Entrepreneurs Articles

Young Entrepreneur S On The Rise

(category: Entrepreneurs, Word count: 636)
Share this article on: Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp

I caught up with the new entrepreneur's (Terry and Sherry Braley) this January at a Biker Rally. After talking to some fellow riders they were telling me about Terry and Sherry's new website (Road Rash Apparel) and how low their prices were on their Leather Apparel. So after digging through the crowd I finally met up with them. I introduced myself and we sat down and must have talked for over 2 hours about their new business. Well, they talked. I asked Terry and Sherry why they started their business and WHY! Do you sell your apparel so cheap?

Terry - "Well, we were on the Internet one night looking for some leather jackets and chaps to purchase. We must have searched for three hours looking at what seemed to be every site there was to look at and I couldn't believe the prices of some of them. I know you get what you pay for, but damn? I don't want to pay for the whole cow! "

Sherry -"It seems that all the cheep leather was that "patched leather" or some call it "Diamond Cut leather". We weren't interested in that. Not to say there's anything wrong with it. If that's what you like, then buy it. To each its own."

Terry- "Yeah. I had asked around about what kind of jacket to buy. The majority of the riders I had asked, told me to get one that was made for riding. You know, just in case you lay your bike down. And patched leather wasn't the best way to go.

Anyway, I made the comment that someone needs to start selling this stuff that caters to us poor bikers."

Sherry - "I looked over at Terry and said, "We can do it""

Terry - "A week later I quit my job and started building the website. I did A LOT of research on Leather. Types, thickness of it and where it comes from. I was almost sick of leather after about 3 days. Anyway, we decided we wanted to purchase our leather from an American made manufacturer and I ended up finding a company in Spokane WA that had what we were looking for. They manufacture leather apparel made for bike riders. And its damn good leather. And I'll tell you. What I pay for the jackets and what I sell them for, we don't make a big profit on them".

Now that we've covered those aspects of Biker Shirts, Leather Jackets, Motorcycle Apparel, Boots, Chaps, Vests, Leather Lingerie, let's turn to some of the other factors that need to be considered.

Sherry - "Yea, we're not in it to get rich. Just make a little money and help out our fellow bikers".

Terry - "Since we've went live on the Internet we have sold more T-Shirts than jackets. That's okay. I think when people see our price's they think its cheep leather and stray away from it. But it's Top Quality Leather! You can't find our type jackets on the internet for a better price I think"

Well without going into the whole 2-hour conversation we had. We continued to talk and they told me more about what they sold on their site. T-Shirts, Leather Lingerie, Boots, Chaps, Vests and the list went on. Terry said "right now we sale over 700 types of t-shirts and plan on adding more. By the time we get done, we will have well over 1500. That's a lot of damn shirts"

These were two of the friendliest people I have ever met. Both Terry and Sherry are from Georgia and reside in Douglasville Ga. And you could tell that these were just two people really trying to look out for fellow bikers and our shallow pockets.

Why Be A Rich Jerk When You Can Become Hated But Rich

(category: Entrepreneurs, Word count: 260)
Share this article on: Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp

For the cost of only $2.23 a day for 30 days you will have discovered a whole new way of earning 'real' money. You will become hated for having the knowledge of becoming rich by jealous family and friends.

There are no guarantees in today's economy or the future economy. Many people who are working for other people today will eventually discover (when it's too late) when its time for them to retire, they will not have enough money on which to survive. Imagine discovering that your company pension fund, 401k that you invested faithfully in or 15, 20 even 30 years down the road is not enough for you of which to live off. Once you read our e-book, you will have the keys to success that will help you to earn income even after your retirement years.

Your friends will hold the grudge of hating you for years to come, because while they anticipate receiving their social security and pension checks in the mail or direct deposit, you will be vacationing and enjoying your retirement.

So, if you are thinking about getting a second job just to earn a few extra pennies, tired of working for other people, working just to make ends meet but can't seem to find the ends, now is the time for a change in your life.

This e-book is not just a one time opportunity to make money. The knowledge that you will gain from our e-book is timeless

Empowering Your Manager

(category: Entrepreneurs, Word count: 495)
Share this article on: Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp

"So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work."

- Peter Drucker

Managing is often equated with controls rather than leading and developing a business. The manager feels more comfortable and secure when they are able to put in strict controls on everything that happens in a business organization. This is so especially of Senior Managements where the controls and directing becomes so severe that it erodes any creative freedom for the middle managers to work towards achieving the goals set out for them.

