Skills Needed As An Entrepreneur

Polishing your skills as an entrepreneur can help you be a better entrepreneur. Here are the skills every successful entrepreneur has in common:

Doggedness.

The ability to be persistent in time of trial. Not every business will achieve that immediate success. The determination, knowing how to handle the ups and down is vital. Success does not happen overnight, some of those successful entrepreneurs out there failed again and again before finally achieving that remarkable success. Winston Churchill said: "success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm". What you need to know is that failure isn't the end but a step closer to achieving that success. This skill enables the entrepreneur to keep going when the outlook is bleak.

Stay Focused.

You have to be ready to give it all it takes, when success in the business is your priority, you will find yourself ready to tackle any kind of challenges along the way. After setting a goal, knowing how to "laser focus" on the very next step to get closer to the ultimate goal. There are so many distracting forces when trying to build a business that this skill is not easy to master.

Productivity.

This is a sensitive topic, the fact is there is no one right way to be productive that works for everybody. Learn about your peak energy times, your routines, and the productivity tools that work for you in order to create your own plan for success.

Sales.

Some entrepreneurs get stuck here, every entrepreneur is a sales person whether they want to be or not. They are either selling their ideas, products or services to customers, investors or employees. They work to be there when customers are ready to buy. Alternately, they know how to let go and move on when they are not. If you're always nervous about selling, try enrolling in a sales workshop to learn this much needed skill.

The ability to manage people.

You need to know how to manage people well. Early on in your business, you will be everyone's manager, so it pays to be effective. Entrepreneurs should know how to motivate and encourage the employees. Only by learning to leverage employees, vendors and other resources will an entrepreneur build a scalable company. They need to learn to network to meet the right people. Entrepreneurs strive to guarantee they will get honest and timely feedback from all these sources.

Adapting to change.

Change they say is constant! Successful entrepreneurs realize they don't know everything and the market is constantly changing. You have to be willing to go with the trend or change. You know what brilliant entrepreneurs does? They stay up to date on new systems, technology, and industry trends.

Strategy implementation.

You need to dedicate your time to simply dreaming about what you want for your business. Where would you like to take it? What's your vision for it? Now, how can you get there from here? Set your goals, and then develop an actionable plan to make them a reality. Then, don't forget about those goals. Keep them at the front and center to everything you do.

Take your time.

You don't need to rush things. Most entrepreneurs are not patient; they sometimes focus only on what comes next, rather than where the company needs to go. Overnight success may take 5 years or more. Entrepreneurs need to stop, pause and plan again at several intervals. Take a step at a time!
Don't be discouraged, you can learn some of these skills. Your eventual success depends on it.
See you at the top!

Femi Adefioye is a financial consultant. He is also an Analyst. He has a wealth creation blog http://entrepreneurship-skills.blogspot.com where he writes life transforming articles on entrepreneurship and wealth themes.

Notice - You are allowed to publish this article in its entirety provided that author's name, bio and website links must remain intact, active and included with every reproduction.

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Five Solid, Powerful Tools for Entrepreneurs and Lightworkers to Turn Up Your Light

Shining brighter doesn't show up like you think it will. Shining brighter starts inside and flows outside, and it does not depend on the actual medium. It can show up with a multitude of media. These five tools for generating more buzz, shining brighter and attracting more people into your business are easy to start and initiate, today.

#1 Commit to a much larger result than you have been thinking about. Whatever you've been doing, it hasn't gotten you to where you seek to be. So notch it up.

#2 Look across media and see where you shine brightest. Is it writing, singing, blogging, creating videos, creating audio recordings, or is it something like Facebook or Twitter? Build on what is the most natural and comes with the most ease.

#3 Expansion is delicious. It is also painful. Then delicious. Then painful. Then delicious. Then different. If you've never had a virtual assistant, then suddenly you do, it is both delicious and you also have to change it up for things to work.

#4 Vet new ideas and run with the ideas that charge you up the most. If it is so charged your body tingles, it might be big enough. If it's like "of course, I can do that" and it feels like taking a nap it's that easy, it might not take you someplace new. This is a relatively difficult concept because it is this fine line of "what do I do next," and going where you sense the energy will give you extra easy play - but it may be also uncomfortable at the same time.

#5 Take it easy around results. You might get immediate results. You might not. You might have to measure your results differently. So, in starting a new podcast, you might watch your sales and client interactions for measures of success as opposed to focusing intently only on the download numbers and stats that show up on the dashboard. You can self-moderate and kill totally beautiful projects by mutilating them before giving them a chance to shine.

Here's more on committing to a larger result and what messes up entrepreneurs and light-workers. Let's say you desire 70,000 listens or #1 bestseller status. Now, it's your first day out of the gate, and you anxiously look at sales or results. As you look at the results (and they may be dismal), you suddenly lose all enthusiasm for the project. So, that is not actually the best way to get insanely ridiculous successful results. Instead, ask the results questions. What inspired action can I take today to move me in the direction of the results I desire right away?

And let's say it's a book, you might get the idea of a Kindle 99-cent day special to run four weeks from now. So you then have four weeks to amp up your plans for the morning rush of a bestseller campaign around a 99-cent day special. Boom! That is very different energy from looking daily at your book sale numbers and experiencing some kind of self-judgment around them.

It is a discipline to see the light beyond the tunnel. So that's really what this first tool is about. Commit to something bigger, and then take inspired action in the direction of that result, each day.

Choosing the appropriate media for you is like choosing a shoe, a style, a dress, a look. Some of you might pick up a pair of tight jeans, put on a cowboy hat, buy the best and most unusual boots you can find and have your look. For the rest of the people on the planet, this would be a ridiculous choice. When you choose your medium - print, video, social media, audio - choose for you. No one outside of you can say what makes you light up. Only you know this. You can get help from energy workers and lightworkers to see where you seem to flourish the easiest - and also, at the same time, if someone says "create a TV show," and that makes your stomach turn, don't do it even if that person is amazing. If someone says "create a podcast" and you start doing cartwheels inside of joy, that's a key to choosing it.

A new year is a great time to get inspired and get into action. Whatever you chose that didn't let you shine in the past, ask yourself to release that now and step into the light of your brilliance as an entrepreneur and light-worker.

Subscribe to the daily podcast "The Erica Glessing Show" featuring 8-minute inspirational interviews with entrepreneurs and lightworkers for more tools on shining brightly. Erica Glessing is the CEO of Happy Publishing with more than 100,000 followers on social media and 18 #1 bestselling books. For her complimentary video series "Build Your Book as Brand" go to http://TheEricaGlessingShow.com and look for "free stuff."

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Erica_Glessing/1419296

Why You Are Limiting Your Small Business

It's difficult to see the picture when you're in the frame. When you are so focused on your business you don't see what holds it back. Namely you! When all the decisions are based on your knowledge and experience, you are probably working from the same knowledge you always have. This means that unless you are constantly improving yourself (in terms of business) you are likely to fall into the trap many owners do.

What are your decisions based on and who do you go to for help? The problem with owning a business is that there is very little help available in your immediate circle for most people. Unless you are surrounded by other entrepreneurs, it's more than likely that you look to help for people who are fall less qualified than you.

