Are You SURE You Want To Start Your Own Business?

Are You SURE You Want To Start Your Own Business? Part Two of a Series

by: Charles and Holly Egner

Why, exactly, do you want to go into business for yourself?

Is it because you cannot stand the thought of working for an uptight, demanding, and perfectly dreadful boss?

Is it because you cannot bear the thought of going through another downsizing or restructuring, knowing that your job could be on the line?

Is it because you want to be your own boss, call your own shots, or see more up side in your earning potential, with the possibility of financial selfsufficiency?

These are all good reasons for wanting to go into business. In fact, studies have shown that many entrepreneurs get their start due to some lifealtering experience such as losing a job or finally walking away from a deadend job or a demoralizing work environment.

It is amazing how creative, resourceful, and innovative you can be when, finally, you reach the edge and find yourself in a survival situation professionally. In times like this, the entrepreneurial spirit comes alive and you figure out that you can simply do it on your own.

Does dissatisfaction alone in some area of your life constitute reason enough to venture into business and the life of entrepreneurship? Many potential entrepreneurs get to this bridge and never cross because they do not know how to discover and unleash the entrepreneur within himself or herself.

Many people resist giving credence to their entrepreneurial tendencies no matter what the circumstances, ignoring the potential for selfexpression, independence and the fulfillment of their dreams. Herein resides the real tragedy. Many people experience paralysis from fear of the unknown and fear of failure. Consequently, they never pursue entrepreneurship and the potential freedom that it can bring to their lives.

Although entrepreneurship appears to offer many advantages for personal and professional growth and accomplishment, why is it that so many new entrepreneurs fail? In fact, studies have shown us that out of every 100 entrepreneurs who start their own businesses, 14 will succeed and a whopping 86 will fail in the first five years. The odds, so to speak, are stacked against you as a nascent entrepreneur. Therefore, if you are contemplating starting your own business you should take it very seriously.

The two biggest reasons people fail in a new business are:

they don’t know what they are doing, and

their business is undercapitalized.

When we say they don’t know what they are doing, we mean they literally don’t know what they are doing in terms of running a business day in and day out. It also makes perfect sense that a new business might be undercapitalized (not having enough working capital to run the business). In fact, many new entrepreneurs, who don’t know what they are doing have a hard time finding either equity or debt capital for the reason that lending institutions and savvy investors typically do not like to give money to people who don’t know what they are doing in business.

In order to improve your chances of beating the odds, what is important is that you educate yourself about business development. There certainly is enough information out there on how to start and run a small business. For instance, if you go to Amazon.com and type in a search for books on กEntrepreneurshipกก alone, you will have over 21,000 book choices. Nevertheless, where does one start in deciding what to read, who to listen to, and what to implement?

In the more than 55 years of combined experience in the world of business that my wife and I have had, and working with hundreds of hopeful entrepreneurs, we discovered four basic stages to business development that every entrepreneur must go through to enhance their chances for business success.

Reflect

Envision

Create

Build

Most entrepreneurs, especially the 86 that fail, usually skip one or more of these essential stages of business development and find themselves in a heap of trouble before they know it. Typically, a new entrepreneur will get and idea (envision) and go straight to market (build). They simply unknowingly skip the ‘reflectก and กcreateก stages, and charge into business with an กifIworkhardenoughก attitude everything will be all right.

Well, statistically we know that not everything is all right and it does not work.

About The Author

Charles and Holly Egner are veteran entrepreneurs. They have trained, coached, and mentored hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs. Their last entrepreneurial venture sold for just under $400 million in 1999. BuildOnYourDreams.com was founded to help promising entrepreneurs to build the business of their dreams. For their free Life Strategy Planning Teleseminar, visit http://www.BuildOnYourDreams.com today.

This article was posted on November 04, 2004

by Charles and Holly Egner

Entrepreneurs Just Get Better With Age

Entrepreneurs Just Get Better With Age

by: Tim Knox

QUESTION:

I’m thinking about starting a business after I retire next month. I’ll be 65. Am I too old to start a business? Milton A.

ANSWER:

Milton, congratulations on your pending retirement. I find it admirable that after many years of hard work you are thinking about starting a business. While most men your age would be content to sit on the porch and watch the world go by, you are considering a ride on the entrepreneurial roller coaster. You’re certainly tall enough to ride this ride, but are you too old?

Here’s my standard answer: It depends. It depends on your health, your energy, your drive, your goals, and of course, your finances. If all those are in good shape and you have your spouse’s approval (that’s a biggie), then there is absolutely no reason why you should not start a business at your age.

