Posts Tagged entrepreneur
Podcast: Entrepreneurs can save America
In this episode, we discuss the power of entrepreneurship as the answer to our economic and political woes. It is the answer to keeping the American Dream alive, creating jobs, bringing financial stability, and bringing America back to its roots!
Listen up and let us know your thoughts by commenting below…
Passion is more important than Genius
Posted by Billy in Business Theory & Strategy, Trends & Ideas on May 10, 2010
Malcolm Gladwell shares his thoughts on the importance of passion and attitude in regard to business success. Do something you are passionate about!!!
Myth: Entrepreneurs like risk… Fact: NO!!
Posted by Billy in Trends & Ideas on May 3, 2010
A common thought used when describing the entrepreneurial life is “entrepreneurs like to take risks”. Well, my friend, the fact is that NO ONE LIKES RISK. Why would they? The reason some are willing to deal with risk is in hopes of greater reward. It is the reward they like, not the risk. Now, the risk may bring a level of exhilaration but ultimately that energy is experienced upon success, not failure.
So how could they trade security for risk, isn’t that gambling? The said truth is if you are asking this question, you are likely blind to the fact that they aren’t. In fact, entrepreneurs often have more security than a regular wage earner. I mean, think about it. If the company you work for is struggling, who gets fired first, you or the owner? Now don’t mix this up with any publicly traded behemoth who has a board and such with high CEO turnover. The CEO isn’t the owner anyway, its the shareholder. The owner holds the cards!! They will always be the last to go, obviously. Typically, the choice for entrepreneurship is simply a choice or exchange of differing risks, not risk v. security. This doesn’t mean everyone should start their own gig, many shouldn’t nor have the desire to. It is, however, a reminder that risk exists even within the big company.
Everyone has job security when times are hot, and that is when no one needs it. Its when struggle comes that we rely on our security and this is exactly when the behemoth has to cut back (as does the small guy). When you actually need the security is when you lose it! Employee or employer, we all need to heed that point. As Daniel Isenberg over at HBR said in a recent article discussing a list of questions you should ask yourself:
“I like to take risks” is not on the list. People don’t choose to be entrepreneurs by opting for a riskier lifestyle. What they do, instead, is reframe the salary vs. entrepreneur choice as between two different sets of risk: the things they don’t like about having a steady job — such as the risk of boredom, working for a bad boss, lack of autonomy, lack of control over your fate, and getting laid off — and the things they fear about being an entrepreneur — possible failure, financial uncertainty, shame or embarrassment, and lost investment. In the end, people who are meant to be entrepreneurs believe that their own abilities (e.g. leadership, resourcefulness, pluck, hard work) or assets (e.g. money, intellectual property, information, access to customers) significantly mitigate the risks of entrepreneurship. Risk is ultimately a personal assessment: what is risky for me is not risky for you.
So… do you want to be an entrepreneur? How do the risks line up for you?
The New DIY, Community Enterprise: “Atoms are the New Bits”
Posted by Billy in Business Theory & Strategy, Entrepreneurship on January 25, 2010
Well, Chris Anderson over at WIRED just published yet another article that is sure to get its fair share of praise. I’m sure it will gain a following and eventually be another book, following up “Free” and “The Long Tail“, both of which essentially started as articles in the mag. I will start by saying I’m a fan of Chris and his work. Those two books are some of my favorite business-ish books. Well, on to the article. This latest incarnation of thought is titled “The New Industrial Revolution” as it is emblazoned on the cover of the February 2010 issue, or “Atoms are the New Bits” as titled within (I don’t know what they want it called). The line of thought in this piece can be seen not only in Chris’s previous works but many strains of it can be seen throughout WIRED over the past few years. One of the key points that I’d like to highlight regards community & open-source development.
As seen in both Free and The Long Tail, community and open-source are the future of industry, advancement, and entrepreneurship. Even large, blue chips are taking part to some degree. Take Microsoft’s decisions to open beta-test its latest Windows and Office packages as an example. Other companies are entirely based on these community participation models. This free or near-free participation and approach has been tested, and proven, with the web and the constant content generation found there. Now, as can be interpolated from the article title, the open-source and open availability of these digital bits is being translated into near-free atoms! Actual physical products and goods are the next step to prove the concept of opensource. As we translate all the content, development, and innovation of the web into physical products, entrepreneurial opportunity will explode and prices, competition, and innovation will accelerate at levels unseen. Now, resistance will obviously occur, but pressing forward will yield tremendous return. Threadless is one company that is a common example of this opensource bits-to-atoms process, and a good one at that. They have demonstrated the win-win possibilities of the model in creating not only more unique, high-quality products but at reasonable prices with low-overhead, high profit business returns. This is only the beginning, of course, as Chris introduces us to much more complex possibilities than t-shirts.