The Self Fulfilling Loop

The ability to work in your business and work on your business are two very separate things. You may be the best at working very hard, doing long hours and motivating your staff, if you have any. But this doesn't translate to growing your business. Growing your business is something different. It takes a whole new skill set.

If you're stuck in the process of being a 'worker' in your business, you're not moving your business forwards. You must step out of the roles which worked when you were an employee. Things which make a good employee are: turning up on time, working hard, delivering to deadlines and thinking of ways to achieve the maximum output for your boss.

Things which make a good business owner are entirely different. Knowing how to grow your business is about marketing. You need a whole new skill set and new ways of thinking in order to do this.

The Skill Set Of Online Marketing

Online marketing is vital to grow your business. Whatever kind of business you have, you need some kind of marketing engine driving it forwards. With new technology comes a new type of marketing. Before the internet there was traditional advertising: yellow pages, newspapers, flyers, billboards, television and radio.

Online marketing is a fantastic opportunity for business owners. But with it comes a few problems. The main one is not just learning the skills to create online advertising, but rather our mindset, or more importantly our industrial age thinking.

Industrial Age Thinking

We have been brought up with a lot of baggage. Our minds hold ideas which our forefathers embodied in their lives. Many of us are limited by old thinking patterns which no longer serve us. This is true in many areas of our lives but none so much as with growing a business using online marketing.

A poverty mindset always thinks of reasons to cut back and avoid spending. It is based on a presupposition that 'there is never enough' - a self fulfilling prophecy! Of course this is often well founded based on the past. But as a business owner this can be your biggest limiting factor to forward growth.

If our very thinking is based on our past and what it has taught us in terms of our income, we hold back and tend to be careful with our money. This is for good reason of course. But with online marketing your long term plan should be to be spending more and more on advertising, not less and less. This is a major roadblock to business growth.

Gently Does It

I'm not saying you should spend all your cash on an online advert, just to see how it goes. Far from it. You can start an online advertising campaign for very little daily expenditure. Set your budget as low as you like. That's one of the benefits of online advertising. One of the other major benefits is the ability to test and measure each of your adverts.
By testing and measuring the response of your adverts, you can determine, very accurately, how effective they are in making you a profit. However this should be based on your return on investment, not instant return. Think about the worth of a customer over the years of your business. How much is a customer worth? Not a sale, but a customer?
Looking at the long term benefit of a happy customer who buys from you again and again can give you a different perspective on your advertising costs. Write down a number which reflects the cash value of a long term, loyal customer. Now match that against what you were prepared to spend on your advertising.

Testing and Measuring - The Power Of Pay Per Click

Pay per click advertising is an amazing form of advertising and available to any business owner. However, I recently spoke to a business owner who claimed it was a waste of money, despite other people in his business niche using it. Perhaps, he thought that they were about to discover what he already "knew"!

Most people start an advertising campaign on pay per click, lose money and decide it doesn't work. But this is a mistake. The real power lies in the ability to test and measure your paid advertising. There are many variables with pay per click. You can target people very specifically by their keywords using Google AdWords advertising. You can also target by location - which is ideal for a local business. By testing and measuring the responses of different target audiences, with varying keywords, landing pages and advert content, you can eventually determine the most profitable advert for your business.

Once you have discovered a way to spend half of what you stand to get back, you are in a very strong position to increase your daily expenditure and scale up. This is how to grow your business. By adding other paid advertising methods to your growing 'portfolio' and testing and measuring each one over time for maximum efficiency, you can scale up your business for maximum growth.
Depending on your business model, it is also possible to lose money initially on advertising, and make it back over the long term for the customers you have literally "bought".

Fear, Greed and Panic

Obviously you should be careful enough to test and measure advertising before scaling your budget up. Paid advertising can consume your capital as fast as you allow it to! Be very careful in the early stages to test and measure every aspect of your advertising. Don't scale too quickly but also you can't be afraid to spend money first.

Only spend money you are prepared to lose initially. You might lose money in the short term. But the long term gain of having a profitable advertising campaign which can be left running is worth the initial loss. The main job is testing and measuring until you have a campaign which is profitable. After this there is very little to do. Simply leave your campaign running at a comfortable cost and slowly increase it over time.

Equally don't just run a campaign, get a profitable result, and then panic and turn it off. Your business will just fall back to your comfort levels again. Look for the long term, keep testing and measuring and expect to pay out first before you see a return.

Learn how to grow your small business or website. Access two free eBooks Niche Blogging For Profit and The Ultimate Guide To Online Marketing at http://tim-halloran.com

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Tim_Halloran/488644 

Competitive Advantage

Napoleon Hill told a story in the book "Think and Grow Rich".
He told of a long time ago, when a great warrior was faced with a situation where it was necessary for him to make a decision which will ensure his success on the battlefield.
He was about to send his army against a powerful enemy whose men outnumbered his own. He loaded his soldiers into ships, sailed to the enemy's country, unloaded the soldiers and equipments, then he gave a order to burn the ships that had carried them there.
Then addressing his men before the battle began, he said, "You see the boats going up in flames. That means that we cannot leave these shores alive unless we win! We now have no choice. We win or we perish." As it was told, they won.

Our case as entrepreneurs is much like this story, we either succeed in our business or we perish. One of those factors that "kill" businesses is the COMPETITION.

It will not matter how good you are if your competitor is better, so you need to find out what your competitor is offering. Find out your competitor's advantage over you and how she goes about it.
Everyone has competitors. Do you know yours?
You will need a visit to your competitor to have a deep feel of her offer. You need to understand what gives her an edge over you. It's probably just customer service, a better knowledge of the product or service, promo given to customers etc.

You can achieve this by paying a visit to your competitor as a potential customer. You can order for the service or product being provided and then you can criticize or make a complaint as a customer to see how they respond.

Sometimes it's about a visit to their online store or website to rake in ideas that will eventually work for you.

Sometimes, you could even ask directly if you have relationship with your competitor.
If the idea works, you can replicate it in your own business.

Now you must learn to focus on your own advantage eventually.

There is something that other business is doing that you are not doing, locate it and focus on it.
Some people tend to get jealous of big businesses and wish they fold them.
Recently, the NCC wanted to force communication giants to have a high data rate. That means that data we used to buy for #1,000 might now go for #2,500. They claimed they want to do that so that small businesses can have a chance to succeed.

Small businesses fail to compete against bigger firms because they want to compete with the bigger firm on what the big firm is known for. They do not have to do that, they will continue to fail if they do that.

It's not about wishing the big company folds up, it's about you focusing on what you can do to beat them.

There are things the big firms have as advantage over the small firms; same goes to the small firms over the big firms.

For example, the big business can run a TV commercial but a small firm cannot. However, a small firm owner is close to his customers in a way big firms cannot try.
Find what gives you advantage and FOCUS.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Tade_Ayodele/2372118

The Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs You Must Know About

When it comes to having innovative startups popping up in many different business areas, young entrepreneurs can definitely not be underrated at all. It is because there are a lot of young entrepreneurs who have been quite much in the news to have striking ideas with bright practical minds to offer a lot to the ever evolving world in order to cater to its growing needs. There are many names of these young entrepreneurs who are seriously the ones to watch out for. These entrepreneurs have the right approach, the best ideas, and all of the passion that is needed to bring the best of smart innovations for all. 

