Entrepreneurial Capitalism - Skills Acquisition, Community Empowerment and Microfinance

What is the strategic link among abundant resources, human development and economic development? What is the critical and strategic connection between human capital and economic progress? Why does income inequality persist in spite of significant economic growth? What are some sure paths to social mobility? What are some sure paths to the middle class-the most critical stabilizing force in all societies? Some answers to these nagging policy questions loom large and inform current debates on prudent policy options to cope with the intractable problem of high unemployment of graduates from institutions of higher learning in developing nations in general and in Sub-Saharan Africa in particular.

A meta-analysis of extant academic literature suggests income inequality is persistent in both developed and developing nations in spite of demonstrable and significant economic growth. There are many theoretical, structural and empirical reasons for the widening gap between return to capital and labor on one hand, and compensation to management and workers on the other. For example, capital tends to be more productive, more mobile and receive very favorable tax treatment than labor in many jurisdictions.

Further, global competition, innovation, slower productivity growth, and marginal rate of technical substitution may be depressing wages even in developed nations. Moreover, the benefits of globalization continue to accrue more unevenly to highly skilled labor than to low skilled labor. Finally, periods of economic growth tend correlate with increasing income inequality because different economic sectors as well as individuals do not grow at the same pace.

As we have already explained in many publications on this topic, human capital analysis deals with acquired capabilities which are developed through formal and informal education at school and at home, and through on the job training, experience, and mobility and longevity in the labor market. Please note that nations as well as individuals are portfolios of distinctive competencies that derive from resources and capabilities. Many nations in the developing nations have plenty of resources but lack capabilities-the ability to put them to productive uses.

Clearly, mere possession of resources alone is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for economic development. Functional human capital that manifests in enhanced productivity and innovation is the critical and strategic link between resources and economic development. A preliminary analysis of macroeconomic data indicates that the problem of economic stagnation is not peculiar to developing nations nor confined there. Indeed, for many years in developing nations such as Nigeria, significant percentage of all graduates from institutions of higher learning are underemployed, have contract jobs with no employment benefits or no jobs at all even after the National Service and certification.

Many labor market experts and social observers are apt to point to the glaring lack of requisite knowledge and employable skills in high demand. While this may be true, lack of functional education that leads to employment is only part of the problem. There is significant and gathering empirical evidence suggesting that many of the employed university graduates in Nigeria go without pay or regular compensation for extended periods of time and still others are on contract employment with meager income and no employment benefits or guaranteed ongoing employment.

Before you postulate that skills acquisition is neither a panacea nor the fastest way to employment, please note that employable knowledge and skills are necessary but not sufficient condition for social mobility. This explains in part why many graduates from Colleges of Education and Technical Colleges in very high demand in tightening labor markets do not fare significantly better than those from Liberal Arts or even Business and Engineering Schools.

Therefore, the purpose of Skills Acquisition projects adopted by the Okwelle Skills Acquisition Center (OSAC) is to help graduates and entrepreneurs take effective steps toward functional education, knowledge and skills acquisition, self-employment, self-reliance and financial independence. As sure paths to the middle class and upward social mobility, any knowledge and skills acquisition project must focus on producing entrepreneurs-a crop of graduates with burning desire for self-employment, self-reliance and financial independence. The graduates must not only have requisite knowledge and skills of their specific trade but must be entrepreneurs who are business savvy with demonstrable grasp of business management knowledge and skills. Please note that all entrepreneurs are business owners but not all business owners are entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs are special breed of business owners that assume every risk in pursuit of profit and financial freedom. Without the entrepreneurial class other factors of production-land, labor and capital including technology remain dormant and are classified in our profession-financial engineering as non-performing assets. As some experts aptly put it, once you decide to work for yourself you never go back working for someone else. Generally, people don not plan to fail, they simply fail to plan. Additionally, freedom whether spiritual, economic or political is indivisible and must be pursued relentlessly. The passionate drive toward financial freedom is the critical difference that sets entrepreneurs apart.

The Okwelle Skills Acquisition Center Model:

The concept of Skills Acquisition as a vehicle for community empowerment and development is not new. The concepts, principles and challenges are well established in the relevant academic literature. Please see a textbook on same topic for a complete historical sketch on Skills Acquisition principles that informed many Trade schools and Technical colleges, Apprenticeship programs, etc before the Nigerian Civil War. The Okwelle Skills Acquisition Center (OSAC) concept is focused on practical and technology-oriented programs of study.

