start up

5 Critical Business Services That You Should Outsource

If you are planning a start-up in 2023, here are some essential business services that you should outsource to a local provider.

Outsourcing has been the buzzword for over a decade, as it replaced in-house departments by offering a professional service at a price the client can afford. If you are planning a start-up in 2023, outsourcing will play a major role in your organisation’s development and with that in mind, here are some essential business services that you should outsource to a local provider.

Digital Marketing

We are living in a digital world and every business is striving to create a strong online profile, which requires a team of digital marketing professionals. The market is highly competitive and there are many agencies in the sector that is performance based; take a look at the agency’s client list and you should see well-known brands. A top agency would do a digital audit to determine your current online footprint and that enables them to create an aggressive digital marketing pan that uses a number of strategies to drive web traffic.

Office Cleaning

Directly hiring a cleaner comes with many liabilities; there’s no shortage of companies offering commercial cleaning in Sydney that guarantee your offices are clean and fresh every morning. They change the towels in the restrooms, make sure there is tea, coffee and a constant supply of drinking water, something most of us take for granted. Google can help you compare packages and prices; choose a reliable outfit and you can forget about office cleaning.

Accounting & Payroll

If all your business data is on the cloud, give your local accountant a username and password and they can easily access the data they need to manage your books. While we totally get why a small start-up would handle this in-house, there quickly comes a time when you need a bookkeeper and rather than hiring someone privately, simply outsource it to a local accountant. As the organisation grows, the accountant is always up-to-date if they have 24/7 access to all your financial data and your tax returns are filed on time. If you are looking for capital for your start-up, click here.

Logistics

The 3PL sector is booming, as third-party logistics companies support a growing e-commerce industry. The 3PL warehouse handles picking, packing & delivery and any time you need a package delivered, talk to your 3PL partner. Cost-effective and reliable, a local 3PL outfit has all the resources to handle all your logistic needs, leaving you free to focus on other aspects of your business.

Printing

Whether promotional literature or in-house paperwork, simply hand it to a local printing shop, where they have state-of-the-art laser colour printers and their rates are affordable. Sales presentation packs demand high quality paper and printing and your local print shop can show you a range of paper/card for the best possible design.

Outsourcing enables the small business to compete with large companies and without it, where would we be? You can ask local providers to quote and take what looks like the best package and if that doesn’t work out, try another provider and eventually, you will be happy with the service.

20 Must watch movies for all aspiring entrepreneurs

Movies are a great way to learn from others as stories, fiction, and non-fiction, are taught to the viewer in an easy-to-understand way.

Movies are a great way to learn from others as stories, fiction, and non-fiction, are taught to the viewer in an easy-to-understand way. There’s a lot to be learned from these stories as they show you how exceptional people who have come before you have done it. These must-watch movies for all aspiring entrepreneurs are:

1. The Godfather

An offer you can’t refuse.

One of the greatest films in the world based on the best book I’ve ever read. The Godfather is the story about the growth of a small family business as it becomes the largest organized crime family in New York, fighting off opposition at any expense. The Godfather and his son Michael Corleone are the brains behind the family and this film gives you an insight into what it takes to become one of the most powerful family businesses in the country.

2. Glengarry Glen Ross

Lie. Cheat. Steal. All In A Day’s Work.

In the fast paced world of Chicago real estate, competition and incentive is what decides who’s the best. That’s why they’re having a little sales competition – First prize is a Cadillac El Dorado, second prize is a set of steak knives, third prize is you’re fired. With stakes that high, and the pressure on, the salesmen show that they’re willing to do anything it takes to succeed in business, but the most interesting part of this is film, is what exactly that is.

3. Wall Street

Every dream has its price.

In the life of an ambitious young stockbroker, Bud Fox will do just about anything it takes to succeed, and for him, that includes a little bit of insider trading. See what happens when the desire to succeed takes over your life and the motto of ‘Greed is good’ directs how you do business. But what happens when you’re pushed to your limits and asked to do something you can’t or won’t do? Suddenly everything comes to a head when Fox is asked to help do something, not only illegal, but morally reprehensible.

4. The Game

There are no rules in The Game.

What do you get the guy who has everything? Nicholas Van Orton (played by Michael Douglas) is a wealthy San Francisco banker who’s life is wrapped up in his business, which has left him as somewhat of a loner. His brother Conrad gives him the gift of a lifetime, which would prove to change his perspective on the world and the way that he’s going to live it. When bad things start to happen to you, you start to question what’s really important in live, business, success and money, or actually living?