Some of these names are given as follows:

Aaron Dicks (25)
Aaron has a company named Impression which he launched with the help of a fellow student's partnership names Tom Craig. It is a digital marketing agency that makes use of the existing technologies in order to provide excellent matching solutions and results through web design and clicks to customer campaigns. Just back in 2015, they made more than 500,000 Euros that doubled in 2016. Hence, they are surely to look out for in the year 2017 as one of the most successful young UK entrepreneurs.

Amber Atherton (24)
Atherton owns My Flash Trash who actually found fame in the Made in Chelsea series. However, she is known for an entirely different reason now that she has the fastest growing London accessory brand. It is a special in playful and bold charm jewelry that empowers girls while not taking fashion too seriously. It was just a blog in 2008 but today its business appears to be scaling at a pace of 100 items sales increase by each day. Amber is now all set and ready to take on brands like Pandora in no time this year only!

Angelica Malin (25)
Angelica aged 25 years own the company About Time as it made more than 75,000 monthly users across 123 countries in just two years. It helps Londoners to make easy decisions while going to new places or having different trying experiences. There are hundreds of choices for dinners, staying in, going out, etc. Thus, with sky being the limit, she is surely one to look out for in 2017.

Archie Hewlett (21)
Last but totally not the least, he is the most promising, and the youngest UK entrepreneur to look out for as he is just aged 21. However, he started his quality slip-on-shoe business when he was just 18 as he took the 9,000 Euros loan for the same. He offered a lot more quality with cheap prices and steered people away from traditional British fashion to those like velvet slippers, etc. With an impressive 1 million pounds turn over in just 2015 without any additional funding, he has made a great name!
The above mentioned names are all under the age of 25 and are truly very young and fresh to watch out as the top youngest entrepreneurs overall for the coming years.

With the revolution of the internet age many more young entrepreneurs has just begun.

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Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jamie_Cowdry/2352121

The Saturation Has Killed the Dreams of Online Entrepreneurs

The Internet was far better and clean a decade ago. There is no doubt that we have seen some radical advancements in almost every field of life. However, the saturation in almost every field has cornered many with the dreams of becoming entrepreneurs at the young age. It was easy before.
All you needed to do is to create a niche blog and sit around in some corner of the internet. Gradually, you will become prominent, and people will follow you. But, now, with millions of researchers pounding on search engines and in reply, the addition of millions of bloggers has totally screwed the value and quality.

History in a few lines

The people started at that time are successful to some extent but, for all those who are starting an online business are pretty much screwed with lots of limitations. You won't find a one or two-word domain name for your new blog these days. The irony is that the poor quality of content hurts more than the saturation.

I have personally known people who have been working as an online entrepreneur and they have created a fortune. But, it is all about the time you are spending. The newcomers will have to come up with the new ideas and they will have to do something different as compared to what others have already done. There has been a lot of improvements if you only talk about technology. And, youngsters should start from the point where elders have left the crease.

Never lose hope

Young entrepreneurs are finding it really hard to come up with the best options to make things better for themselves. However, you can say that it is challenging as well as a good thing for all the entrepreneurs. It is certainly going to bring the clarity in the freelance world and the world where people are following their dreams.
Now we all know that we only have few options to make things better for ourselves and youngsters are focusing on the quality instead of looking for the loopholes. Always look for the best hope when you are fighting for your dreams, and once you have achieved your dreams, there will be nothing more satisfying than completing what you have started. In this time of saturation, the only people who are going to stand out will be those who are going to bring quality in the services that they are offering.

Ammar is a freelance writer and loves to share his creative ideas with the people. You can find more about what he loves to share at his personal blog.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Ammar_Khalid/2314934

How Break-Even Analysis Facilitate an Entrepreneur Aiming to Launch a Sustainable Business

Entrepreneurs are those who try to run a business through substantial risk and initiatives. Therefore to succeed, entrepreneurs should minimize the chance of failure through effective designing of a business plan and market analysis long before they launch their business. Break-even analysis for instance, is a great formula that thoroughly analyzes the costing and selling prices for running the business and therefore attempts to determine the costing and selling price of a product or a service to reach a point where the company will not suffer from loss. Not knowing proper break-even point at which a business can run sustainably, many organizations have dramatically increased the possibility of failure.

Determine the Minimum Sales Volume required to Avoid Losses: 

Break-even analysis can facilitate an entrepreneur to confirm the selling amount in units and in price for a range of products and services those are to be sold so far for the business to produce enough revenue to pay its expenses. Knowing what percentage or units should be sold to achieve the break-even can enable a businessperson to avoid suffering from losses in both the short and long run.

Know the Minimum Sales Volume required to Avoid Losses:  

Break-even analysis can facilitate an entrepreneur confirm the sales amount in units and in price or range of products and services that has to be sold for the business to produce enough revenue to pay its expenses. Hence, knowing what percentage units should be sold to achieve the break-even point can enable a businessperson to avoid suffering from losses at any given period of time.

Targeting the Profit Levels:  

Besides, break-even analysis permits an enterprise to grasp what proportion of profit it will earn at completely different sales volumes. Any sales volume or range of units sold surpassing the break-even point can eventually result to a profit. Likewise a number of different set of sales volumes can be employed to understand how much profit might be generated from each of these sets. This helps an -enterprise to determine sales targets which will let it reach desired profit levels. This is particularly going be helpful for determining a territory sales target.

Setting up the acceptable price: 

The price of the offering is one of the major factors that an organization should take into account. Once operation has started an appropriate pricing will spell the distinction between failure and success of an enterprise. Nonetheless, the impact of pricing on the possible profitability of the organization is to be studied accurately. Setting totally different price indexes and evaluating the break-even analysis at every level can facilitate an enterprise to study the result of every set of price level in relevantly different major factors like client affordability, market competitiveness and impact on inventory management.

Schedule Your Merchandise Inventory necessities: 

Break-even analysis can facilitate an enterprise schedule product inventory levels. Entrepreneurs should stock enough inventories to have products available for sale as required by the customers. In other words, if the offering is not adequately available, it may harm the overall branding of the enterprise. The number of products that are to be offered to customers at any given time and the schedule of further stock to be purchased or produced are very important and can easily be planned once the break-even analysis has been done. Once a clear idea is generated about the volume of inventory according to the figures provided by the break-even analysis, it becomes easy for the organizations to determine the initial stock.

Md. Amanat Ullah is a freelance researcher in the areas of business and marketing. Areas of interests are marketing and innovation, alternative medicine etc.

https://www.facebook.com/Marketing.Amanat.Me/

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Md._Amanat_Ullah/1617578

How To Start A Sportswear Brand

The Complete Guide To Starting A Sportswear Brand 
 
Do you want to start up a sportswear brand? Do you have some great design ideas or a cool new apparel concept? Can't you find the styles you are looking for? The time could be now for you to start up that brand you have been thinking of. But where do you start? How do you go about to make it all happen?

If you want to set up your own clothing brand, then this article is for you. We'll give you an overview of the steps involved in starting your own business, and information that you have to think about.

Starting Up

Step 1. Idea & Customer Need. 

It all starts with an idea. Maybe you can't find the clothes you are looking for, or you have a strong design opinion that you want to show the world. You are better off if you can connect your idea to a customer need. If you strongly believe in your idea, you should go ahead and make it happen.

