5 steps to Job freedom

If you are looking to have a true sense of freedom with your career and to finally find a job that affords you the freedom that you desire, then there is no better path than becoming an entrepreneur.

Here are five steps that you can take on your journey to becoming a self-employed, free and highly successful individual.

1. List your skills.

Before you can make a career for yourself utilizing your skills, you need to know what your skills are. Take the time to write down all of the skills that you have. Be honest with yourself and think about the skills that you really possess, not just the ones you wish you had. This will be your basis for determining what you can feasibly do with your future.


2. Write down all your goals in life.

In order to start growing and building your future you need to know what you are growing towards. Take the time to write down all of the goals that you have in life. Use these goals to motivate you on your quest towards freedom. What do you really want? To make a certain amount of money? To buy a house? To travel. Think about it and write it down.

3. Write down your dream jobs.

What is your dream job? What type of work would you do if anything in the world was open to you? Write down what your dream jobs are and then stop thinking about them as dreams. What is holding you back from taking that dream and make it into a reality? A list of dream jobs will help you realize what you truly want out of a career.


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SOURCE: ENTREPRENEUR

How Your Business Can Thrive Even When a Recession Bites Hard

1. Leverage an urgent consumer need.

“Recession does not mean that the people suddenly stop spending money," said Will Rees, director of Worktop Express. "Price comparison certainly becomes higher up the agenda, but people don't buy on price alone. In my opinion, there is a real shift in priority towards value, during a recession. The consumer will carry out a fair degree of research -- and will usually choose to purchase the item that represents the best compromise between price and quality."

For instance, plastic credit cards were created to deal with the problem of fading cardboard credit cards. Airbnb came about as a new way to face the issue of expensive lodging, and it's still doing well. For similar reasons, companies like PayPal, 2Checkout and TransferGo are also still thriving: they solve the funds-transfer problem.

2. Source capital from investors.

If you have a promising project or business model, pitch your business idea to an investor. The objective is to solicit enough funds to get the business up and running and unleash its full potential to hit it big in the market.

3. Find creative alternatives.

During the 2008 recession, companies were closing down their branches due to the cash crunch. Macy's took a different path -- it took to creating virtual stores on the internet where customers could buy products from the convenience of their homes. Other companies, like Ford, Alaska Air and VW, also found creative alternatives.

Coming up with convenient, innovative and cost-effective alternatives will make your business more attractive to consumers. This is because during a recession, consumers look out for better deals.

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SOURCE: ENTREPRENEUR

10 Success lessons from Travis Kalanick – “CEO of Uber” for entrepreneurs

Here are the 10 success lessons from Travis Kalanick – “CEO of Uber” for the entrepreneurs,

1. Find something broken that you’re passionate about

The idea of Uber came when Kalanick faced the simple problem of finding a cab in Paris. Whether it’s Amazon or Google, every big business we see today is helping people solve a problem making their life that much easier and better. When your business is based on solving a specific problem, you add value to the life of your customer.

2. You will make mistakes; Learn and move forward

Kalanick is known to be brash and confrontational. When it comes to defending his company practices, he has stood against taxi industry, rival cab companies, local regulators and sometimes even his own customers. He is incredibly driven by what he does and is not afraid to show it. But there have been times when he has admitted that he probably take the right approach.

3. How hard is your problem?

The more difficult the problem, more effective would be the solution and that in turn would click with consumers. Travis calls himself the Problem Solver-in-charge at Uber

4. Roadblocks may slow you down but don’t let them stop you

Uber has had its fair share of difficulties and still is fighting regulation in new markets. The company even had to fight existing laws to expand it’s business. From cab unions to city regulators, while Uber takes every effort to make commuting as seamless as possible for its customers, it’s own journey has been very rocky. But every step of the way, Kalanick has stood his ground by doing what he calls ‘principled confrontation’.

5. Do not be afraid to start small

Just five years ago, Uber was only a four-person team in San Francisco. Like in any new venture, it was a difficult time with crunched resources and most of the effort went into keep the business afloat.

