This is a guest post by Anton Bell.

When I started out as a real estate investor at twenty-one, I had no money and even worse, no direction. I was armed only with my youthful energy. 

I quickly discovered that this was pure naiveté and I needed more than just the will to succeed in order to actually succeed. Many wiser and wealthier men before me had failed at this endeavor and the most successful one’s had taken years to achieve any success.

This is when I found the shortcut to success, and that is a great mentor.

Finding the Right Mentor

Regardless of the industry that you are in, you can find a mentor for yourself and speed up your path to success as well. It’s truly as simple as putting yourself in the right place and showing that you can be of benefit to that mentor.

When I decided to locate a mentor in my field of real estate investing, I devised a strategy that worked beautifully and would suggest that other young entrepreneurs emulate it as well.

At first, I visited every real estate related event and real estate club in my area in order to try to get an idea of who the real players were in the market. This is a crucial element because you want to only work with the true players; otherwise you will seriously be wasting your time. You’re not trying to learn theory; you want to deal with the guys that are actually making money in your niche.

Aside from allowing you to become familiar with the industry leaders, showing up at all industry events has an ancillary benefit as well. It allows the industry leaders to become familiar with you. You will start to become a regular character at these events and the pros will eventually recognize your face and associate you with the industry.

How to Approach Your Prospective Mentor

Once you have made yourself a bit known, it’s a good idea to do a little bit of `kissing up’. Look, I know that no one likes to do this sort of thing but the benefits will certainly pay off. Everyone has a bit of an ego, and playing into that can get you quite far. You just can’t be too obvious with it. Try something simple like a compliment with a question.

For Example:
“How were you ever able to sell those three houses that fast? That’s amazing!” Whatever you say, don’t come off as a phony. If you sound sincere, you will reap a positive result. In addition, you may get some great feedback as well in the process. With that being said, some individuals are not very receptive, and can be even cold (rare but it happens). In these cases, don’t be disheartened! Simply move on to the next potential mentor.

The Crucial Follow-Up Step

Now that the initial contact has been made, you can move on to the next step, “the follow up”. I have had the most success with a follow up that is done two days later. Many people will tell you to follow up with a phone call, and that is the worst mistake that you could ever make. It will instantly position you as a pain in the butt.

You need to position yourself in a positive light. In my opinion, food is always a good, inexpensive hit at any office. You can stop by their place of business with donuts or even a pizza for the whole office. Again, you don’t want to bother the potential mentor either. Simply leave your name and information with the person at the desk, and explain that you don’t want to bother them but you just wanted to thank them for whatever information you received from them at the xyz meeting yesterday.

Even better if the potential mentor comes out to speak with you, but it’s not necessary because you have now made yourself known to everyone in their office as a positive visitor. They will look forward to your visits and put your calls through when it’s necessary.

How to Close the Deal with Your Mentor

The final step seals the deal. In order for this to work, you must truly be a hard worker with real value. You need to actually do something for the mentor. Too many people just expect to be helped for free without offering anything in return.

Just because someone is successful doesn’t mean that they have to help you. In my case, I had spent an entire weekend driving through neighborhoods, filing a notebook with the addresses of junk houses.

On Monday morning, I contacted my potential mentor with a question. Of course, his secretary put me directly through to him. I started my conversation like this:

“Hey Steve, this is Anton from the Chicago Real Estate Club…I have a quick question for you. I’ve spent the whole weekend working hard and I’ve been able to gather up 75 leads. The only problem is that I don’t know what to do from here.”

Well, I’m sure that you can guess what happened next. He told me to come down to his office immediately because I was providing him with something of value. Because he was the best in the industry, he knew that he could turn those leads into real money.

The Value of Having a Mentor

I was just a newbie and didn’t know what to do from there, so we decided to split the profits 50/50 and I made much more money than if I tried to do it alone. I also learned quite a bit along the way for future deals.

We were able to buy and sell a few of those junk houses and start up a nice long lasting relationship. What you must take from this story is that the best mentor can be found when you offer up true value to an industry expert. Just telling them that you have energy is not enough to get help. You need to prove yourself to them first, and the success will follow.

About the author:
Anton Bell is a 29 year old real estate investor in the South Florida area. He also has an extensive knowledge on web development, build own website and internet marketing.

Photo by laughlin

When you work for yourself, as a business owner, entrepreneur, or freelancer, you are often consumed with earning a living because you have a mortgage to pay and mouths to feed – the pay check doesn’t automatically come in every two weeks – so it is easy to lose sight of some of things that really matter.

The things which make you a better YOU. You have to create ways to stand out from the crowd.