In fact, the numbers are actually in your favor. According to recent studies 22 percent of men and 14 percent of women over 65 are selfemployed. That’s compared to just 7 percent for other age groups.

According to a Vanderbilt University study the number of entrepreneurs age 45 to 64 will grow by 15 million by 2006. That’s compared to a 4 million decline for entrepreneurs age 25 to 44.

A 1998 survey of baby boomers conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) revealed that 80 percent of respondants planned to work beyond retirement age, and 17 percent of those planned to launch new businesses.

The study noted, กSelfemployment among American workers increases with age, with the most dramatic jump occurring at age 65.ก

Older entrepreneurs may also find starting a business easier than their younger counterparts because older entrepreneurs tend to have more experience to draw from and more assets with which to finance a business.

Further evidence comes from a report released by Barclays Bank entitled Third Age Entrepreneurs – Profiting From Experience. The report shows that older entrepreneurs are responsible for 50 percent more business startups than 10 years ago. This amounts to around 60,000 business startups last year alone.

The survey also showed that today’s third age entrepreneurs (as the report calls entrepreneurs over the age of 50) don’t mind putting in the hours required to build their business. Nearly 49 percent work an average of 36 hours or more a week.

Third agers also rated holidays, lack of stress and a balance between work and home life more important than their younger counterparts.

The report further showed that only 27 percent run the business as the only source of household income, with 51 percent supplementing their pension.

Other key findings showed that third age startups account for 15 percent of all new businesses, and third age entrepreneurs are three times more likely to be male than female.

There is a downside (isn’t there always?). Many businesses fail within the first few years and older entrepreneurs may be less able to handle the financial loss than younger entrepreneurs. It’s one thing to lose everything at 25, but it’s a much bigger deal to be financially ruined at 65.

So my advice, Milton, is that if your health and finances allow (and the Mrs. gives the green light) by all means start your business.

Climb on the entrepreneurial roller coaster and hang on tight.

You get the senior discount, by the way.

Just try not to lose your lunch when things get bumpy and you’ll probably do just fine.

About The Author

Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox.

Timกs latest books include กSmall Business Success Secretsก and ‘the 30 Day Blueprint For Success!ก

Related Links:

www.smallbusinessqa.com

www.dropshipwholesale.net

http://www.30dayblueprint.com

http://www.timknox.com

This article was posted on February 08

by Tim Knox

Traits and Skills of Successful Internet Entrepren

Traits and Skills of Successful Internet Entrepreneurs

by: Marty Foley

There are certain traits and skills that many successful online entrepreneurs have in common. Some mentioned in this article may seem simple, but don’t overlook their importance.

You may not personally be strong in all areas, but you can get by as long as you can delegate tasks that call for them to someone on your team that is.

Good Communicator

Whether you are communicating by email, your web site, ICQ, webbased forums, or whatever, you (or someone in your organization) need to demonstrate good communication skills especially good writing skills. Unfortunately, many online communications are very weak in this area. Iกm not saying this to be critical, but to point out an area for improvement that we can benefit from by giving attention to.

Since we’re all human and prone to making mistakes, our communications may not be flawless, but the more clearly and accurately we get our message across with fewer mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and grammar the more likely our prospects will grasp our message and take the desired action, and the more professional image we will project.

However, that does NOT mean that we need to try to impress people with complex language. Research has shown that clear, simple language outsells complicated language.

Calculated RiskTaker

True entrepreneurs aren’t necessarily foolhardy gamblers or risktakers, but tend to be willing to take carefully calculated risks after careful thought and planning (thereby reducing the risk). This is better than dragging oneกs feet too long, suffering from กanalysis paralysis,ก wasting precious time overanalyzing things.

More of a Doer Than a Dreamer

Having dreams and aspirations about becoming a successful entrepreneur is all well and good. The problem is, it is much easier to dream than it is to roll up our sleeves and get busy making those dreams come true. Only when we do more doing than dreaming will we ever become successful.

Persistent

As Iกve watched new online ventures come and go, and others (including my own) come and GROW, Iกve noticed that persistence is a key ingredient missing from many failed ones. And some are right on the brink of success when they quit!

Cautiously Optimistic

Rather than have a negative outlook on life (which will eventually by conveyed to prospects and customers) successful entrepreneurs usually tend to have a กcan doก attitude, and to see opportunity where others only see problems.

Goal Oriented

Entrepreneurs take a lot of satisfaction in setting and reaching businessrelated goals. This isn’t surprising, as all humans have a natural desire to find satisfaction in their accomplishments.

Customer Oriented

Hit and run entrepreneurs don’t usually last, but those that focus on understanding and satisfying the wants, needs and buying trends of their customers tend to thrive.