    
6. Adventure, doing the impossible is all entrepreneurship is all about!

The Uber team spent four weeks in Varkala beach in Kerala coding. Travis is a firm believer that doing the impossible is all entrepreneurship is all about. Talking about seeking adventure, he adds that Uber decided to do the impossible by trying to enter China, a market that almost no foreign company has been able to gain a foothold of.

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SOURCE: KNOWSTARTUP

10 Success lessons from Jeff Bezos – “Amazon Founder and CEO” for entrepreneurs

1. Be Stubborn and Flexible

According to Bezos, good entrepreneurs must be stubborn and flexible. When referring to Amazon, Bezos says, “We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details.”

Sticking to the vision is the first part, and being flexible about the tactics is the second part. Bezos adds, “If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.”

2. Base your strategy on things that won’t change

Selling lipstick, tractor seats, e-book readers and data storage is all part of one big plan with three big constants: offer wider selection, lower prices and fast, reliable delivery

3. Determine what your customers need, and work backwards

Specs for Amazon’s big new projects such as its Kindle tablets and e-book readers have been defined by customers’ desires rather than engineers’ tastes. If customers don’t want something it’s gone, even if that means breaking apart a once powerful department.

4.Make employees think like owners

When Bezos wrote this in the first Amazon annual letter, Bezos had 614 employees, up from 158 a year earlier. It has 230,000 now.

One key component of the approach has been to use stock options in hiring. “We will continue to focus on hiring and retaining versatile and talented employees, and continue to weight their compensation to stock options rather than cash,” Bezos wrote in the 1997 letter. “We know our success will be largely affected by our ability to attract and retain a motivated employee base, each of whom must think like, and therefore must actually be, an owner.”

5. “We are willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time”

Many of Amazon’s expansions look like money-losing distractions at first. That sometimes sends the company’s stock price skidding and evokes analysts’ scorn. Bezos shrugs. If the new initiatives make strategic sense to him, a five-to-seven-year financial payoff is okay.

6. Build a culture that’s right for your company

Amazon’s own culture is famously breakneck-paced, and notoriously cost-conscious, as befits a company that has run only a small profit, or a loss, under generally accepted accounting principles for most of its life as a public company.

“We never claim that our approach is the right one — just that it’s ours,” Bezos wrote in the 2015 letter. “Over the last two decades, we’ve collected a large group of like-minded people. Folks who find our approach energising and meaningful.”

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SOURCE: KNOWSTARTUP

10 Inspirational movie quotes for entrepreneurs

1. A Beautiful Mind

    “Find a truly original idea. It is the only way I will ever distinguish myself. It is the only way I will ever matter.”

If you are going to build a company, set out to do something nobody else has done before. If you are working to solve real pain for real people, you will truly distinguish yourself from the competition.

2. The Aviator

    “Don’t tell me I can’t do it; don’t tell me it can’t be done!”

Along the way you are going to hear from a lot of naysayers. People who are skeptical or don’t have the fortitude to do what you are trying to do. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Don’t let the insecurities of others hold you back.

3. The Godfather

    “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

You are going to be doing a lot of negotiating. You will be securing new partnerships and working to recruit top talent. What can you offer that nobody else can offer? If you are selling

4. Jerry McGuire

    “The key to this business is personal relationships.”

From customers to partners to employees, many times success comes down to one thing: the people. To build a great company you need to find great people. If you don’t nail that you are going to be fighting an uphill battle.

5. Pirates of Caribbean

    “Even a good decision if made for the wrong reasons can be a bad decision”

The decision-making process of a startup is one of the most important parts of the culture. How do you make decisions? What are your principles? Are you making decisions that yield short-term gain but create long-term pain? If you are not making decisions for the right reasons, then you may find that decision will create more trouble later on.

Read more quotes here

SOURCE: KNOWSTARTUP

3 Things That Matter if You Want to Be an Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs are born, not made. If you have an entrepreneurial mindset, you will know it. Successful entrepreneurs share three core attributes:

Leadership ability

At some point, you will see something that no one else sees. You will be able to develop a vision based on what you see and then convince others to commit time and money to help you explore opportunities and options. This is why founder-led businesses have greater success — the founders establish stronger corporate culture, define opportunities, and then provide the leadership needed to attract investors and employees.