5. Boiler Room

Motion creates Emotion!

After entering the stockbroking profession to impress his father, Seth Davis, a Queens College dropout, soon realizes the huge earning potential ahead of him. But with commissions much larger than any other company, Seth soon learns that not everything is what it’s cracked up to be and he’s forced to face the dilemma of money and greed vs. morals and legality. For any young entrepreneur starting out in business, it’s a very real possibility that you’re going to face moral dilemmas and the way that they’re dealt with in this film is very eye opening.

6. Jerry Maguire

The rest of his life begins now.

This is a story about a man who’s at the top of his game; beautiful partner, the biggest clients, lots of respect. But then he decides to step back and question it all and proposes his new thoughts to the rest of the company, which ultimately ends in him losing it all. Everyone turns his back on him, except for one, very volatile client, Rod Tidwell. From here you see Jerry examine what it really important to his business and life and works towards bringing it all back together again, only this time, the way it should be.

7. Trading Places

Take two complete strangers, make one of them rich the other poor… just watch the fun while they’re… Trading Places.

What happens when you take the rich and the poor and make them switch places? A social experiment ran by Mortimer and Randolph Duke, brother and owners of a commodities brokerage firm, proves to be very interesting when the switched pair run into each other. A life changing event for both of them, poses the question of what’s more important in life, friends and love, or money and power?

8. Office Space

Work Sucks.

When your hypnotist dies just after they’ve put you in a state of complete bliss, you can’t help but have a refreshing outlook on life. If there’s ever a film to make you want to get out of a desk job in the corporate world, then this is it. Peter Gibbons is a man who can’t help but be promoted as he consistently starts to slack off and do things his own way, but trouble starts to arise when his new careless nature starts to lead to him stealing from the company in a much bigger way than he expected.

9. Pursuit of Happyness

Based on a true story.

This is a real life story of a man who believes so badly in a product that he can’t sell that he ends up losing his house, his wife and his money, being left with just himself and his son. This in itself is an important lesson to be learnt, but it’s the steps that he takes from here that really shape him into who he becomes. Against all odds, he takes an unpaid internship to become a stockbroker, fighting against his peers for a single job at the end of it. This is a powerful true story that sticks with you as you face your own personal struggles in business.

10. Catch Me If You Can

The true story of a real fake.

Again, this is another true story, about a young conman who successfully impersonated an airline pilot, doctor, lawyer and history professor during his stint as fraudulent cheque casher. What’s amazing about this film and the life of Frank Abegnale Jr. is how much he managed to achieve in a much tougher environment and under more stress than most people are used to. Whether it’s legal or not, business is business and Frank was one of the best at what he did.

11. Wolf of Wall Street

There’s no nobility in poverty.

This is a story of a man who went from nothing tom something, and something very big at that. It’s an inspirational film for the amount of perseverance Jordan Belfort puts into it, but that’s not what I love the most about this film. This movie does a great job at depicting how business cultures are created in fast-growth companies (minus the corruption seen in this one).

Belfort’s rallying cry of “Don’t take no for an answer” is specific to the mission of his company. My team and I use the rallying cry “total contact” which means all team members own the solution to any problems brought to their attention — no passing off to somebody else.

12. Shawshank Redemption

Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

This is one of the greatest films of all time, and one I’m sure that the majority of readers have seen before, purely because of its undeniable greatness. It’s the story of a man who manages to succeed in the worst possible conditions imaginable – false imprisonment for the murder of his cheating wife and lover. From making friends with another con inside the prison, Andy manages to make the best out of a very bad situation and through perseverance manages to achieve more than he ever thought possible.

13. The Social Network

You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies

This is another story of the young, successful and intelligent man, only this time, it’s based on a true story of the world’s youngest billionaire – Mark Zuckerberg, the creator and owner of Facebook. The story is pretty amazing and has been made famous by this film, he starts off as a Harvard student with a strong streak of arrogance and huge potential, he creates a new social network based upon the most prestigious email address in the country, the Harvard email address. The rest, as they say, is history.

14. Pirates of Silicon Valley

Good artists copy… Great artists steal.

