entrepreneur

10 skills every budding entrepreneur and start-up founder should have

If you are you an entrepreneur and you are not sure about what it takes to boom your business, here are skills every entrepreneur should have.

Entrepreneurship is considered as one of the major factors of production. An entrepreneur’s ability is gauged by how well they make decisions, creativity and how well they are good in the management of risks and resources. If you are an entrepreneur and you are not sure about what it takes to boom your business, here are skills every entrepreneur should have.

Money management skills

An ultimate goal of doing business is to make a profit (money).How do you expect to manage a business if you don’t have the skills to manage money? Budgeting for the business will also be a big challenge to any business which is not well handled will result in a loss.

Resource mobilization

The moment an entrepreneur knows how to manage money; the next question should be how he can source for more to pump the business to a greater profit. Have the capacity to identify the sources of funding. This also involves a convincing voice to sell out the business and attract more funding.

Stress management skills

Stress can kill entrepreneurs if not well handled and managed. There will always be a time when all options that you try will hit the wall. Frustration occurs in the process of trying to fix this. Don’t let stress put you down, instead, turn them into an opportunity to grow. Apply useful tactics for business growth.

Networking skills

Before venturing into any business, you must set goals for it. Create the right linkages and fish out resourceful people to acquire business ideas. Out of the entrepreneurs, you spend time with, define your role model and work towards achieving that. Learn more from successful ones and ask them how they manage. Share as many challenges as possible to get solutions to the problems affecting the business.

Management skills

Managing people takes different dimensions. Use different parameters to gauge people’s capabilities. Identify their weakness and work on them. Productivity can only be achieved by having an effective team on board. Motivate and build them every day. Treat employees with equality as it brings respect. Timely feedbacks about the business will be experienced.

Customer relation

In a real sense, business without customer is like dead wood. In business engagements, we either sell services or products. Make sure the ideas you employ, the decision you make and services offered meet customer needs. Do a lot of research where necessary to get a viable solution. Sell the skills acquired into the business so as to attract more customers.

Capacity building skills

Limited skills can affect the growth of a business. Enhance the team performance by training them in key areas. Identify the gaps in each and every team member and plan for capacity building sessions. This will give them the strength to handle complicated issues as commitment levels go high. As an entrepreneur, this will form a basis to handle employee misconduct issues.

Learning ability

The market demands changes and affects business every now and then. Don’t assume you know every detail about your business. A business if strategized well moves very fast. Emerging trends should be monitored and applied with immediate effect to avoid business disruption. Get skills and focus more on what level you want to take the business.

Identify strength and weakness

Nobody is perfect in this world. It is crucial to identify what you are good at (strengths). Identify weaknesses so they don’t overpower the strengths. This will help in making an informed decision about your business.

Problem-solving

In this world, there is no entrepreneurship that will succeed perpendicularly. Problems do arise but we should apply different tactics to handle them. Before winning a battle, failures are guaranteed. Have the skills to predict risks and come up with risk management plans.

3 ways in which entrepreneur can advocate their team

It is your duty as an entrepreneur to advocate your team in order to work efficiently.

Success isn’t the responsibility of just the entrepreneur or an employee. A company’s success depends on the smooth functioning of various teams. In a scenario where a team has succeeded in doing their part well, it is your duty as an entrepreneur to advocate them in order to work efficiently.

You can advocate their success in the following ways:

1. Acknowledge people and their work

To support a team’s success, you should first be aware of their existence and value and then acknowledge their position in your company. Often, we label a person as a “thing” which takes away from their dignity. So, unless we see the other person as a valuable human asset to the company, it is difficult to acknowledge. When a team has done a good job, it is your job to go out of the way to congratulate their good deeds and make them feel accomplished. When a team feels like their efforts are being honoured, they are bound to put in more hours of hard work because of the positive motivation created.

Related Post: How to form the right startup team

2. Believe in them

Advocacy is only possible when you believe in people that they are able enough to achieve great feats. By believing in them, you display the emotion of trust which drives people to stand up to that belief. Success doesn’t include demeaning the other person; instead, it comes from treating the other person in the room as an equal. However, this doesn’t mean that you should fake belief in people when you don’t have expectations. You need to be real and genuine while trying to lift your team’s spirits after a success in order to advocate it.

3. Boost and support the team’s endeavours

The best results are derived when the entrepreneur comes forth to support his team and the team is able to feel the support extended by the entrepreneur. People need to be heard and valued which is your duty if you want to advocate them. Being supportive means being a net to your team. Things might go wrong as to err is human so in those conditions, it is best to be there for your team. Similarly, when they’ve tasted success, it is your duty to encourage them and support them even in their good times.

6 Must read business books of 2018 for entrepreneurs

Don’t miss the wisdom in the pages of these upcoming titles.

Don’t miss the wisdom in the pages of these upcoming titles. Here is a list of 6 upcoming books that will level up your abilities in 2018.

These 10 steps will help any entrepreneur get their game right

You’ll think you’re doing it wrong most of the time, while secretly hoping you’re getting some of it right.

You followed your heart. You turned your passion into your mission. Your fear of regret superseded your fear of going for it. You’ve worked hard, but the success you desire didn’t arrive on schedule. You’ve had achievements, followed gurus, and kept your dream alive through sheer tenacity and a determination not to return to the hamster wheel from which you jumped.