Step 2. Market Scan. 

You have a great idea for sure. The question is: is it unique? Perform a thorough market scan. Search the web, visit shops and read relevant magazines. You want your brand to stand out in the competition and find your target niche. If some other brand already has your idea, you will always be number two.

Step 3. Business Plan. 

It can be great to have a business plan if you want to bring other people on board, e.g. investors or partners. But primarily, the business plan is there for you. It forces you to ask yourself those tough questions and look at your business venture from different angles. The business plan is a living document that will change and evolve over time, usually things don't go exactly according to the initial picture in your head.

Step 4. Branding. 

Put a lot of time and thought into your brand identity. There are many brands out there so you need to make yours stands out. Create brand awareness and loyalty that connects your customers to your label. It is important that your brand ties together with your actual products.

Step 5. Money.

Nothing is free. Nor to create a sportswear brand. In your business plan you have made an initial budget and you have an estimate of how much it will cost you to set it up. How will you finance it? Can family or friends help you? There are special start-up loans as well as investors to turn to. Going to an investor early on means giving away more of your company. But maybe that's the best way to get it started and make your dream a reality?

Step 6. Entrepreneurship. 

Running your own business isn't a 9 to 5 job. It is not the hours you spend in the office that matters. What matters is what you produce. You are your own boss and you need to make it all happen. You will live and breathe your brand, working 24/7. All people have great ideas. The differentiator is that the entrepreneur makes them happen. It will require you to put in the work and follow through on your dream. Are you cut out for this or not? Is it really what you want?

Step 7. Team. 

As mentioned in step 6, setting up your brand will require a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Can you do it all by yourself? Even if you can, is that the most efficient way to do it? Make sure to liaise yourself with talented and driven people that can help you out where you fall short. If you are a designer find a good business partner, and if you are a business person find a good designer. No one can do it all and you shouldn't either.

Step 8. Define The Collection. 
 
Leaving the start-up phase behind you, it's now time to start the product development, the process of making your garments. The first step here is to define your collection. Focus on your brand identity, your vision, and the products you wish to create. Make sure your collection is clear and has cohesion.

Step 9. Design. 

You have structured and defined your collection and the designer can start sketching. Get back to the inspiration and the brand image, and the customer you want to have. The styles should fit in with the vision and identity of your brand. The designer needs to make great tech packs so you can carry on with your product development.

Step 10. Sourcing. 

Sourcing means finding factories, materials, and accessories. Materials is a science by itself. If you know your price points, performance requirement, and quality level, it will help you narrow down your search for the right materials. Accessories can be cords, zippers, pullers etc that you want to include in your garments. Then you need to find a factory that suits your needs, can produce your styles, and believe in your concept.

Step 11. Pricing. 

In the start-up phase you had a first look at the costs and the prices for your styles and production. Now when the collection is defined, you have sourced materials and found factories, and hence production costs, you need to check your pricing again. Does it add up? Will it be profitable? Review all the posts in your budget and see how you can recalibrate it. In the end you want to live and work, doing what you love. You don't want it to be an expensive hoppy that you poor money into.

Step 12. Pattern & Prototype. 

This is a very crucial part. Even though you have great designs on paper, you need to transform them into garments that look and feel the way you want. Based on the tech packs you need to find a good pattern maker, which isn't easy. The pattern is made in your wanted sample size and will later be graded to fit several sizes. With the pattern you will start making your prototypes. In between every prototype you will measure, fit, and adjust the pattern to improve your garment. Typically you will need 2-3 prototypes per style before you have a sample ready to show/sell.

Step 13. Production. 
 
Once you have arrived at your final prototype (sales man sample), you can start planning the bulk production. Discuss this with your factory as early as you can. They need to plan in your production in their schedule. They of course need to know how big your production will be, the number or styles and sizes per style. We suggest you write an agreement with the manufacturer stating delivery times and quality requirements.

Step 14. Shipping. 
 
You have the bulk production ready and need to get your fantastic garments to your customers. Depending on your sales strategy you can have one or more customers. There can be shops, end-users, and wholesalers. Take a look at your logistics, negotiate with transportation partners, and plan how you will repackage the goods to suit your designated customer.

Step 15. Marketing. 
 
Let the world know your brand's story. Marketing is your products, your meetings, your communication, and everything you do in you business. Be honest in everything you do, let the customers understand why you do it, and what your brand is about. You want to get your message out. Tell the world about your products and what differentiates them from the competitors.

Step 16. Sales. 
 
It doesn't matter if you have the best products in the world with the best story, if no-one buys them. In the end it all comes down to sales. You want your garments to sell, so you can reinvest and develop your collection and keep doing what you love. If you work with retailers, the traditional way is to show at trade fair and to take your collection in garment bags and visit the shops. This way you end up having multiple mini presentations and demonstrations of your awesome collection. Not all buyer are open to new things, so don't get discouraged when it gets tough. Believe in your brand and keep going.

Step 17. Order. 

The manufacturer usually has minimum quantity requirements for producing your garment. This should at least be your selling target. Sell, sell, sell, and collect your orders to meet those minimums. At the same time, keep track of your minimum requirements for materials. How much fabrics are on each roll that you buy? You don't want to buy too much fabric that in the end turns into left over. A good recommendation is to only produce the garments you have orders on. Don't stock up, unless you have an online business, and therefor need your own stock.

Step 18. Customer Service. 

Take care of your customers. You make your garments so that your customers can have them for their intended need. Don't disappoint them, put yourself in their shoes and just see how you can help them. How will you handle complaints, returns, delays? Talk to your customers, put your ego aside, and use the information to make even better products in the future.

Visit Sportswear Inc. at http://www.thesportswearinc.com to learn more about starting a sportswear brand.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Klas_Kristiansson/2347487

Can Taking a Risk Be the Safest Thing to Do?

I never got to meet my wife's father, but I have come to know him through the stories I've heard through the years and besides being a "guy's guy", he was an inventor. My mother-in-law would sometimes cringe when he went back down to the basement because that meant he was designing or building another new invention.

When he died in 1979, he still owned several patents and was drawing up plans of a house that would be run completely by a windmill in the backyard. He was a true American Wildcatter when it came to thinking and acting upon his beliefs.

Well, he used to carry this piece of paper in his pocket every day that we just found in an old box as we're downsizing; another way of saying: "getting rid of a lot of old stuff."

The paper was pretty worn since he had carried it every day from the early 50's on, but this is it and I think it's a unique way to look at risk and the men and women who helped shape this country after World War II.

Please excuse any license I may have taken where I couldn't read a sentence or two.

The Risk - Takers

Have you ever given much thought to the idea that the spoils in life go to the risk-takers? If you analyze it objectively, I think you'll come up with the same conclusion I arrived at.
A recent survey indicated that over 90% of men in this country are looking for job security. That is that they're primarily interested in losing themselves deep in the warm, nourishing viscera of some large corporation; which is fine. I'm not knocking it. I'm just commenting on it. But these are not by their nature risk-takers. And while they can have wonderful successful careers, the odds are against them hitting a big payday or jackpot and in today's corporate environment, they are always at risk.
You see as a rule this sort of career does not encourage or reward a man to do much more than get by. And he will usually spend his free time (which is typically 72 hours a week) in pursuits that are not calculated to help him get ahead.