Here are three tips to ensure that you experience a more successful and complete life:

1.  Family Comes First

A solid support network is critical to success, and where better to get this support than from your family. When starting or building a business, it’s often tough, but your family has to come first. Yes, there are times when you have to forego long periods of time with your family to work on a deal, or whatever, but if that’s not your normal behavior your family will understand. To ensure that kind of support and understanding, and not be perceived as emotionally distant, here are a few simple things to do.

• Find ways to involve your family in your business. It could be as simple as having your children do some photocopying for you.
• Eat one meal every day with your family.
• Once a week have a date night with your spouse.
• Keep one calendar for both work and life and have it accessible to your family, and try to involve them in the scheduling process.
• Take a day to explore your city with the family to see it through the eyes of a tourist, just as a fun thing to do.

When your work and life are integrated, you can focus on your work when you need to because your life is more harmonious. A family that does things together stays together.

2.  Take an Adventure in Learning

The world is moving too quickly for you not to keep up. If you have fallen behind, you have to get up-to-speed, as well as do what it takes to stay on top of things.

With online and mobile technologies, it’s much easier these days to keep up with the constant learning that’s required for success. And to be better, you have to carve out your niche, and offer a unique service, which is much easier if your learning is diverse. Many times the issues that you are grappling with in your business, has already been solved in other industries.

Here are some easy ways to take an adventure in learning:

• Once or twice a week, read some articles at MagPortal.com, How Stuff Works and AskNature.org. You will be astonished by what you learn, and there may be times when you can involve your family in the process. Imagine how good you will feel and how smart you will appear to your children, when they ask a question and you introduce them to How Stuff Works and AskNature.org, and the family embarks on a learning journey together.

• Once a week listen to a presentation at TED.com, the place where you are introduced to great ideas.

• Subscribe and listen to podcasts at iTunes that are related to what you do.

• Subscribe to executive book summaries to keep on top of new thinking. Soundview Executive Book Summaries and getAbstract are two options among many.

• Get a couple of courses that you and your family can learn and enjoy together from The Great Courses.

• YouTube University gives you access to free courses from some of the top universities in the US.

• Access and read books that are in the public domain at Project Gutenberg and Archive.org.

• The Great Books Foundation (http://www.greatbooks.org/), The School of Thinking, and The Center for the Study of Great Ideas are great places to hang out.

These learning options may be very different from what you expect, but to be unique, you have to distinguish yourself from the rest, and these are ways in which you can do so. You do not have to try everything at once, find one or two that resonates with you that you will stick to. The idea is to expand your knowledge base, and the best way is to just get started.

Now you may be wondering where you will find the time to consume all this new information, in an already over-scheduled day. Use the times you spend waiting at the check-out, at the doctor’s office, at the airport, and during commute.

And learn how to speed read, which is now easier than ever with RSVPs (Rapid Visual Serial Presentation), which are file extensions you add to your browser toolbars. You simply highlight the text you want to read and click the RSVP icon, or you copy and paste the text into the reader, and the text flashes across the screen and you read the words. Many of the RSVPs allow you to customize how many words you’d like to flash at once, and the speed per minute you’d like them to flash. This is an innovation that makes a huge difference for people who are dyslexic because the words flash in the correct order. Two good options are Reasy and Spreeder.

3.  Keep Opportunities Rolling In

When the economy contracts, why do some businesses thrive while others languish? Why is it that some of the most successful businesses today were started during a recession?

They capitalized on opportunities!

One of the best ways to get opportunities flowing in your direction is to build and nurture your relationships.

• Where do your clients and customers hang out? Go there and be of service.
• What kinds of things are you interested in? Find people with similar likes and spend time with them.

The more you show up, and are actively involved, the more you create the space for opportunities to constantly present themselves, because you are top-of-mind to many individuals. A strong network is one of the keys to success.

Life doesn’t guarantee you instant and constant success, but by following these three tips, and going down the path less traveled, you will increase your chances for success.

Avil Beckford is the published author of Tales of People Who Get It and its companion workbook Journey to Getting It. She is also Chief Invisible Mentor and blogs at The Invisible Mentor.

Photo by african_fi

This is a guest post from Hulbert Lee

Let’s face it. We live in a society that’s run by capitalism.

If you’re in business, everyone can be seen as a competitor. The ones who have a cold, determined attitude to do whatever it takes to get to the top of their business are also often the people who are highly praised.

High rating TV shows like The Apprentice often teach us that in order to get a job, you have to be willing to out compete others and that there is no room for “nice” or you will be booted. But in my opinion, being nice has more long-term potential to help you in business.

