Digital Era Vs Industrial Era

The perfect dream of working in a secure job these days is slowly and increasingly getting popular according to the number of people who are looking for other ways of making an income outside of their jobs. A lot of people have become aware of the ever increasing job demands which are overwhelming when compared to what the pay is and it does seem that it is becoming an exhausting experience from putting more time and effort than ever before and not get any time for family life and just live a moderate lifestyle.

Are you one of those people who end up falling into one of those contemplating moments?

Especially when you are stressed out at work, wishing that you had more time for your family and yourself?

Wish you could just run to the beach and relax under the sun, picturing yourself with your loved one and taking a sip of an exotic drink, enjoying each other's company with smiles filled with happiness and joy... and with a blink of an eyelid you get back to reality again and stare at your computer screen filled with numbers, spending hours calculating those boring financial statements for some executive in that little cubicle of yours and you got another 5 hours to sit in there and work on more numbers!!!

There are millions of so called 'office slaves' who are married to their 9 to 5 jobs wishing they had something better, but don't think they have any other option than to suck it up and stay in those jobs for the fear of becoming jobless and not having money in the bank and becoming broke and also the thought of going through ALL the education, spending ALL that money and time to finally get that JOB and still not be happy with it.

In a nutshell, no matter what degree you hold or years of experience you have, everybody is in the same cycle of working 9 to 5 or 9 to 7 shifts or even longer for some folks and just have two short days called the WEEKEND which feels like it just passes too quickly. Our minds take one day to recover from the hard working week and then as soon as Sunday hits, the dreaded thought of another exhausting week begins to creep up in your mind which leaves you with an unhappy feeling all over again!!

We all like saying TGIF! with a smiley face at the end you see on social networks and people tweeting it by the end of every week and I'm sure most would agree that Sundays are the worst and it should be called ONIS! (OH NO It's Sunday!... with a frown face attached to it!) and we continue living in this cycle over and over again but inside of us wanting to be free and just wishing that it would change one day, but don't get me wrong, the money is good if you are earning a six figure income, but you just can't enjoy it the way you want to because of the lack of time and that leaves a lot of frustrated folks wanting better in life.

It doesn't really have to be that way if you know what I mean. The rat race of the Industrial Era is slowly dwindling to a new growing trend which we now call the 'Digital Era' or the Information Age. The internet boom and the online industry has taken a new route in the world of business and has been generating trillions of dollars in revenue over the past 20 years or so. According to eMarketer, a market research firm, projects consumers worldwide will spend $1.672 trillion online this year and the global market is growing in an alarming rate and not to mention, hundreds of thousands of Dot com earners who are reaping the benefits from this new and emerging industry.

So why are we still stuck in the dark ages of working the traditional 9 to 5 jobs when others are earning six figure incomes from home working on the internet and spending nearly half the time working and getting all the time to travel and enjoy family life at the same time?

The concept of using internet marketing strategies to generate profitable income streams is a lucrative business and not everybody understands how it actually works and requires in depth research and knowledge to implement it effectively. The owners of websites like Huffington Post, Techcrunch, Mashable and Life Hacker to name some, generate millions of dollars in revenue. The age of Digital Marketing seems to be the new future for some and it is growing as more people are getting access to the internet through a multitude of devices that are available in the market and more businesses have their products sold online than ever before.

As for those folks who want to take a dive into the world of Internet and Online marketing or Digital marketing, then it is the time to take advantage of this new wave and it is here to stay for the long haul, so why not take a shot at it and end up having the kind of income, family time and vacation that you always dreamed of?... What do you think?... is this worth it?

Ask yourselves and figure out what you really want in your life!

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Fahad_Taher/2303298

How to Assess the Impact of a Decision

Overcoming the decision-making plight is a three-step process:

1. Define the time frame - Setting a clear timeline and forcing yourself to take action within those set boundaries will help keep you from further procrastination.
2. Gather information - If you feel that you are not knowledgeable on the topic, gather additional information from an expert or another team member. This will allow you to understand the details of the situation and feel more confident in making a decision. Be sure that you have distinguished between the facts and opinions though, when you process the new information.
3. Assess the impact - Identifying the possible outcomes and their impact will help you make the right decision.

So how do you assess the impact?

While you may be inclined to rely on past scenarios to give you a slightly better handle on what to expect or what action to take, keep in mind that no two situations are the same. Because the circumstances and nuances of each case are different, do not let a previous decision be the template for all of your future actions. Instead, let it serve as a learning tool and take new, different decisions as you see fit.

While there is no clear-cut method, here are some steps that may help you narrow down your choices:

• First, create a list of all possible outcomes.
• Rank all the scenarios, from the best to the worst.
• Figure out what actions will result in which outcomes

For each of these outcomes, think about all the other variables that are in play. Is there anything in particular that you can do that will reduce the likelihood of the bad or increase the good?

Also, do not forget to consider people's emotions. If this decision will impact your employees as well, take the time to view the situations from their perspective. You do not want to take an action that although will benefit you, will isolate your employees. Weigh these pros and cons in your list of possible outcomes.

As you follow these steps, you should be able to eliminate more options and start to feel more comfortable making a decision.

When should you consider hiring a business coach?

If each and every time you have to make a decision, you find yourself procrastinating or overwhelmed, it may be a sign of a bigger problem. It is common to feel nervous or hesitant once in a while, but as a leader, you cannot constantly put off making a decision or avoid the situation all together. A business coach can work with you to understand where your fears stem from and help you overcome them.

For more information about the other two steps in the decision-making process, visit our blog and the blog post, "How to Overcome Decision Making Plight?".

If you are looking to hire a business executive coach, look no further than The Round Well! Our coaches focus on understanding individual client needs, business environment, team intricacies, and developing results that will help you reach the goals you seek. Visit our website and blog, http://theroundwell.com, for more information pertaining to coaching and leadership development.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Tmima_Grinvald/704083

5 Steps To Take To Ensure Your Degree Certificate Does Not Block Your Financial Success In Life

I strongly believe that you are going to find this article both eye-opening, refreshing, challenging and true because practical research and facts have been considered to ensure that you get to receive help from it.