There are no two bigger names in technology than Microsoft and Apple and this is their story. This is an amusing documentary style film about their competition and their rise to the enormous companies that they are today. It’s slightly dated today, and perhaps The Social Network is a little bit more relevant, but it still holds some very valuable information and pointers to learn from. After all, you’re gotta be a pretty special person to become as powerful as they have.

15. Forrest Gump

The story of a lifetime.

This is a simple man with good intentions, who accidentally becomes phenomenally successful from living his life the best way he knows how. He wins medals, becomes a professional ping-pong player, takes up running, owns a huge shrimping company and inspires people all across the country. The simple nature of Forrest makes him very appealing to world as he proves that you don’t have to be a super genius to make something work, you just have to try.

16. Blow

Based on a true story.

Another great film based on a true story, this time only slightly more illegal than the last, it’s a film based on George Jung and his career as a cocaine dealer. What started off as a small time operation working with pot, he is eventually imprisoned and introduced to cocaine and that’s where things start to explode. He’s rumored to have handled about 85% of all of the supply of cocaine in the 1970’s, making him an incredibly powerful and successful man, and this film is all about exactly how he did it.

17. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Nice guys finish last. Meet the winners.

This is the story about two con men, big time and small time, and their struggle to compete together in a small French town which isn’t big enough for the both of them. So they decide to take part in a bet in which the loser leaves town and allows the other to carry on with their business. The only problem is that the bet is to see who can extract $50,o00 from a young female target – a pretty high stake. Of course hilarity ensues as you get to watch how the minds of con men work as they compete against each other to reach the goal first.

18. The Aviator

Some men dream the future. He built it.

A biopic depicting the early years of director and aviator Howard Hughes’ career from the late 1920’s to mid 40’s. It wasn’t the money he made or the time he spent that made him so great, it was the attention to detail and perfection that he strived for that set him apart from his competition. He faced many obstacles along the way from rival companies and malicious rumors, but nothing stopped him from becoming exactly who he wanted to be.

19. Risky Business

There’s a time for playing it safe and a time for Risky Business.

A good story about what you have to do when you take your dad’s Porsche out for a trip and start to realize that you’re going to need a lot of money, which you’re going to have to raise in a very creative way. With his parents away and responsibility out of the window, Joel starts to realize that it’s not all as easy as he was expecting, having to look after friends and source cash any way he can. An interesting look at what people can come up with when they’re put on the spot to come up with some fast cash.

20. The Corporation

This film takes a good, long look at what happens when you take a business and you model it to be legally a person – a corporation. What happens though when the sole purpose of this person is to make money for its shareholders though? It starts to act without a conscience which threatens the world, our future and the people working for it. This isn’t just a film about evil corporations though, it’s also about what we can do to stop them from taking over everything that we know. I saw this film in the cinema and it’s well worth seeing again, it’s completely eye opening.

Now you know which 20 movies you should definitely watch as an aspiring entrepreneur!

Image credit: www.youtube.com

8 Things entrepreneurial people do differently

There are aspects of the entrepreneurial mindset that will enrich your work and life. Here are 8 things entrepreneurial people do differently.

Entrepreneurship goes beyond Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Garrett Camp, and it embodies something bigger than Twitter and WhatsApp. Entrepreneurship is a mindset, an attitude, and a lifestyle adopted by people who aren’t satisfied with the status quo.

It’s an approach to life that favors creativity over conformity and action over inaction. Bestselling author, investor, and entrepreneur James Altucher says that for him, “Being an ‘entrepreneur’ doesn’t mean starting the next Facebook. Or even starting any business at all. It means finding the challenges you have in your life, and determining creative ways to overcome those challenges.”

So, even if you’re not tinkering away at the next world-changing invention or looking to set up shop in Silicon Valley, there are aspects of the entrepreneurial mindset that will enrich your work and life. Here are 8 things entrepreneurial people do differently.

They’re brave enough to commit to their dreams.

Entrepreneurs choose to forego the security and familiarity of a ‘regular job’ to live an uncertain and insecure lifestyle. It takes a lot of bravery to make that tradeoff, but for icons like Walt Disney, the potential reward is worth it.

They think of their customers more than themselves.

Entrepreneurs are rarely out to seek fame for themselves. Instead, they’re more concerned with the people they want to help or the problem they want to solve. This infuses their task with a layer of meaning that can be the difference between success and failure when things get tough. In his book, APE – Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur, former Apple chief evangelist Guy Kawasaki writes, “In your darkest, most frustrated hours, remember the value you are trying to add to peoples’ lives, the satisfaction you’ll feel, or the cause that you’ll further.”