3 Reasons Being Nice Is Better for Business

Here are the reasons I believe we should be nice:

1. Positive Impressions are Contagious

Every time you make a positive action towards others, whether it’s smiling, saying hello, or laughing at someone’s joke, you are spreading positive energy to them. They will hold in this positive energy when they receive it and potentially spread it towards others, making themselves feel better.

Even if people are having a bad day, they will remember back in their day, reminding themselves that there was at least one person who was nice to them and will remember you for it. Not only does it help them prosper, but one day they may return the favor to you.

2. You Never Know Who They Are

You never know who you will run into when you’re nice. I remember a story of Tony Robbins in his book Unlimited Power where he’s in New York. He walks and sits down on a bench in Central Park to see what’s going on.

He notices a man that sits across from him. He starts to do what the man does. When the man throws bread crumbs to the birds, he throws bread crumbs to the birds. When the man sways back and forth, he sways back and forth. When the man looks up, he looks up.

Soon the man walks up to Tony Robbins and starts to talk to him. They engage in friendly conversation together. The guy tells Tony that he feels that he has known him better in that moment than the people he’s known for twenty-five years. He then offers Tony a job. You never know who you will bump into in life that will hand you an opportunity after a friendly chat.

3. People Change Over Time

People change. A person that you are nice to now may turn out to be totally different from who they are today. What I’m getting at here is that we should be nice to people regardless of their status. They may not be the wealthiest person on earth, but you should still be nice to them anyway.

One day when they become a successful person, they will look back and think of those people who helped them become successful. One of those few people could be you and you never know what kind of help they might be able to offer back to you.

Take the High Road and Be Nice

Being nice is something that we should embrace, not just because we want something out of it, but because it just makes us a more fulfilled person inside.

If you consistently portray a nice personality, people are going to remember you for it, especially in a very competitive world. It’s hard to get past that initial fear of lending your hand out there, but if you’re willing to do so, not only will you be able to feel happier, but you’ll influence others in a positive way in which they may one day lend a hand back to you.

Like Jay Leno says, “Life is not that hard. Try giving a little. You would be surprised at how much you get back.”

This has been a guest post from Hulbert Lee. He writes about personal development and success at his blog, FromBottomUp. If you haven’t had a chance already, make sure you follow him Twitter or subscribe to his RSS feed to get his blog updates.

Photo by ZoofyTheJi

Suppose you love baking pies and you’re really good at it. People are always saying that your pies are the best in town and that you should go into business for yourself.

One day you get bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and you decide to open a pie-baking business as a solo-entrepreneur.   Once your small business is up and running you concentrate the bulk of your efforts on doing what you love: baking pies.

However, you let other vital aspects of your business fall by the wayside: soon, you’re having cash flow problems, you’re working around the clock baking pies since you don’t have any adequate systems in place, and you’re worried because you don’t have a solid marketing strategy. Despite all of your pie-baking skills and your hard work and sacrifice, your small business is fledging.

The scenario described above is what Michael E. Gerber, author of the bestseller The E-Myth Revisited, calls the entrepreneurial myth.  The myth most new entrepreneurs buy into is that the way to beat the dismal odds of succeeding when you start a new business is simply through hard work and perseverance.

So, if it’s not just about skill and hard work, what does it take to make your small business succeed?

Build a Business, Not a Job

Gerber points out that most small businesses are started by “technicians”; a technician can be a plumber, a lawyer, a computer programmer, and so on. When these technicians decide to leave the company in which they work and strike out on their own, they have a tendency to continue concentrating on the work they’re skilled at and ignore the “business aspect” of their new enterprise.

That is, they basically create a job for themselves instead of really creating an actual small business.

The solution, says Gerber, is for business owners to balance their business personalities.  That is, they have to wear three different hats: the entrepreneur hat, the manager hat, and the technician hat. The technician produces the product or service, the manager makes sure that operations and finances run smoothly, and the entrepreneur creates a compelling vision for the business, formulates goals, and steers the business toward the accomplishment of those goals.

Here’s how Gerber defines the entrepreneur:

“The entrepreneur is not really interested in doing the work; he is interested in creating the way the company operates. In that regard, the entrepreneur is an inventor. He or she loves to invent, but does not love to manufacture or sell or distribute what he or she invents.”  ~ Michael E. Gerber

A business that is built and managed by someone who combines the approach of the technician, the manager, and the entrepreneur—Gerber indicates–will have a far greater chance of future success than one guided by someone thinking like a technician alone.

Prepare to Sell a Franchise of Your Business

Another way to make sure that you’re working on your business instead of just working in it — is to create a plan or business model as if you were going to sell franchises of your business at some specific future date, even if you don’t intend to do so.