You will get an epiphany.

Between the lines you will have a revelation like no other and most certainly you can thank me later. If you don't get the revelation, read this post again and again then come and thank me or send a postal mail or email or call using the details provided on this article.

Now to the 5 steps...

But before that, I would love to bring to your attention a true story that will prove useful now and in years to come.

A story is told of a certain African farmer who had 5 acres of land that had a stream at the lower side of the farm full of clean water. Sometime later, this farmer heard of people getting massive amounts of wealth from selling diamonds that they found on their pieces of land and he decided to sell his acres of land to go in search of those precious jewels and become rich.

Several months later, his body was found hanging on a tree because he searched with no luck and he became frustrated which made him decide to take his life.

Back in the farm that this farmer sold, the friend of the new owner came to visit him and upon close scrutiny of his fireplace he saw a large rock that this new owner had put to decorate his fireplace. He looked closer and noticed that this rock was in real sense a diamond in its natural form and in amazement he told the farmer that it was the largest diamond that he had ever seen.

Curious to know how he had come across such a large diamond, this friend asked him where he had found it. The farmer said that he had found it at the stream that was at the lower side of the farm and that there were thousands of other such stones smaller in size strewn all over the bottom of the stream.

True to what the farmer said, they went to the stream and saw them which made them dig up more. They discovered that the diamonds were occupying a whole acre of land, free and clear.

The land originally sold to this new owner was full of the same precious jewels that the previous owner went looking for after selling his land for so cheap a price.

You see, the now dead original owner made a mistake of not first doing his research to know how diamonds looked like when natural and went blindly in search of the elusive jewels whereas his own land had a whole acre of diamonds that would have made him rich beyond his expectations.

This story illustrates how today in the modern world people go in search of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow without knowing that there is no gold there.

Many look at the wrong places instead of first focusing on one thing...

The resourcefulness of their mind that has been given to them for free at no charge.

The mind of man when properly harnessed and equipped can create so much for the owner but it has become the least used resource when people want to get solutions to their problems or situations that are affecting the community.

However, it will no longer be like this to whoever takes action and follows every of the steps outlined in this article and every other resource made available here.

You see, we are in an age of what I would term as learned helplessness whereby many look to jobs and bosses as their only source of provision whereas there would be much more reward if they chose to look beyond the jobs and make use of their freely given minds to get more out of life.

The time of telling children to go to school, get a degree, get a good job, marry, get children, retire and then die is far outdated than the stone age and it is time that those who want more out of life learnt to know that opportunities exist all around us just waiting for that soul that is ready and willing to live beyond the comfort zone of just paying the bills and into a zone of leaning on your edges to do all that you can to create an impact in your environment and beyond.

And so to help you get started on being the best version of yourself and not be hindered from the success that you deserve, below you will find five simple steps that you can take today and come out of learned helplessness which may kill the spark in you.

Step 1: Think Outside The Box

This is a common term and today it will make a different meaning than what you may have ever thought it meant.

You have heard it said that good things come to those who wait?

WRONG!!

Good things come to those who show up and take massive action.

Good things come to those who dare to take action even when everything within them says no.

Good things come to those who invest in themselves without counting cost.

Good things come to those who keep moving on even when the present

circumstances do not give them the motivation or reason to keep moving on.

Good things come to those who have the mentality of an eagle and not that of an oyster. An eagle soars to go look for whatever it wants whereas an oyster is tossed to and fro by the sea waves and eats whatever the ocean brings on its way.

For you to think outside the box, it means that you are willing to keep moving on when everything within you shouts to you to stop.

To think outside the box means you have to be uncomfortable with average.

To think outside the box means that you don't want to forever be chained to a job rather you have in place the strategy to become your own boss before old age starts showing signs of approaching.

There is so much we can say about thinking outside the box but for now let's go to the next step...

Step 2: Increase Your Skills Outside Your Field of Expertise

I will not say much in this but if you ever want to go far in life equip yourself with practical knowledge that is able to inspire you to action.

There are lots of free online courses that are far much better than a university degree that you can take advantage of and learn a skill that is able to finally pay you more than your job.

And if you dare look more keenly, you will find what you seek...

Step 3: Get Entrepreneurial Genes

Most education systems have put millions of people in learned helplessness and made them stick to one line of thinking without knowing that there is so much more outside the comfort zone of a job.

To put it in plain language, never depend on a single source of income: JOB

Leverage your earnings and pocket money to start a side business using part of the little that you get.

Some side businesses need zero capital and others need very little capital.

Learn business skills like market research which will help you know how to identify the needs in the community which you can solve and cash in on them.

Step 4: Don't wait for retirement

A research has been carried out and it has been confirmed that 70% of people are in jobs they hate or work for bosses they hate which in turn has led to poor service and inferior products.

Whoever is reading this article ought not to be in that category because you will get a blueprint of how you can come out or avoid getting into the chains of a job or a boss you loathe.

You need to set goals to retire early and start your own corporation before your strength is gone.

You need to consider getting your hands dirty and start cultivating your own plantation as early as in your 20s or 30s or 40s.

Simply put, don't work for 40 years in a job just to pay the bills, desire much more than that!!

Step 5: Get a Mentor or Mentors

The final step in all this is to ensure that you model somebody who is doing what you desire to be doing.

Mentors make your success come faster than you had anticipated because you learn from their mistakes which saves you time so that you don't make the same mistakes that they made.

Mentors don't need to be meeting you face to face. You can have a mentor who you have never met or will ever meet by interacting with them virtually. Read their books, watch their videos, listen to their audios, follow them on social media and study their thought patterns through their words. And then think as they think.