They never stop learning.

Since they’re in the business of creating new products and inventing new ways of doing things, much of what entrepreneurs do can’t be taught in a classroom. They know that the most important lessons are learned through living, so throughout their lives, they remain open, flexible, and curious in order to absorb as much as possible.

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, started off with a small student magazine, before eventually growing a string of record stores, a music label, an airline, and now even a commercial spaceflight company. Rather than becoming an expert in one area, he continued to learn and adapt throughout his life.

They never give up.

Rarely does an inventor or entrepreneur succeed on the first try. To create something lasting and worthwhile, it usually takes years of hard work, focus, and dedication; an idea is just a starting point. Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, a spoken word poet and the founder of a production company, believes this level of persistence is a critical element of entrepreneurship. “That’s what it means to be an entrepreneur: to really focus on that one thing that does not exist yet and keep working towards it until it becomes real,” she says.

They love failing.

For most of us, the fear of failure is entirely paralyzing, but for entrepreneurs, failure is something to embrace. It’s an indication of pushing the limits, and inevitable when one is constantly trying new things.

They find and fill a need of the world.

Entrepreneurs want to do more than indulge their own interests — they want to solve a problem or create a product that satisfies a need.

Some started businesses because of frustration with an inefficient or defective system. Others were moved by a personal encounter with poverty or misfortune. Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS, started his business after traveling to Argentina and seeing kids who didn’t have shoes: “An absence that didn’t just complicate every aspect of their lives — including essentials like attending school and getting water from the local well — but also exposed them to a wide range of diseases,” he writes in Start Something That Matters.

They take old ideas and make them way, way better.

While one might think that entrepreneurs are focused mainly on never-seen-before ideas, they often revamp an existing model or upgrade an outdated product. Sometimes, these reinvented ideas change the way we exercise, read, or eat.

And once in a while, they revolutionize ice cream.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, started out in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont, before growing a globally recognized brand that features unusual flavors like ‘Cherry Garcia’ and ‘Hazed & Confused.’ They’re also pioneers in the socially responsible business movement, speaking often about how business can give back to the community and earning Ben & Jerry’s a B-Corporation certification.

Above all, they act.

Entrepreneurs execute when for many others, an idea simply fades into the past. They are masters of turning the abstract into the concrete. This seemingly simple action is one of the great challenges of life and in the end, it’s what defines an entrepreneur.

Story Of Gaurav Rana, From Collecting Cow Dung To Building A Rs 11 Crore Start-Up

At just 24, he has made his name in the start-up world and comes across as a charismatic young entrepreneur.

More than talent, skills or resources, it is the willingness to keep pushing your limits which brings you face to face with success. This incredible story is about a 24-year-old who everyone thought was a good for nothing chap but the very same people today can’t stop obsessing over his success. His unconventional ideas have made him the CEO of a company which has been valued at Rs 11 crore despite a very short span of operation.

Meet charismatic Gaurav Rana who grew up in a tiny, nondescript village named Sonf in Haryana. The wealth of his father had exhausted by the time he was five years old and all that was left for him was daily struggle with poverty. His father had become an alcoholic and was suffering from mental trauma. Whatever little money came their way was from his grandfather who ran a grocery store. They managed to buy food but couldn’t afford LPG to cook it so Gaurav and his elder sister spent all day collecting wood and cow dung in and around the village. The kids would make cow dung cakes and pass them on to their mother who would then cook some food for them.

To divert his attention from the painful life Gaurav started painting. Well-off children came asking him to draw for them and would in-turn give him Rs 20. While he was in STD 8 he started going to a nearby salon and learnt the art of haircut and shaving. The owner let him handle a few customers everyday and give him some commission for his help. The situation at home was still as grim as ever and the only way out seemed to be in education. In STD 10 Gaurav scored 96.9% and took admission in a deemed university in Agra where his grades dropped consistently and he couldn’t even touch 60% by the time he passed out.

“I couldn’t appear for placement interviews because I scored abysmal 58%. I pleaded with my teachers and got a chance to appear in one interview”. His low grades fetched him just one chance but he cracked it. He got a job with Eicher Motors for a monthly salary of Rs 15,000. But this good news was overshadowed by problems at home. His parents were burdened under a sum of Rs 2 lakh that they had borrowed from friends and relatives who wanted their money back.