Franchises have procedures, clear operation manuals, a consistent sales approach, and so on. They’re set up so that practically anyone can walk up off the street and run the franchise. This is the goal that you should set for your small business: you want to create systems and then continually improve those systems.

Gerber advices that you get all of the following right while you’re still small:

• Your sales system;
• Your lead generation system;
• Your lead conversion system;
• Your system to convert buyers into repeat customers.

Some of the questions you should ask yourself while creating your systems are the following:

• How can systems be put in place so that large numbers of customers can be served efficiently and consistently?
• How can the business run efficiently without you having to be there constantly keeping an eye on things?
• How can you maximize the time spent doing the things that you really enjoy doing?
• How can you minimize the time spent doing the things you hate to do, but that have to get done

Conclusion

By making sure that you take on the roles of technician, manager, and entrepreneur, and by creating systems and an Operation Manual as if you were going to sell franchises of your business, you’ll make sure that you´re working on your business instead of just working in it.  That is, you’ll be building a small business which will give you more financial independence and freedom, instead of creating a job that will enslave you.

Written by Marelisa Fábrega.  Marelisa blogs about creativity, productivity, and simply getting the most out of life over at Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online.  Marelisa is the author of the ebook “How to Be More Creative – A Handbook for Alchemists”.

Photo by Lars Plougmann

“Why not you?”  This is the question that Robert Tuchman, the author of Young Guns: The Fearless Entrepreneur’s Guide to Chasing Your Dreams and Breaking Out on Your Own, suggests that you ask yourself.  Why shouldn’t you be the one out there pursuing your passion and making money at the same time?

He has a valid point.  Why not you?  You are just as capable as anyone else that has done the same thing.  All you need is a little guidance and encouragement to help you get started, right?  Absolutely!

Here’s the good news!  I’m giving away a free copy of Tuchman’s book to one of my readers.  You could be the proud new owner of a resource that will inspire, motivate and guide you to become the entrepreneur you’ve always wanted to be!  Keep reading for the details on how to win.

My Review of Young Guns as a Business Startup Guide

Tuchman recently provided me a free copy of his book to review.  I didn’t get to it right away, but I have now read it and I’ll say that if you’ve ever thought that you’d like to strike out on your own, then this is a book you’d probably enjoy reading.

It is geared primarily toward twenty-somethings because Tuchman says that there is no better time in life to take a risk than when you are young.  I’d have to agree with him on this point.  You have a lot less to lose, fewer responsibilities and far less distractions compared to most people that are older with families, mortgages and retirement to think about.

However, I think Young Guns offers value to anyone that is stuck on the fence thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.  It might be just the kick in the pants that you need to finally take action on what you’ve always wanted to do.

Tuchman’s book is a little different than most startup guides.  He focuses less on the details and more on getting your mind right.  He tries to help you figure out the why more than the how of pursuing your dream.

I really like this approach.  I’ve certainly made some boneheaded mistakes running a business and I think many of these could have been avoided if I had started with the right mind set.  This is why I think that Tuchman’s book is a good read for anybody.

It covers things like:

• How to decide on the right business for you
• How to pick the right partner to help run your business
• How to write a one-page business plan
• How to take the leap of faith needed to get started
• How to effectively use technology to compete with the big boys
• How to treat your customers and your vendors
• How to handle failures and setbacks

If you want to get a flavor for his writing and approach, then take a moment to read the recent guest post that he wrote for this site called The Entrepreneur’s Seven Priorities for a Successful First Year.  Both the book and the article are easy reads with great advice!

How To Win a Free Copy of Young Guns

Since Tuchman was kind enough to give me a free copy of his book, I thought I’d pass it along to you.  I hope it helps a reader with an entrepreneurial spirit to take a leap and never look back!

All you need to do to win is leave a comment on this article.  I will close the comments on Friday, January 22, 2010 and then randomly select one winner.

I will notify the winner via email so please be sure to provide a valid email address!  I will not share your address with anyone and I will never spam you.  I just need a way to let you know you won and to find out how to get you your copy of Young Guns.  I’ll even pay the postage!

Also, if you don’t mind, please share news of this giveaway with others via Twitter and Facebook.  I have provided links below to make this easy.  Thanks and good luck!

It doesn’t matter whether you are a consumer, entrepreneur, manager, employee or volunteer.  Customer service is a topic that has significance for us all.

We all want good customer service when we are doing business with someone and it is important to acknowledge others want the same from us.

Customers are what makes the world go around for organizations of all kinds.  Without customers, citizens, donors or bosses to serve, we have no jobs.  Your livelihood would cease to exist.  When the pocketbook closes, paychecks stop coming.

It is a good idea to occasionally stop and ask yourself, “Who is my customer and how well am I serving them?”