Passion for the Type of Business

Entrepreneurs aren’t just motivated by a desire to earn a living. They usually have such an interest in their line of business that it rarely seems like work to them. It helps them put in the long hours that getting a business up and running sometimes calls for.

Flexible

Things change rapidly, especially online. The successful entrepreneur is willing to overcome mistakes, meet new challenges headon, and adapt to change. Doing so can mean the difference between success and failure.

Skilled at Marketing

In business, as the saying goes, กEverything is marketing.ก The world can not and will not beat a path to your door to buy your กbetter mouse trapก if the world doesn’t know about it. Regardless of what business you’re in, marketing is the tool used to present the solutions that your products and services offer to the rest of the world.

As legendary promoter P.T. Barnum said: กWithout promotion, something terrible happens NOTHING!ก

Like any other skill, your marketing can be improved through increased knowledge and practice. Invest in expanding your knowledge of marketing. Doing so can serve you well throughout your entrepreneurial career. Benjamin Franklin put it well, when he said: กAn investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.ก

Of course, there are lots of other skills and traits that successful Internet entrepreneurs have at their disposal, but the above list covers many of the most crucial ones. May it help you to also find success as an online entrepreneur.

About The Author

Marty Foley is a successful home business owner and the founder of http://ProfitInfo.com/. His Internet marketing techniques and resources have helped set the standard in ecommerce, and have often been imitated by other famous Internet marketers. They can truly help you succeed online: http://ProfitInfo.com/

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 3, 2002

by Marty Foley

It Really Is Only กEarly Daysก In The Internet Gol

It Really Is Only กEarly Daysก In The Internet Gold Rush….

by: Richard Grady

One of the questions that I am getting more and more used to hearing lately is:

กIs it too late for me to start an online business? Have I missed the boat and have all of the best opportunities been and gone?ก

My reply is always along the lines of, กAbsolutely not there is still a wealth of opportunity online and even if you start your online business tomorrow, you are still well ahead of the majority of peopleก.

I genuinely believe that this is the case but I know that many people do feel that they may have missed the boat and that there is nothing more that can be done online that isn’t already being done by someone else. If you are one of those people, read on….

I attended a corporate function last week non Internet related and had the chance to talk with a large number of UK business men and women. These people ranged from people running their own กone man bandก type business right up to the owners of largescale operations employing hundreds of staff and turning over millions of pounds each year. Several of the attendees were entrepreneurs that had built up and sold companies worth, quite literally, tens of millions. Overall, a very wide spread of experience, success and ability but the one thing that tied everyone together was that they were all running a business of one kind or another.

Now, as you would expect, when meeting with new people for the first time (and particularly in a situation such as the one above), one of the main topics of conversation was what everyone did for a living. As I have indicated in previous newsletters, this is a question that I really dislike being asked as I find it so hard to explain.

Needless to say though, I found myself having to do exactly that to numerous people, all of whom looked at me with a blank expression as I tried to tell them, in simple terms, how I generate an income from nothing more than a PC and the Internet.

This is nothing new and I am well used to it by now (in fact I am beginning to think that it would be easier just to say I work in finance as I once did!) but what amazed me most was that not one of the people I spoke to had any clue about what I was talking about.

Despite being among a group of what I would consider to be a fair representation of the UK business community, not one of them had any real idea about how to use the Internet to increase their business.

Of course, many of the people I spoke to had websites but ALL of them told me that the only real purpose their website served was to provide a small amount of information about their business and their contact details!

None of them allowed customers to order from their website (although most of the businesses in question would suit this method of sales)….

None of them were collecting email addresses from visitors with the aim of carrying out followup marketing (although this would be appropriate for all of the businesses in question)….

None of the businesses were using email in any way as a form of marketing, despite the obvious cost advantages over the postal service…

I could go on but I think you get the point.

On the flipside, every single one of the people that I spoke to had used the Internet to purchase goods! I find this absolutely amazing.

Now of course, the people that I spoke to are in a slightly different situation to many online entrepreneurs in that they already run successful offline businesses. However, if this is a fair representation of how entrepreneurs view the Internet in terms of a business tool, it stands to reason that the กordinary man in the streetก will be even less likely to see the Internet as something that he can use to earn a full or part time income.

The entrepreneurs I spoke to were genuinely surprised that it was possible to earn a full time income online, they were even more surprised when I gave them an indication of how much it is possible to earn. I am sure that a couple of them almost fell over when I then told them that the day to day maintenance of many online businesses takes just an hour or so per day since software can be used to handle so much of the workload!