Take Local Motors as an example that he mentions. They have actually begun production on a car that was designed and voted on by a community, in fashion of Threadless’ t-shirts. It will be built mostly using “after-market” parts and assembled individually as orders come in. Interestingly, Local Motors follows a model described in another WIRED article found back in June here. Currently Local Motors is coming out as a niche company, giving little competition to the major car conglomerates but that will likely change as Local Motors develops or others come into the game. This is only the beginning! Local’s design-to-market turn around is a distant dream to any detroit competition. As Chris states:
the company says it can take a new vehicle from sketch to market in 18 months, about the time it takes Detroit to change the specs on some door trim.
Even better is the open availability of the design plans under creative commons license. This allows components, add-ons, mods, and more to be created by anybody, unveiling countless other business possibilities. This is just one example of companies taking technology, community, and open-source to the world of physical products, to “atoms”. Many other examples may not scale like Local Motors nor have the desire to do so. The fact is many small entrepreneurial ventures, with today’s technology and tools, have the opportunity to compete with the behemoths or simply fill niches that are untouchable by them. It is a beautiful thing to behold. And we aren’t talking about the digital realm here. This is manufacturing, production, products, this is atoms! With simple tools such as 3D printers (for less than a grand), access to custom limited-run manufacturing at remarkably affordable prices (thanks again internet), and open community feedback, the opportunity pool is much deeper than it used to be! Even nuclear power is being approached with this technique as I discussed here regarding yet another WIRED article. Like I said, this theme can be seen throughout their articles over the last while.
So what does all this mean for the entrepreneur? Well, if you haven’t picked it up already, its all about endless opportunity and open, community development of ideas! With that in mind, what do you think? Any other great examples of similar business models in use? Let me know!!
“The Netiquette of Twitter: Social Media Do’s and Don’ts” from EntrepreneurMag
Posted by Billy in Technology on December 4, 2009
Entrepreneur Mag for December includes an article here that helps put Twitter into perspective a bit more and gives “The netiquette of Twitter.”
From the Article:
“Twitter is about reaching the right people at the right time,” says Becky McCray, a longtime Twitter user and advocate who operates her own cattle ranch and liquor store as well as a website, SmallBizSurvival.com., in Oklahoma’s Woods County. “But you have to think carefully about what messages you want to communicate.” Here are some recommendations for what to do–and what not to do–on Twitter.
• Listen before speaking. “When you sign up and start reaching out to folks, listen to them before joining the conversation,” McCray says. “What are their customers talking about? Who are they listening to, and what can I learn from them? When you feel it’s time to tweet some messages, share things you find interesting–share things you wish other people would share.”
• Don’t be boring. “Make sure your tweet is interesting to the reader–be unselfish, and be useful,” says Laura Fitton, co-author of the book Twitter for Dummies and founder of the Twitter application storefront oneforty.com. Short, direct messages work best, especially given Twitter’s 140-character limit. Talk about what your business is doing–e.g., new products, services or promotions, or anything else likely to pique the curiosity of your clientele.
• Consider the source. “The beauty of Twitter is that tweets with value are almost instantly recognized,” says John Battelle, founder, chairman and CEO of Federated Media Publishing. “Does it come from somebody who’s been on Twitter for a month, or for a year? Someone with 10 followers, or 10,000 followers? Did that tweet get picked up and re-tweeted? You can tell a lot about the value of a tweet by those metrics.”
• Update daily. Give your customers a reason to follow and return to your Twitter feed. Download a mobile client to your smartphone to facilitate regular updates while on the go–some of the most popular include Twitterific, TwitterBerry, PocketTweets and Twidroid.
• Embrace Twitter applications. Don’t wait for followers to find you–identify and connect with local Twitter users via services such as Twitter Advanced Search, ChirpCity, Nearby Tweets and Tweepz. Other Twitter apps of value: SocialOomph (for scheduling tweets, tracking keywords and sending direct messages), CalTweet (for tagging, promoting and sharing upcoming business events) and Twitalyzer (for measuring the impact and influence of your tweets).
“Twitter is a tool that’s incredibly powerful,” McCray says. “What makes it powerful is the fact that it can be used in so many different ways.”
Well, there you have it straight from Entrepreneur. One day, we will all figure out Twitter and maybe, just maybe, Twitter will figure out itself!
The Myth of Job Security
Posted by Billy in Business Theory & Strategy, Entrepreneurship on November 10, 2009
In an economy such as this, I may be beating a dead horse in discussing job security but for those who hang on to certain notions of this myth, my goal is to rewire thinking. The millenial generation (we’ll call them genYers) is developing far different thought processes than their baby boomer parents and older generations. During the first half of the 20th century, the key to the good life was putting in 30+ years at a company and retiring with the gold watch and a pension. As Donna Fenn puts it in her book “Upstarts”, entrepreneurship was compared to hocking watches on a street corner, essentially, looked down upon. One of the biggest arguments put forth is regarding job security. Ideas such as “better safe than sorry” permeate the discussions. A big strong company will take care of you and the whims of the market can’t take down the big boys like they can a small business. Being self employed is dangerous and risky. As the market has marched on, the truth has been quite different. Not that the small businesses are surviving any more than others but simply that the big boys can and do fail, leaving many unemployed. Even if complete failure isn’t the issue, cutbacks and downsizing lead equally to lost jobs. What I find very interesting is the fact that job security is basically lost when it is needed most. You might work for a large company for years with all this great security. Suddenly, the economy takes a turn for the worst and the word at the water cooler is big downsizing and your position is on the chopping block! The fact is, when you actually had job security is when everyone is doing well, including the small “risky” business.