Poor Customer Service Phrases We Hear All Too Often

We have all heard some pretty ugly customer service horror stories.  MSN Money even conducts an annual Customer Service Hall of Shame survey to chastise those companies that do an exceptionally poor job of meeting customer expectations.

Hopefully, your organization is not a part of the hall of shame, but we’ve all probably been guilty of providing less than stellar service.  We’ve all also probably been victims of it.

Here are a few poor customer service phrases we hear all too often:

• The computer won’t let us do that.
• I don’t know and don’t care.
• You’ll have to call or come back later.
• We can’t take care of that here.
• That is not my responsibility.
• I can’t help you with that.
• You’ve called the wrong number.

I’m sure this list could go on and on, but you get the idea.  On top of these poor customer service phrases, we often get caught in perpetual automated phone system hell!  You know what I’m talking about, “Please press 1 for…”  Of course, none of the options ever match what I need and there never seems to be an easy way to access a real, live human!

Okay, just thinking about these things raises my blood pressure!  Let me move on before my blood starts to boil. 

Enthusiastic Customer Service Phrases I’d Like to Hear

What is it that our customers want and that we want when we conduct business?

I think mainly we want someone who will listen attentively to our issues, take ownership of the situation and do their best to make us happy so we will return, ready to spend our money with them again another day.

Basically, we want companies to make it easy for us to do business with them.  We want them to remove as many of the obstacles as possible for us.

Customers are valuable and often hard to come by.  You know this if you ever been in sales or if you’ve operated your own business.  Every customer that is willing to give their money to you in return for your product or service is a gem that you need to protect and coddle.

The difference between good and poor customer service has a lot to do with how you make your customer feel.

Here are some enthusiastic phrases we’d all like to hear more often:

• I can take care of this for you in no time at all.
• I’m going to personally make sure this gets resolved for you.
• This is a little out of the ordinary, but I can handle it for you.
• I’d be happy to help you with this.
• I’m not sure, but let me find someone that can help you.
• What can I do to make this right for you?
• We stand behind our products, so this won’t be any trouble.
• You don’t have to wait, I can take care of you now.
• We’d be happy to refund your money if that’s what you want.
• It won’t cost you anything to get this corrected.
• We’ll be there today to make this right for you.
• Your satisfaction is our top priority.  What can I do for you today?

Beyond these, you might also want to check out The Top 7 Phrases to Use With Unhappy Customers.  This article is just one of several I found on Top7Business that I thought were very useful and practical for improving customer service.

We Are All in the Business of Improving Customer Service

It is in our best interest to please as many of our customers as possible.  Giving them what they want will ultimately lead to us getting what we want.  It really doesn’t take all that much effort to impress customers with our level of service.  We just need to put ourselves in their shoes.  Treat others like you want to be treated and your service will be golden!

What enthusiastic customer service phrases would you like to hear?

UPDATE: This article received a very nice write-up on MSN Smart Spending that really compliments what I wrote.  I’d encourage you to check out Customer-service phrases we hate.  I hope you enjoy it!

Photo by ann-dabney

People that please their boss are the ones that get raises, promotions and other perks.  Why?  Because the boss wants them to stay.

Fortunately, there are plenty of great things you can do to stand out from the crowd and it doesn’t even take that much effort.

In a sea of mediocrity, it is easy to float to the top!

How to Please Your Boss and Get More of What You Want

You can only get what you want, if you help enough other people get what they want.
~ Zig Ziglar

You should do your best to give all the bosses above you more of what they want.  If you put a smile on their face, you will almost certainly get more of what you want.

So, what exactly is it that they want?  Well, they want people that are self-motivated, take care of business and don’t cause trouble.  Of course, I’m going to offer a few more specifics.

One word of caution first, you must be genuine and authentic in implementing these strategies or they could backfire on you.  Do not use them to try to manipulate your boss!

Here are a dozen ways that you can please your boss daily:

1.  Ask their advice, use it, then thank them for it.

When you are working on a particularly difficult issue, ask your boss for their advice.  If you like what they suggest, then use it and be sure to follow-up with them later thanking them for helping you out.  The follow-up is crucial.  Your boss will love this approach!

2.  Say good things about your boss to others.

What you say about your boss influences your thinking about him/her and will ultimately impact the way you interact with them.  Talk your boss up to other people.  This will keep your attitude positive and it certainly can’t hurt if your boss hears you are saying good things about them.

3.  Readily accept opportunities to learn and grow in your job.

When you are offered the opportunity to learn something new, go for it!  Don’t hesitate for a moment.  The more knowledge and skill you have, the more valuable you become.  I’ve heard some people say, “Why should I do this if I’m not going to get paid more for it?”  This is very shortsighted thinking.