“I had no money to go to Indore and join Eicher. There was no question of borrowing money as all our relatives had turned hostile. I was heartbroken to see how people change and decided to end our financial struggles somehow”, Gaurav recollects.

A friend’s mother helped him and he reached Eicher, Indore. He did night shifts there and worked as a dance teacher and event organizer in the day time. Gradually, he paid off all the credits his family has taken but had also realized that he couldn’t do job all his life. He was giving more and more time for organizing events which reflected poorly at his performance in his company.

“People had tagged me useless, for them I was good for nothing”, he says.

However, the perception of people changed when he did an event with FTV and the news splashed all over the newspapers. To celebrate his success he went back to him home in Haryana where his mother worked as a local beautician. She had to attend a client that day and the person was coming in every few hours to remind her of the task. Gaurav saw a gap here and thought he could fill this up with technology.

He came back to Eicher and couldn’t stop thinking about his idea. At the company’s annual party he got to know that the VP’s wife has 25 years of experience in IT. Despite his friends warnings, he boldly approached the woman and pitched her the idea and asked if she would collaborate on this. To his utter surprise she agreed and became the initial investor for Calipso, a company that delivers beauty services wherever the customer is.

The idea was unique and has become a major hit in Indore. Calipso has tied up with OYO rooms and several beauty salons to reach out to their customers. The latest trend that Gaurav has introduced in the industry is setting up stalls at weddings. “Nobody even thought of doing this even when there was a clear need for it. Ladies now chat away while getting a pedicure at weddings while men get a touch-up down after sweating it out on the dance floor,” Gaurav says in his thick Hariyanvi accented Hindi.

On being asked about competing against other doorstep beauty servicing giants he says, “I don’t think there is any competition because no matter how much funded they are they can never take away my guts from me.”

Currently, Calipso is operating in Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain making its way to expand in metros next.

Today, Gaurav employs more than 25 people and Calipso is valued at over Rs 11 crore. At just 24, he has made his name in the start-up world and comes across as a charismatic young entrepreneur.

“My relatives who had stopped speaking with us are now cordial again. One should always remember that times keep changing and hardwork pays off, every single time”, he said.

Five keys that every investor looks for in a start-up

Here are a handful of the things that most investors look for in promising startups. Which do you find most valuable, and which do you believe are irrelevant?

As an entrepreneur who’s looking to attract funding, it’s imperative that you understand what investors are looking for in start-ups. By getting a clear idea of what investors want to see, you can better frame your pitches, and guide your conversations to encourage positive outcomes.

The Importance of a Formula

Ask any investor what they look for in start-ups with high growth potential, and they’ll begin to rattle off a list of trademarks that they search for and red flags that they avoid. While they may not refer to their process as a formula, that’s essentially what it is. If you want to be a successful start-up investor, you must follow a formula. That’s the only way to keep your emotions in check, and make sound decisions that are likely to deliver high returns.

There’s no such thing as a perfect formula–and most undergo frequent changes and tweaks–but having a process will help you to identify profitable opportunities that others might miss.

Investing in an unproven business is a lot like betting on a sports team to win. You can study the trends, and look at historical data points, but you’re always taking some kind of a risk. If you want to learn about investing analytics, study sports handicappers.

As an investor, the takeaway is simple: don’t listen to what everyone else tells you. Do your own research, develop your own formula, and put your money where you believe it’ll deliver the highest return. Your investing formula is the only thing that matters.

Five Keys That Investors Look For

With that said, you need to identify important keys, and give appropriate weight to the different factors that you deem valuable. In no particular order, here are a handful of the things that most investors look for in promising start-ups. Which do you find most valuable, and which do you believe are irrelevant?

Strength of the Founding Team

There are certain elements of a start-up that can be fixed and others that are unchangeable. The makeup of the founding team falls under the latter category. You can’t force change upon a startup’s founder. They either have what it takes to be successful, or they don’t. An entrepreneur may have all of the knowledge necessary to launch a venture, but do they have the passion to navigate through difficult seasons? A founding team may be capable of creating colorful presentations and well-worded briefs, but do they really understand what’s happening at a foundational level?

As an investor, one of the first things you need to consider is the founding team. Look at their history, ability to lead, incentive to succeed, and overall versatility. If you don’t feel good about the founding team, you can’t be confident in the future of the business.