I therefore reiterate the point that I made at the start of this newsletter the Internet Gold rush is surely only just beginning and the very fact that you are reading this article puts you way ahead of the vast majority of the rest of the World. Don’t sit there wondering whether it is too late get started on your online business today.

And if you were one of the entrepreneurs that I spoke to last week (you know who you are and I know that several of you have already subscribed to this newsletter!), welcome and enjoy you too are now one step ahead of your competition 🙂

Copyright 2005 Richard Grady

About The Author

Richard Grady has been helping ordinary people earn online since 1998. He writes a free newsletter which is published every two weeks. To subscribe (and claim your free gifts), visit: http://www.thetraderonline.com/newsletter.html

This article was posted on August 31

by Richard Grady

All Successful Entrepreneurs Have This

All Successful Entrepreneurs Have This

by: John Baker

All successful entrepreneurs have this one thing in common!(TIME INVESTED) Everyone wants to have wealth, enjoy life, and be able to retire at an early age! To do this you must first work hard at a business plan over a few years. You start your business at the bottom and work your way up. You have to have a plan so you can stay focused on the Big Picture.

This is where the most important element comes in, Patience! You must have Patience or you will lose focus on the Big Picture. There will be times when things go wrong and things look dark, but if you stay focused and have Patience you will have success!

Some great people have said กYou must learn to fail before you can succeed!ก The term กfailก can only pertain to the low and dark times, because you cannot fail unless you Quit. If you have Patience and stay focused on your long term plan you will succeed.

People see ads and hype where successful entrepreneurs have made thousands of dollars in 24 hours. This may be true, but they have been in business more than 24 hours! They have built their business over a period of time, and have been through some low and dark times to get where they are at today. All successful entrepreneurs have invested in there share of time. So you can be successful to if you start with a good business plan, and stick to it through the highs and the lows. You must have Patience and not lose site of your Goals!

You will also have to work your plan, but what is the alternative? Working hard for someone elseกs business plan! You cannot create wealth trading hours for dollars. You must put in your share of time! If you start today, in a year your business will be one year old! In another year it will be two years old. If you do Nothing, You will still be Two Years Older!

This article may be reprinted providing it is published in itกs entirety, including the authorกs bio and hyperlink to the URL below.

About The Author

John Baker, is the editor of BestHomeBusinesseNews. A newsletter dedicated to supporting the home business entrepreneur. If you’re looking for some of the best home business opportunities, tools, thoughts, ideas, and support from a dependable source, come by, visit,and grab a FREE subscription today at: http://www.besthomebusinessideas.net or email your questions to: mailto:[email protected]

This article was posted on April 12, 2004

by John Baker

Street Smarts Vs Book Smarts, What Does It Takes T

Street Smarts Vs Book Smarts, What Does It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur

by: Benjamin Seow

The latest series in ‘the Apprenticeก features 2 distinct group of candidates. One group, who are only high school graduates are termed as กStreet Smartsก by Donald Trump whereas, the other group are all college educated with some having MBAs and advanced degrees. They were termed as the กBook Smartsก.

What was revealed at the start was that the กStreet Smartก group were mainly entrepreneurs and had a net worth 3 times more than the กBook Smartก group!

What this goes to show is that you do not need a college degree to be an entrepreneur and rich. In fact, having a college degree may be more of an impediment to being a successful entrepreneur.

Why is this so?

For one thing, entrepreneurs cannot be conformist and stick กby the rulesก and college somehow tends to train people to stick กby the rulesก. Entrepreneurs will always come up against obstacles and will have to find ways around these obstacles, many times, unconventionally.

College tend to make graduates think in a similar fashion, hence, they tend to be highly trained clones with no personality. Entrepreneurs however know that they need to have their own USP, or กUnique Selling Propositionก to be successful and being entrepreneurs, will find or create their own USP to make a success of themselves.

Entrepreneurs know that they need to think out of the box and create a niche for themselves as they do not have the resources to fight the big boys on their terms.

For college graduates, there is always the choice of going to work for one of the big corporations. For entrepreneurs, failure is not an option as they would not get very far in a big corporation without a college degree.

This is not to say that all college graduates are not entrepreneur material but that in most cases, getting a college education may not be the best route to being an entrepreneur as the education system is designed to produce workers and not entrepreneurs.

About The Author

Benjamin Seow is a longtime entrepreneur and a popular information publisher and has recently created an amazing system for increasing your free time AND profits in under 7 days at: ==> http://www.EntrepreneurMillions.com

Copyright 2005.

This article was posted on August 09

by Benjamin Seow