An entrepreneur has the ability to create a vision that others usually can’t initially see themselves, and then serve, in effect, as the “backbone” of that vision.

Single-minded obsession

To put it bluntly, building a business is incredibly hard and requires careful attention to detail. Let’s face it: A company founder has to drive it all, tracking every detail and becoming obsessed with the company’s success. It’s not a lifestyle — it’s more like a disease, almost a form of addiction. Starting a company is not for the faint of heart.

Resilience

The stress that entrepreneurs experience is almost impossible to describe. Obviously, starting a company is nothing like working for a company.

But what you never do is give up. You have to be resilient, tenacious, and persistent no matter what.

No great businesses would be built if every entrepreneur gave up when things got tough. It gets back to those three characteristics of great entrepreneurs. When things get tough, remain obsessed and resilient as you lead your company to success.

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SOURCE: FORTUNE

7 Keys to Finding That Perfect Mentor For Your Business

Why is it that only the most successful entrepreneurs, including Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Richard Branson, admit to having a mentor and actually use them?

Starting a new business is tough, and the last thing you need is to suffer the same mistakes that have killed businesses like yours before you. Yet many entrepreneurs I know are too proud or too shy to even ask for advice.

Most successful business people, whether retired or still active, would love to share some of the wisdom they have gained from their own experience, but are not inclined to impose themselves on others.

They expect you to take the initiative, to ask them, and to make it a fun and productive relationship. Here are some guidelines on how to make that happen:

1. Identify specific issues and goals where you need mentoring

First, you need to admit that you want mentoring, and in what areas. If you don't have any idea what you are seeking, you won't know when you have found it. It's tempting for technical founders to seek more depth on technical issues, when they need marketing and financial help.

2. Be willing and able to commit time and effort to the process

Finding a mentor won't help you if you don't have time to listen, and are not willing to do your homework to ask the right questions.

Mentors are people too, so they will quickly sense when they aren't valued. Sessions must always remain positive and not defensive, rather than excuses.

3. Ask for a reasonable time commitment from a mentor candidate

Even the best mentor may be of no value to you, if you can never reach them, or they never find time for you. Then make sure you never make yourself a burden by frequent calls or wasting time on trivial subjects.

The best approach is regularly scheduled small blocks of time.

4. Prepare and plan to lead each mentor session for best productivity

Don't expect the mentor to know and drive your business. Provide the mentor with your relevant business metrics and data, if possible, before each meeting, to allow them to do prior homework as required.

The most valuable insights may be for broader or future business implication.

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SOURCE: INC

What to do when your small business needs to grow its workforce

In the life of every small business, there comes a time when it has to get bigger.

But staffing-up isn't just about adding bodies to your organization – you need to build systems that will drive performance, create a culture of purpose and of course, find the most-talented people out there. And that's just the beginning.

Each points highlighted below has a video accompanied with it. Click on the link below to watch or get all the videos from Mashable

What to do::

Hiring to drive performance

Filling your business with top talent will create a culture of performance that replicates itself

Click here for video

Thinking about talent development

Talent development starts with your hiring process. Look for candidates with potential.

Click here for video

Creating a productive culture

Treat your employees like family and they'll work hard for you and your business.

Click here for video
Content.jwplatform.com/manifests/m3u8

Knowing your blind spots

You can't be good at everything, but you can surround yourself with people who fill your knowledge gaps.

Click here for video

Building out an expert staff

You may not think you can afford an expert, but you may end up spending more on outsourcing.

Click here for video

Investing in a.......... continue reading from source

SOURCE: MASHABLE

26 Fast Ways to Increase Teamwork Productivity

BEING PRODUCTIVE as a team is a lot harder than getting things done on a personal level.
As a manager or a CEO, you might be well aware of how to plan, manage, and organize your work. But it’s not you alone who contributes to important projects.

Your business success relies on the performance of your entire team and their ability to perform highly both on professional and personal level

Here are some tips to improve everyone’s productivity, and bring more efficient to teamwork.

1. Set clear goals

Working without a clear goal is like going on a journey without a map – you might reach the destination, but it’ll take you significantly more time. To outline your team’s top priorities, you need to step back and ask yourself: “What’s the ultimate goal we’re looking to achieve?”