You’re exhilarated at the thought of being your own boss, working alongside your dog, and not punching a time clock. What you may not have known about entrepreneurship is that, like raising kids, there are ups and downs, overwhelm and excitement, pain and joy. You’ll think you’re doing it wrong most of the time, while secretly hoping you’re getting some of it right. You’ll want to quit. To all those statements, I can say, me too.

Here’s 10 ways to change your game and get it right:

1. Refine and release your product offering

Your business isn’t just about what you’re selling and what problem it’s solving. Focus on what gives your life meaning and how what your offering represents that. You’re selling your story, not your product or service. And, if you’re stuck in the pondering, refining, revising, rewriting, or redesigning stage, move forward. Get a good, not perfect, product out there. Rinse and repeat. Done is better than perfect unless you’re engineering heart valves or knee replacements.

2. Build your brand from your heart, not your head

If no one knows who you are, where to find you or what you do, they can’t buy from you. A legitimate problem but easily solvable. The step that matters most to your bottom line, however, is incorporating bits of your journey and soul, not just your expertise. Focus on being resonant. A great brand builds relationships and relationships are why buyers choose you over and over.

3. Determine if you have a fear of failure, a fear of success or both

You are probably clear on fear of failure- the hesitancy that comes with the fact that what you’re doing might not work out and could be painful to you and your bank account. What you may be less familiar with is a fear of success, that can be equally paralyzing because you have deep-seated worries about how your life will change if your business really takes off.

You might be disappointed that you haven’t reached your goals, but you are comfortable with the familiarity of how your life is now. Fear of success is released the same way as fear of failure. Ask yourself three questions. What’s the worst that can happen if I’m successful? Can I handle it? And, what’s the best that can happen? Then choose comfortable and familiar or success.

“Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out.” -Karl Augustus Menninger

4. Hustle

When you link your service to your story, you can easily talk to everyone all the time about what you do without sounding coercive or salesy. If you want to be successful, you have to be the mayor. Fake being outgoing until you’re outgoing. You may have held back because hustling sounds icky. You may also have mistakenly thought you were hustling when you weren’t!

If you work all the time but aren’t getting where you want to go, you may be doing more of what’s comfortable rather than what works. Give your inner badass entrepreneur a hustler nickname and embrace that part of you that knows you’re in business to make money as well as making the planet a better place.

5. Focus on what you don’t do well but desperately need

If you’re spending all your time becoming more of an expert at what you do, chasing more credentials and living in the comfort zone, but you’re neglecting marketing, strategic planning, competitive analysis or some other part of your business, success will continue to elude you. Instead of listening to Ted talks and reading journal articles in your field, focus on the major players in a business like Tim Ferriss, Tony Robbins, and Gary Vaynerchuk and everyone they interview.

6. Focus on the small goals on the way to the big dream

I love dreaming big, like focusing on becoming a NY Times best-selling author. That goal is definitely on my vision board but so is to finish writing the book and get it published. That’s a simple example but overlooking consistent, focused small steps while affirming the big goal will not get you where you want to go. Don’t focus on a net income of $2 million when, immediately, you need to focus on making enough money to keep you out of a day job.

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” -Jim Rohn

7. Make “I can” your new motto. Banish “I can’t” from your vocabulary

It’s rarely true anyway. You can say: I don’t know how, I’m working on it, and I need to figure it out, which all imply that there is a solution to be had. I can’t is final and permits you to quit. I can, not only psychologically primes your brain to find a solution, it switches your thoughts from a fixed to a growth mindset.

8. Ask for help

It’s easy to slip into excuses, like “everyone’s busy”, “you have to pay people to help you” and “why would so and so want to help me”. It’s a risk to ask for assistance. However, wishing, wanting and hoping what you need magically appears succeeds far less often than asking for it. The answer will either be a yes or a no, and either is ok. Don’t take it personally. As Jack Canfield says, every no brings you closer to a yes. Be sure to show or tell them why they want to help you and offer to assist them in return.

9. Know your role models

Don’t reinvent the wheel because wheels exist. Find who’s doing what you want to do, be and have. Study them, contact them, and do what they did. For work, life and relationships- know your role models. And keep it in perspective. Your big goal may be that your mentors become your friends but you need them to be your mentors first.

10. Enlist a support team

You need your cheerleaders and tough lovers. These are people who will provide unbiased support- celebrating the victories, cheering you through the difficulties and asking the tough questions that help you win big. They brainstorm solutions and provide a much-needed connection for the SOULpreneur.

Most of the success is mental, not mechanics, but these steps cover both, require no financial investment, and you can start on them today. As mega fitness superstar, Shaun T says, “Let’s goooo!”

What gets you excited? Comment below!

5 productive activities for entrepreneurs to boost their professionalism

As an entrepreneur, it is always important to maintain a professional image which will help you gain trust and admiration of clients and VCs.