The OSAC predominantly will offer vocation and career-focused, accredited certificate programs to students drawn from the Niger Delta Region with Imo State as hub and magnet for industries. The Okwelle Skills Acquisition Center will fully integrate functional skills and micro-financing to make the vision of self-employment, self-reliance and financial freedom a reality for our graduates. The Private Public Partnership (PPP Model)-OSAC key strategy is well established and proven. When the relationship with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is fully formalized, the OSAC intends to leverage our network with global institutions, articulation agreements with institutions of higher learning in United States, Okigwe in diaspora and friends of Okigwe to execute our mission and attain our strategic objectives.

And because our associates live in the target communities, they bring contextual familiarity to community-based issues. This allows OSAC to avoid policies, analyses and programs which are not tethered to reality. OSAC will seek creative collaboration and strategic partnerships by engaging with global institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, USAID and other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) with common mission and NDDC through information sharing, dialogue, and consultation at global, national and state levels. Knowledge is OSAC strategic weapon.

Some Operational Guidance:

Many new ventures fail. Therefore, a critical objective of effective skills acquisition projects is to help new entrepreneurs minimize the failure rate of new ventures. Entrepreneurs must have a strong grasp of business fundamentals such as effective management of people, process and products. Additionally, entrepreneurs who undertake new business ventures should proceed with a known probability of success. The OSAC project will integrate microfinance, knowledge and skills acquisition with the 3Ms of successful small business venture (Money, Management and Marketing).

As you know, many non-business majors such as architects, dentists, pediatricians, and lawyers, etc go through university without taking requisite business courses. However, upon graduation they become small business owners of private practice. These deficiencies are then made up in a hurry through on the job training or hiring business managers. However, without a working knowledge of the fundamentals of business enterprise, small business owners become totally dependent on business managers. Agency problem arises when the interests of business owners are divergent from the interests of business managers whether they full-time employees or outside help. Agency problem aside, small business owners must understand what the numbers mean to provide effective leadership, oversight and control. Therefore, the OSAC curricula will include the role of appropriate business systems and functional areas of business anchored on sound management principles and current industry best practices.

A preliminary review of failed small businesses indicates a common pattern: Lack of attention to the 3Ms of business enterprise: Money, management and marketing. Additionally, many small businesses ignore the business entity concept: The activities of a business should be recorded separately from the activities of the owners. Indeed, the personal activities of a small business owner should be separate and distinct from the activities of the business entity. Many small businesses get into trouble for failure to draw this distinction, particularly with respect to cash flows and uses of cash derived from business operations.

Proposed Programs of Study

There will be seven programs of study at OSAC: The School of Information Technology, the School of Drafting and Design, the School of Electronics Technology, the School of Business Technology, the School of Agricultural Technology, the School of Health Technology and the School of Nursing. The OSAC will impart skills and knowledge that our graduates can use to pursue employment opportunities in today's world.

The OSAC programs of study will blend traditional academic content with applied learning concepts, with a significant portion devoted to practical study in a lab environment. Advisory Councils will comprise of representatives of local businesses and employers that will help each OSAC program periodically assess and update curricula-learning modules, equipment and laboratory design.

Some Strategic Objectives

(1) Beyond the development of human capacity and the building of a continually growing pool of trained workforce, the OSAC will encourage the culture of self-employment and self-reliance for employment and job creation. The ultimate aim of the OSAC will be to encourage the continuous upgrading of our domestic productive processes and capacities and innovation-the adoption of new ways of doing things.

(2) OSAC envisions Financial Literacy seminars under the rubric of Business Technology program that will afford our communities access to income-generating workshops, empowering and reinforcing their self-reliance. Okwelle Skills Acquisition Center with integrated Microfinance programs will provide access to credit, adequate training and cultivating in our graduates the importance of saving and investment.

(3) OSAC plans to provide tools and training to increase farming production at the local level. The Niger Delta Region in general and old Okigwe-Otanzu Otanchara in particular have the natural endowment and the requisite human capital to become the food basket of the South-East. OSAC will encourage community farms where they can implement new techniques and fully mechanized agriculture and industrial food processing.

Prof. James Gaius Ibe, is the Principal-At Large/Chairman, of the Global Group, LLC-Political Economists and Financial Engineering Consultants; and a senior professor of Economics, Finance and Marketing Management at one of the local universities.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/James_Gaius_Ibe/74593

Tips For Overcoming Fear And Overwhelm In Your Digital Business

When starting out on your business, the entrepreneurial journey cannot and should not be rushed. It is different for everyone because it's a personal journey.

Often, new entrepreneurs in our community who feel overwhelmed send me little emails asking me "how long I think it will take for them to start seeing some sign of life in their new business"

If you are an entrepreneur and you find yourself often asking this question, know that you are not alone. But asking such questions certainly doesn't help produce your success.