Outline your key teamwork goals, objectives, and milestones to help your team decide which tasks fall into the Top Priority category.

2. Define the OKRs

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) is a popular technique for setting and communicating goals and results in organizations. The method’s used by teams in the Fortune 500 companies like Google, LinkedIn, Intel, Zynga, and Twitter. So, there must be a reason why all these highly talented people use the OKRs

Start by defining 3-5 ambitious, qualitative, time-bound, and actionable key objectives of the company and team levels. Under each objective, define 3-4 measurable results, not more. Your OKRs should be quantifiable and achievable, yet challenging.

As you’ve defined your teamwork OKRs, write them down on a shared whiteboard or why not even make a poster to hang on your office walls. The more you remind each other of important business metrics, the more likely you are to achieve them.

3. Redefine what’s urgent

While it’s important to keep to your goals and avoid shortsighted reactive work, you still need to be prepared for unexpected events.

Learn to set apart the urgencies that are best left untackled, and the crisis situations when it’s required to drop everything else and commit to solving the issue.

When redefining the notion of “urgency”, remind your team of your long-term goals and OKRs. If an urgent task will help you to get closer to a key objective, it should become a top priority.

4. Clarify expectations

It’s the team manager’s job to communicate the priorities and expectations for each role in the team. The last thing you want is for someone to begin his day thinking, “I have eight projects to work on, where do I start?”.

The requirement for efficient teamwork is that everyone’s aware of their role and knows what’s expected of them. If you’re able to make individual contributions actionable and measurable, even better.

5. Set clear responsibilities

In teamwork, it’s easy for the tasks and responsibilities to get mixed up.

To be more productive, it’s best if you clarify each team member’s responsibilities and areas of expertise.

But leave some room for trial and error as the tasks and projects depend largely on your key goals. When you give your team some room for approaching complex problems with creativity and flexibility, they’ll be able to adapt their skills according to the situation.

6. Keep your teamwork organized

Leaving your team’s performance to the chance is one of the gravest mistakes a manager can make.

For people to work productively, their work needs to be organized into prioritized projects and tasks. It’s a lot easier to stay organized on a personal level than to be systematic about your teamwork.

7. Use a work management tool

A work management tool will help you to create, track, and manage complex projects and daily task lists.

If you’d like to get a quick overview of your team’s current projects, time usage, and work performance, start using work management software that covers both project management and reporting

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SOURCE: SCORO

PERSONALITY TRAITS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR

So what is the stuff that successful entrepreneurs are made of? How do you define that certain je ne sais quoi that enables an entrepreneur to convince skeptics their idea is the next big thing? Moreover, what allows those entrepreneurs to take their idea and turn it into a profitable company? CNN representative highlights the following points

They're persistent

Launching a startup is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires stamina, and you have to be fit to sustain the lifestyle. Founders inevitably come up against failure on a daily basis. While some ideas work, more often they don't. You try, fail, and try again.
Nine to five? Forget about it. Most startup teams clock 80 to 90 hours a week in the launch phase. As one tech entrepreneur recently said to a CNN representative, having an idea is just the first step on a long road. You have to have the intestinal fortitude to put your head down and get through the process.

They're adaptive

The startup world can be a jungle, and the most successful entrepreneurs have a keen ability to quickly adapt to their habitat. So much can change from the inception of an idea to the final product -- unforeseen problems arise; the market changes; demand changes. Successful entrepreneurs recognize that and are willing to try a different approach when something isn't working. In startup jargon, it's called pivoting. They can duck, dodge, dive to escape the metaphorical bullets of the entrepreneurial landscape while remaining laser-focused.
One local entrepreneur admitted to a CNN representative without hesitation that being a pioneer is terrifying because it means you don't have a road map. As a founder, you have to become a jack of all trades. You are the manager, the IT department, the marketing department, and somewhere in between all of that, you have to get your work done

They're risk takers

Entrepreneurs are, above all, risk takers. They are willing to part ways with a job that offers a plush salary and benefits to pursue their idea or business. Or they start with nothing -- and no guarantee.
We often hear entrepreneurs' grandiose success stories, but we don't always hear about the long, tumultuous journeys that led them there. I once asked a solo founder about the scariest part of being an entrepreneur.