As an entrepreneur, it is always important to maintain a professional image which will help you gain trust and admiration of clients and Venture Capitalists. To maintain a great image, apart from being great at your job, there are certain activities you can engage in which might increase your professional productivity as well.

i. Volunteering work

If you have free time on your hands, why not put it to good use by volunteering at an organisation of your choice like a NGO, orphanage, old-age home or an animal centre? Doing community work is a very good way to build connections and learn new skills while helping others. When people read “non-profit work” on your resume, they will be impressed by all the good work you do.

ii. Don’t stop reading

Reading is the easiest and most conventional way to expand your knowledge about almost everything. It makes you a smarter and more knowledgeable person to look up to. If reading books is not your thing, you could start by reading online articles and the newspaper headlines as long as you are getting nuggets of information from somewhere.

iii. Work on building an online portfolio

Building an online portfolio or a personal website helps you brand yourself as the world moves towards digitalisation. A website also helps in promoting your professional brand. It is necessary that you do it yourself because nobody can explain your professional aspirations better. This website will be of great help to VCs looking to invest in your company and people looking for a job.

iv. Invest in a hobby

If you stopped doing something you absolutely loved, it is time to start again. If you do not have a hobby yet, don’t worry, because it’s never too late to find one. Learning new things will add to your skills and might help in contributing greatly to your career as well.

v. Network

Networking should never come to an end as it is crucial for an entrepreneur to build as many contacts and connections as s/he can. It is a relatively easy task as all you need to do is strike conversations with everyone you meet- in a queue, at a club or at the gym. Be a good listener and build connections as you never know how important that person might turn out to be for your career.

Related Post: 6 ways in which performers actually focus

8 Obvious signs you were built for entrepreneurship

Here are a few unexpected signs that will surely help you in deciding whether you should go for entrepreneurship or not.

Entrepreneurs are not born but they cultivate the skills of entrepreneurship within them. To be an entrepreneur, you have to be passionate, resilient, tolerant to ambiguity, have vision, flexibility, believe in yourself and be a rule breaker. These are just the few indications that an entrepreneur is growing inside you.

Here are a few unexpected signs that will surely help you in deciding whether you should go for entrepreneurship or not:

1. You are not easily contented

Normal people think of how to celebrate their victory after achievements but entrepreneurs think “What’s Next?” They are always restless and never satisfied with their achievements. They always crave for something new and are ready to take on new challenges.

2. You are a control freak

Entrepreneurs always love to be in charge of their work but at the same time, they need to maintain the balance between controlling business and letting the talented people around take the reins. If a person likes being in charge and can easily convince people to follow their vision, then they can be a good entrepreneur.

3. You are a born risk-taker

Nothing high can be achieved without the risk. Hence, entrepreneurs are calculated risk takers. If you love risk, entrepreneurship is likely going to be a great fit for you.

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

4. You like making your own money

A desire that you pay yourself for the accomplishments is a clear calling card of an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs start with working for other people’s ideas for a fair salary, but after getting fed up they start their own business and work on their own ideas.

5. You don’t fit in the crowd

Successful entrepreneurs don’t lead a normal life. They are mostly drop outs, quit lucrative jobs, and do silly things simply because they want to live a life on their own terms. If you are a black sheep and always eager to do something out of the box, then entrepreneurship is your catch.

6. You are an introvert

Entrepreneurs are introverts and hence they recharge themselves in the best way by being alone. Being introverted means that you are more of an “ideas” person and are great at fostering a team environment. There are always certain entrepreneurial advantages that come from being an introvert.

7. You are passionate

Being a successful entrepreneur is not an overnight success. From lack of customers to profits, one has to face everything. Without an undeniable passion for your work, it will be very difficult to cross all the disappointments and hard times ahead. Pick any successful entrepreneur and you will find their passion for their work is the key to their success.

For once, let’s take the example of Atul Gupta, an Indian Born South African businessman who even after many failures in his starting days of business is currently the owner of almost all the sectors, be it mining industry, media industry in South Africa. His passion is the answer to all his failures and his competitors.

“You can’t fake passion.” – Barbara Corcoran

8. Confidence is your success mantra

Entrepreneurs always believe in their abilities and know that they can succeed, but they need to sell their idea and lead a team. In many cases, confidence goes a long way in each of these pursuits.

There are many different personality traits that help entrepreneurs become successful, and these are just a few of the possibilities. If you find any of these listed descriptions being relatable, it’s likely that you’re destined for work as an entrepreneur. Don’t wait any longer. Get out there and change the world!

How do you plan on changing the world? Tell us your dreams in the comments below!

9 ways in which entrepreneurs can make some quick extra bucks

Why not put your skills to use to make some quick bucks to pump into your business?

Entrepreneurs are always in the dire need for money while setting up. So, why not put your skills to use to make some quick bucks to pump into your business?

Here are a few ways in which entrepreneurs can make some extra bucks:

1. Sponsored posts

If you are a social media addict with a huge number of followers on social media platforms, you can get brands to pay your to share their posts. You can also enter into long term agreements with companies to make those quick bucks in no time.

2. Sell photos

Again, you could use your amazing Instagram skills and your large number of followers to start selling photos on your Instagram.

3. Babysitting

Babysitting is an easy job which helps you earn easy money. As it is a concept which is catching on in the country, you can easily take up this job to make some extra money.

4. Pet sitting

If you are a person who loves animals, you can easily take care of pets of families who have gone out for vacations or short holidays. This way, you can make money and make furry friends.

5. Freelancing

Freelancing is a great way to earn money by making use of their skills like content writing, photo editing etc. Websites like freelancer.com, odesk.com etc have great opportunities which help you make money.

6. Tutor

You can also help other people by teaching them skills that you possess. With online tutoring becoming increasingly popular, you can extend your skills to various students across the globe willing to learn.

7. Take surveys

Start filling in questionnaires and taking surveys online to make some quick, easy bucks. The best part of taking surveys is that you can take unlimited surveys to earn more and more money.

8. Watch videos and click ads

You can also avail these simple tricks to make quick and easy cash. Certain websites like swagbucks lets you make money by simply increasing the number of views and likes on videos and ads.