In conclusion, being just an employee never gave anyone financial freedom and there is need to learn new ways to create your own economy in such a way that despite tough economic times, you can always have various skills and opportunities that you can leverage.

There is so much more within you and you need to activate your success genes by investing in yourself and buying what is able to expand your mind and grow you into a better, more knowledgeable version of yourself.

We would not want you to miss on the chance to have faith in your ability to take action and it is of great importance that you do whatever it takes to ensure that the next 90 days are going to be far much better than the last 90 days.

Life's too short for ordinary.

It is known that 99% of Being a Multimillionaire is Deciding To BE ONE. It's not what you do. It's not how hard you work. It's not even what your "job" is. I have sought to open up a lot of what could otherwise have remained hidden to millions of people and through a step by step guide, there is a blueprint that has been made available for those who want to bet on themselves and take massive action.

Click the link below and let us interact more:

http://www.financiallyfreebeforegraduation.com/the-book/

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Raymond_Comba_Mvuria/2317871

5 Surefire Ways to Hit the Ground Running As an Embroidery Franchisee

Startup businesses rise and fall for a variety of reasons. A lack of financing or peer support are two huge reasons why those just starting out in the embroidery industry might struggle initially, but those certainly aren't the only make-or-break factors defining sustainability.

Data out of the Small Business Bureau tells us that the 28 million small businesses currently active in the United States constitute over half (54%) of the overall sales going to GDP.

That's pretty incredible, and the sooner you realize that things like embracing a growth approach, networking and digitalization can forward your growth in the embroidery sector and promotional marketing industry the better.

First Tip: Take Advantage of Existing Trade and Advertising Groups

Joining trade organizations or franchises already well connected with national advertising groups are ways that you can open the door to more customers and much better sales leads.

Franchising in the promotional products industry is about going into business for yourself, but never by yourself: trade organizations active in the embroidery and promotional products industries offer access to professionals who've already served thousands of customers in their day. Trade organizations also offer added security in the form of collective purchasing power.

Now, you might think that you'd benefit simply by a kind of osmosis and getting exposure to these kinds of professionals, and you'd be right. You'll also pick up niche expertise specific to advances in screen printing and best practices in the promotional products sector. The end result: more satisfied customers.

Second Tip: Cater to Local Customers and Remain Personable

Building a reliable, preferably also local, client base is vital to your long-term sustainability in the promotional products franchise industry. You shouldn't be surprised, however, if the lion's share of your customers turn out to be local. Why?

Because local businesses will have the chance to regularly stop by, check out your offerings, speak with you face-to-face and discuss branding options for their business. This kind of convenience also allows businesses to "try before they buy" and check out branded apparel prior to the sale.

Third Tip: Define Your Target Customers and Create Buyer Personas

Having said that, you also want to define your target customers and create buyer personas. This is going to allow you to intuitively understand regional industries and cater to the needs of local professionals; in other words, you're prepared for local business before it walks into your shop.

Doing your homework beforehand, setting realistic price structures and proactively educating your customers (e.g., by posting your design and delivery processes along with your product offerings online) can save you time, money and expense later as well.

Fourth Tip: Expand Your Product Offerings and Remain Flexible

Offset lithography (screen printing) is a time-tested way of transferring a company's branding image onto a printing surface using the basic principles of oil and water repulsion.

There's a reason that this process has stuck around for so many generations: Even compared to digital, screen printing produces the highest quality images on a huge variety of surfaces (e.g., cloth, paper, wood, and plastic).

On top of that, you can pass on the cost benefits to your clients in that screen printing features lower unit costs as you go about making more branded prints for customers. Flexibility plus cost savings.

Fifth Tip: Fully Embrace Digitalization from the Word "Go!"

You can actually still bolster your output, sales and print quality by going with computer-to-plate screen printing, though, and offering your customers more online options for getting the exact branding image and printing medium that they're looking for.

Crucially, digitalization also allows greater collaboration between you and your customers.

Advertising groups might also leave you better equipped to cost-efficiently attracting repeat business. You definitely won't be reinventing the wheel every time out if you can draw on years of proven expertise in attracting and retaining local professionals eager to re/brand their business.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jenifer_Huston/2306332

The Information Paradox

The role of information plays key in informing people and role players on how to act during a game. Information informs strategic decisions at many levels individual, business, community, government and the world, which empowers these role players to act and behave according to the information provided. When one goes for a job interview they provide information about their background and qualifications as a signal to a potential employer about their ability and competence. Economists Spence (1973) and Stiglitz (1975) initially proposed the idea of signaling and screening in their studies. As we are in the information age it has become increasingly easy to pick up various pieces of information mainly because of the emergence and advancement of information and communication technologies across the globe with platforms such as Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, GitHub and so on.

Information technologies have created advantages and efficiencies for many emerging economies changing the way markets, civic activism, justice, accountability and economic participation are perceived in many countries across the globe. Despite the gains achieved in information dissemination in the socioeconomic sphere in Africa, the access to credible information has long lived to be a desire and now critically needs to be advanced to enable and empower key decision makers in the efficient allocation of resources. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation, a UK based African governance foundation, highlights from their research that statistical capacity, data collation and information dissemination on public and private issues needs to be improved. The research report raises the fact that although information production is expensive, which the Grossman-Stiglitz efficient market highlights, it essential for long run cost savings ensuring resources are allocated and matched in the correct areas.

The critical problem herein is an arising information gap in Africa, according to PositivityGlobal.com and the effect this has on the growing industry of entrepreneurs is the lack signal and discovery mechanisms. Active tracking of the qualitative and quantitative elements or variables affecting entrepreneurship have to be documented to activate the benefits of being able to discover economic opportunity, executing the respective opportunity and measuring performance of the arising opportunity by benchmarking. Just like how public companies are obliged to present their financial information publicly and bear the brunt of criticism or acquire the accolades of heroism, private companies and entrepreneurs need to adapt their stance in this information age. This is slowly becoming the standard for private companies and entrepreneurs to disclose "at least" some information if they really want to participate on alternative financing platforms such as crowdfunded investment banks. The United States Jump Start Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012 regularises the voluntary disclosure of information by private companies and entrepreneurs setting a global precedent for small companies to at least say something about how they plan to create value if they are going to ask for money even from friends of friends.