The man who risks his spare time writing a book, painting a picture, creating a new technology or invention or continuing his education, is generally the one who will advance above his fellow man.
But the man who risks all his time on a dream in his soul, who stakes his livelihood and the livelihood of his family on his own belief and single handedly tackles his goal, that is the person to whom the spoils are realized.

I'm not referring to the random dreamer or stargazer. I'm talking about a man of action who puts it all out there. He risks everything. Sure, he may be laughed at by his so-called friends behind his back and he may fail more than anyone he knows, but that's because he never looks at it as a failure. It's a lesson he can learn from that makes him smarter and stronger. It prepares him for the success that is truly in his future.

One of the biggest things in his favor is the size of the group to which he belongs. According to the most reliable figures I can find, he belongs to only about 2% of the population. And since he is working on a project that in some way will serve the other 98% of the population, the odds are swinging rather substantially in his favor.

Additionally, any man or woman on their own, must devote a good part of their days to thinking and creating. Conversely, the man or woman who has a nice comfortable job and is familiar with his duties and surroundings, can go a long way without any risk or creative thinking. As human beings, our tendency is to do no more than is required of us and in many cases, not even that much.
Now anyone who spends a good deal of their time to thinking, is going to come up with a good idea from time to time. The law of averages is in his or her favor. If you think about it, how many great ideas does he really need? One may be more than enough if he believes in it.
Now if you really analyze it, the more it becomes apparent that what appears to be the risk-taker isn't taking as much of a risk as you might imagine. From several perspectives, the odds are stacked in the risk-taker's favor. There's very little competition and there is so many things to be created, invented or improved upon.

You see, life is full of hidden contradictions. One is that the person who thinks he's playing it safe, really isn't. And the man who seems to be taking the greatest risk, considering the law of averages, is playing it the safest!

Something to think about, huh?

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Michael_Costigan/2405664

Being Your Own Boss: 5 Benefits To Being Your Own Boss

Having an employer is nice and there are plenty of benefits to that. However, being your own boss is awesome and there are hundreds of benefits to it! I'm going to go over 5 of those benefits within this article, explaining why so many people strive to see a day where they are their own boss, calling the shots and sending the money around. Being your own boss, however, is certainly not for everyone! Be sure to figure out what you want to do in life before jumping right into something.

1. Massive Progression - I, personally, have no interest in doing something for the rest of my life without a wide room of growth and promotion. If I am going to be employed, I want to have the ability to be the Chief Financial Officer in a few years. When you are your own boss, you can do exactly that starting with Day One.

2. Full Control - When you are your own boss, you call the shots! Deadlines, of course, do still exist! However, if you don't want to complete those deadlines, you technically don't have to. There is absolutely nobody to tell you what to do or how to do it. You could take an entire week of work off and not have to stress about it. However, if you are wanting to be successful and make a good income from being your own boss, you'll need to take the bull by the horns and get some quality work done!

3. Flexibility - Does working a basic 9 to 5 not for work you? I don't blame you! Being your own boss allows you to make your own schedule. If working first shift on Monday and third shift on Tuesday works for you, so be it! If you'll be starting your first shift work-day two hours late, who cares? You have the ability and power to make a decision wisely in regards to your own schedule and how you get things done!

4. Enjoyment - In a world of debts and bills, we can't accept not having a job. Therefore, sometimes we accept a job that we don't want to do. We may even accept a job in which we downright hate! With being your own boss, you are able to choose what you do and that means you will be able to do something you actually enjoy! You are able to do something you wake up every morning ready and excited to do! You are able to go into work with a smile on your face, money in your wallet, and ready to make it happen!

5. Big Bucks! - If you are your own boss or wanting to be your own boss, you likely want a work environment with freedom or you want the "big bucks"! Being employed provides you with a "safe" income, however, the income isn't really that safe when you could get fired at any moment. Being your own boss allows you to be more risky, which means you have the potential to make a huge amount of money in a little amount of time. The amount of money you earn, is entirely up to you.
Being your own boss doesn't have to remain a dream! You can get this done and be successful, anybody can! It all is going to depend on what you want and how badly you want it. If you want to enjoy any of the benefits listed above, understand that it will require work, you will have to deal with the daily problems every boss to ever exist has gone through! Take a look at the rewards and make sure being your own boss is something you are able to do or even want to do!

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Top Sources for Financing Your Business

Are you a fresh entrepreneur? Are you looking for funding ideas for your business? Here are a few ideas which will help you to fund your business:

Angel Equity - If you want to get your company to make some real progress then find a person who is an executive in the respective industry to invest in your company. He should be ready to give you venture credibility compared to other companies and start-ups.

Smart Leases - Taking fixed assets on lease basis helps preserve cash for working capital i.e., to cover up inventory and so on. It is usually tough to get financial help for an unconfirmed business.
Bank Loans - Banks are similar to supermarket of liability financing. Banks usually provide short-term, mid-term and also long-term financing according to your requirement. They provide funding for all kind of needs such as equipment, working capital, and also real estate. With this you can of course generate sufficient funding to cover the interest payments and also give back the principal amount.

State and local economic development authority - The state or local economic-development organizations may enticingly charge low rate of interest while providing funds along with a bank.
Customers - Taking advance payments from clients and assuring to provide them service assuming the conditions are not too burdensome and can provide you the funding you require. At a comparatively low cost, you can keep growing your business. But also remember advances exhibit a certain level of commitment.

Vendors - You can take funding from your vendors or suppliers. In this way your financers do not control your business but you do. Make sure to subject yourself to a handful of authoritative supplies.
Family and friends - Friends and family can be the most indulgent investors if you are lucky enough. They will not ask you to pledge your house and some might even agree on low interest rates.
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grants - Clearing through all the paper-work process and SBIR grants is a great method to seizure your intellectual idea into great money.

Tax Increment financing - TIF grants are generally geared to the development of real estate in a few areas. These grants can be as high as 20% to 30% of the price of the project depending on the area.
Internal Revenue Service - IRS does not do funding. It helps you to reduce your expenses. It evaluates if you can use your profit to expand your business if you pay high amount of taxes.
Bootstrapping - Most of the billion dollar entrepreneurs do not rely on financers for funding so that they can control their business and not their investors.

Need an inheritance funding company? Contact our experts!

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Rajesh_B_Sanghvi/1284637

What You Should Know Before Starting a Business - The Exhausted Entrepreneur

"You own your own business!" is a frequent response when I meet new people. The perception is that business owners make tons of money, get the flexibility with work schedules and are not in danger of being fired or laid off. I can tell you from personal experience, owning your own business equates to a lot of responsibility and many sleepless nights. The following are a few concepts to consider before starting out on your own.

1. Examine your work ethic. If you like to sleep in until 10:00 am, wear your pajamas all day and then go out with friends for dinner and entertainment every night, you may need to stick to working for others. I keep a daily task log - some days are 3 pages in length. I wake up at 6:00 am and begin to prioritize my work load. I am responsible for meeting my deadlines. I do not have a secretary to keep track of these things. I will wrap up in the evenings with tying up loose ends and sending e-mails.