They're imaginative doers

After working with several fledgling companies early in his career, Andrew Yang started to believe entrepreneurship could solve many of the problems..... continue reading from source

SOURCE: CNN

Conceptions and misconceptions about Entrepreneurship

Four Misconceptions About Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is not about:

You: Building a startup is a trendy thing to do these days. Entrepreneurs appear on covers of magazines, get featured on reality shows, appear on advertisements. While a startup will not exist without the entrepreneur starting it, the last thing entrepreneurship is about is the entrepreneur himself.

Once the startup gets going, everything the entrepreneur does is about propelling the business forward. You as the entrepreneur often come last in the pecking order of importance. You are responsible not only for taking the spotlight in media interviews, but also for taking the trash out in the office, filling in for an employee that quit suddenly, or dealing with difficult customers.

The fancy office/free beers: When asked about what entrepreneurship looks like, often times people may say, “Ping pong tables! Free beers every Friday! Dog friendly workplace!” Today, with the proliferation of co-working spaces, entrepreneurship feels more like a fantasy land that adults go to to play. These fancy office spaces largely come from the need for creative solutions that entrepreneurship requires and often times long hours that are required from building something important. In the early days of running a company, entrepreneurs work excruciatingly long hours to get something started.

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What Entrepreneurship Is Really About:

Making something people want: Paul Graham, founder of YCombinator, says it best – make something people want. In the early stage of entrepreneurship, it’s about finding the product market fit.

The people: Beyond the product, the most important thing that takes a startup beyond a one-man idea is the team. Entrepreneurship is about recognizing your own blind spots, and actively seeking people who do things better than you do.

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SOURCE: FORBES

15 e.books that can help an entrepreneur be a beter person

Whether you have only recently started entertaining the thought of striking out on your own or you've been an entrepreneur for a while, we can all agree on one thing, there is always more to learn. The other thing we can all agree on is that trying to find the information you need can be overwhelming. How do you know what site to visit? What blog to read? What book to download?

1. 50 Startup Founders Reveal Why Their .

2. Unleashing the Ideavirus - Seth Godin

3. Mastering Creativity - James Clear

4. How to Start a Business You Love & That Loves You Back - Michele Pariza Wacek

5. 279 Days to Overnight Success - Chris Guillebeau

6. The Pomodoro Technique - Francesco Cirillo

7. 50 Ways to Plan for Small Business Success - Erica Nicole

8. 7 Secrets for Growing Your Own Frugal Business - Jean Wilson Murray, MBA, PHD

9. Startup Guide - Harvard University Office of Technology Development

10. Viral Copy - Brian Clark

See more books here

SOURCE: INC

Small Businesses can affect an economy for good

Being a small business owner is challenging. Small business owners come from a variety of backgrounds, each with their own reasons for pursuing self-employment. Oftentimes they’re independently owned and operated and have few employees. Despite and because of this small businesses are vital to the future of the United States. These businesses might be small but their impact is certainly anything but.

Small businesses are often overshadowed in the news by large corporations and conglomerates. They may not generate as much revenue individually as large corporations but they’re vital to the success of our economy.

There are three primary ways that small businesses contribute to our nation. They give people the opportunity to achieve financial independence, encourage innovation, and create employment opportunities. It’s that sort of desire for independence that buoyed the freelance contractor economy. Being your own boss is challenging but definitely empowering.

Sometimes small businesses are born out of big ideas that no one else believes in yet. and that’s how we ended up with Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, HP, and Disney. Each of these founders had an innovative idea that they believed in. In many cases, true innovators have to believe in themselves first and prove their ideas can be done before anyone else will believe in them

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SOURCE: HUFFPOST

five empowering business tips.

1. Success doesn’t depend on only one person.

While the business is your vision, it is important to remember that you aren’t the only one who is taking a risk. The early employees who are jumping on board and believe in what you are trying to accomplish are putting their livelihoods at stake.

“As an entrepreneur, you employ people. You have a fundamental responsibility to ensure the security of your company,” said Ramya Joseph, founder and CEO of AI financial advisor Pefin.