9. Secret shopper

If you love shopping, you can easily avail jobs which require a secret (mysterious) shopper who shops for the client either virtually or in real life. Mysterious shopping is a great way to make money.

Bad communication habits every entrepreneur should ditch right now

Communication is an essential part of becoming an entrepreneur as you need to communicate with all sorts of people.

Communication is an essential part of becoming an entrepreneur as you need to communicate with all sorts of people ranging from level 1 employees to investors. However, sometimes we tend to display some sort of bad communication traits which could be very harmful to the company’s reputation.

Here are a few bad communication traits you need to get rid of:

Bad body language

Body language plays an important role in non-verbal communication and if any way, your body language indicates that you are uninterested or bored, the other person will want to end the conversation.

Beating around the bush

Time is precious for everyone which is why making a point and sticking to it is necessary instead of digressing and revolving around it. The listener loses interest if your conversation cannot make a strong point or stand.

Poor choice of words

Nobody is asking you to use big, fancy words in each sentence; but, if you choose the poorest (non-impactful, casual) words to use in a sentence, you could end up looking weak to the listener and killing a potential deal.

Not listening properly

For communication to smoothly go on, you need to be a good listener and pay attention to what the other person is saying. If you don’t listen carefully, you end up giving half baked answers which could cause the other party to lose interest.

Constant interruption

Everyone loves to speak about themselves, but that doesn’t give you the right to interrupt someone else’s story. Wait for the other person to finish talking and then raise a point or share your thoughts. Constant interruptions irritates the other person and breaks their train of thoughts which can prove to be detrimental to the conversation.

Floundering is the worst

Rambling endlessly without a purpose or a point will make your listeners lose interest. Just like you should chime into someone’s conversations, you shouldn’t talk endlessly after your point is made because that negates your point.

Tone of your communication

This can be a hindrance both in face-to-face and virtual communication as the tone can be misunderstood by the other person. You need to pay special attention to what you want to convey and the choice of words through which you convey that information.

How to never give up on becoming an entrepreneur

Here is why – your worst days come right before success.

If you are thinking about giving up right now, wait until you read this. Here is why – your worst days come right before success. There are some ways to never give up on becoming an entrepreneur.

Let’s go through each step together.

1. Stay alive. As long as you are alive, anything is still possible.

2. Lower your expectations.

Most successes are not overnight successes. It’s the job of every PR company hired by a newly successful startup to make that startup look like an overnight success. You hear things like, “They just hacked this in a couple nights on the weekend, and a week later got a million users” or “it was just a hobby they were doing on the side, but then one day the site crashed because of traffic.”

Some of these stories are true, but for most of them – you will never know the whole story. Guessing how others succeed is wasting your time. Paul Graham warns every batch of founders at Y Combinator that only 1% of them will experience success really fast. What ends up happening is founders all expect they will be that 1%. You can work for it. But you can’t expect it. Lower your expectations.

3. Remember that you are stronger than you think.

At times, you might privately think to yourself that you can’t handle the pressure. You have to persist. And just doing the same thing is not enough. You must try different things before you learn what works. Let’s say of the 99 things you have tried, nothing works well. Will you try the 100th thing? If you think about it, the 99 failures have almost no bearing on the success of the following one, as long as you trying different things.

4. Fake it. Other people will do the same. They will never give up, why would you?

Fake success. Everyone does. You should as well. Don’t lie, but act as if you already succeeded. It makes a difference.

5. Don’t compare yourself to people who already succeeded.

Never give up if Bob is doing great. You never know how he is really doing. Even if you think you know, you don’t.

After you have done all of this, you will fall into the dip. It’s the lowest point in your whole journey, a hopeless-looking place that comes right before success – Seth Godin wrote an entire book about it. If this sounds like baseless motivational talk, think again. When you fall really low, take a bunch of risks and fail people around you, you have nothing to lose – and that is exactly the time you are likely to take you biggest risk and possibly succeed.

Most people who look at this infographic think that they are stuck in the dip. The trick is that if you are stuck, you have to keep moving. And sometimes that means going back to square one. If nothing else, never give up because you only might have one last thing to overcome. Now stand up and say to yourself as loud as you can, “Never give up! Never Give up! Never Give up!”

5 Signs you picked the wrong partner for your startup

65 percent of high-potential startups fail as a result of conflict among co-founders.

Picking a business partner is like deciding on a college roommate. How well do you get along? How well do you actually know your potential partner?

Do you know what skills and experience they’re bringing to the table? (No skills involved in being a roommate except for cleaning.)

How open and honest is your communication? Do you foresee any issues arising during your partnership in the upcoming years?

If you can’t decisively answer these questions or you have an inkling of doubt in your mind, it’s probably a better bet to step back for a minute and reanalyze your options.

A common reason businesses go belly up is because of toxic partnerships. In fact, “65 percent of high-potential startups fail as a result of conflict among co-founders.”

So, how can you make sure you aren’t getting into bed with a partner who will lead to the start-up’s demise?
Below are a few red flags you should keep your eye out for.

1. They have ulterior motives

The truth is that everyone has a personal agenda, so don’t take it personally. Everyone is working towards personal goals, but that doesn’t mean they look to subvert everyone else. However, it would be prudent to keep this in mind when choosing a business partner.

You should be aware of what other ventures prospects are involved in, and what a partnership between the two of you would mean for them. What exactly are they looking to get out of it?

That said, one of the worst possible things that could happen to your startup is to have your partner leave after just a short period of time.