4.  Show up every day ready to give it your best.

Come to work ready to do what needs to be done.  Be rested and alert!  Have your game face on.  Don’t just sit there like a bump on a log!  A boss needs people that they can count on.  Be that person and you will definitely put a smile on their face.

5.  Arrive to work early.

Coming in early says that you are committed and ambitious.  It conveys the message that you are willing to put forth extra effort to achieve great things.  Your boss will notice.  If you are the first person they see every morning, then you’ll be the first one they think of when they are handing out promotions and raises.

6.  Ask questions to understand more about your company’s business.

Bosses are always impressed by people that are hungry to understand the business.  Don’t be a pest, but when the opportunity is right, ask questions.  Dig to understand all that you can.  Find out about other branches, relationships and what’s going on above you.

7.  Do more than your share of the work.

“That’s not my job” is the motto of the perpetually stagnant.  Again, the more people you help, the more help you’ll get.  When you run out of things to do, don’t relax.  Instead, go ask your boss if you can help them with something.  This will truly impress them!

8.  On occasion, stay after work to finish something important.

Demonstrate to your boss that you understand the priorities in your unit.  Don’t be hesitant to stay late when the work warrants it.  This says that you are truly self-motivated and self-disciplined.  Your boss wants to get the job done and get it done right.  Helping them to do this is a feather in your cap!

9.  Do whatever you can to make their ideas successful.

Support the ideas that are nearest and dearest to your boss’ heart.  Do everything within your ability to contribute to their success.  Your boss will appreciate this and will begin to think of you as an ally instead of just a subordinate.

10.  Don’t participate in negative talk or gossip.

Be a part of the solution not a part of the problem.  Griping and gossiping drains a unit of their productivity.  Your boss doesn’t need this.  He/She also doesn’t need a tattletale.  Follow the advice of your mother and unless you have something good to say, keep quiet.

11.  Offer well-reasoned suggestions and be ready to implement them.

Be proactive!  When you see something that can be done better, go to your boss with a well-reasoned plan.  Ask for the chance to implement the details yourself.  This kind of initiative is rare and welcomed by all good managers.

12.  Be honest.

Above all else, always be honest.  A boss values a person that they know they can trust.  Tell the truth even if it isn’t flattering to you.  It will pay off in the long-run.  The truth is often hard to discern so your boss will value your integrity if they know you always tell it like it is.

What other suggestions do you have to please your boss?

Photo by Annie Mole

This is a guest post from Robert Tuchman from

.

To become the kind of person that makes things happen by launching a company, you must make a big personal investment. I’m not talking about money (yet). I’m talking about time.

During that first year, you are going to be doing a lot of breathing, eating, and dreaming about your company. Setting priorities is essential to making your company succeed in its first year.

An Entrepreneur Must Set Priorities to Succeed

Here are seven priorities that you will want to set for yourself in the first year:

1.  Build a Culture of Action and Enthusiasm

You want to build a company that rewards taking action, a company that is perceived as being youthful, vigorous, forward-thinking, and results-oriented. People expect action and energy from the young, and they are likely to search out young and hungry companies.

You will find that clients are willing to pay for your energy and dynamism, and they will even take a bit of a risk in order to get young, energetic minds on their side. Enthusiasm and energy will take your business further than any other factor.

2.  Take Daily Action on Your Business Plan

What separates successful entrepreneurs from floundering entrepreneurs? Daily commitment to fulfilling the benchmarks you have set for yourself and your company in both your short-and long term business plans.

Every day you have to be willing to put your time in and do what you know needs to be done. For some people this daily commitment means picking up the phone and making ten sales calls a day, no matter what. For others, it means creating ideas for new products, new systems or new marketing initiatives, and then carefully testing the results.

3.  Get Your Web Site Up and Running

Your website has to say, “This is who we are,” to the outside world and it has to be compelling. Expect to update your Web site regularly and to improve it constantly over time. A Web site that is over dated, with irrelevant or months-old information is a real deal killer.

During your first year in the business, do the very best you can on your website with as much as you have now and be ready to update and improve it on a regular basis.

4.  Talk to Absolutely Everyone About What You Do

Who says opportunity stops at five o’clock? You need to always be talking about your business, as well as thinking about it constantly. Remember, you are building a brand for your company.

It should become second nature for you to talk to people about your business at parties, at family gatherings, and at outings like sporting events. You never know who the people you meet might know or might be speaking to next.

5.  Try to Fund It Yourself, or Mostly Yourself

Lots of entrepreneurs ask me, “What type of funding will I need to get my business off the ground?” I always advise would-be business owners to go after the least amount of funding that is necessary.