These are major developments and they affect the way entrepreneurs run their enterprises and especially when they require successive rounds of funding in the future. This opinion article call for the creation and development smart insights and information that inform the markets on African entrepreneurs and small businesses.

References -
Mo Ibrahim Foundation mo.ibrahim.foundation
Positivity Global (Africa) http://www.positivityglobal.com
Spence, M., 1973. Job market signaling. The quarterly journal of Economics, 87(3), pp.355-374.
Stiglitz, J.E., 1975. The theory of" screening," education, and the distribution of income. The American Economic Review, 65(3), pp.283-300.

JumpStarting African entrepreneurship... - An Entrepreneurship Economists view

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/James_Musakanya/2402598

Starting a Service Based Company

Every individual has to take into account, a basic set of guidelines when it comes to starting a service catering Company. The value of service should meet the expectation level of a customer in order to become popular. Many Companies agree that the value of a service should be measured by what the customer is willing to pay for, than on the cost of the services provided.

The purpose of any Company's Service Management department is to ensure that it has the right combination of services in order to balance the investment it has made and the ability to meet business outcomes. Service Management department should contain a catalogue of all services that the Company has promised to its clients it will deliver, the services currently delivered and those that have been taken off the field of its competitors. It should also focus on the aspect the revenue received because of services.

For example, an individual starts a small Company based on services on which he/she is experienced. There will be important factors that he/she has to concentrate on. Some of the important factors that he/she has to consider are: demand, finance, knowledge, problem management and business relationship.

Demand: The popularity of demand stems upon the fact that any new individual starting a Company based on services should have understood, anticipated the importance of influence that the customer can have for his/her type of services. The owner as well the staff should keep tabs on "capacity" to confirm that the services promised to the customer will be provided on time and when it is needed.

Finance: A proper method and source of funding is needed by a Company for designing, developing and delivering services that should comply with the needs of the customer. The financial aspect should have information on costs, issues, benefits and problems that have to be tackled.

Business relationship: A transparent relationship should be established and maintained between the Company and customer. It should also identify customer needs and ensure the services promised to the customer are provided even if the requirements change according to circumstances. Normally, a receptionist or service desk is the first point of contact for a service oriented Company. Extreme care has to be taken in this aspect, because a Company will have excellent parameters and staff but if the service desk is not up the mark, it will lose its position in the market within a short frame of time.

Knowledge: The very purpose is to share ideas, information and experience to confirm that these factors are available at the opportune moment at the required time. A database of issues, problems tackled should be maintained as this will not only save cost but also time in rediscovering knowledge.

Problem Management: An experienced individual or efficient team should be in place to tackle any kind of problems. The team or individual should take steps in the direction to not only solve the problem, but should also identify the root cause if any, keep a tab on recurring problems, design workarounds if needed and minimize the time to restore service as quickly as possible.

A team that is interested in constant learning and redefining themselves according to the circumstances should be selected.

SathyaNarayana B has done Masters in Applied Geology and is interested in writing articles on martial arts, pet care, travel, herbal remedies, daily health tips, recent IT trends, recent IT courses.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Sathya_Narayana/808334

How To Make Money In 2017

Three tips on how to make money in business in 2017

The year 2017 is already upon us. It is time to start making resolutions and start searching for ways to fulfill these resolutions. Every businessperson makes one common resolution every year, and that is he or she will strive to make more money in 2017 than he or she made in 2016. Of course, there is nothing wrong with being ambitious. Without ambition, no one in the world can prosper. Here are some tips for the business community on how to make money in 2017.

This is the age of digital marketing. Therefore, the top ranking tips should be on this aspect of business. Business entrepreneurs should do well to develop the following digital marketing tips on how to make money.

Analyze data:

In this day and age, Information is easy to obtain. The internet is the biggest asset you have today. Use the internet judiciously to analyze the available data. This data analysis can help you take informed decisions, understand customer preferences, conduct campaigns to ensure customer retention, and a host of other beneficial activities. This is not an optional skill anymore. Digital marketing can be done easily with the right campaign.

Content Marketing:

Manufacturing the best items in the world or providing excellent services cannot guarantee you success on its own. You need an effective marketing campaign to create awareness among the customers. Unless people are aware of your products or services, there is no way they are going to buy them. Therefore, place more emphasis on content marketing. An effective content marketing plan can definitely help you earn more money than you did in 2016.

Master SEO Skills:

The roadmap for success in business in 2017 is the digital route. It is natural to have a tremendous level of competition in this field. You have to be ahead of the rest in order to make more money. Achieving a higher SEO ranking than your nearest competitors on the search engines can ensure that more people access your website. This can obviously result in more inquiries. Automatically, this will convert into a higher number of leads thereby transforming into a higher volume of conversion to business. Of course, you should have the products or the services to match the demand. Otherwise, it would not take much time for your ranking to plummet down too.

We have just seen three tips for you to succeed in business in 2017 and make money.

For more information on how to make money

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Marc-Eddy_Drouinaud_Jr/2289154

Excavation Entrepreneur

Startup lessons from a patient archaeologist

The two words, 'excavation' and 'entrepreneur,' are most likely to conjure up a construction site with giant yellow excavators. But if you were talking about Stuart Wilson you would be wrong.

Lost Medieval City Beneath the Sod

Stuart Wilson, 37, is a graduate archaeologist-and entrepreneur, though he might not classify himself as such. He was a toll collector when he invested in his passion: archaeological excavation. He followed a conviction that he was on the trail of a long lost major medieval city in Trellech, Wales.