Entrepreneurs have True Job Security
Job security ultimately is found Read the rest of this entry »
Do less, make more: The Power of Focus (still works)
Posted by Billy in Business Theory & Strategy on September 12, 2009
This is definitely an old concept that you will find in all the best business and self-help books. Nearly every consultant will speak of focus as well and there is reason it has stood the tests of time. Often, we find ourselves in conflict with our willingness to perform any service or provide any product a potential client can imagine. Especially in it’s earliest stages, business tends to go “where the money is.” This typically leads to a lot of additional work with little additional reward, not justifying the investment (time, etc.). The idea of focus, especially in early development is crucial.
A recent discussion with a business associate and friend reminded me of the importance of focus. When you find yourself too busy, working late and wanting more, you may have a focus problem. A coach told my associate to look at the list of products and services he had written up on a board and went through a series of questions. Anyone should do a similar exercise: Create a list of all your products or services and ask yourself these questions. Which ONE offering makes the most economic sense? Which ONE of any would you want to do most? Which ONE offers the most potential? Now, take that service and FOCUS! Make that your primary service. Don’t waste much time on others, maybe a few auxiliary services and products but with little focus on these. As a new company, identify your bread and butter and make it the best bread and butter you’ve ever tasted. Now sell that bread and butter to everyone since its the best they’ll taste too. Later, once systems are developed, processes formed, pipelines automated, then you can look at the fringe, the extras, the additional pursuits.
Think about your endeavor and reassess your focus.
The “Selfless-ness” of Entrepreneurship
Posted by Billy in Business Theory & Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Featured on September 10, 2009
I have posted from time to time of inventions or ideas that I find interesting, new innovations, technologies, and more. I often make the comment that it is entrepreneur-ism at work, or that I hope they make a bunch of money, etc. Many may consider me a “greedy capitalist” at times for my hope of f0r-profit enterprising versus strictly altruistic giving of one’s talents. My reasons, once pondered and understood, are often much more ‘giving’ than many may give credit to.
The free market plays important roles ethically and morally as well as economically and for advancement or progression. It can be a gauge of one’s effectiveness, of one’s desirability. As a dipstick, profit can be most valuable, telling you what society wants or doesn’t want, what a market needs or doesn’t need, and even simply your own inability or ability as an entrepreneur. This is not necessarily a bad thing, simply an indicator, even to let you know you still have something to learn. These indicators are not only valid in seeing viable financial success but actual desired assistance. The marketplace need is a cry for help, a wanting for something better. It may not always be so dramatic such as finally gaining back the two feet of floor space by going for a flat panel TV over your ancient tube set, but the cry still exists. Oftentimes people decide there must be a trade between satisfying the cry for help and making money when, in reality, they work best when together. Many treat the desire to make money as a desire to exploit, abuse, and hurt those around them when they are polar opposites. If I am not satisfying the need, no one will be willing to pay money for it in the free market. If people are paying for it freely, they must want it and it satisfies the cry. One can align areas of passion and satisfaction with financial success.
This leads us to the next powerful point. Read the rest of this entry »
Small-Business Owner or Entrepreneur?
Posted by Billy in Business Theory & Strategy, Entrepreneurship on August 26, 2009
I recently read a post by Kelly Spors of “Independent Street”, a WSJ Blog regarding the difference between small business owners and entrepreneurs. It is interesting as they are often treated as virtually synonymous terms when, in reality, their a some key distinctions. There are some valuable reasons to understanding these distinctions. First, and likely most importantly, you can decide which you are in order to more fully achieve your desired end versus being clouded by misinterpreted information and tips meant for the other type. Second, this provides a better clarity for consultants, coaches, other entrepreneurs and business owners, in suggesting direction and measuring results. Economically speaking, these two types have a different effect on growth, job creation, stability, etc.
The post refers to this as the key distinction:
entrepreneurs are those people who generate new revolutionary ideas, bringing them to the marketplace. Their ideas are innovative, making our society more efficient and often helping spur the U.S. economy by evolving into high-growth firms.
Once these dynamic “entrepreneurs” create one idea, they often move onto the next.
Small-business owners, by contrast, start a business and once they grow it big enough to support themselves and their families, they have no intentions of growing this much more.
From a research standpoint, this distinction will provide for more effective and applicable findings as their influence upon society differs. As for influential advice, this distinction will allow the individual to seek information regarding their specific desires (i.e. growing a stable small business vs. exploding multiple ventures one after another). As Kelly poses the question, so will I, with my own twist of course:
Do you want to be an entrepreneur or small business owner?
I tend to cater to both, especially the newly formed small business as they follow similar paths in the beginning…
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