The reason I recommend self-financing for people who are just starting out is that fixating on some outside source of capital is a great way to make launching the business someone else’s responsibility. You don’t want to do that. If you spend the entire first year talking about presentations so that someone else can take action or make decisions, your mind-set is wrong.

6.  Get Connected, No Matter What

During your first year of operation, it’s extremely important to develop new relationships and meet people in your industry. I was fortunate enough early on to meet Alex English, former Denver Nuggets Hall of Famer. Alex gave me a shot at having my first office when he asked me if I wanted to share an office with him near Madison Square Garden.

When I was starting, I would make over 100 cold calls a day to potential clients. I had the same pitch that I would recite over and over again. Soon enough Alex would recite the pitch over and over to me verbatim. Getting connected was all about living and breathing the business.

7.  Stay Balanced

During the first year, and all the years after, you will have to find a way to achieve balance. You need an outlet of some kind, a hobby or exercise activity that helps you stay sane.

Many nights I left the office at 10 p.m. and went to the gym to hit the heavy bag until I had alleviated all my stress. If you are working hard, and putting all of your energy into work, you are going to need a release.

Last year, Tuchman Sports Enterprises earned over $70 million dollars in sales as the Corporate Events division of Premiere Global Sports. Robert Tuchman now serves as President of that division, still guiding his company in its new form. 

Robert is no stranger to entrepreneurship.  He has also launched other successful ventures including RentACarNow.com.

Photo by gcoldironjr2003

Wisdom was up there in his years when I met with him.  Yes, he’d definitely been around the block a time or two, but he didn’t seem old.

In fact, it didn’t appear that he’d aged a bit since the last time that I visited him many moons ago.

His eyes were bright and clear.  They were captivating when I looked into them. 

They say that our eyes are a window into our soul.  Wisdom’s eyes were calm, inquisitive and welcoming.

When he spoke, it was with authority, but not the pushy kind.  You just knew that he was right and you wanted to listen.

I listened to Wisdom a good long time.  How long I’m not really sure.  I lost track of time.

His words seemed to feed my soul.  Have you ever read or heard something so meaningful that it actually felt nourishing?  That’s exactly the way it was as I listened to Wisdom.

Wisdom told me how he led his life.  He shared how he lived, where he’d been and what he’d seen.  His words opened my mind to things that I had rarely, if ever, considered.

Wisdom began as a student of everything

Wisdom started as a student.  He was an eager, curious learner drinking deeply from the well of education.  He never crammed or took other shortcuts to learning.  Instead, he was disciplined and passionate about his studies.  He had a deep desire to soak up as much information as possible.

He not only grew in knowledge, but he also developed practical skills.  Wisdom often conducted experiments to see how what he learned could be applied in the real world to solve problems or unlock mysteries.

Wisdom stumbled onto entrepreneurship

From time-to-time, one of Wisdom’s experiments proved useful to others.  They would take what Wisdom had assembled and find that it simplified their work or otherwise met a need they had.  This thrilled Wisdom!

Occasionally, people would be so delighted with Wisdom’s ingenuity that they would reward him.  At first, he was shy about taking their money.  He had simply been experimenting and trying to learn.  However, he was happy to know that his thirst for knowledge benefited others.

Initially, Wisdom decided the best thing to do with the money was to use it to conduct bigger, more elaborate experiments.  These experiments led to discoveries that profited many.

Soon, people from all over sought out Wisdom to solve their problems.  They offered him large sums of money to examine their situation and develop a solution to their needs.

Wisdom became a busy man, but he loved helping others so much that he didn’t mind a bit.  He worked hard and served the needs of people far and wide over many years.  He was passionate about his work and never found it dull or boring.

Wisdom saved a fortune from his earnings

Wisdom earned a lot of money helping others.  Though it wasn’t his original intention, he did find satisfaction knowing that his work was so appreciated.

One day early in his life, as Wisdom was pondering the small pile of cash a grateful business friend had left him, it occurred to him that money was just another tool he could use to do good things for his family and for others.

This energized his thinking about money.  He began aggressively saving what people gave him.  Wisdom quickly saw the power of compound interest.  He placed his money in investments that had long track records of good returns.  His money grew.

In addition, Wisdom was a smart consumer.  He only bought what he really needed and he always paid cash.  In his mind, debt was just too risky.

Soon he found that he had enough money to help build his community.  Wisdom gave generously.  He contributed to building schools, hospitals and libraries.  This further developed Wisdom’s reputation and earned him even more business and respect.

Wisdom was a faithful family man

Wisdom not only succeeded in business and with money, but he also was a good husband and father.  He realized that his life was one whole and not compartmentalized.  Whatever good or bad that happened in one area of his life affected the other areas.