Whereas he might have put a deposit on a home, or bought a sports car, he actually bought a 4.6 acre field-for £32,000 (about $40,000 at current exchange rates). He used his life savings and took out a bank loan to cover the cost. His mother, Barbara, said at the time, "Ah well, if you don't find anything, it'll make a nice picnic site." So he had a risk mitigation plan right from the start!

This field was where he was pretty sure part of the lost city lay, buried beneath the farmland. He was sure enough of his passion that he gave up his job in the toll booth and settled in to demonstrate that his passion was about something real-and important, through digging up the site.

Without formal backers for his enterprise, he invested heavily of his time and energy, and precious little else, except an army of probably as many as 1,000 volunteers from across Europe as well as the locality, over the last eleven years.

The volunteers included archaeology students, who paid a small fee ($61 a day) to participate, as well as people from the surrounding areas. He also raised funds by selling T-shirts and other small scale revenue producing efforts. So convinced was Stuart, that he gave up his full-time job and worked shifts at a betting shop to help fund the project.

A Hidden Manor House

One of the major finds has been the remains of a large medieval manor house. But many other buildings, artifacts and whole streets have been unearthed. Stuart believes that there is much more that will see the light of day.

He was amazed to find that walls were fully intact, and floors, a well, drains, road surfaces, cobbled pavements, entrances, and now a fireplace with a chimney and a courtyard have all been found. Though they have unearthed parts of a street, know where many more exist, since they are still used as roads or tracks.

But now, following massive world-wide media attention, he envisions permanent on-site dig structures, an interpretive centre and recreations of Trellech buildings. His persistence is now paying off and he is dreaming much bigger. What in entrepreneurial terms one might call scaling. Part of the scaling might include a takeover-of more land, surrounding his own plot, since it holds but a fraction of the sprawling lost city.

Entrepreneurial Characteristics

From my own 50 years of living, observing and writing about entrepreneurship, I have come to distill seven characteristics that will almost certainly be present in a person who creates a new venture of any kind. Such a person:

1. is predisposed to action-"I could have done that, but... ", you've heard many people say something similar, they never do;
2. enjoys investigating & innovating- comments on the idea like, "it'll never be worth it, because... " incite finding a solution;
3. experiences learning as a way of life-rather than shutting up shop and sticking to the known;
4. tolerates ambiguity-and allows creativity to resolve it, often coming up with innovative solutions to problems;
5. is a (controlled) risk-taker-will always consider how to deal with the downside;
6. is able to put vision into practice-the passion has to have an expression in reality;
7. while remaining very much in the present-to deal with the unexpected rather than being floored by it.

Stuart manifests most of these characteristics and his venture is now maturing. He comments that, "As a result of buying the field, my parents had many years of servitude." In the case of almost any new venture, friends and family tend to be its best and most patient backers. In Stuart's case this has certainly been the case, though he has now moved out of home, to a toilet block he converted to a home in the local town of Chepstow.

Stuart also suggested that, "When you are a small fish in a big pond, then bigger fish tend to ignore you, leaving you alone." However, his time of swimming in a 'Blue Ocean' where there are few predators, is now ending-as he is discovering.

He knows that he's beginning to swim in a 'Red Ocean,' where a lot of blood is spilled, as competitors fight for prey. His solution like many entrepreneurs faced with that situation, is to become "a much bigger fish to make them think twice about attempting to take a bite."

Financial Bootstrapping: The Stuart Wilson Example

Much that is written about entrepreneurship assumes that significant amounts of capital are needed. However, the reverse is true for about 99 per cent of new ventures started on a wing and a prayer. Stuart bootstrapped his venture big time. He cobbled together enough revenue and muscle to persist in his endeavor-a bootstrapper par excellence.

It is a particularly interesting example of bootstrapping, in that he did not set up a business, or even a nonprofit to achieve his ends. His venture is an example of something that is happening ever more frequently-and especially in the hands of creative individuals like Stuart, who don't find that any conventional kind of organization meets their needs, and may not even think that they need a legal structure to change the world, anyway.

Of course, there are many instances in which it becomes necessary to have a formal legal entity. Stuart is now faced with choices that he did not need to confront at the outset. Two things have happened as a result of his efforts. First, he is beginning to gain traction, as the startup jargon calls it. The venture capitalists might call traction 'evidence of market demand,' and in Stuart's case, it is the sheer numbers of people that have become involved with his dig, as a consequence of its revealed importance.

The second thing that has happened, is the notoriety he has been receiving from the world's press and television media. That kind of public attention has followed disruptive startups in many sectors. When they can no longer contain their success, predators start showing an interest. There have been numerous instances of that happening. One of the more spectacular recent examples was the behemoth Walmart's acquisition of jet.com-the online retailer.

In the case of the Lost City of Trellech, it is not buyers who may be circling the site, but government bodies or professional associations who may consider that such an important archaeological site cannot be left to what they may consider a maverick, despite his professional degree.

Potential Predator Poses a Problem

Right now, Cadw, the historic monuments arm of the Welsh Government threaten to 'schedule' his site. Stuart refuses to accept that they should take control, just as a business founder might fend off a takeover suitor. He has been assured by current officials that things would stay as they are, with him running the show. But he is savvy enough to know that officials come and go, just like management in an acquiring company.

Wanting to reach an accommodation, Stuart has offered to form a Heritage Partnership Agreement with Cadw, so that they can work together, without him losing control. But he's not leaving it there. He is about to write an open letter to the Welsh Government to bolster public opinion in his favor.

It is not surprising that he has started this one-man lobbying effort, since he now has plans to turn the site into an public attraction. Stuart has submitted plans for an archaeological research centre and camp site to Monmouthshire County Council, signaling the dig site as "a valuable community asset that supports local tourism, hotels and pubs." To ram the point home, he adds that it's also, "an important archaeological site as well as a training and educational facility."