It is such a poor quality question that the best you can possibly get out of this frequency is more overwhelm and self-doubt.

In my little greenhouse this question was presented to me yet again by a new member who just joined our mastermind. She is not a newbie as an entrepreneur and has been struggling her way into success for a long time in her traditional business.

As she now seeks to transition into the online business, she's realizing that those same methods can only produce the same old results, which is a far cry from her heart's desire. The new freedom and success that she would love to enjoy in her digital business is going to require a new mindset.

When she asked me " how long is it going to take?" I told her the same thing I am going to tell you, if that's something you often wonder.

It will take only as much time as is needed for you to manifest the prosperity you desire.

Stop asking such low quality questions! They can only sabotage the goodness that's trying to make its way into your life.

Albert Einstein is among the brilliant minds whose known to place emphasis on asking high quality questions.

If you go to Google and type in a low quality question, you can only receive a low quality answer. All the answers are there, but you will only have access to the answers that come close to your question.

Similarly, if you go to life and ask such low quality questions, you can't possibly expect the highest and best answers to make their way into your experience.

So, do yourself and your business a huge favor and stop sabotaging your incubating success with those negative thoughts. This is why we have meetings in my little greenhouse, because I realized the need to create a space where fellow entrepreneurs can come and feel safe enough to dream, to mastermind and to nurture the seeds they've sown in their business.

Since fear is one of the biggest evils in the world, we must always be on the lookout for the tricks and seductive measures it may use to lure us in.

It isn't that fear is powerful; rather it's our minds that haven't been properly trained and developed.

After many years of poor mental and spiritual diets, our mental muscles are frail and so when we have a big dream, when we go after prosperity and freedom through digital entrepreneurship, we've got to make sure that certain measures are also at hand to help strengthen and develop the right mental attitudes and maintain the right atmosphere.

So if you have been struggling with overwhelm, that's OK just learn to move through it quickly.

If you are the kind of person who feels like you have too many ideas that you don't know which action to take first, that's OK too, just don't allow yourself to become paralyzed by that.

I can't tell you how many people I talk to who feel stuck because they don't know whether to podcast, shoot videos, publish articles, write a book, create a course or do webinar trainings first.

Listen, the choices in the online world are endless, if you get caught up in the hype that marketers sell us each day over "which big thing to do now to gain 1000 subscribers fast" you'll never start anything!

Stop being blown away by the winds of online marketing and start following your own game plan.

Designing your digital lifestyle and living life on your own terms begins with learning to carve out your own best path, not blindly following gurus.

If you struggle with thoughts such as:

• What if I fail?
• What if I become too successful and end up losing my family relationships, friends etc.
• What if more success means more hard work?
• Will things change if I have more money?
• Who am I to really think I can create an online empire.

These are all just patterns of thought that form your paradigms. It is the paradigm that you seriously want to work on so that you can renew your mindset to one that favors the growth and success of your business.

The topic of paradigms and your mind would require an entire lesson of which time doesn't permit here, but I certainly encourage you to check out our website because there's a downloadable complimentary lesson on the mind and paradigms.

For now, here are a few tips that will help

Whenever you catch yourself in that space of overwhelm, self-doubt, discouragement and fear, do the following:

1. Take 6 deep breaths paying close attention to your breathing.

2. Acknowledge the achievements you've made in your life. There are certain things you've accomplished so far, bring those to mind, acknowledge that, and celebrate it.

3. Connect to your vision and ground yourself in that. Reconnect with why you're even choosing this entrepreneurial path. What is your big "why" - and this is where your purpose comes in.

If the driving power for this chosen path isn't something deep, passionate and beautiful, you won't be able to fuel yourself into victory. The right desire is all-important; so make sure you get very clear on yours.

4. From this space of having connected with your vision and falling back into alignment with it, consider what you have now, where you stand, that you can use to move forward.

Learn to start with what you have, where you are, not what you don't have.

Stop seeing what you don't have or what's missing in order for you to move toward your dream and start finding what you've already got working for you. And I will not accept that you don't have anything - there's always something.

We live and move and have our being in the midst of divine intelligence and divine love; there's got to be something no matter how small that you can use now. Ask the divine power breathing you, and He will give you a clue as to what you could use.

5. It's time for inspired action. Take just one baby step action today that will move you toward your vision.

Something that will move you a step closer in the direction of your dream and that desire that you hold in your heart. It doesn't have to be anything big, just make sure it's meaningful, in service to your dream and that you enjoy doing it.

Finally, may I encourage you to just allow yourself to be in the flow of your life and the season that you're in.

If you stop trying to force things to become what they aren't yet ready to be, you'll dissolve many of the aches, pains and frustrations that currently surround you.