He was sensitive to the needs of his wife and always treated her with respect.  His marriage was a true partnership.  He valued his wife’s intelligence and intuition.  As a result, she honored him as her husband.

Wisdom also devoted himself to fatherhood.  He understood that a father plays a vital role in raising children.  He was a wonderful role model.  He knew that his children learned more from observing his behavior than from lectures.  Therefore, Wisdom tried to live an honorable and upright life.  His children looked up to their father and loved him dearly.

Wisdom took care of his health

As Wisdom aged, he realized just how precious his health was to his quality of life.  He ate right and exercised regularly.  He never ignored signs from his body that it needed attention.  Wisdom went for regular check-ups and followed his doctor’s advice.

As a result, Wisdom enjoyed great health.  He was able to remain mentally sharp and physically active throughout his life.  He knew that without his health that he wouldn’t be able to enjoy all he had worked to achieve.

Wisdom sought to always broaden his perspective

Wisdom told me that he felt one of the keys to his success was that he never let life grow stale.  He always maintained his curious and inquisitive mindset.  Instead of feeling threatened by change or new environments, Wisdom felt invigorated.  He loved the challenge and opportunity to learn.

Therefore, Wisdom made it a point to travel to new cultures.  He loved observing the differences in other countries.  He strived to learn some of the language and customs of every place he visited.  His efforts won him many friends around the world.

Wisdom tried new things whenever he could.  The adventure fueled his enthusiasm for life and kept things interesting for him.  Life with Wisdom was never boring.  He constantly inspired those around him to live life to the fullest in every way.

A life with Wisdom was a life well-lived

I count my relationship with Wisdom as one of the most important of my life.  He has always been there for me and has never let me down.  It has always been great knowing that I had a friend I could count on regardless of the circumstances.

Lately, for whatever reason, some of lost track of Wisdom.  They’ve let their relationship with him fade.  Have you met him?  If not, I hope you’ll stick around.  I’d love to introduce you to my friend.  Wisdom would also love to meet you.  Just a warning, he always seems to have a gift to offer new friends, so don’t be surprised.  I always tell people, but they still seem a little shocked when they realize what Wisdom has given them.

I hope I never lose or let my relationship with Wisdom fade.  I learn from him everyday.  I suppose that will never change.

How’s your relationship with Wisdom doing?

Photo by zedzap

Many people dream of leaving their job and starting a business.  They daydream about being their own boss and living their passion.

However, only a few ever take the leap to explore their entrepreneurial yearnings. 

For the majority, the perceived risk involved in starting a small business is just too great of an obstacle to overcome.

The stumbling block most of us can’t get over

So, what does it really take to be a successful entrepreneur?

Well, first let’s look at what it means to be an entrepreneur in general.

Entrepreneur – one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.
~ Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Many of us have the organizing and managing part down.  We’ve done that for others for years. 

We’ve created budgets, tracked expenses, managed resources, lead people, organized projects, conducted meetings, made decisions and been held accountable for results.

Most of us know how to run a business because without realizing it we’ve been doing it forever already.  We’ve just been doing it for someone else.

The kicker in the definition above is the part about assuming the risk. 

We keep holding back from going into business for ourselves because we aren’t sure we want to take the risk.

Basically, we are afraid that we might fail to earn a living as an entrepreneur.  Furthermore, we fear that we might make some bad decisions and wind up worse off than we are now.

That’s the stumbling block holding most of us back.  Agreed?

The most important thing you need to become an entrepreneur

Okay, so we’ve identified the stumbling block that is holding us back.

It all goes back to the question I posed at the beginning of this article.  Do you have what it takes to become an entrepreneur?

We’ve already covered the part about organizing and managing.  We already know that we are competent at that or other people wouldn’t pay us to do it.

What else is there?

Well, I’ve had the opportunity to be in business for myself and I worked with a lot of other entrepreneurs over that eight-year period.

As a result, I believe I have identified the remaining key ingredient to becoming a successful entrepreneur and I think that the word that sums it up best is GRIT.

Grit – firmness of mind or spirit : unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger.
~ Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

It takes an incredible amount of grit to decide to win at being an entrepreneur.

The ways that grit helps an entrepreneur succeed

An entrepreneur with a healthy does of grit does the following:

Living your passion as an entrepreneur is possible if you have grit

What do you think?  Do you have the grit needed to be an entrepreneur?  Are you willing to commit yourself and lay it all on the line?

It truly is a move that will make you feel more alive and excited than you’ve felt in a long time.  What is holding you back from pursuing your passion?

Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts!

Photo by Niklas Hellerstedt