Clear and Unsolved Pain Point

The next thing that investors turn their attention to is the pain point. Any time you’re studying a new start-up, ask yourself three questions in regards to the value offering:

Does the product solve a palpable pain point in the marketplace?
Is that pain point widespread and relevant?
Are there currently any other solutions?

If you can answer “yes” to the first two questions and “no” to the last one, then there’s a clear, unsolved pain point. This is promising, but it doesn’t mean that you’ve found a start-up worthy of an investment. You’ll now need to turn your attention to the actual product.

Sales Momentum and Sample Data

Investors want to be sure that a start-up will be successful before investing money in the venture. One of the best ways to do this is by studying past performance. While past performance isn’t always indicative of future success, it’s generally a good indicator.

You can look at any number of metrics to determine success, but analyzing sales momentum in the form of data is the most objective method of studying success. If the start-up has been in business for any amount of time, they should be able to supply you with this data.

Long Term Business Model

A start-up can have the right people, a palpable pain point, and some sales momentum, but you’re investing in its future growth. What happened in the past does very little to deliver a return on your end. That’s why you need to study the start-up’s business model, and consider its feasibility.

Does the business have the right structure? Is the business plan accounting for future competition? What are the three, five, and ten-year goals? If you want to feel confident in the long term growth of the business, you need answers to questions like these.

Fair Valuation

As angel investor Basil Peter points out, “Over-valuation is one of the most common structural problems angel investors encounter.” If you over-value a start-up when you present an investment, you’ll find yourself swimming upstream for years to come. The negative repercussions of over-valuing are hard to overcome.

While a founding team obviously wants to attract as much capital as possible without giving up more equity than they feel comfortable forking over, the reality is that the investor often does the entrepreneur a favor by correcting the valuation. They may not like the fact that they’re getting less capital on the front end, but it’ll save a lot of headaches down the road. With that being said, make sure that you only invest when the valuation is fair for all parties.

This article was originally published in Inc.com

Image Credit: http://www.businessinsider.com

10 Things entrepreneurs must avoid while starting their ventures in India

With the launch of ‘Start Up India, Stand Up India’ initiative this weekend, many would-be entrepreneurs who were earlier waiting in the wings will be more willing to take the entrepreneurial leap and start their own ventures.

But even the most experienced professionals will agree that entrepreneurship is a tricky choice to make. On one hand there are so many things that you have to do to achieve success and growth, while on the other there is an equally lengthy list of things that you absolutely must NOT do at any cost if you want your venture to survive.

So, in a bid to empower the budding entrepreneurs with the knowledge to make the most informed and viable business decisions, here are a few things that you should avoid like a plague if you want your venture to succeed in India.

1. Half-prepared entry

This is one of the most elementary mistakes a first-time entrepreneur can make, and yet it is one of the most easily avoidable ones. Often, while starting their ventures, entrepreneurs can be swayed by their own vision so much that they fail to factor in several key requirements to make their vision a reality.

Do you have enough employees to support your business? A viable revenue model? Do you know who your competitors are in the market? Any future strategies that will help you evolve past the initial stage? All these things need to be addressed before taking the plunge into entrepreneurship.

2. Ignore the value of analytics and research

Another easily avoidable mistake that most entrepreneurs starting their own businesses make is discounting the pivotal role data analytics and market research can make to your business.

Data analytic tools have improved to such a great extent today that they can often identify and predict consumer behavioural patterns and market trends well before they even occur. Leveraging them could give your business a big boost by identifying the strategic opportunities for your venture.

Moreover, a market research can also help you in identifying the target demographic for your product or service, which will make it easier for you to decide on the optimal brand positioning.

3. Modelling your business on short-term trends

Jumping on board a particularly popular bandwagon is a needless pit that entrepreneurs often end up jumping into. Needless to say, most of these startups often fail to survive beyond the initial few years.

In a digital age where people have the attention span of a goldfish, what is popular today may not be popular tomorrow. Therefore, if you are in for the long haul, always devise your products to address market gaps instead of trends.

4. Make more than just another job

Most entrepreneurs start their ventures to ‘work for themselves’ and escape the tedium of their professions. This sort of approach can hamper the growth of a start-up. Entrepreneurs must always look to evolve their businesses beyond just another ‘job’ that they do and continuously work on expanding their business.

5. Focusing too much on the idea and not enough on the team

A great business has a great idea at its core, but at the same time it also has a great team working hard to make that idea a success.While the idea that you come up with might be very good in itself, you also need to hire individuals that can support your venture’s long term vision.