Life is perfectly unfolding, divine intelligence is all around you and as long as you do your part to the best of your ability and in true faith, life will always deliver far richer manifestations than you could ever produce through willpower.

Recommended resource: 3 Things That Will Help You Develop A Growth Mindset As An Entrepreneur: http://www.boldbeautifulblissfulu.com/3-things-will-help-develop-a-growth-mindset-as-an-entrepreneur/

Author Janette Getui is the founder of Bold Beautiful Blissful U. Janette is considered the prosperity junkie and she's an internationally published author who helps individuals get breakthroughs that the masses still consider impossible.

With her down to earth, simple and almost childlike approach to spiritual science and new thought teachings, she strives to remind others just like you, that all things are possible for the mind that learns how to tune into the right frequency.

Her personal journey from an uneducated slum child to the digital entrepreneur speaks volumes of what is possible for you, when you learn how to cultivate the right mindset and get bolder.

Visit our main website: http://www.boldbeautifulblissfulu.com

Connect with Janette:@janettegetui

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Janette__Getui/1662232

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

Poor Performing Processes Can Stop Your Growth

Small businesses often launch with manual processes that the owner and the initial support team create. As the business grows, processes become more complex and more people are added to manage the business. Occasionally, these manual processes are augmented with standardized accounting packages and computer spreadsheets. This combination of manual processes cobbled together by spreadsheets is both the enabler for continuing existing operations and a constraint against achieving profitable growth.

With each new customer, the more frustration grows. Gaps in processes, lack of access to information and poor communication between team members begin to plague business performance. Precious time is spent chasing down pieces of paper or reworking customer schedules and installation and support commitments. Manual processes require people to waste time performing mundane, routine and repetitive tasks. Lack of access to information about operations, production and customers means this vital knowledge is stored in different individual's heads. The team works long hours to keep up with the demands of the daily grind to support demand from customers.

The first cracks begin to show when a customer is disappointed because a service technician did not arrive when expected, or the product lacked expected features requiring rework, or the customer's order simply fell through the cracks and had to be rescheduled for a later date. The team scrambles to overcome each one of these examples, taking further attention away from already overloaded work schedules. These cracks also leave long term damaged impressions on customers, who may become reluctant to provide precious referrals to new prospects.

Employees struggle to maintain an optimistic and motivated outlook in this atmosphere. They work hard, yet things still go wrong. They drop everything to correct the error while keeping all of the other wheels turning. When a key employee quits the business, it can have severe detrimental effects. First, is the immediate task of keeping that person's work going, often requiring the owner of the business to step in. Second, is the cost and time required to hire and train a replacement. Third, occasionally key employees leave and start their own businesses to compete with your business, believing they know how to do it better.

The long term costs to the business of operating this way are enormous; a minefield that blows up any further efforts to acquire more customers and grow. Even in its present state, it is a huge drain on productivity, profitability and customer satisfaction. Many of these small business owners balk at the cost of hiring business process experts and acquiring software to automate their businesses. Paying tens of thousands of dollars to third parties can seem to a small business owner like an extravagance that they cannot afford.

This short-sighted perspective is a looming train wreck. Justifying the expense on current narrow margins produced by the business may seem risky when a five-week payroll cycle can play havoc with cash flows. Leaving the system as it is puts the very existence of the business at risk. The right decision is to pause temporarily to retool the business operations, systems and people so that when you put your foot back onto the accelerator the business will grow faster effortlessly, and far more profitably.

Patrick is a coach, speaker, and trainer to individuals and business leaders. He helps leaders to achieve success by clarifying their vision, strategic plans, leadership, change management, brand and marketing strategy. He helps individuals to remove self-limiting beliefs and fears that prevent them from acting on their goals and dreams. http://www.patrickgsmyth.com

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Patrick_Smyth/33422

Why Every Entrepreneur Needs to Take Entrepreneur Mentorship Programs

As a young entrepreneur, it is easy to fall into the trap of "I'm on the top of the world" or "I know everything about business" after getting first few tastes of success. However, you may feel stuck at times and may feel the need to reach out and connect with people for help.

Perhaps you need a "Mentor". But where do you find a mentor and how do you reach the right one who will help you take best business decisions. The answer is "Entrepreneur mentorship programs". Let's try to know more about these programs.

What Is Entrepreneur Mentoring Program?

The Entrepreneur Mentoring Programs are specifically designed for commercial and social entrepreneurs. The program provides you with trained mentors and facilitates the building of a long-term mutually beneficial trust-based relationships.

