CHAPTER TWO
"...just work on stuff that you like and you are passionate about, you don't have to have a master plan with how things will play out." - Mark Zuckerberg
Entrepreneur is a French word that means enter - to take charge. In the French dictionary in 1723, the word describes a person who organizes and operates a business by taking a financial risk.
Entrepreneurship is about turning what excites you in life into capital so that you can do more of it and move forward with it. - Richard Branson
Entrepreneurship is turning what you naturally love doing into a business and therefore having fun all your life. - Donald Trump.
Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled which can be interpreted as limited resources. - Howard Stevenson
Intrapreneurship is the act of behaving like an entrepreneur while working within a large organization. Intrapreneurship is known as the practice of a corporate management style that integrates risk-taking and innovation approaches, as well as the reward and motivational techniques that are more traditionally thought of as being the province of entrepreneurship.
Characteristics of an entrepreneur
Do what you enjoy
What you get out of your business in the form of personal satisfaction, financial gain, stability and enjoyment will be the sum of what you put into your business
Take what you do seriously
You cannot expect to be effective and successful in business unless you truly believe in your business and in the goods and services that you sell.
Plan everything
Planning every aspect of your business is not only a must but also builds habits that every business owner should develop, implement and maintain.
A business plan also serves a second function, which is having your goals and how you will achieve them on paper. You can use the plan that you create both as a map to take you from point A to Z, and as a yardstick to measure the success of each individual plan or segment within the plan.
Manage Money Wisely
The lifeblood of any business enterprise is cash flow. All business owners must become wise money managers to ensure that the cash keeps flowing and the bills get paid.
Ask for the sale
A home business entrepreneur must always remember that marketing, advertising or promotional activities are completely worthless, unless one simple thing is accomplished - asking for the sale.
Remember it's all about the customer
Your business is all about your customers or clients; period.
Your customers are the people that will ultimately decide if your business goes boom or bust. Everything you do in business must be customer focused.
Become a shameless self-promoter (without becoming obnoxious)
Self promotion is one of the most beneficial, yet most underutilized marketing tool that the majority of home business owners have at their immediate disposal.
Project a positive business image
Make a conscious effort to always project the most professional business image possible.
Use imagination, creativity and attention to the smallest detail when creating and maintaining a professional image for your business.
Get to know your customers
The most significant competitive edge the home-based entrepreneur has over the larger competitors is that he can offer personalized attention.
The home business owner can actually answer phone calls, get to know customers, provide personal attention and win over repeat business.
It's a fact that the most businesses (80%) will come from repeat customers rather than new customers.
Level the playing field with technology
One of the amazing aspects of the internet is that a one or two-person business operating from a basement can have a superior website to a $50 million company and nobody knows the difference.
The best technology is that which helps you, not that which impresses your neighbors.
Build a top notch business team
No one can build a successful business alone. It's a task that requires a team that is as committed as you are to the business and its success.
The most important team members will be your customers or clients.
Become known as an expert
The more you become known for your expertise in your business, the more people will seek you out to tap into your expertise, creating more selling and referral opportunities.
Becoming known as an expert is another style of prospecting for new business - instead of finding new and qualified people to sell to, people seek you out for your expertise.
Create a competitive advantage
What separates your business from your competition?
Have a clearly defined unique selling proposition.
Invest in yourself
Top entrepreneurs buy and read business and marketing books, magazines, reports, journals, newsletters etc knowing that these resources will improve their understanding of business and marketing functions and skills.
They do this because they know that education is an ongoing process. There are usually ways to do things better, in less time, and with less effort.
Be accessible
Make it easy for people to do business with you. Be able to provide customers with what they want, when they want it.
Build a rock solid reputation
You can't buy a good reputation; it is something you earn by honoring your promises.
Consistency in what you offer is the other key factor. If you cannot come through with the same level of service (and products) for clients on a regular basis, there's no reason to trust you...and without trust you won't have a good reputation.
Sell benefits
Create buying excitement by selling the benefits associated with owning and using your products and services.
Get involved
Go out of your way to get involved in the community that supports your business.
People like to do business with people they know, like and respect, and with people who do things to help them as members of the community.
Grab attention
Every promotional activity you engage in must put money back in your pocket so you can continue to grab more attention and grow your business.
Master the art of negotiation
Mastering the art of negotiation means that your skills are so finely tuned that you can always orchestrate a win-win situation.
Get and stay organized
Establish a routine by which you can accomplish as much as possible in a given work day.
Take time off
Give yourself a backup hour or two. All work and no play makes you burn out very fast.
Limit the number of hats you wear
Know what tasks you are good at and those to delegate to others.
Follow up constantly
The real work begins after the sale.
It's easy to sell one product or service, but it takes work to retain customers and keep them coming back.
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Disclaimer - Misrepresentation of the author's perspective is unintentional. Contents of this post and all other post in the "Summary Attempt" series (and all posts by other authors) are in no way intended to be an infringement on the rights/copyrights of the author/publisher/representative. Neither are they provided as a substitute to the book(s)/resource(s) but an invitation to buy the books wherever they are sold. Liability for this blogpost or any other information (or the use of such information) provided on this blog is not accepted from any source.
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