2. You need to love people. I am not kidding here. We have a service industry where the customer can fire us at any time. We work hard to treat others with dignity and respect. We need to be friendly and find a common ground with others. If you are in the business to help others and you are unkind and unfriendly, your business will dry up and wither away.

3. Budgeting is key. I use QuickBooks but other accounting software is available. If labor costs are too high, or you are working on a contract and losing money, you need to be aware of this early so that you can make adjustments. Often, in the early stages, the owner may have to defer a salary. If you hire folks, you have to be sure you can pay them a living wage. Your employees and their families are dependent on that salary and you need to take that seriously.

4. Look for new ways to grow and expand. The dynamics of business is changing. One example is the big box stores are losing revenue to the convenience of on-line shopping. You have to adjust and adapt to market trends. We offer various services, so that we have different kinds of revenue streams. We have also automated a lot of our services for the convenience of the customer. People are busy and appreciate when businesses respect their time.

5. Network with those that are successful. Look for an organization that will help you keep updated on innovations and regulations affecting your business. I have been enriched by my continued association with the Independent Water & Sewer Companies of Texas. I am able to learn from others about the trends in the water industry and the regulations impacting our industry.

6. Keep learning. Don't assume that you know everything. Take time to read trade journals, updates in state and federal regulations and attend seminars. The Texas Commission of Environmental Quality presents an annual 2-day drinking water conference in Austin and it is free to the public, but fills up quickly. I have been for six years and each time have learned new and better ways to run our water operations company.

7. Have a positive mental attitude. Everything is not going to go smoothly. There are issues that arise that have to be dealt with. If you have a difficult time managing stress and you take your temper out on others, it is crucial that you work on that before it damages your business relationships and those that work and live with you. It is difficult not to carry stress with you as a little black cloud always ready to rain on your parade. It is important that you manage the stress so that you are better equipped to deal with business operations.

8. Keep an open door to your customers and your employees. Don't hide from difficult customers or keep your head in the sand regarding negative situations in the office. Communication is key. If you are approachable and allow others to have a "safe zone" with you where they can talk about difficulties relating to the business, there is a lot you can learn. Be aware of those that are toxic, meaning, always being negative, talking about others behind their backs and being disloyal. If the opportunity comes to separate yourself from these types of people or limit your contact, it will be better for the business (and your mental health) to make the change.

9. Stay focused. When you are on your own schedule, it is easy to get side-tracked. Some interruptions are opportunities to let your business shine. Be able to discern what the unnecessary distractions are. When I was studying in law school, I had to find the bottom floor of the library in a study carrel far away from talking or footsteps. It was so important for me to laser focus on my studies that I had to remove all distractions. In the business world, it can be just putting your phone on silent and letting it go to voice mail and returning those e-mails and phone calls after the important task at hand is completed.

10. Stay professional. It may be tempting to show up to work in pajamas and a "man-bun"- but that might be the day your biggest potential client walks in and needs to be impressed. There are a few days that I need to be "in the field" with a warm jacket, boots and jeans. In the office, I keep it business casual. In meetings, I am in more business formal. You can set the tone for the work place. If others in the office have a more casual approach, just collaborate with them on an office dress code policy that is professional.

For those in the business world, this list may seem obvious. For the younger generation wanting to start out on your own, this list may not be intuitive. There are rewards from working hard as a business owner, but not without setting goals and a lot of hard work.

Heather Nehila is the owner of Aggregate Water. To learn more about having a customer service inspection, well operation servicing, or utility billing services please visit http://www.aggregatewater.com/contact-us/

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Heather_Nehila/2381739

Benefits Of Getting A Virtual Address For New Entrepreneurs

Many small and medium enterprises as well as large corporations are starting to use a virtual address for their businesses. This is a good start for entrepreneurs who are starting out. What is a virtual address? It is pretty much just renting an office address to use as a business address. This can offer huge savings for the new business owner, because he or she does not need to rent a physical office space.

There are a number of key benefits associated with having your own virtual office address. If your business is located in an obscure part of the country, such as a small town or county, you can get an address that is within the city or central business district. This can give your business a good first impression. If you run a home-based business and you do not wish to give away your business address then getting a virtual address is something you should consider. I am sure you do not want to give away your home address to your clients.

What about receiving snail mail and letters? Well, most virtual address services out there will receive the mail on your behalf and from there, you can drop by the office to collect them on a later date. There are some virtual office providers that also provide their clients with the option of mail forwarding. What about businesses that need to send out letters? These businesses need to provide a return address. If you run this type of business model, what address are you going to write as your return address? With a virtual address, you now have a spare address to write without having to worry about your own privacy.

Having said all that, a virtual business address will not provide too many benefits if you require your customers and clients to visit your business location. In this case, you will need to get your own office space. However if your business allows you to operate distantly from your customers, then you can enjoy the benefits that I mentioned above. This service gives you the flexibility to work from anywhere in the world, online or offline, without having to get a physical space. You do not have to spend money on getting a physical space, which also means you do not need to spend on electricity, furniture, internet connection, and transportation to and from your office, just to name a few.

Buying a virtual address in Singapore is not difficult at all. At Virtual Office Address SG, you'll get a premium business address (located 3 minutes from Novena MRT station) for as low as $6.41 per month. There are no setup fees and with a 7 day money back guarantee, your investment is risk-free. Visit VirtualOfficeAddress.sg to get your virtual address today.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Peter_J_Ho/1429812

Business and Relations

Having the opportunity to work with a business in a similar situation, in that both are new businesses facing similar challenges, collaborative projects provide a platform for mutual learning and can act as a working support while bearing in mind each businesses limits. Having a good working business relationship can be inspiring, motivational and empowering.

Supporting charities is important to both businesses as well as building relationships within communities. Having a common interest allows the businesses to develop a good strong relationship which goes beyond everyday business.

Going forward, further collaboration will allow the relationship to grow and have a continued benefit for business.

Both of the businesses are new but have learnt quickly that forging relationships is key to business. Building relations grows knowledge, our network and contacts, reputation and referrals and even assists with the development of ideas.

Since the inception of the businesses both have shared their business experiences, learnt from each other and have been able to identify strategies that work more quickly. As both have varying skills, experience and backgrounds the businesses have also been able to collaborate on particular projects, which have in turn allowed plans to move forward. Both companies are unique in their offering of differing services but have found that they can still be linked depending on the client and their requirements.
Links can be made with the most unsuspecting of businesses. It is therefore important not be closed minded to opportunities as it could prove most valuable.

Two opposing businesses can vary in their offerings and can be from different fields in the market but their target markets are similar in that they cover a broad spectrum and are widely spread. Both businesses can adapt similar marketing strategies and can work together to achieve this.

Having a successful business is more than just making a profit its a continual learning curve. Each day brings a new challenge which can be achieved by having the right information, from the right contacts, with the right network. Building a network that consists of relative contacts as well as those outside of the box has proven to be very beneficial. Each contact or person met is a potential opportunity for business, clientele, relations or even knowledge. It is important not to discount a new business relation that is not directly related to the business field i.e. Event Management or Relocation.

The unexpected can happen at any given time, continual building of bridges is vital for continual succession, development and growth of a business, especially new businesses trying to establish themselves within the market. The market is always changing and contacts in the network can be beneficial in terms of updates and industry knowledge required to move business forward onto the next stage.