Now that's scaling, business or otherwise, and Trellech, the Lost City of Wales would inspire any aspiring entrepreneur who lacks big bucks, but dreams big.

Note: Stuart's dad, Alan, applied for a job in total quality in our company. At his group interview, he demonstrated the quality process by baking a loaf of bread before our eyes in the office, portable oven and all. He got the job and worked with us for several years. Clearly, creativity runs in the family.

William Keyser, a veteran entrepreneur, is Managing Director of Venture Founders LLC: How To Start a Business. Startup Owl offers a wealth of free information and advice to would-be and early stage entrepreneurs.

Will is a veteran entrepreneur with VC experience and he is committed to help business startups to: clarify their business purpose; sharpen their business model; better their business plan; speed their market entry; offer customer value; finance their business right; grow their business strongly; survive their business challenges-more effectively than they might do on their own.

Will taught strategy and entrepreneurship on an MBA program for 7 years and his book, Founders Are Storytellers is available from his website.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/William_Keyser/56299

Entrepreneur 101: I Got an Idea, Now What?

And so the journey begins; you get this idea to create a one of a kind product, you convince yourself that this product will solve a whole lot of problems, and make you really wealthy. Sounds familiar? An idea is one thing, but embarking on the journey of making your idea take flight is a whole different ball game. For many people, the thought of leaving a consistent income to start a new business can be scary and nerve-racking and agreeably so, but, people have gone through the entrepreneurial experience, and they say it is worth it.

There are a lot of reasons why people go into entrepreneurship. If you do not like the regular 9-5 lifestyle and want to work on their own terms, then maybe entrepreneurship is for you. People get fired from their jobs or have a bad experience in the traditional workplace and this gives them the push to figure out their dreams and strive to pursue it, while others have to stay home with family. Irrespective of the reason why decide to become an entrepreneur, you must set goals, write them down and review them from time to time to keep yourself grounded.

Entrepreneurship is not bliss, it is a journey of ups and downs, and it does not matter what caused you to choose this lifestyle, starting off on the right foot can really help you keep the momentum going throughout the entire journey. Here is what you can do to start off on the right foot.

Celebrate. We all love a good party don't we, there is never a good time or better way to start your entrepreneurship journey than with a celebration. A great idea is a good thing, and is worth celebrating, not everybody has the guts or opportunity to do what you want to do. Celebrating your idea does not have to be elaborate, it could be a party of 3, 4, 5 whatever you can do, make it memorable, make sure it is something you would remember, because trust me, it may be a while till you do find a reason to do this again.

Write a Business Plan. The next thing to do is to plan your business, there is a saying that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Get your pen and paper, tablet or laptop and start writing, write down everything you want your business to look like, your product(s), product names, the personality you would like your business to embody, what you want to accomplish, how you would like to shape the world, how you would handle marketing and how much would you like to make. There is nothing that too inconsequential to include, and you should review and make changes to your business plan when necessary.

Get to work. Ever hear the term wantrepreneur? They are people who tell the whole world about this wonderful idea but never sit down to bring these ideas to life. Entrepreneurs are not like that, so get working, start creating your product or service, when you create the product, test it, make sure that the product works exactly the way it has been designed to work.

Grow your Community. One good way to promote your product is by talking about it, give people snippets of what your product can do and get their opinion. Spend time to engage with people who you think would be the best customers for your products. Social media is a great place to do this. You want to start to create demand for your product early in the product creation process.

Stay Positive. It really can be discouraging when things don't go the way we plan. The fact of life is that things don't always go the way we plan or imagine it would, the people who are successful are the ones who pick themselves up after a failure or defeat and carry on. You must stay strong and stay positive all through your journey to succeed.

http://thenewwaveentrepreneur.com/

Why Is There a Need for Brands to Tech-Innovate?

Technology is affecting consumers' lives by changing the way they live and interact with brands. A recent study by consulting firm Kantar TNS, found that that 47 percent of India's consumers with access to basic Internet feel constantly followed by online advertising, about 13 percent more than the global average. But what is more interesting is the fact that 21 percent of those responded that they ignore social posts or content from brands. This brings us to the question: Can publishers and business owners still find success to win customers?

Problem is in the roots

One of the biggest hurdles that still hinders the brand-consumer conversation is the lack of personalization. The traditional methods of web marketing included mainly Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing (SEO and SEM) and paid search. In those days, 'more visibility' of the product was the primary motive of online marketing. The directive was pretty straightforward - find a product and promote it digitally. It took a while for brand managers to realize that mere visibility is not effective - the results were more often linked with how the message engaged the consumer.

That is when the marketers understood the value of 'Unified Consumer View' and 'Customer Journey Mapping'. Thus, with the advent of data analytics the shift of focus from 'push marketing' to 'pull marketing' began. These changes also gave rise to marketing technology or MarTech, slowly crediting it to become a critical part of the brand strategy. The question is: Is enough being done? Perhaps, not!

Marketers today are looking at something more than just marketing messaging gateway. Brands today are capable to track their consumer behaviour through their digital footprint by means of analytics and MarTech tools to help customize product offerings depending upon the consumers' individual interest. A paradigm shift in this direction has already begun - from finding a product to promote to eventually becoming marketing relevant products basis consumer needs.

The workflow of visual-based marketing has made way for marketing automation tools to help brand managers to engage consumers with the right message on the right platform. This often means that companies need to tech-innovate (innovate using technology) to craft engaging conversation points across channels such as web mail, SMS and social media, etc. This habit of innovation using technology has to be based on the understanding of the customer's preference. For instance, if a consumer prefers email as source of information from brands, data analytics will process and assimilate the data and automate personalized email messages can be directed to the consumer.

The most important aspect of marketing automation is that it enables brands to strategize and manage their Marketing campaigns well in advance. Therefore, in case of festive season, which is peak time for brands in terms of sales, marketing automation helps brands to manage their messaging and strategize promotions well in advance, which leaves no space for chaos during heavy traffic on their websites.