Birchbox co-founder and CEO Katia Beauchamp recalled that during the early days of the company, her initial belief was that it would only be a real triumph if she did it all herself.

“You don’t need to waste your time on those stumbles," she said. "The reason to ask for help isn’t get the one right answer, it’s to get perspective.”

With that variety of perspective, she explained, you can then make the decision that is right for you and your company.

2. Pay it forward.

HSN CEO Mindy Grossman said that some of the most gratifying parts of her career have been helping others, even when their successes didn’t have any bearing on her own. Celebrity chef and author Sandra Lee agreed.

“When you have the advantage of mentorship, give it back," she said. "Mentor as many as you can, and be fearless.”

3. Don’t wait to speak up about what you care about.

When building a thriving company culture that is diverse and inclusive, “at any point in your career, you have the capacity to make an impact,” Grossman said. Part of that is making sure that everyone that you work with from partners to vendors to recruiting agencies has the same buy-in that you do.

“This is not something that you can delegate," she said. "It has to be a core belief and tenet of your business strategy. You have to hold everyone in the supply chain accountable.”

“This is not something that you can delegate," she said. "It has to be a core belief and tenet of your business strategy. You have to hold everyone in the supply chain accountable.”

Kay Koplovitz, the founder of USA Networks, the SyFy channel and Springboard Enterprises, said that ultimately, you are your own best advocate.

“You have to love the sound of your own voice," she said. "Feel comfortable speaking up for your own accomplishments and your own success.”

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SOURCE: ENTREPRENEUR

The 7 Best Branding Techniques for Your Startup

Having a quality product is important, as is marketing said product to costumers. But without a solid brand, your company could be dead in the water before u think f making a launch.  Check out the answers seven entrepreneurs gave regarding branding techniques for start up:

Don’t Put the Cart Before the Horse

Many companies put the cart before the horse and focus on tactics before strategy. Really understand your value proposition and ensure everything you do connects back to that core. Also, ensure the tactics are high-value and look professional. Startups often scrimp on marketing elements and it is much better to do less and spend more to make a good first impression.

– Suzanna Smith of Social Impact Architects

Take Care of Your Customers

The least expensive way to get the word out about your brand is by focusing on your customer’s experience. It seems simple, but you’d be surprised at how many companies don’t put customers first. When customers feel well-taken care of, they tell others about your company. Customer testimonials and referrals that are genuine get way more attention than anything else.

– Vanessa Norberg of Metal Mafia

Use Facebook Remarketing and Interest Targeting

Facebook ads allows small businesses to reach new interest-based audiences at more manageable prices than Google AdWords. Well-executed Facebook ad campaigns can have CPCs that are significantly lower with higher conversion rates. If the KPI is branding, then Facebook can expose your business to a large number of people, and when you combine with remarketing, you can gain instant visibility.

– Marcela De Vivo of Gryffin

Be Consistent

If you’re going to brand a certain way, whether it’s fonts, colors or typography, stay consistent throughout all branding efforts — and stick with it.

– Michael Mogill of Crisp Video Group

Read more here

SOURCE: TECHCO

FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS WINS £50,000 prize each

• Fifteen women have each collected a £50,000 prize after winning the first Women in Innovation competition.

• The number of UK women entrepreneurs is about half the level of men.

• The winning ideas included a plan to improve the cancer survival rate by using strings of beads to measure the dose and spread of radiation; solving a large volume waste problem by converting chicken feathers into an insulation product; a scheme for trailers to replace trucks to potentially save 10,000 UK truck journeys per day; and a new technique to improve chocolate manufacturing.

Get more details here

SOURCE: BBC NEWS

10 Success lessons from Tim Ferriss - for entrepreneurs

Tim Ferriss is a serial entrepreneur, author and public speaker with an estimated net worth of $20 million. He runs a multinational business from online locations worldwide. He is also a Kickboxing Chinese world record holder and an actor with hit cinema projects in Hong Kong.

Here are 10 Success lessons from Tim Ferriss – “The Indiana Jones of Digital Age” for entrepreneurs,

1. The customer isn’t always right

Many entrepreneurs subscribe to the customer is always right philosophy. However, Tim Ferriss believes that the customer is not always right –nor do they get to call the shots.