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Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Amariah_Stewart/2078399

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8947313

An Overview of Seller Financing

Almost 90% of business owners have never sold a business before. So if you are at the start of your research on how to sell your business and haven't got a clue where to start, likely you are not alone. One of the many terms thrown around in discussions surrounding business acquisitions or business sales is seller financing. This term is one that almost immediately solicits a negative reaction from most sellers, but it should not be feared! It should be learned and understood as a tool to help sell your business.

The majority of businesses that sell today include some percentage of owner financing. With a rejection rate of about 80%, the SBA application process is often not an option for many businesses and buyers. Businesses that advertise seller financing along with their sale generate significantly more inquiries as well as a 15% higher sale price (estimation provided by Bizbuysell.com). There are many benefits, as well as some risk, to seller financing, so it is important that both the buyer and seller feel comfortable in the transaction.

In the following discussion, I will address common questions related to the subject of seller financing in hopes of opening up the discussion for future sellers and their buyers.

What is Seller Financing?

Seller financing is a loan provided by the current owner of a business to the new owner of said business.

Why Seller Financing?

Buyers negotiate seller financing for a number of reasons. First, they may be unable to afford the business at the full asking price. Second, the business transaction, as is, will not qualify for a traditional loan. Finally, there may be a level of uncertainty that the business will continue to be successful without the previous owner at its helm. So an owner's willingness to finance a portion of the sale often gives that business an edge over the competition, by removing some of the buyer's uncertainty.

How is the Seller Protected?

It is important for a seller financed transaction to be handled by professionals who can offer advice and construct documents that protect both the buyer's and seller's interests. Typically, a promissory note is drawn up that illustrates the details of the agreement. This note includes the recourse that the seller can take if a buyer defaults on the note. In the sale of a small business, the most likely scenario is that the seller would have the right to take their previously owned business back into their possession. Additional recourse avenues could be using the assets of the business as collateral or using a personal guarantee from the buyer. Utilizing a professional advisor to construct the terms of the promissory note will ensure that recourse actions are well structured.

What Other Terms Are Outlined in the Promissory Note?

The terms of the note are constructed in order to give the buyer adequate time to repay the note. Payments must be in an amount that the buyer can afford from the business income while continuing to run the business at an optimal level. The last thing either party wants is for the loan terms to constrict the buyer and eventually put them out of business. For this reason, the term length of seller financing varies depending on factors including: size of the loan, revenue of the business and the capital investment of the buyer. The interest rate charged on a seller financing note is typically in line with current banking rates.

Author: Al Fialkovich, Managing Director of Transworld Denver

If you are considering the sale of your business or have further questions on the subject of seller financing, please visit our website.

This article was written by Al Fialkovich, the Managing Director of Transworld Business Advisors of Denver. Transworld is the top business brokerage firm in Colorado. Our team of business brokers have the most and widest range of business listings for sale, inclusive of 100+ listings annually. Our service area covers the state of Colorado, focusing on the Denver Metro, Boulder and Golden areas. We assist visionary entrepreneurs in buying a business or selling a business in Colorado, specializing in helping family-owned and closely held businesses with their strategic plans for the future.

info@tworlddenver.com I (720) 259.5099 I http://www.tworlddenver.com Transworld Business Advisors of Denver ©

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Al_Fialkovich/2396253

What Is Vendor Reconciliation? Know the Detailed Automated Process

For an entrepreneur, the biggest form of cash outflow is a payment made to vendors. To deal with such a huge amount of monetary payments in a systematic manner, it is best that reconciliation of vendor statements is done. If you are asking "what is vendor reconciliation?" it is time that apart from reconciling your accounts on a regular basis, there are other areas you should be concerned.

Within the supply chain, late processing of invoices can be a major issue. This not only leads to late payment and lag in the chain, but certain discrepancies may arise as well. It is to prevent these that reconciling vendor statements are important.

"If cash flow is sanity, revenue is termed as vanity; CASH is surely the king!"

What is vendor reconciliation?

The document availed from the account of a vendor stating unpaid voices at a particular period is known as vendor statement. It has certain unclear aspects within it as payments and credit notes. The concept of reconciliation implies, matching of invoices and other documents from the vendor's side to that of your own.

Why should vendor statements be reconciled?

Once the query what is vendor reconciliation, the other point that surfaces are why should these statements be reconciled? Well, to answer that, noting certain points is important.

· The first notable point is ensuring of early settlement of monetary issues. Therefore, vendors will not have to wait for months to get payments and
therefore trade can be carried on in the same manner.

· Those vendors who have not reported and having discrepancies in their account can be easily determined. This will save the company from future losses.

· It will prevent any manner of duplicate payment (in case, your vendor's pricing master data is wrong) and thereby validate balance sheet of the company.

· This system at the very end helps in identifying those issues that are disturbing both your systems: yours and your vendor's. By presenting a detailed report, vendor queries will be solved and your control over your vendor ill increase.

Given such a scenario, taking help from an automated process will be a better option. Therefore, the system in this case to assist you is SAP, an automated process to keep track of vendor reconciliation statements. Clearly, vendor reconciliation now has an added advantage of using automated process to deal with it.

How is SAP useful in dealing with vendor reconciliation process?

Standard SAP does not allow functions to reconcile statements. Therefore a specially developed BEST software is integrated into this module. This has additional reports and screens along with certification as per German standards. While buying, it is imperative that you keep track of organizations that are professionals in selling this SAP software.

· This automated SAP process saves finance by avoiding interfaces that are presented by vendor master. So, all credits and discounts are added on at the same time, saving money.

· There is an option to balance SAP payment to reconciliation, therefore in case, a specific vendor lacks enough information to provide that ideal reconciliation report, a user cockpit present allows reprocessing of such information.

· Not only creditor document but the whole procurement chain can be matched in this SAP format. This includes those goods which do not have an invoice/those invoices that are in process in VIM tools.

Have you got an answer to what is vendor reconciliation? Well, make sure that you get certain add-on tools in this automated process to enhance these statements. A visit to the professional is a must!

John Andrews is the author of this article on what is vendor reconciliation.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/John_Andrews/2396475

Self-Talk Your Way to Failure

Recently I reviewed some studies that say 77% of self-talk is negative. That's a bit stunning when you consider how important self-talk is to one's daily being. The entire concept of self-talk is what becomes fired into our sub-conscious mind. The reality of thought and action comes directly from the messages in our sub-conscious.

Earl Nightingale said: What we plant in our sub-conscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.

The powering of our subconscious mind comes from our self-talk and once programmed the subconscious will work overtime to manifest what it believes you desire. It has no concept of real or imagined, good or bad, right or wrong. It only knows what you told it you want and its mission in life is to give you exactly what you want.

Over many years I have benefitted from keen awareness of this so-called secret. It's not a very well-kept secret but is clearly protected because so few people choose to become aware of it. Even when aware most people don't believe in it, they remain skeptical and choose to continue doing the same things over and over all the time expecting different results.