6. Square pegs in round holes

This covers everything from hiring to incorrect business decisions. As a first-time entrepreneur you will require individuals who work as an employee as well as independent freelance contractors for one-off tasks.Both have their own sets of benefits and drawbacks; a contractor getting paid on a pro-rata basis might fail to meet deadlines, while having an employee is a full-time drain on your resources. The difference lies in identifying what to choose as the best-fit for your venture.

Most entrepreneurs also end up taking on multiple responsibilities to cut down operational costs. This practice should be avoided, as it leaves you with no time to build your business. Moreover, follow the tenet of ‘you get what you pay for’. Do not compromise on the quality of your service to save a few pennies.

7. Over emphasis on a certain business function

A successful business is a seamless confluence of several vital functions – sales, administration, marketing, finance and operations.End up concentrating on only one area of your business and you end up neglecting the others. This can be detrimental to a budding start-up.

8. Focusing on short-term gains

Many entrepreneurs often lose sight of the bigger picture in order to secure short-term gains. The effort, instead, should be on building lasting professional relationships with clients in order to ensure repeatable business. Will taking a cut in fees ensure the client will be associated with your venture for the long haul? Do it.

9. Inflexible business model

One of the most frequent mistakes that first-time entrepreneurs make is getting too attached to their idea. It sounded good when you told your colleagues about it and it looked good on the drawing board. However, always create an agile business model that will help your start-up survive the rough and tumble of the real market.

10. Ignoring the importance of contracts and legal framework

Never, ever, ever get into any arrangement without defining the contract. You and your clients mutually decide and agree upon certain terms and conditions when entering into a business deal; a contract is a documented proof of that agreement.

It often becomes your saving grace when the client expectations start to strain your budget more than your initial operational outlay. The benefits of a legal advisory, whether associated full-time with the start-up or on a consultation basis, cannot be stressed enough in these cases. Always ensure that you cover your legal bases in all your business dealings with clients or auxiliary service providers.

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22 Secrets to discovering your dream and living it

One of the most important rules of happiness in life is to do what you love. But discovering that dream job and what you are meant to do in life isn’t always so easy.

Take a look at the happiest, most successful people on this planet: they are all doing something they love, creating something they believe in, living a life of purpose and passion. Do that, and it doesn’t matter how much money you make.

But what do you do if you don’t know what you want to do? If you don’t know what your dream is? This is a common problem, and many people wander through much of their life without discovering their passion, and go from job to job, unfulfilled and miserable.

If that’s you, don’t give up.

What follows is a list of suggestions that will help you discover your dream, and start on the road to living that dream. They’re things that have worked for me and many others I’ve studied, talked to, interviewed and admired.

While you don’t need to do every step below, they are all ways for your to spend time thinking about your passion in life, your dreams, and how to accomplish them. If you spend time thinking about your dreams, you are taking the first step towards making them a reality.

The first step is to give this stuff some thought.

1. What are your hobbies?

This doesn’t just mean stamp collecting — it means anything you do with your spare time. That could be collecting comic books, reading about history, programming Linux utilities, writing on your blog, writing poetry, cooking, whatever. As it’s clear that this is how you like to spend your time, and that you’re willing to do these things without pay, it’s very possible that these are your passions. Give each of your hobbies some thought, and think about whether they’re things you love to do, and that you’d love to do for a living.

2. What are your talents?

It’s been said that we each have at least one gift we’ve been given, and that the true purpose of our lives is discovering that gift, and sharing it with the world. There is much truth in that statement, and an important part of this process is discovering your gift. What are you good at? What talents do you have? What have you shown an aptitude for in your current and previous jobs, in school, in your personal life? Anything goes here.

3. Who do you like to work with?

A dream job includes not only what you want to do, but who you are doing it with. You should truly enjoy working with these people. In this step, you can name specific people you love working with, or types of people (creative types, programmers, entrepreneurs, blue collar, etc.). Use your ideas here to help you envision your dream job (more on that below).

4. What do you like to work with?

The tools of the job are very important. If you love working with computers (even a specific type of computer), that’s a clue to your dream job. If you love working with clay, or paper, or people, or clothes, that’s a clue. If you like working with a hammer, or a piano, you’re off to a great start in discovering your dream.

5. What environment do you enjoy working in?

An office, a college, a classroom, a construction site, the ocean, the forest? Where you work is also an important factor in your dream job.