Here are a few simple prescriptions to get the best out of your managers.

Avoid Centralizing Decision Making

This is perhaps one of the best ways to achieve totals control. You feel by centralizing decision making you will be able to avoid wrong decisions. While this may be so to some extent who is to prevent your own wrong decisions. Unless your managers are able to make mistakes and learn from them you will never be able to develop expertise through experience. Centralizing decision making is also the surest method to kill your business growth.

Provide Working Space

The top management often entrust tasks and responsibilities to their subordinate managers. More often than not any specific time frames which are comfortable to achieve the given responsibilities or tasks are discussed. However in their anxiety or aggressiveness and sometimes over enthusiasm you start chasing your subordinate for action and results. If you do it too soon and too often you are severely limited the working space of your managers. They may be spending more time in complying with your commands rather than focusing on operational priorities and important tasks.

If you are not providing sufficient working space for your managers you are surely heading towards disaster as important tasks may be getting neglected to escape from your frequent and aggressive follow ups.

Listen to Your Managers

While experience is an asset it also makes one arrogant and conceited. Sometimes one tends to believe because he is the superior, he always right. The Boss Is Always Right principle looks good only on posters. It doesn't work if you want to build a Professional organization.

Cultivate the ability to listen to the voice of your managers. Most times they know better as they are more familiar with the ground realities. If you decide on their behalf and just issue orders, you will have clerks in the guise of managers as you have killed their initiative.

Don't Get Into the Nitty Gritties

Once broad goals and objectives are set with specific time frames and key results are outlined leave your managers to perform. If you get into too many details and meddle with the execution at every stage, you may be sure to mess up the entire process and ultimately the results.

The key to managing effectively is to empower people across the management structure so that they feel part of the responsibility and ownership.

Believe The Hype Making Millions Online

(category: Entrepreneurs, Word count: 322)
Share this article on: Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp

How much money can you make online? Are there really online millionaires?

Of course there are, but is it reasonable to expect that you can be one of them. Don't let the hype surrounding the emergence of opportunities cause you to lose your common sense. Millionaires are made by effectively assessing the needs of a market and having a product or service that addresses those needs.

The internet can greatly expand your ways to sell products or services. Some people have been able to use this to make a great deal of money. Some companies that operate only on the net have made online millionaires of their founders.

Before the internet there were auctions, but no eBay. With thousands of items sold daily, each one making a profit for eBay, there is no doubt that the founders must be online millionaires.

Before the internet there were bookstores, but no Amazon.com. Amazon is now outdoing traditional bookstores. Don't you wish you were the founder of Amazon?

Online millionaires start with an idea and a belief in themselves. They find a way to set themselves apart from the rest. Like real world millionaires, they often have enough faith in their ideas that they risk their own money and even seek additional funding elsewhere. Once they get started, they make themselves big enough that the other competition does not threaten them.

Online millionaires start early in the game. For example, now that we have eBay, people often forget there are other auctions. The only real competition Amazon has is traditional bookstores that were always there.

If you want to be an online millionaire, think of a need that is still largely unfulfilled. After that, you will probably have to believe in your idea enough to take some financial risks. If it doesn't work, you lose your investment. If it does, you might join the ranks of online millionaires.

Characteristics Of A Successful Entrepreneur

(category: Entrepreneurs, Word count: 418)
Share this article on: Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp

Studies have shown that successful entrepreneurs possess these characteristics:

1. Self-confidence

This is that magical power of having confidence in oneself and in one's powers and abilities.

2. Achievement Oriented

Results are gained by focused and sustained effort. They concentrate on achieving a specific goal, not just accomplishing a string of unrelated tasks.

3. Risk Taker

They realize that there is a chance of loss inherent in achieving their goals, yet they have the confidence necessary to take calculated risks to achieve their goals.

Entrepreneurs are people who will make decisions, take action, and think that they can control their own destinies. They are often motivated by a spirit of independence which leads them to believe that their success depends on raw effort and hard work, not luck.

So which of these three main characteristics is the most important? Believe it or not, it has to be self-confidence. Without self-confidence, nothing else is possible. If you don't believe in your abilities, then the first challenge that arises may knock you off the path to achieving your goals. Here are a few things to keep in mind for maintaining a higher level of self-confidence.