Besides offering one-to-one mentoring, the program also helps startups by providing a process to evaluate a business opportunity within the context of a Business model canvas. Entrepreneurship is a lonely journey and entrepreneurs often feel alone and look for support that can give guidance and provide an answer to the questions. The biggest benefit of such program is you get a mentor who provides you critical business insights.

Why Are Mentors Important?

For an entrepreneur, a mentor is like a compass, lighthouse, and drinking water while you are at sea. While there is no doubt about the importance of the technical know-how and the guidance the mentor provides; the most important role a mentor plays is to keep you charged especially when things are not happening as you have planned or expected.

A mentor not only guides you towards the right path but also acts as a source of inspiration and motivation. Here are some reasons why every entrepreneur needs a mentor.

Gain from Experience That Is Not Available in Books

There is a proverb "Experience is the best teacher" and it is a crucial element of success in business. You can gain so much from the experience of your mentor who has been there, seen it and done it all.

The knowledge you gain from mentor might not be available in books. It is an unstated truth that most authors are not comfortable sharing/revealing in their books. Some personal experiences of business leaders can be helpful while dealing with ups and down in business.

Mentorship allows you to connect with the person at a more intimate level where you can also gain knowledge from your mentor's personal experiences.

More Networking Opportunities

A successful mentor will have a wider network which you can also access. Since your mentor wants you to be successful, it only makes sense for the mentor to allow you to tap his/her network when the need arises. You will not have this opportunity without a mentor.

Provide Much Needed Encouragement

Failure can impact your productivity and morale. With mentor by your side, you will be in better position to deal with failures. The mentor has already experienced highs and lows in business and would provide you the much-needed encouragement to look beyond failures.

The importance of guidance and support of a mentor cannot be ignored. Entrepreneur mentoring programs offers you easy access to set of accomplished entrepreneurs as mentors who will take you towards the winning path.

Do you know other benefits of having a mentor? Let us know your comments below.

Vamaks offers a world class platform that enables people to convert bright ideas to business opportunities by providing the right environment for new and existing entrepreneurs to open a successful business with the help of entrepreneur mentorship programs and the right investors or business partners for funding the startup. To learn more, visit Vamaks/Blog.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/James_Marshall/2343370

Up-Leveling Your Success - Is a Coach or Mentor Best?

If you look at top business achievers, you will find one common denominator: They didn't do it all alone.

High performing entrepreneurs and business owners know that to truly excel requires guidance and support.

Are you wanting to be a high-performer?

If so, you might be wondering what kind of guidance do you need exactly?

Do you need a mentor or coach?

How can these kinds of advisors best serve in your professional development?

Working With a Mentor

First let's look at the role of a mentor. A mentor is a more experienced individual who offers guidance, friendship, and support based on their past experiences, knowledge and expertise.

Usually there is a level of personal connection as the mentor serves as a role model to help an individual reach their potential.

Working with a Coach

A coach on the other hand serves more as an expert guiding you in a very specific area of performance. If you Google "coach" you'll see coaches for performance, marketing, financial support, sales, business growth, social media support and more.

What's unsettling is that many coaches are self-appointed experts.

While they may present themselves as knowledgeable and highly successful, many could be just one step ahead of you. While they may "talk the talk", you truly don't know if they have the experience or skills to help you succeed.

Advantages of Working with a Mentor

• Outside Perspective - Often we are too close and emotionally tied to our business to see what's really going on. There's a great benefit to someone else taking a bird's-eye view to get a clearer picture of your situation. Sometimes we are too in love with our work to be truthful about areas that need a little work. Your mentor can probe to uncover problem issues that may not be apparent to you.


• Help You Reach Higher - Sometimes we will do things for other people that we wouldn't do for ourselves. Having the accountability of a mentor can help you push harder to reach your goals. Knowing you have to report your results to your mentor can make you go the extra mile to get things done.


• Business Experience - Even if you have years of corporate experience, running your own business can be a real challenge. While you probably know a lot about your particular industry, you may not know enough about running and growing a business. Having someone with experience in creating systems, delegating, marketing, and successfully growing a business is invaluable. Not only can it help you avoid costly mistakes, but it can help you grow farther, faster. Often mentors have proven templates and blueprints to boost your results in a number of areas.


• Cheerleader - Being a business owner can be a real roller coaster ride. There are days you are on top of the world. But there are also days you doubt yourself. You wonder if you should throw in the towel. Everything seems to be going wrong. You don't know what to do. It is in those times that a mentor can dust you off and get you back on your feet again. Staying positive and motivated is key to keeping your business moving forward daily.

5 Common Blind-spots That Crush Our Success

As a mentor, I have worked with dozens of small business owners over the years. When entrepreneurs come to me for help, there are some common areas I see them struggling with.