The benefit that a consumer gets is access to all the information of various products and services on relevant platforms and engage real-time with brands while browsing or shopping online.

The adoption rate of marketing technology is extremely high with brands to gauge better customer data integration, and mapping customer experiences to a company's vision of omni-channel customer service.

Therefore, the data analytics embedded at the core of MarTech helps to improve customer service. Currently, ecommerce, retail and BFSI have been taking the lead in this. But opportunities are galore for other industries too. There are innumerable things that a brand can do with MarTech more efficiently and get into the next level of customer integration.

Digital media and technology in marketing has become omnipresent and there is no longer complete divide in perception amongst "digital marketing activities" and is simply considered as part of marketing. This thinking is partially driven by changes in consumer media consumption where they continue to consume content in different formats such as mobile, web, social media, etc. basis their preferences without consciously thinking about the channels. Real-time engagement in digital platform has emerged to be the most significant tool to drive improved outcome for brands to engage directly with consumers in a more coordinated and efficient approach.

Often, building in-house capabilities to nurture and implement MarTech best practices poses a challenge. In such circumstances, it is best to associate with a marketing technology consultancy that not only understands the ecosystem, but also has the wherewithal to execute plans across channels, which is imperative.

For more visit: http://www.netcore.in

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Winay_Bari/2352790

The Importance Of Starting A Business To Provide For Your Loved Ones

You're never too old or too young to start your own business, and why not? According to some recent studies, the main reason behind people starting their own businesses is wealth creation. Other reasons are: people want to be their own boss, they don't like to have a 9-5 job, they want to love what they do and do what they love, they want to spend more time with their children.

What would your objectives be if you decide to start your own business?

Are you looking to balance your career and family and have flexibility while having an increase income potential? But with independence comes a price. If you are willing to take the plunge to provide for your loved ones and their future, here are some pros and cons for you to consider...

Pros and cons of starting your own business

You are your own boss, and that in all is the greatest motivation to succeeding and increasing your wealth for the future to come. You call the shots, you can choose your hours, days, and times that you want to invest in your future. You get to do what you love. But, you are also the custodian, representative, tech support, marketer and accountant. Having your own business takes a great amount of responsibility as well.

Spending time with your loved ones is also the reason you have decided to start your own business. Because you are your own boss, you make your schedule and adjust it to fit your families. You would be allowed to spend more time with your loved ones and go on vacations. But because you are starting your own business, it is very likely that your business will be from home. This might not suit well at first if you have young children. They can be quite a distraction but if you learn how to manage your time and create a special place for your business, you should be on your way towards success.

Wealth creation is like I mentioned before the #1 reason for starting your own business. Who doesn't want to secure their families future? Owning your own business provides a better opportunity for greater earnings and growth and a promising future. All the hard work and investment you make go towards the future of yourself and your loved ones.

In addition, your success can inspire and help others achieve greatness.

For more information on building your own company, visit Unlock Greatness

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Marc-Eddy_Drouinaud_Jr/2289154

The Role of Vision in Business

What is man or woman without sight? And I don't mean sight with the eyes but a much stronger kind of sight - I mean vision.

If you really look at the human condition you will see that it is in the realm of the senses that we spend much time. We want to eat, we want to drink, we desire, we respond to stimuli around us - all of which are prompted by reactions with our senses for the most part.

This is all well and good, and indeed our senses - taste, touch, smell and sight are responsible for enjoyable things in our lives. How great it is to savour a delicious kind of food like an amazing tropical fruit, to enjoy a drink so tasty or to feel the sun's warmth on a glowing summer's day. How pleasurable to look at a sparkling ocean and to hear music being played. The sound of a grand piano, the pull from our middles of a violincello.

But really, these are the more basic of the human functions we have. Senses work only in conjunction with stimuli and if we are not careful, Pavlov's Dog can begin to best express our behaviours - conditioned and reflex. Unthought-out and rote. Reactive rather than inspired.

Business demands more than senses - more than just a relationship between external stimuli and our senses. Business demands something from the realm of higher human behaviour. It demands that faculty which lifts us above the mundane, demands the faculty which breaks through all 'ifs' and 'buts' and 'maybe's'. It forces from us a relationship with this faculty and says - "stay with me if you want to do well" - that faculty - is vision.

Vision is so important that it can't be understated.

We all love business - business is something excellent, it brings interaction with others, it brings exchange in terms of money. It can be demanding, it can be tiring, but like a tether of light and pulling us along - it is our vision, and our relationship to vision that determines, in many ways, how well we do.

The vision that we have in business is the same skill, the same type of focus that great men and women have had and developed all through their lives. Greatness in business and greatness in life have no separation.

Great people possess great vision - it is forged by the master craftsman of their will-power in the furnace of their minds. And great businesses require vision too.

So we really must nurture vision - every day we must return to the image we have created of our business and it's role. In a way, it is our businesses which create our worlds. Vision doesn't talk in shades of grey - it is always bright, strong and golden.

So your vision for your business could have been to establish a world-wide company - a network of trade, spanning the continents. Or your vision may be to create a product that brings more peace to the world. You may have set out to utilise technology to make people's lives better, or simply because you love technology so much that you just intrinsically know that you have no choice but to mould it into the most amazing shapes you can. Your vision may simply be to create a business which brings you and your family wealth and wellbeing - all of these visions are worthy. Strive on always with your vision. Take time, everyday to refresh it. Your own mind is the strongest tool you have - vision one of its great powers.

Even as we get older and things change all around us - vision remains constant - as long as we make it strong within us all the time. So do not worry, on those days where an important staff member quits, when the amazing product you've just got onto the market doesn't perform as well as you expected. When your tax bill is higher than you thought and when cash flow problems seem like a big hurdle - they aren't. Make your vision stronger and obstacles will fall away and your business, and all of your life, will grow strong and radiate life's excellence throughout.