Positive Thinking

Well, it all starts with a positive attitude, doesn't it? Believing that something good will happen is the first step. Negative thinking simply is not allowed. You must truly believe that there are no circumstances strong enough to deter you from reaching your goals. Remember too, that positive thinking can be contagious. When positive thinking spreads, it can open doors to new ideas, customers, friends, etc.

Persistent Action

Now all of the positive thinking and believing in the world is useless if it is not applied towards a goal. You have to take action, no excuses are allowed. This action must also be persistent. Trying once and then giving up is not going to be enough. Keep at it one step at a time. If you can't get by a certain step, then find a creative way to try again or just go around it.

At the beginning of this article we identified a few traits that are common among successful entrepreneurs. You should be able to look ahead and see yourself where you want to be. Now just maintain a strong belief in yourself and your skills, stick with it, and don't give up. If you can do that, you're already half way there!

Your First Quarter Review Are You Awesome Or Average

(category: Entrepreneurs, Word count: 478)
Share this article on: Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp

One fourth of the year is over. How are you doing in meeting your goals? How are you doing compared to your budget? In my last article, I talked about how business systems aren't just for big business. Guess what? Neither are goals and budgets.

Big businesses put tremendous effort into creating detailed budgets and detailed goals each year and checking their progress against them monthly and quarterly. Investors eagerly await the announcement of quarterly earnings and stock prices jump up or down based on the results. They go to all this expense and trouble for only one real reason. It works.

Big businesses very seldom wander from the tried and true. They set goals, budget and compare to their budgets frequently because successful businesses before them did it. I'm not saying that you have to have goals and a budget to be successful, but it sure does increase your chances of success. That's also why you are reading this. To help increase your chances of success. So here's your tip of the week.

If you don't have goals and a budget, stop what you are doing and create them. If you do have goals and a budget, stop and take a look at them. Ask yourself the following questions:

How have you done so far this year?

Are you awesome or average?

What can you tell from your results?

What's working and what's not?

Where could you use some help?

What successes can you leverage?

Now is the time to start looking at what adjustments you need to make to continue your successes or cut your losses. It's also a good time to revise your estimates for the rest of the year. Don't stop at just revising the numbers. Now is the time to revise your action plan too. Where do you need to step up your action and where do you need to cut back? Again look at what's working and what's not. Don't have an action plan? Now would be a good time to create one. Goals and business plans only get you so far. An action plan is what makes your goals and budgets work.

Does this all sound like a lot of work? I'm sure it does, but it is time and effort that will pay itself back tenfold. Knowing where you want to go and then comparing regularly is the only way to assure yourself you'll get to where you want to be. Otherwise you might end up like Alice in Wonderland.

Alice: "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

The Cat: "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to".

Alice: "I don't much care where."

The Cat: "Then it doesn't much matter which way you go."

Customers The Key To Successful Marketing

(category: Entrepreneurs, Word count: 279)
Share this article on: Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp

How well do you know your customers?

What is the primary reason your customers or clients come to you? Or purchase your product or service? What is the Number One problem you solve for them? Do you know? Are you certain? If you don't, your marketing could be missing the mark, and you could be missing out on sales.

Uncovering Your "Key Selling Point"

This is the Single Marketing Message that is the central message in all of your communications about your business, product or service. It can be difficult for small business owners to determine what their single marketing message should be. Why? Because they are too close to their business. And, because they are viewing their business from their side of the desk.

Keeping your marketing customer-focused can be a challenge

Even if we know we should be looking at our business from our customers' perspective, it's often easier said than done. As a result, it is easy to get caught up in all the amazing features of our product or service and the reasons we THINK our clients are attracted or are buying.

But sometimes our vantage point is clouded by our own perceptions and beliefs. And those perceptions and beliefs may be inaccurate. So how do you pinpoint the real reason customers are attracted to your product or service and the true reasons they are choosing to buy?

There is an easy way to stay on track

Very simply, YOU ASK THEM! Okay, I know it seems obvious, but you'd be surprised how often we don't think of the obvious.

Your prospects and customers (and yes, even your rejecters

Hey I Invented That First

(category: Entrepreneurs, Word count: 669)
Share this article on: Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp

The other day I was struck by the "Hey! I invented that!" conniption fit. You know the one I'm talking about. It happens when you're mindlessly watching TV and a commercial pops up marketing THE item you always told your friends, family, and anyone who would listen, was the next big idea and would make you tons of money. And there it is. On TV. Making someone else tons of money.