If you plan to divide ownership equally, your partner could just up and walk out on you with half of your company. Thus, to prevent the above situation from happening, the two of you must devise vesting restrictions.

If you receive pushback from you partner regarding the matter, which should immediately raise a red flag.

2. They don’t treat employees and colleagues well

It’s embarrassing to have a partner who blatantly disregards others. Not only that, but to put it bluntly, it’s bad for business. If your partner doesn’t respect your other employees, it will spell misery for the latter and put a cloud over the entire office.

The last thing you want is to worry about when getting a startup going is turnover rates. It’s doubtful any employee would feel comfortable approaching their boss about their other boss, so one can expect sudden resignations along with a dismissive business partner – neither of which any business owner wants in the end.

It’s important to maintain constructive criticism and be an assertive leader; however, a partner who abuses their role and creates an uncomfortable environment for employees is not someone you want to keep around.

3. You see too much of yourself in them

As in most other relationships, both platonic and romantic, opposites do tend to attract. If you and your partner have the same skillset, the same expertise, the same opinions, the same – then you.

If fact, you’ll probably end up butting heads constantly since both of you have the same ideals, but potentially different methodologies. You want someone who can claim different areas of expertise and reliably utilize those skills.

You want someone who will challenge your ideas and put them through the ringer. A good business dynamic includes differing opinions, and if you share too many, you won’t be able to evolve.

4. They want all the perks without the work

You cannot share equal partnership but not thusly divide the work. Yes, there will exist periods where one will have a larger workload than the other; however, this is because theoretically each will be focusing on different aspects of the business.

In other words, as the business itself fluxes, so will each partner’s respective workloads. The workload may not always be the same at a given time, but the overall amount of work put forward should be one-to-one.

If your business partner arrives at 8 AM and leaves at 4 PM on the dot everyday while you stay in the workplace for 12 hours straight, that’s not a partnership.

Responsibilities should be outlined right from the start, and both partners need to monitor the other to ensure equal contribution to the business on both ends.

Related Post: How to form the right startup team

5. You wouldn’t want to hang out with them outside of the office

Perhaps one of the easiest tests of all: would you want to spend time with your business partner outside of the workplace? If the answer is no, then you’ve got a big issue to address.

Ideally, your business partner should also be a friend – someone you can confide in, seek help from, and is supportive should you experience extenuating circumstances that may temporarily take you away from the business.

If you can’t picture yourself vacationing or even going to happy hour with your business partner, you two have no friendship and thus probably have just as poor of a professional relationship. Owning a business, especially a startup, is a commitment: it entails hard work with long hours and disappointment and frustration.

You will oftentimes spend more time in the workplace with your business partner than you will with your own family. So, with that in mind, you better make sure that you’re making the right decision.

A business partner can either make or utterly break your startup. Although choosing a business partner can be a frustrating and drawn-out process, it’s important to invest the time and energy to make sure you make the best choice.

Unfortunately, you must always prepare for the worst. Partnerships that sour and the ensuing steps you should take to handle the situation is a whole different issue.

5 simple ways in which entrepreneurs can increase their influence

If you want to become a successful entrepreneur, you definitely need to increase your influence over you team.

If you want to become a successful entrepreneur, you definitely need to increase your influence over you team. Increasing you influence doesn’t mean becoming autocratic, it simply means adopting some changes in your personality due to which people will perceive you as more impactful and significant.

1. Be Assertive

Being assertive shouldn’t be confused with being bossy or dictatorial. Assertiveness means being confident about your decision and willing to justify it with solid reasons. If someone counters your view, you should be able to answer them with logic and persistence and not raise your voice. Explain your part of the idea rational and logical reasons and in a calm, composed and dignified tone. This will create respect in the minds of your employees for you and because you know your stuff well, they’ll be more likely to trust you.

2. Be empathetic towards others

Everyone needs security in form of concern, love and care from others. When one is going through a crisis, you need to be emotionally curious and try and support that person in his hard times. If you can in a way manage to provide him emotional stability, you will be seen as a better leader and this will lead to an expansion of your ring of influence.

3. Be specific

If you’re indecisive about the company’s goals, visions, and meetings and practically everything, people are going to perceive you as unreliable and not very influential. Your decisions are what define you as an entrepreneur and a leader so make sure you decide on very reasonable and specific goals and methods to achieve them. Also, you should be aware of everything that goes on in your own company.

For instance, if there is a loss of 5% in the last quarter, you should know exactly what caused the loss.

4. Dress the part

You might be an assertive and logical person, but, if you don’t look the part, no one’s going to recognise your importance. Dressing is a powerful tool and needs to be used carefully in order to make an impression. A suit with a solid-coloured shirt and well-polished shoes defines influence in its entirety as opposed to a guy wearing a graphic tee and chappals. For women, wear crisp formals over casuals to make a statement and leave an impact. You accessories speak a lot about you; keep them confined to a watch or statement jewellery.

Related Post: 8 attributes of successful entrepreneurs

5. Be an inspiration to your team

Instead of coming to office with a bored face, enter brimming with enthusiasm and with a contagious energy which inspires others to wake up as well. This is a very difficult skill to master but it is majorly dependent on an entrepreneur’s communication skills and depth of passion for what s/he’s doing. When leaders are excited about a project or a challenge, they tend to impart some of it to the presentation and employees as well which they should be able to positively use. Also, to inspire further, a leader must always stand by his team and constantly inspire, encourage and help his team to achieve their goals.