Now, I decided to ask myself "how does self-talk create victims?" As such it dawned upon me that victimization wasn't simply an action it was a habit. And as all habits are prone to do it is ingrained. Financial victimization is epidemic in our nation. Proof of this is all around you. Consider the reality that we are the richest nation on the planet (no other nation is remotely close), in fact many studies have said that we possibly control over 80-90% of the world's wealth. On the other hand we also have the highest rate of financial illiteracy in the world. How can this be? Is it somehow possible that Americans are just luckier than any others in the world? I can attest to the fact that it has nothing whatsoever to do with luck.

The primary essence of success is a mindset that understands failure and the great powers in many failures. There is no success without failure. Sadly many have joined a conformity that is perpetrated upon the premise that failure is bad and should be avoided at all costs. This is commonly referred to as mediocrity and our society is mired in it.

The great American dream was always promulgated upon the opportunity to attain substantial wealth based upon the dreams and desires one creates in their mind's eye. This has always and still does exist, yet the shades have been pulled down to eliminate the light of abundance and opportunity. It is replaced with a pursuit of security. The pursuit of security begins with a small handout, it could be a government subsidy or a form of continued employment. Either way it becomes a yoke which often burdens one with a lack of opportunity. No one reaches financial independence through the pursuit of security, just doesn't happen. The two are diametrically opposed. Entrepreneurial spirit is one of risk taking and it also is one of pure sacrifice and commitment. The cavemen originally showed this personal initiative and provide us with the ability to survive. It is commonly referred to as the flight or fight syndrome. The stark reality is that 5% of the population is financially independent and the other 95% chooses to flee when the fear of success lights upon them. Their self-talk directly condemns them to the fear of failure and as such they never cross the divide of failure and success.

This can be changed, but it takes personal integrity and great risk tolerance. No running when fear of loss knocks on the door. No avoiding failure when it appears. It requires changing the thoughts one allows to linger in the mind and also a pure self-confidence in all one undertakes.

Presently there is a massive financial epidemic which is directly the largest form of financial victimization in our society. This epidemic is known as Reverse Compound Interest Syndrome and all are suffering from it. Our mission is to fully eliminate financial victimization is all its forms. We accomplish this through promoting awareness, providing financial literacy education and lastly helping as many people as possible achieve financial independence.

The exceptional state of financial independence is achieved by only 5% of our society, this is a very sad commentary for the richest nation in the world. Upon closer reflection our nation also has the highest rate of financial illiteracy and there is the anchor that relegates the 95% to a life of financial dependence at best! You are different though, you are an entrepreneur and as such you thrive on risk taking, you acknowledge that failure is to be expected and used as an educational tool. And most importantly you value persistence above all other human characteristics. So continue on your path and always keep your self-talk positive, knowing that the most important expectation of all is YOUR own!

The Advocacy Network works with Financial Services professionals by providing them a platform that pays them to prospect and create UNLIMITED referrals. Here is an educational webinar that describes our opportunity https://youtu.be/Rwv8MENlGhE

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Karl_Schilling/840877

4 Founder Mistakes That Make Most Startups Fail

1) Believing that revenue is optional This is indigenous to the tech startup scene, but it definitely crops up elsewhere too. There is a mythology, perpetuated almost entirely by the Silicon Valley VC set, that a startup is somehow a new and trendy concept whose primary model is basically "raise lots of money, acquire as many users as possible, and then figure out how to monetise them or sell to someone who can".

It's a seductive idea because, for the founder, it bypasses the daunting prospect of having to worry about revenue, sales and all those other scary things. This feels great of course, because it allows the founder to stay in their comfort zone and indulge the satisfaction of making the perfect product without having to rely on sales to get there. In reality, it's merely delaying the day when the company has to face rejection and criticism from potential customers.

It's an approach that taps deep into our human fear of rejection and failure and promises a comforting alternative where these fears can be avoided altogether. It's such a powerful fear for most that an enthusiastic, widespread and elaborate mythology has developed around this type of "business model", with the sole purpose of trying to affirm something that we want to be true. But it isn't true: a startup is a business, and sooner or later it needs to make money. Founders who realise this and have a plan to monetise from the start are far more likely to succeed.

2) Underestimating the importance of cashflow I learned this lesson the hard way when my first business was snuffed out almost instantly by a lack of cash. The rate at which the cash ran out was much faster than I expected, but the speed at which the rest of the business fell apart as a result of running out of cash was alarming. Thankfully I was only 24 and was able to recover fairly quickly, but I see the mistake being repeated over and over again with new startups.

Why does this happen? Similarly to the previous point, it's largely avoidance psychology: the prospect of running out of cash triggers the primal fear of failure so people will go to surprising lengths to avoid facing it. Naivety is also often a major factor: spending too much on the less important things such as big plush offices and equipment, hiring too many people too quickly, failing to hustle and negotiate better deals on costs, and other such missteps. Lack of information is a common problem too, as critical cash drains like tax, insurance and travel costs are often either underestimated or simply not accounted for in the early forecasts.

All of which is avoidable with some proper planning and research before you dive in. Founders who are willing to spend the time doing that (often tedious) groundwork are giving themselves a much better chance of success.

3) Focusing on the sexy stuff Being successful in business is hard work, everybody knows that. But what separates many successful founders from the rest is their ability and willingness to do the tedious, repetitive work that drives a business forward day in and day out. In other words, pushing through the grind instead of focusing entirely on the sexy and glamorous work.

The problem is that it's very easy to be extremely busy as a founder, as there are so many things to do at any given point. And as human beings we naturally gravitate towards the things we enjoy first, leaving the boring slog work until later. As a result, many founders who are guilty of ignoring the truly hard work probably don't even realise it, only to scratch their heads when it all goes wrong.

By grind work I am not specifically referring to admin - which can easily be automated or outsourced in a number of low cost ways today - but rather activities such as analysing your customer behaviours every day, trawling through social channels daily to build up momentum, writing regular blog posts that nobody seems to read, speaking to tax advisors about R&D credits, filling out patent and trademark forms, building and testing marketing and sales automations, and all the other energy-sucking bits of unsexy work that go into building a business's early momentum. These are all things that a founder must be willing to do themselves at first, knowing that the reward is much further down the line. Many founders make the mistake of believing that they are above this type of work from day one, and they are nearly always wrong.

4) Giving up too easily This is a big one, but I see it derail people so often (myself included, in my earlier ventures). At some point, the general struggles of starting a business up from scratch will become overwhelming, and some major problem will push the founder to the edge of wanting to quit. I refer to this as the wall, in reference to the wall that marathon runners hit when their body starts screaming at them to give up.

This is often a critical milestone in a business's development. Just as in a marathon, a person's ability to push through this wall is a huge determining factor in their likelihood of finishing the race, and business is no different. But really, this is the central essence of running any kind of business. The ability and fortitude to overcome difficult challenges is one of the foundational characteristics of any successful founder, and the struggle should be the fuel that drives them. Founders who expect, embrace and face challenges head-on will be amongst those left standing after the 90% have faded away.

Conclusion The 90% statistic is accurate, but it is also an oversimplification of the landscape. Succeeding at business is not a game of chance, it is a battle of will where the most realistic, durable and pragmatic individuals thrive. Founders who have, or are willing to build, these characteristics will have the best chance of being in the 10%. Those who don't or won't, will be found out quickly enough.

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Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Marc_Crouch/2301747