Or maybe you're the type that gets spastic with the " Psssh! I could make that!" twitch. Whether you have the "I thought of it first" knee-jerks or the "any five year old could do that" spasms, it all boils down to the same coulda-woulda-shoulda disease. The appalling disease of inaction and envy.

Tired of hearing stories of so-and-so selling such-and-such on eBay ("I could do that!") or neighbor Joe making big bucks with his online business ("Didn't I just tell you what a great moneymaking idea that is?")... I took matters into my own hands and plunged into the world of web marketing and online business.

Now there were more than just a few "humps" or misconceptions that I had to climb over (alright, alright, I was dragged over kicking and screaming by the tow-truck of necessity). But here are two major ones:

1) Making a website is hard.

Well, I'm not going to lie to you and say it was peaches and cream, either. It turned out to be rather simple when I realized I didn't need to learn any fancy new programs from the ground up. For real beginners, there are free html editors that you can download from the web; and if you've ever typed a document/essay/paper/letter in your life, you basically understand a textual layout and the things you can do to it. So fine. My first website was not very... attractive. In fact, it was rather boring. However, I had some fine power tools on my belt. I knew how to google.

The thing about the Internet is people like to talk, and they like to give out information for FREE. So I learned just enough html to understand the underlying structure, and I used that helpful little trick of "View>Source" (on simple pages, of course... simple but better looking than mine). I googled any html code abbreviations I didn't understand. And voila - I had a website that looked... downright gaudy. Long story short, I learned the fine art of balancing a little too much with just enough. (Helpful hint: just because you now know how to highlight every other word, doesn't mean you should.) And patting myself on the back over a job well done (at least until I can make enough money to hire pros to make my site uber-wonderful), I then ran into misconception number two.

2) If you build it, they will come.

It took me a while to realize that the only ones who knew of my existence were family, who I bragged to, and my hosting site, who I'm sure will remember me on "invoice day." You can see where I'm going with this next. Ok, I'm not going to re-hash everything you already know about bringing people to your site, nor am I going to preach to you about "conversion rates." Let's just say the bottom line for actually getting your website viewed, is to be creative. There have been hundreds (and will be probably millions) of e-books and the like which show you the sexiest ways to get traffic to your site, down to the simplest method like...hehe...writing an aticle. (dancing emoticon) A lot of good information out there is, again, free. Ultimately marketers want to sell you something, but you would be surprised at the amount of free information on the net that is actually worth something and is more than a baited hook. Poke around, do some research, check out a few forums, download a few e-books (free or paid), and above all get creative!

http://www.webwealthmethods.com

Are You Derailing Your Business With Details

(category: Entrepreneurs, Word count: 627)
Share this article on: Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp

Details can kill your web business. And I'm not talking about details killing your business from the standpoint of being careless about them. While it's true that being careless can hurt your business, everybody knows that (even if they don't always put it into practice).

The way I'm talking about that details can kill your business is if you focus too much on them.

Say what?

How on earth can focusing too much on details hurt your business?

Ever tried to walk on a railroad track?

When I was a kid, my aunt and uncle had a house right next to a railroad track. My uncle once challenged me to walk on the track without falling off.

Hey, it's not like walking a tightrope. That track was as wide as my feet. Should be no problem. So I started walking it, carefully watching my feet with each step to make sure I stayed on the track. But I couldn't get more than a couple of steps before I'd lose my balance and fall off.

My uncle taught me that the only way to walk that track successfully was to look at a point a ways down the track - not down at my feet. By setting a goal and focusing on it, I could walk on that track as easily as if I was walking right on the ground. It was only when I focused on my feet that I tripped up.

It works that way with business, too. Our natural reaction is to put all our attention into "watching our feet" as we deal with this short-term detail and that. But when we do that, we "fall off the track" of where we wanted to go.

Now, I'm not saying that we should ignore the details of our business as we gaze wistfully toward our vision of the knock-out business we dream of building. You never get anywhere without taking step after step after step to reach your goal. But you never get anywhere, either, if all you look at is the present step.

The point in the distance that you need to focus on is the need your audience has and the solution you have that will fill it. It requires you to understand your audience - who they are and what they need and what concerns stand in the way of them choosing your solution.