Here are the most common "stories" we tell ourselves about our business that keep us stuck:

1. Being In Squirrel Mode. When you spread yourself too thin, it's hard to fully monetize your business. One big mistake I see people make is when one thing isn't working, they see the next "shiny object" and try something new. The result is they never fully put in the work it takes to make a new objective take off. Having a mentor can help you find the focus you need to experience growth. They can help you create a plan to use your money, resources, and time in ways that laser focus your results.


2. Not Admitting When Wrong. Being your own boss is awesome. You get to call all the shots and be captain of your own ship. But the problem is that you always get to be "right" - even when you aren't. There can be great value to having a mentor to reframe your situation and show you areas that need improvement that you may be overlooking. Having someone speak the truth to you when it's needed is critical to growth.


3. Getting Stuck in Victim Mode. It can actually be cathartic to gripe and moan about how busy you are, or how out of control things have gotten, etc. but some people find a certain kind of honour in projecting themselves as a martyr that way. But people who succeed know the value is healing those wounded areas. A mentor can hold your feet to the fire and help you move through the bleeding wounds and address the bigger issues.


4. Not Looking in The Mirror. It's your team's fault. Your software isn't working right. The market has changed... The excuses can go on forever. Until you realize that you are 100% responsible for everything that happens in your life and business, nothing changes. A mentor will be honest with you about the role you played in failures. They can help you learn the lesson, grow, and move on. Personal growth is key to your success.


5. Trying to Do it All Themselves. Women are especially hard on themselves when it comes to thinking they should know everything they need to know to run a business. It's a sign of weakness ineptitude if they don't, so they set off to learn everything all themselves. The problem is, the more they set off to learn someone else's skillset and expertise, the less they are focusing on their own core competency and thus, not on their own business. A mentor can help you determine what you should be doing yourself to grow and expand your business, and what you should be outsourcing and delegating. This allows you to take advantage of someone else's skillset so you can spend more time focusing on your own.

Work Smarter, Not Harder - Mentoring Can Help

I'd love to provide you with the empowered support you need to grow your business. As your mentor, we'll look at what's working, what's not, and create a plan to move you forward.

Susan Friesen is the founder of eVision Media, a boutique web development and Digital Marketing firm of over 15 years that specializes in designing, building and marketing professional, unique websites for entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations.

Visit http://www.ultimatewebsiteguide.ca and grab your FREE "Ultimate Guide to Improving Your Website's Profitability - 10 Critical Questions You Must Ask to Get Maximum Results".

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Susan_Friesen/260293

How To Stay Alert And Aware As An Entrepreneur

What makes a successful entrepreneur? Of course, the answer to that is many different things but one of them is definitely their ability to know what is going on within their own industry, within the world of business in general and especially with entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.

Successful business owners keep up on what is going on and stay informed of the latest trends, market shifts and opportunities so that they can take any advantage they can get to make their business grow. So, how they stay in the loop so successfully?

#1 Successful Entrepreneurs Talk to Other Entrepreneurs

People there in business for themselves don't exist in a vacuum. Besides their customers, suppliers and all of the other support systems that they have around their business, they also have friends and colleagues that are also entrepreneurs and keeping up with these people is one of the best ways that they have a staying informed.

Whatever the virtual water cooler happens to be of these entrepreneurs - usually a forum or social media network - they share information, give advice and keep each other updated about entrepreneurship.

#2 Successful Entrepreneurs Read (A Lot!)

One thing that you will notice about those successful in the business world is they tend to read publications, websites or even social media posts about their business - and that includes books by some of the most successful motivational authors.

The successful people like to stay informed and they like to learn new things. There is so much information on the Internet that you could spend decades learning about a subject and still not know everything about it and being as informed as possible is equal to being as successful as possible.

#3 Successful Entrepreneurs Use The Insider Intel To Improve Their Business

All this information that they gather isn't just going to sit stagnant, either. They are going to use this information to improve their business, increase their revenue or bring in more customers. Successful entrepreneurs know when they learned something useful and work to implement it as quickly as possible.

#4 Successful Entrepreneurs Help Others Succeed Too

Another thing that you'll see is that the more successful entrepreneurs they become, the more willing they are to help other people succeed at the same time. They have been where the budding entrepreneurs currently are and remember what it was like to enter the fray with only the basics. Most successful entrepreneurs are more than willing to share their knowledge and mentor the newbies.