6 free online tools every entrepreneur needs to know about

By using a plethora of free, online tools available, entrepreneur can make the best use of the limited finances and manage to make your business a raging success.

As an entrepreneur looking to set up his/her own venture, it is assumed that you are running low on budget. By using a plethora of free, online tools available, you can make the best use of the limited finances and manage to make your business a raging success.

1. Madmimi

Madmimi is exactly what you need if you’re planning to explore the email marketing option. It makes your job of sending and tracking emails easy. Up to a certain number of contacts, this tool is free and lets you send unlimited e-mails to those contacts.

2. Google Analytics

Google analytics has been a saviour and a brilliant guide to almost all businesses as it lets you track the traffic on your website along with their details. It always has very useful features like creation of custom goals and a/b testing for a new home page. Unless you are able to track analytics, you can’t be sure about what you need to work on.

3. Hiver

Hiver is a great tool which helps you organise by turning your Gmail into a helpdesk. It allows you to add three users for free and you can track and assign tasks to these users by adding them in a sidebar.

4. Evernote

Every one is aware of how useful notes can be when one needs to organise and prioritise. All one needs to do is save the notes and share them with whoever they want to. These notes are accessible from all devices are they are saved on the cloud.

5. Trello

This app can prove to be a game changer as it lets you organise projects of all sizes and types. You can organise the work on cards and assign your teammates tasks through Trello. Now there are many trello alternatives also available in the market that are equally efficient.

6. Survey Monkey

Research is very important in order to be able to target the right audience for your business, however, it can be a costly affair. SurveyMonkey is your saviour in case you need to do research and don’t have enough money as by using a simple interface, you can design and publish your surveys. The tool also helps in analysing the results for you.

9 ways to validate your startup ideas

Check out the infographic below for some other tips in validating startup ideas that you could also use.

The most effective ways to validate your startup ideas include conducting surveys and following up the feedback. You want to test the waters at this stage. Interacting with your target audience is a must. The good thing about surveying them is that they won’t hold back with their thoughts.

If they like something, they will say it right away. Otherwise, they could be blunt about their dislike. This will let you know exactly the common reactions of your sample group. From there, you can easily determine if your ideas are worth pushing through or not.

However, if they have better reactions this time, your idea could be worth giving a shot. When it comes to business ideas, you must not just trust yourself or your associates. Always listen to what people have to say. They are your target consumers. If they don’t like what you offer, there is nothing you can do to change their minds.

You must be open to suggestions. Don’t start anything unless you are totally certain that it will work. Once you have started the business and the reception is cold, it would be too late for you to do something about it. This could also mean losing a lot of money especially if you want to start over again.

It takes time polishing your ideas and making them better. Check out the infographic below for some other tips in validating startup ideas that you could also use. The goal is to see how people feel before spending your money.

This article was originally published in Growly.io

Four hurdles which can obstruct your start-up’s success

Once you have conquered these, you double the chances of succeeding.

There are a few hurdles which every entrepreneur experiences at the start of their journey. These obstructions create roadblocks and prevent you from becoming bigger as a company. However, once you have conquered these, you double the chances of succeeding.

The core team

It is important for you to pick the correct core team as they are your founding members. The initial employees can make or break your company’s chances of being successful as their contribution is extremely necessary. You share your vision with your team which means that they have to be aligned to it as well in order to work in cooperation. Also, disagreements between employees in the initial stage can prove to be detrimental to your company.

The size of the market

It is important to have takers for your product/service without which your company is doomed to tank. Unless, there is a demand for your product, there is no way you’ll make profits. The problem with a lot of start-ups is that despite having a beautiful idea and a great team, they fail because the product is too niche which appeals to a very small segment of the market. Thus, it is necessary to conduct research and find out the number of people who are willing to purchase your product.

Related Post: Things to do to grow your business

Product launch

The launch of the product is a crucial hurdle which needs to be conquered smartly. Even if your product isn’t perfect, it makes sense to launch it failing to do which your competitor might launch a similar product which appeals to the customers more. In that case, you will end up looking like a “company which copied” and have very few or no customers.

Also, you need to make sure that during the launch, your product gets enough coverage to create awareness around it in order to appeal to more people.

Funding

Most companies have started out merely as brilliant ideas which could materialise only because they received the requisite funding. However, to even be able to actually make an idea work, you need some cash. For this, you can bank on small savings which you have accumulated over time to just get the project going. Later, you can propose your business plan to Venture Capitalists and angel investors for more funding.

However, this is one hurdle you need to keep in mind because without money, your company is going nowhere.

15 inspirational quotes every entrepreneur must abide by

An entrepreneur often seeks advice and who better than the most influential entrepreneurs who have lived it all.