It's way too easy for us to focus on details, namely, on the latest traffic building tips or tools, the latest bells and whistles we can add to our site. Details are usually driven by facts, and facts are something we feel we can learn and control. Understanding the people who make up our pool of potential customers is a lot more scary. It requires us to step outside ourselves into the hearts and minds of other people.

Given the choice between dealing with predictable facts and details or dealing with unpredictable human nature, most of us will jump at dealing with facts any time.

But that just gets us stuck staring at our own feet as our feet inexplicably slip off the track. The only way to stay on track is by looking toward your ultimate goal: you helping people solve some problem in return for them repaying you fairly for the time and effort you put into it.

That's really the most simple definition of what business is. The details are not your business. The facts and the tips and the tools are not your business either. They're merely the steps you take to get to that point in the distance. And the more you take that to heart, the more easily you'll stay on the track toward your goal.

Reload this page to get new content randomly.

More Categories

Time-Management | Loans | Credit | Weather | Finance | Weddings | Trucks-Suvs | Home-Family | Cars | Self-Improvement | Reference-Education | Insurance | Vehicles | Mortgage | Home-Improvement | Gardening | Society | Parenting | Debt-Consolidation | Womens-Issues | Relationships | Acne | Interior-Design | Nutrition | Fashion | Baby | Legal | Religion | Fishing | Clothing | Holidays | Product-Reviews | Personal-Finance | Auctions | Communications | Misc | Supplements | Marriage | Currency-Trading | Politics | Goal-Setting | Taxes | Ecommerce | Movie-Reviews | Recipes | Traffic-Generation | College | Cooking | Computer-Certification | Success | Motivation | Depression | Stress-Management | Site-Promotion | Outdoors | Home-Security | Book-Reviews | History | Entrepreneurs | Hair-Loss | Yoga | Consumer-Electronics | Stock-Market | Email-Marketing | Article-Writing | Ppc-Advertising | Science | K12-Education | Crafts | Environmental | Elderly-Care | Fitness-Equipment | Cruises | Coaching | Domains | Spirituality | Mens-Issues | Happiness | Leadership | Customer-Service | Inspirational | Diabetes | Attraction | Security | Copywriting | Language | Data-Recovery | Muscle-Building | Aviation | Motorcycles | Coffee | Landscaping | Homeschooling | Ebooks | Cardio | Psychology | Celebrities | Pregnancy | Ebay | Mesothelioma | Extreme | Ezine-Marketing | Digital-Products | Fundraising | Martial-Arts | Boating | Divorce | Book-Marketing | Commentary | Current-Events | Credit-Cards | Public-Speaking | Hunting | Debt | Financial | Coin-Collecting | Family-Budget | Meditation | Biking | Rss | Music-Reviews | Organizing | Breast-Cancer | Creativity | Spam | Podcasts | Google-Adsense | Forums | Ethics | Buying-Paintings | Gourmet | Auto-Sound-systems | After-School-Activities | Adsense | Dieting | Education | Dance | Cigars | Astronomy | Cats | Diamonds | Autoresponders | Disneyland | Carpet | Bbqs | Dental | Criminology | Craigslist | Atv | Excavation-Equipment | Buying-A-boat | Auto-Responders | Auto-Navigation-Systems | Autism-Articles | Atkins-Diet | Aspen-Nightlife | Fruit-Trees | Credit-Card-Debt | Creating-An-Online-Business | Breast-Feeding | Contact-Lenses | Computer-Games-systems | Colon-Cleanse | College-Scholarship | Golden-Retriever | Anger-Management | American-History | Bluetooth-Technology | Alternative-Energy | Closet-Organizers | Elliptical-Trainers | Electric-Cars | Black-History | Air-Purifiers | Diesel-Vs-Gasoline-Vehicles | Christmas-Shopping | Choosing-The-Right-Golf-Clubs | Dental-Assistant | Decorating-For-Christmas | Beach-Vacations | Cd-Duplication | Bathroom-Remodeling | Bargain-Hunting | Candle-Making | Backyard-Activities | Auto-Leasing | Skin-Cancer | Recreational-Vehicle | Mutual-Funds | Boats | Leasing | Innovation | Philosophy | Grief | Colon-Cancer | Prostate-Cancer | Dating-Women | Audio-Video-Streaming | Forex | Digital-Camera | Cell-Phone | Car-Stereo | Car-Rental | Running | Sociology | Multiple-Sclerosis | Leukemia | Dogs | Ovarian-Cancer