literacy skills which sadly aren’t taught in schools but its key for success in the real world.
The book closes out in chapter nine by providing a message to parents who have already raised a millennial or are currently raising a millennial.
NOTE: That was just a summary. To get the full deep dive, play the audio clip at 07:51
“My fellow millennials, are you prepared for the real world?” – Michael Price
I am an entrepreneur, an author and a millennial. I also founded I Can Be Society.
After explaining my unhappiness with my job at the time to my dad he suggested I write a book. I knew I had the ability to write a book and as I looked back on my life from the ages 15 to 28 I wanted to show how education and career fit together.
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Buy What’s Next? by Michael Price on Amazon today
Visit MichaelPriceless.com to learn more about Michael and his book
Visit ICanBeSociety.com to learn more about Michael’s platform to help inspire people
Follow Michael Price on Twitter and Facebook
Download the full transcript here (coming soon)
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books:
The New Entrepreneurz by Ronen Gafni and Simcha Gluck
The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth by Chris Brogan
Freedom After the Sharks by Geoff Hudson-Searle
Relevant advice and tips:
7 Signs That You Have What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur
7 Unique Styles Of Entrepreneurs
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]]>The Advantages of Technology in the Life of an Entrepreneur Entrepreneurs are the driving force that keeps our economy rolling. But the life of an entrepreneur is not that rosy.Read More
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]]>The Advantages of Technology in the Life of an Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs are the driving force that keeps our economy rolling. But the life of an entrepreneur is not that rosy. They have to take an insane amount of risk, swim against the tide and have to come up with new ideas to emerge as successful entrepreneurs. As evident, managing all these different activities simultaneously is immensely tough. Just like any other human beings, Entrepreneurs are also in need some assistance so that they can do their job in an efficient way. Thanks to the massive advancement in the field of technology in the past few decades, lives of the entrepreneurs have become much easier. Here in this article, let’s take a look at how the advantages of technology can play an important part in entrepreneurship:
Marketing
What good is a business if nobody knows about it? Every entrepreneur knows it very well that the message of their business organizations need to be delivered to their targeted audience at any cost. Unless people know about your product or service, you simply can’t expect your business to survive for long.
Distributing leaflets, participating in events, talking with people on the street etc are definitely effective but it will need lot of manpower and money. Thanks to technology, we don’t have to knock on every door that comes along the way. We can try Mailchimp instead. It is cool way to send newsletters to your customers. Maybe you should try Google Ads to reach out to customers when they are searching on the web or browsing other websites.
Market Research
Market research is the best way to understand what your targeted audience actually want and avoid a disaster. Without a proper market study, you will find yourself tasked with the job of selling refrigerator to Eskimos.
Traditional market research methods are still effective and should never be replaced with online tools. However, going out in the street, meeting people, asking for their opinions, getting them filled out long form etc is really tough these days given the fact that most people are extremely busy these days.
So, let’s take a short route. You can do some market research online by using Google Global Market Finder. You can do market research by country or by language. The tool gives you a fair idea about how many people are searching with a term in a specific region. Say for example, if nobody is searching for ‘solar cooker’ in a locality, it means that not many people are interested in it. However, if your product is unique, this tool might not prove this much effective.
Social Media
Since you are an entrepreneur, you have to stay connected to other influential people on different social media channels. Also you need to keep these channels updated whenever you can. Now, managing all these different social channels is too much to handle for an entrepreneur. Try Ping.fm to manage all your social media accounts instead. It comes loaded with a single control panel. It can be integrated with Facebook and Twitter seamlessly, which is an added advantage.
Tracking
Tracking the tasks at hand, meeting deadlines etc are very difficult because of the hectic lifestyle we are leading. You might find yourself lost and may miss out on deadline. Probably, you are in need of Basecamp – a cool project management collaboration tool. This tool has been embraced by both big and small businesses around the world. Basecamp is inarguably affordable, easy to use and intuitive. It helps you keep track on things and also allows other people to collaborate with you.
So, it would not be off the mark to say that the advantages of technology are shaping the lives of the entrepreneurs and also the way, they used to work. Embrace it and you will be okay.
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