An entrepreneur often seeks advice and who better than the most influential entrepreneurs who have lived it all. Here are a few inspirational quotes by famous people which is completely relevant to budding entrepreneurs:

1. “You are to set your own value, communicate that value to the world, and then not settle for less. Sound daunting? That’s just because it takes you out of your comfort zone. You have got to stop being an obstacle on your own path to wealth and security and happiness. You must understand that valuing yourself is well within your control.” -Suze Orman, Financial Advisor and Author

2. “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” –Steve Jobs, Co-Founder of Apple

3. “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.” -Michelangelo, Artist

4. “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” -Vince Lombardi, Famed Football Coach

5. “Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender, it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.” -Stephen Covey, Author and Businessman

6. “Innovation is the process of turning ideas into manufacturable and marketable form.” -Watts Humprey, Father of Software Quality

7. “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” -Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon

8. “Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.” -Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks

9. “If you just work on stuff that you like and you’re passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out.” -Mark Zuckerberg, Founder of Facebook

10. “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” -Wayne Gretzky, NHL Hall of Famer

11. “Failure is just a resting place. It is an opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” -Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Automobiles

12. “Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.” -Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group

13. “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” -Socrates, Greek Philosopher

14. “Watch, listen, and learn. You can’t know it all yourself. Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity.” -Donald Trump, Chairman of The Trump Organization

15. “If Plan A doesn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters.” -Claire Cook, Author

Bitten by the entrepreneurship bug? Read on to find out how it affects a person

The surge of wanting to start a venture of your own is often referred to as “bitten by the entrepreneurship bug”

What is the entrepreneurship bug?

The surge of wanting to start a venture of your own is often referred to as “bitten by the entrepreneurship bug” as the bug is considered to be infectious because it affects people seriously. Often you are exposed to success stories of people rising from ashes to becoming millionaires or observe family members and friends close to you do very well in the entrepreneurial field, which inspires you to venture into entrepreneurship as well.

Earlier these pangs of entrepreneurship were shadowed by the fear of failure but with rising willingness and culture of start-ups, these fears are shrugged off and thus, we see more creative start-ups crop up daily.

When can the bug bite you?

The bug can bite you when you are very young or have crossed 60. It can also infect you through one mere incident or a situation which channels your inner entrepreneur. When the bug actually infects you, you shrug all feelings of failure and fear and start gathering resources and making plans on how to make your plan work.

How will you know if you have been infected by the bug?

The signs of being affected are very obvious and if you concentrate upon the symptoms a little closely, you will be able to find out if you are a victim. Listed below are a few signs:

• Every single day you get the urge to quit your stable job and build upon your creative idea. You now want to be your own boss.

• You are no longer scared of financial issues and failure. Moreover, you are willing to take the risks.

• Every day you brood over how you can actually build a company around your idea and you’re willing to invest long hours of work into making it count.

• You start building on the skills required by a leader and start mentally/physically devising a plan for your enterprise.

Getting infected can be life changing

When the bug bites, your life is bound to change as you will follow your passion without thinking about the risks of failure involved. The bug will also make you more determined and relentless to achieve your dreams which in the long run will determine your real worth.

Four signs which show that you have a hidden entrepreneur in you

YASSS!!! I am an entrepreneur.

Stuck in the 9 to 5 rut, you might feel like you don’t possess any skills required by an entrepreneur to start-up.

However, there might be certain qualities which are innate or core to your personality which qualify you to become a successful entrepreneur which you aren’t aware of.

Here are four signs which show that you can become a great entrepreneur:

1. Hate working under a boss

You are not the kind of person to take orders from people; you like to be your own boss and work according to the timings and deadlines you set for yourself. Added to that, if you possess great leadership skills worthy of leading a team towards a single focus, you are an entrepreneur in the making.

2. Don’t like the 9-5 environment

The normal 9-5 job timings and environment are not for you; you feel trapped and claustrophobic in those conditions and often like setting your own deadlines which you find easier to adhere to. An entrepreneur needs to be able to dedicate long working hours to a cause s/he is committed to in order to be a successful one.

3. You are passionate about innovating

You believe that necessity is the mother of all inventions and this fuels your innate need to constantly innovate solutions to the existing problems. When you see a problem, you look for a solution in the most unique way possible. This skill is crucial for an entrepreneur as you constantly need to innovate in order to sustain in a competitive environment and make your company bigger and more successful.

4. You believe in being a creative thinker

Unless innovation is supported by creative thinking, you cannot aspire to start your own enterprise. If you are a creative thinker who spots problems and finds solutions to them in the most creative and out-of-the-box way possible, you are fit to become an entrepreneur. Your idea needs to be creative and uncommon in order to appeal to your target group and gain success.

If you possess the skills/attributes mentioned above, stop wasting time and start something of your own!

Image credit: Entrepreneur.com

8 ways to expand your home-based business

With changing times, home-based businesses have grown leaps and bounds. Even if it is a business from home, one needs to work very hard to expand it and get customers.

With changing times, home-based businesses have grown leaps and bounds. More people are opting for home-based businesses because it is convenient and by staying at home, people get more work done and save time on travel. However, even if it is a business from home, one needs to work very hard to expand it and get customers.

Here are a few ways in which you can expand your home-based business:

1. Tap more social media platforms

To expand and grow your business further, try and tap more social media platforms available- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr etc. The more you grow your presence, the more you can reach out to people. The more you reach out the people, the more you will be able to expand your business. A lot of popular businesses have existed and grown by using social media to the fullest.

2. Add more options

To grow your business, add more products and services to your availability list. This might seem like a relatively easy option but it isn’t. You need to research what your customers actually need before introducing new products to the list. Along with the availability of more products, your job also increases as you need to price the goods and make them available to your customers.

3. Hire more employees

Once your business starts growing, you need to make sure there are enough hands on the deck for smooth running of your business. You might eventually need help so don’t shy away from hiring more people and growing a team. Hiring freelance specialists and interns will help you with delegation of tasks.

4. A dynamic website can do wonders

Even if your business is based offline, it is still important to have a website to build a digital presence. But, just creating a website isn’t enough. You need to keep updating it to keep it dynamic. You need to pack your website with revolutionary content like blogs, articles, videos etc so that more people can connect to your website.