6. When have you been happiest?

Think back throughout all the previous times of your life, from childhood through adolescence, school, different jobs, different areas, different hobbies. Think about the happiest times of your life, and what you were doing, who you were doing it with, and where you were doing it. You may have dismissed some of these things for various reasons, but remembering that you were extremely happy during those times can make you realize why you were happy.

7. Try online tools

There are some great tools online for helping you find your purpose.

8. List your top 5 passions

Now that you’ve given various factors some thought, and tried some online tools, make a short list of your top 5 passions. If you don’t have 5, list as many as you have. Then compare your top 5 passions, and rank them from top to bottom. This will be the starting point your guide to making your dream a reality.

9. How can you turn your passions into your work?

Of the top 2-3 passions on your short list, can any of them be turned into your life’s work? What professions use those passions as a mainstay of their work? How would you get into those professions, and do you think you would love what you do if you did them?

10. Create a clear vision

Clarity of vision is the key to achieving your dream once you’ve discovered it. Take some time to think about exactly what your dream is, what your dream job would be, how you see yourself doing it, where you are, what you’re surrounded by, who you’re working with, what tools you’re using, the benefits to you and others. Write it down, and try to make it as clear as possible. You should be able to visualize this dream in your head. The more real it seems in your mind, the more likely it is that it will become reality.

11. Create a roadmap

Once you’ve clearly pictured your destination, what’s left is creating a map for getting to that destination. Try backwards planning: what’s the last step you’d have to do before attaining your goal? What would the last step be before that step? Keep going backwards until you get to the first step. Then focus all your efforts on that first step.

12. Brainstorm

Sometimes there are more than one road to get to a destination. Brainstorm a bunch of ideas for getting there, a bunch of actions you can take to move yourself closer to your destination. Then put them together into your roadmap. Even if you don’t have a complete roadmap, having a clearly defined destination, and taking the first step, are enough to get you started.

13. Do research

Learn as much as you can about your dream. Check out some books from the library, do some web surfing, talk to others who are knowledgeable. Become an expert on the topic.

14. How are others doing it?

Find others who are living your dream. Read about them, write to them, meet with them. Find out what steps they took to get there, what’s required, how they did it. Then use that information for your roadmap.

15. Practice, practice

While you’re taking your steps to realizing your dream, practice your passion as much as possible. Practice, of course, makes perfect … and you want to be as good at what you want to do as humanly possible. This isn’t an easy step, but it’s worth it.

16. Get inspired

Find others who are trying to achieve the same dream, see what obstacles they’ve face and how they’ve overcome them. Put up photos from magazines to inspire you. Read motivational quotes. If you’re inspired, you will have the energy needed to get there.

17. Get motivated

Along those lines, find motivation to keep you on your path. Motivation and focus are the keys to achieving any goal. What are your motivations? Making a public commitment, setting up rewards, inspiring yourself, tracking your progress, and joining a support group or finding a partner are great ways to motivate yourself.

18. Simplify: one purpose

Once you’ve defined your dream, focus on it completely. That means you need to put any other goals on the back burner for now, and have only one purpose in your life. Later, you can focus on other goals, but if you have multiple goals, you will become distracted and lose purpose. Focus. Simplify your life so that you are keeping your focus on that one thing.

19. Use a mantra

A great way to keep yourself focused is to use Guy Kawasaki’s idea of creating a mantra instead of a mission statement. Boil your goal down to a few words. Guys’ mantra: empower entrepreneurs. What’s yours? Once you’ve defined your mantra, print it out, post it up, and say it several times a day.

20. Set aside time each day

You will not go anywhere if you don’t devote time to your dream. Set aside an hour (or at least 30 minutes) each day for working towards your dream. If you can do more, great, but one step at a time is all it takes. Set aside time either in the morning, or in the evening, or some time when you know you will do it every day. Make it a habit, and you will succeed.

21. Pretend you can’t fail

Imagine that you cannot fail, that you may slip up and fall, but that you will get up and learn from that fall. Take away all fear of risk and loss, and believe in your success. Now act as if you cannot fail. And by acting so, you will make it happen.

22. Live as you want to be remembered

How do you want to be remembered when you die? This is a common method for deciding how to live your life. If you want to remembered for realizing your dream, then don’t start on it when it’s too late. Start on it now. Live your life so that your dream actually comes true.

This article was originally published in Dumblittleman.com

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