By the way, Keye Wu is on a mission to transform 1 million guys into the most productive, masculine and purposeful men. If you REALLY do not know the 5 Little Known Ways To Double Your Productivity For Men yet, we need to fix that. Join hundreds of other men already using it right now FREE in my value-packed productivity blog here. Alternatively, check out one of my most popular flowstate video here.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Keye_Wu/2314157

4 Simple Business Methods for New Online Entrepreneurs

So, you want to be a successful entrepreneur. But which business strategy should you choose? There seem to be so many out there, with each so-called guru touting a different philosophy, that it can be very difficult to narrow down a business strategy that actually works.

However, when you remove all of the window dressing and break the strategies down to the basics, there are only three that make up nearly all of the entrepreneurial ventures that are out there. Which one you choose will depend on your personal preference, your unique skills and where you see a hole in the market.

#1 Service Providers

The first of our three top strategies is providing some type of service. There are many occupations that provide a service where someone can become an entrepreneur.

Graphic design is one good example; freelance writing is another. Whenever you are doing a service for somebody else and they are paying you for it (while not in the employee of another person or company) you are an entrepreneur.

#2 Affiliate Marketing

Another big boom in online entrepreneurship is affiliate marketing. With the creation of websites like ClickBank, the affiliate programs offered by leading retailers like Amazon and the big profits that could be potentially earned, affiliate marketing is one of the most popular entrepreneurial ventures today.

With affiliate marketing, you find the customers, send them over to the seller to buy the product and the seller pays you a commission. Of course, you have to find the right product and a solid strategic plan because getting your offers in front of people can be difficult nowadays.

#3 Info Product Creation

Rather than being the person that receives the commission when someone buys a product from someone else, you could be the person that they are buying that product from. You could create an info product of some kind that you'll be able to sell to the Internet at large. One of the more popular ways to do this is by publishing Kindle content on Amazon, but the products on ClickBank can also be part of this strategy.

#4 Combining Strategies

Of course, you don't have to just stick with one. You can always combine any two or all three if you like. There are no rules when it comes to entrepreneurship. If you can create something that sells, or add value to someone else's life in exchange of money, you are an entrepreneur.

By the way, Keye Wu is on a mission to transform 1 million guys into the most productive, masculine and purposeful men. If you REALLY do not know the 5 Little Known Ways To Double Your Productivity For Men yet, we need to fix that. Join hundreds of other men already using it right now FREE in my value-packed productivity blog here. Alternatively, check out one of my most popular flowstate video here.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Keye_Wu/2314157

How To Be The Right Person For Entrepreneurial Success

So, who's the right person to be an entrepreneur? Is there such a thing at all? The truth is, just about anyone can be an entrepreneur if they put in the work.

But it does take a certain character of the person to become a successful entrepreneur.

The type of person that is the most successful at this can be found all over the world doing things in life that give them the skills that they need to be an entrepreneur. With attributes like drive, determination, patience, the ability to recognize a good idea and persistence many different types of people have what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

Below are a couple of examples of the wide range of entrepreneurs.

College Students: anyone who's attended college knows that being a student can be one of the toughest periods of your life. Of course, it can also be one of the most rewarding since young adults are exploring their independence for the first time.

But with all of the hard work that they have to put in with homework, attending classes and participating in school activities, college students have what it takes to be successful entrepreneurs.

Stay-at-Home Parents: another group that is perfect for the entrepreneurial is the stay-at-home parent. One thing that these people have going for them is the ability to sneak in some work when they aren't caring for children, doing housework or running errands.

A woman taking care of an infant might be able to get two hours of work in while the baby sleeping or other stay-at-home parents can work whether kids are in school.

Seniors: senior citizens are in a perfect position to become successful entrepreneurs. If they are retired, they have a lot of time on their hands, which combines perfectly with all of their skills and experience that they've gained throughout their life.

Seniors who become entrepreneurs find not only financial benefits but also a rewarding activity to keep them busy during retirement.

In short, anyone can be an entrepreneur if they want to.

Men and women both have an equal chance of becoming a successful entrepreneur, based upon their individual skills, and even children can start early and become entrepreneurs at any age - which can be seen in the occasional lemonade stand in your own neighborhood.

No matter who you are or what your particular skills and abilities are, you have what it takes to become an entrepreneur. You just need to implement your great idea as fast as possible while willing to take on a lot of hard work.

By the way, Keye Wu is on a mission to transform 1 million guys into the most productive, masculine and purposeful men. If you REALLY do not know the 5 Little Known Ways To Double Your Productivity For Men yet, we need to fix that. Join hundreds of other men already using it right now FREE in my value-packed productivity blog here. Alternatively, check out one of my most popular flowstate video here.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Keye_Wu/2314157

5 Ways To Be The Best Online Service Provider

If your online business venture is more focused on providing services, you definitely want to provide the best service possible and be the number one person that people go to when they need your particular service.

