I have been a founder for over 5 years and have successfully
started five companies. I have also tried to start other businesses that do not
land.
Many people boast about their success but I have found that
failure is the best teacher. What did my previous failure teach me? If you takebusiness knowledge from around the world and learn from it, you will end up
with the two most important characteristics of two successful entrepreneurs.
Essential Features # 1: Passion
Get up and get into your business before any of your
employees arrive. Everyone has to work long hours after the rest. Going to the
weekend lost track of it any day of the week. Mortgage a house to raise small
business capital, then rebuild it when you want to expand.
What does a person have to take that kind of risk and put in
such hours? Passion.
Passion is an intense emotion that creates desire and
enthusiasm, and it is one of the most important entrepreneurial qualities to start a small business. Passion is something
that drove me to my early start. I was passionately looking to do my own
business and own one. It doesn't even matter what kind of business it was or
what kind of problems it came up with. I did my corporate job during the day,
but I studied all kinds of business at night and tried many business ventures
on evenings and weekends. I wanted to do business so badly for me than almost
anything I could do was to clear sewer drains, paint lines on parking lots,
anything it didn't work.
But planning and dreaming are just one area where passion is
important. Once you make the leap of faith, the passion is that you have to
work hard when the work gets tough.
Once I quit my day job, my emotions forced me to work when I
was cold, blurry-eyed, broken, and alone and without direction. It was my
passion to succeed that forced me to keep going and to push myself when others
would probably say goodbye.
Unlike many entrepreneurs, I wasn't initially interested in
the product and service I was offering. I was, of course, about failing, being
in business, and being successful one day. And, my passion for succeeding was
so intense that it eventually spilled over into my original work, and in the
end, I became passionate about the product and service I was offering.
My passion was never about money. I've always had it, I knew
how to get it and I almost always gave it away or spent it on someone else. My
passion was always about being successful, living my life on my terms and doing
something worthwhile.
In fact, after I spent a few years doing business for
myself, I realized that the product and service I was really passionate about
helped other small business owners succeed. After all, the customer segment I
knew best was that small business owner who wanted to be a fan, and so I
developed products like full-service payroll to help them realize their
aspirations.
So passion is the most important trait an entrepreneur will
go through in the early stages. However, once your startup business starts to
steam up, it's your communication skills that will take your business to great
heights.
Essential Features # 2: Communication Skills
Good communication skills are a very important skill for
business growth. Emotions force you to work harder, but if you want to infect
others with your emotions, motivate yourself to back down, or persuade them
that your product is bigger than everything else, you can communicate.
Do you want people to hear from you, or make them fall
asleep while you talk? Do you run too quiet, shy and mean nothing? Do you
realize that you can talk enough? Can you speak in front of an audience if
needed?
The good news is that you don't have to be a TV talk-show
host. The bad news is that you can’t be a rat in the corner. You have to be in
the middle of nowhere, not be rude to talk, not be so arrogant that you can’t
hear or hear, be prepared to give a pleasant smile and most of all, really.
If you are a good communicator, the odds of successfully
running your business will increase. And remember, there are many ways to
contact you.
For my part, I am a bit more introverted than an extrovert,
but I can "put myself out there" in front of people when I need them.
In my early days, I used to die in public speaking. But I had to overcome these
fears by talking about my emotions in 60 to 70 business meetings. Now, it's
easier for me to speak in public. So if you are asked to talk to people, say
"yes" to the invitation. It may be painful for you, but the long-term
benefits outweigh the pain.
How are your writing skills? Can you write a letter? Can you
spell (or at least use a spell-check on the computer)? Can you write a
newsletter to your subscribers? Is your writing interesting and engaging? Do
you need to be as smart as you are in your field? Can you talk about accounting
issues and car parts in a single paragraph if needed?
Even if you are not a skilled writer, keep in mind that your
writing can be practiced over time. In my case, an English teacher in my
twelfth grade asked me, "Mike, what do you take for college?" When I called
him "engineering," he said, "It's a great choice because you
don't write much." What he is really telling me is that you are a
playwright!
What he says is true. So I went to engineering school, and
in four years I only had to take a technical writing class. However, even
though I hated writing, my professor Kai Hor taught me how to write. And eight
or nine years later, at my inception, I was forced to write a 20-page weekly
newsletter for my subscribers every week for eight years!
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Essential things for a small business owner - Tip of the Year
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