5. Try new markets

Don’t stick to just one market; build secondary and tertiary target groups. For instance, if your product is directed towards the youth, try and build presence amongst teenagers and bachelors as well. This will help you cater to a bigger customer base and sell your product more leading to profit maximisation.

6. Mergers and partnerships

Just because you run a home-based business doesn’t mean you cannot create new mergers and partnerships. Building partnerships will give you access to a greater customer base.

For instance, if you own a baking business which you run from home, you could always tie up with food listing sites like Swiggy for a better outreach and more orders.

7. Try new marketing methods

As a business you want to expand, you must be willing to try new marketing methods to create awareness about your product or service. You cannot restrict yourself to just word of mouth or social media for promotion. Try sending out e-mailers, SMS-es, flyers, hiring campus ambassadors etc to promote your product. If you have no idea of how it is done, hire a freelance marketing consultant to do it for you.

Related Post: 8 attributes of successful entrepreneurs

8. Referrals

This is a concept which has caught on like wildfire lately. Ask your existing customers to refer your products or services to more people. To make this process more dynamic, you can offer some sort of benefit to the existing customer everytime a referred person makes a purchase.

Image credit: http://www.thebetterindia.com/

4 financial mistakes every entrepreneur makes

Managing finances is important for an entrepreneur and if your money skills aren’t strong, you might encounter problems in the later phases.

Managing finances is important for an entrepreneur and if your money skills aren’t strong, you might encounter problems in the later phases. However, managing money doesn’t come naturally to everyone and most entrepreneurs end up making some crucial mistakes.

Here are common financial mistakes made by entrepreneurs:

Faulty business plan

The biggest mistake you can make after starting a business is not having a business plan. It is essential for a business to have a plan to be sure about what the goals and missions are. If the goals aren’t set properly, the whole situation can result in a chaos.

Business plans also consist of a financial plan in detail without proper breakdown of fixed and variable costs. It also states how much money is required in each quarter by the business. If the financial section isn’t made properly in the business plan, it can lead to huge crises.

Related Post: 7 Ways you can finance your new startup

Poor risk management

What distinguishes entrepreneurs from managers is the risk factor. Entrepreneurs have to undertake risks which do not have to be considered by a manager. Not managing risks properly can lead to the destruction of the company.

So, an entrepreneur needs to make sure they foresee the risks that one is likely to encounter in the future and take necessary steps to avoid the risks. Insure all your machinery, land and key employees so that if there is a bad situation, there isn’t much damage. Also, a separate amount of money needs to be set aside for risk management.

Investing in trends

In your entrepreneurial career, you will always be confused as to where to invest. However, the worst kind of investment an entrepreneur can make is by investing in trend. A trend is something which is popular currently but will die in the future and be replaced by something else. Developments in the future are sure to displace today’s developments. Thus, investing in more secure deals is a safer option than investing in futile trends.

For instance, Warren Buffet invests in roads, insurance and electricity.

Not pumping back enough in to the business

If your business is currently making profits, it is all the more reason to pump money back into the business and expand it. Some entrepreneurs let the money lie idle or invest it in banks. This won’t help your grow your business and money will just lie there.

The money can be spent on useful things like improving customer service or marketing for the company or research for a new variant or product.

Related Post: How to raise money for your startup?

5 challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in India

It isn’t very easy for women to break the age-old stereotypes and work as effortlessly as they’d like to.

With changing times, women in India have broken the household stereotype and are boldly starting up businesses. The start-up scene which mostly saw men innovating is now experiencing a paradigm shift where women are coming forth to give them stiff competition. However, it isn’t very easy for women to break the age-old stereotypes and work as effortlessly as they’d like to.

Here are a few challenges business women face in the country:

1. Prioritization

Constantly caught between household chores and the business they’d like to dedicate their life to, women are struggling to dedicate all their time to a business. Prominent in tier-II and tier-III cities, women are often chained back due to the responsibilities they owe to their families. This poses as a hindrance to their professional growth.

2. Marketing problems

To enter a field which has been dominated by males, is a daunting task for women. Men have also ruled over the marketing zone for many years which is why women find themselves lagging behind in this area. They have to rely on middlemen and outsource these tasks to capture bigger markets which eat up a major chunk of their profits.

3. Limited access to resources

Women are often looked down upon with suspicion in this country when they ask for a space to run their business. The attitude of the society in general towards a woman trying to compete in a man’s world is deterring. This also results in women receiving lesser access to varied resources like raw materials, labour, machinery etc.

4. Funding issues

Venture capitalists look to invest in businesses which are promising. However, they have the general pre-conceived notion that women aren’t dedicated towards the cause and might leave the business any time. This belief leads to lesser capitalists investing in women-run businesses. What is worse is that their scope of funding via angel investors also gets limited due to the same reason.

5. Male-dominated society

The constitution and social media speak of equality between the sexes, but, no one can deny the fact that the country is still a patriarchal and male-dominated society. Due to this regressive belief, women are considered weak and economically unstable which hinders their chances of starting up a successful venture. Any deviation from this belief isn’t treated very favourably which is why women have to work doubly hard to make things happen.

However, many women have come forth to overcome these difficulties and have carved a niche for themselves in the Indian entrepreneurial scene. A few of the powerful women entrepreneurs are Upasna Taku, founder of Mobikwik, Sabina Chopra, founder of Yatra.com, Richa Kar, founder of Zivame, Falguni Nayyar founded Nykaa etc.