There are lots of service providers on the Internet these days, things like freelance writing and editing, grammar proofreading, voiceover services, graphic design, animation videos, programming, website creation, link building or any other service.

There are professionals with huge price tags and sites like Fiverr that make some services incredibly cheap but no matter which part of the spectrum you're at right now, there are a few ways to be the best service writer possible.

1. Don't charge prices based on the market, especially if you're trying to undercut the competition.

Price your services based on what you think they're worth and don't worry if some people are willing to pay the price because you'll find people looking for quality work like yours that are willing to pay good money for it.

2. Be consistent with all of your clients even if they don't know each other.

Charge the same basic prices to all of the clients that you have, promise the same deadlines and don't pick and choose policies based upon the client. If they ever do encounter each other, you may lose both of them.

3. Double and triple check your work before you send it out.

Even catching one or two minor mistakes could mean the difference between a client coming back or not, or telling other people about your services. Take a few extra minutes with every single project and make sure it is 100% what the client wanted and that it is your absolute best work.

4. Be okay with saying no.

There may be some projects that you don't want to work on and it doesn't really matter what the reason is. You could have a moral objection or could be just too much work for the price that the person is willing to pay.

The point is that you should be willing to say no to clients. They will respect you and not ask for unreasonable expectations in the future.

5. Figure out what people's problems are and then try to solve them.

If you can come up with solutions to people's problems other than your regular services, you could make a great deal more money and could spark a business idea that will take you to the big-time.

These are the 5 simple yet powerful ways when you start your service-based online entrepreneurial endeavor. Use them and differentiate yourself to be the best go-to expert in your industry today!

By the way, Keye Wu is on a mission to transform 1 million guys into the most productive, masculine and purposeful men. If you REALLY do not know the 5 Little Known Ways To Double Your Productivity For Men yet, we need to fix that. Join hundreds of other men already using it right now FREE in my value-packed productivity blog here. Alternatively, check out one of my most popular flowstate video here.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Keye_Wu/2314157

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

Turning Your Hobby Into Profit: A Guide You Must Read

In the event you get pleasure from everything you do, it is possible to change a passion into an enterprise. Appraise the amount of pleasure you get from your interest and afterward find out if you can remodel that right into a small business. When you appreciate everything you do daily, then finding up and doing do the job might be far more like entertaining instead of a hobby.

If you are not the most innovative type of human being, however, you would love a new hobby, take into consideration trying out counted cross-stitch. Within this piece of needlework, you just follow a pre-printed graph exactly where each and every so. Consists of a symbol that pertains to a particular color of thread. Follow the figure entirely plus an excellent image is a close outcome.

To assist you to keep stress-free take up a hobby. Hobbies give you a way to escape the daily delight in and grind yourself. For those who don't have a pastime, take into consideration everything you love doing. Would you love artwork? Take a painting class or even a sculpting course to understand a new pastime if that's the case.

Do not limit your hobbies to what you've explored inside the earlier. At times you should press on your own in new instructions, and hobbies are perfect for doing just that. In fact, try a thing out that you just would have hardly ever deemed in advance of. You might be shocked at how pleasant a different pastime is usually. If your hobby is riding electric scooters, why don't you write about razor dune buggy reviews.

If knitting is just not your cup of tea, however, you like to work with wool, why not try a bit of crochet. It truly is stated to become a lot much easier than knitting and continue to as progressive when admiring the top outcome. From dresses to granny squares for any blanket, there exists a whole lot that can obtain employing a crochet hook.

Studying is an enjoyment hobby that anybody might take up. As you can visit your local library and borrow guides without cost, it can be a cheap pastime way too. It's also possible to acquire guides at discounted price ranges at property book and product sales swaps. An interesting strategy to share your love of publications will be to sign up for or start off a reserve club.

There is certainly a natural alternative for trying to keep it in check when you have a hobby that requires making use of glitter. Very first, obtain a plastic tray. Then, spray that plastic tray with some nonstick cooking spray. It's going to slide ideal off for those who have any glitter that may be free. This could prevent far more glitter that you can use for long-term tasks.

An interest which you like may help you decrease a lot of the stress should you feel nervous following a hard day's worth of labor. Keep in mind that a pastime hardly ever has to become a job path, so you're able to opt for something that you do not have experienced abilities in.

Aim on your remarkable new hobby to help you reduce strain. Anytime you can give your widespread interest to an activity you delight in, it's going to be a lot easier to suit your needs to forget about individuals points inside your daily life which are causing you strain. Decide on a passion that exploits your capabilities and abilities when still presenting a challenge.

This is Christina a professional blogger written lots of exciting reads like, Razor dune Buggy reviews for Rich and Posh.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Christina_Brewton/2322544