Whatever your business is - try and nurture your vision - when days seem tough it is often vision that will provide fresh ideas and inspiration. People always talk about business plans - great. But you need the whole thing in your mind before any of that. You don't have to have every tiny detail but forge for yourself an image of excellence of what you want your company to be - it could be that you want to reach a certain goal this year with the business, it could be that you need to break into new markets, perhaps overseas, it could be that you need to grow your team and just get exactly the right people in place. Make your vision strong for it will outlive you. Never give up on your vision and it will never give up on you. Remember, in your vision is integrity and well-being - it is the highest of human faculties - make your business the highest it can be - it is within your ability to do so. Strive on and achieve. Light your vision and let it light you.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Adrian_Dumont-Namin/2355132

Entrepreneurs and Ideas

Who is an 'Entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is that fellow who, rather than working as an employee, runs a small business and assumes all the risks and rewards of a given business venture, idea, or good or service offered for sale. An entrepreneur is a business leader and innovator of new ideas and business processes.

Entrepreneurs play a key role in any economy. These are the people who have the skills and initiative necessary to improve any economy. The reward for taking the risk is the potential economic profits the entrepreneur could earn.

Yes, I know that's hard. It's a lot of work. And that, folks, are what makes entrepreneurship so friggin' hard. And so friggin' necessary. What can I say, that's life. Besides, look on the bright side: You get to do what you want and you get to do it your way. There's just one catch. You've got to start somewhere. Ideas and opportunities don't just materialize out of thin air.

The only way I know to get started is by learning a marketable skill and getting to work. In my experience, that's where the ideas, opportunities, partners, and finances always seem to come from. Sure, it also takes an enormous amount of hard work, but that just comes with the territory.

If you want to do entrepreneurship right, let me share the story of an African lady you've probably never heard about, her name is Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu.

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, 34, grew up in Zenabwork, a poor village in the suburbs of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

She came up with her business idea after she noticed most of the artisans in her community, who made beautiful footwear, remained jobless and poor.

Today, her company, SoleRebels, is one the most popular and fastest growing African footwear brand in the world! It sells its 'eco-friendly' brand of footwear in more than 50 countries including the USA, Canada, Japan and Switzerland.

SoleRebels' footwear is unique because it is 100 percent made by hand using locally-sourced and recycled materials like old car tyres and hand-loomed organic fabrics.

A few years ago, SoleRebels became the first footwear company in the world to be certified by the World Fair Trade Organization.

By using local craftsmen, Bethlehem has built a global brand and a hugely successful business that has created jobs and improved livelihoods in her local community.

She started SoleRebels in 2004 with less than $10,000 in capital she raised from family members. Today, the company has more than 100 employees and nearly 200 local raw material suppliers, and has opened several standalone retail outlets in North America, Europe and Asia.

Despite its very humble beginnings, SoleRebels now makes up to $1 million in sales every year, and according to her projections and expansion plans, the company could be making up to $10 million in sales by the end of this year (2016).

Buoyed by her success with SoleRebels, She recently launched Republic of Leather, a new business that trades in luxury leather products like bags, belts and other non-footwear leather accessories.

Bethlehem was selected as the Young Global Leader of the Year 2011 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and was a winner at the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship in the same year. Bethlehem and her inspiring success story with SoleRebels have been featured severally on Forbes, the BBC and CNN.

As an entrepreneur, the sky is your limit. You can achieve anything you want! We can all be Bethlehem, start thinking and creating...

See you at the top!

Femi Adefioye is an Investor, A business man and Internet marketer, a motivational speaker, a financial consultant. He is also an Analyst. He has 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.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Femi_Adefioye/271306

Entrepreneurs - How to Find Out What Products to Sell

If you want to open a shop or set up a website and am not sure what to sell. Going door to door and asking people is a long-winded way of doing things - there are far better ways of discovering what to sell. First do some initial research:

• Go onto the big sites like Amazon, Etsy, eBay, PreLoved, GumTree, Fivver etc. and see what is selling, what is in demand. Make a list of several categories that you are interested in such as clothing, electrical etc.
• Go through the social media sites - especially the groups and see what is trending and fine tune your categories.
• Use these two operations to narrow down a field of what you might sell - say certain items in household goods.

Now narrow the field down by:
• Seeing what is already being sold, especially by the big sites and/or close by shops. You do not want heavy competition or saturation in the market.
• Checking that suppliers are available that will:
o Sell you small amounts to start with
o And will open up a credit account with you.
• You have some interest in what you can sell. A boring product area for you will tire you out very quickly and you will also lose interest in your company. Entrepreneurship is difficult and time consuming and you need some interest to keep you going.

Now, the most important part of your research - you need to find your market for these potential products.

What you are seeking is a window of opportunity as well as a ready market that will buy what you want to sell at a price you want to sell it at. A window of opportunity is you finding a ready market for what you want to sell. So back to the social media sites, especially the groups. Join in the discussions and see what they think about your potential products. This does NOT mean that you try selling- that is a quick way to get thrown out of the groups. Just generally chat about the interests of the group and use these conversations to fine tune your products.

The last part of your research is to find the price that you can sell your group of products at. This is best done by split testing. Set up some simple adverts on Facebook or Google. Set one up with one price to go to a set landing page and another with a different price to a different landing page. So as not to annoy your potential customers, use different websites and branding if you can. If this is not possible then do some more research and seek out what prices others offer the products at.

Once you have a potential price range then make a detailed check to ensure that you can sell at this price and make a reasonable profit.

Once all this research is undertaken you are ready to start your new business.

If you would like consultancy assistance then The Biz Guru, with 30 years experience, offers Skype based consultancy to assist you with starting your new business. http://www.StartMyNewBusiness.com/consultancy/

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Lee_Lister/15449