Ferriss taught us that some customers aren’t worth it, and you don’t need to take abuse to provide good service. Firing difficult customers gives you more time to nurture your relationships with the good ones, ultimately making more money in the long run.

2. Money is not the solution we need for our problems in life

Even if most people start making a lot of money, their level of happiness may stay the same. In fact, they’ll have much more work, worries and responsibilities.

That’s because they don’t know how to spend and enjoy this money once they’ve earned it.

In order to increase your wealth, you need to have a clear idea of what you want your lifestyle to be like before you actually have it.

3. We tend to choose misery over uncertainty

Almost a decade later that’s still true.

When something isn’t certain, we choose not to do it even if it’s what we’ve always been dreaming of.

But guess what? Life is uncertain, security is an illusion, tomorrow is unpredictable and the only way to live freely and thrive is to accept that and feel comfortable with it.

Lifestyle designers are okay with risks, new stuff, failing and not knowing how things will work out.

4. 80/20 your way to success

Otherwise known as Pareto’s Law, the 80/20 rule says that 80 percent of the results for any given activity come from just 20 percent of the inputs. This is the foundation for many of Ferriss’ guiding tenants. One example of the rule in action for entrepreneurs is 80 percent of your business’s revenue typically comes from just 20 percent of your client/customer base.

Ferriss argues that you should eliminate the 80 percent of things you’re doing that aren’t yielding significant results. And instead you should focus exclusively on the 20 percent of activities that are. In doing so, you free up A TON of your time to focus on duplicating those actions/clients/processes that yield high returns. The 80/20 rule works in the opposite way as well.

5. Quality matters

Quality matters in everything you do and honestly, (pun sort of intended) it rises to the top. The 4-Hour Workweek was tirelessly researched, refined, and written. Most of Tim’s blog posts are like little miniature pieces of art. Is any of it perfect? Not possible. Striving for perfection? Possibly futile. Creating the best possible piece of art of you can? That sounds like something to strive for.

Read five more here from source

SOURCE: KNOW STARTUP

How To Unlock The Entrepreneurial Potential In Women

This November 18th marks Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, an annual celebration founded by the United Nations. But when you read the words “women’s entrepreneurship,” what do you picture? The CEO of a tech startup, standing in a boardroom in Silicon Valley? A Millennial launching a digital ad agency from the comfort of her living room? How about a woman living in a homeless shelter in New Jersey? Or a woman recently released from jail?

Admit it: these last two women aren’t what you were picturing. That’s because our ideas about women entrepreneurs have been molded by glimmering models of success, from Oprah Winfrey to Sara Blakely, the billionaire founder of Spanx. These savvy businesswomen are no doubt worthy of our time and attention, and have beat tremendous odds to get to where they are today. But what about examples of women’s entrepreneurship that exist on a smaller scale? As Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus says: “All human beings are born entrepreneurs. Some get a chance to unleash that capacity. Some never got the chance, never knew that he or she has that capacity.”

Today, 45 million Americans live below the poverty line – a number that disproportionately affects women. Women are 35% more likely to live in poverty than men, and despite having better educational credentials than ever, they remain overrepresented in low-wage jobs.

But make no mistake: poverty and entrepreneurship are not mutually exclusive. Not by a long shot.

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Here are some actions you can take to help enfranchise women, and support their desire to become entrepreneurs.

1    Lend your time or resources to micro-financing institutions like Grameen America, where micro-loans have a direct and measurable impact on women living in poverty.

2    Mentor a female coworker, or join a network that will connect you with a woman who could benefit from your mentorship.

3    Support women-owned businesses and start-ups. Use your purchasing power to buy products from companies run by women, or companies that benefit women’s professional development.

4    Start an internship program at your company that offers opportunities to women from underprivileged backgrounds.

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SOURCE: Forbes

LinkedIn Reveals the 10 Most Popular Companies for Recent Graduates

Graduating and heading into the workforce can be challenging. Networking, applying to jobs, interviewing -- it’s a stressful process. Rather than email blasting your resume to dozens of employers, however, take your time, do your research and apply for only the most attainable jobs.

Luckily, LinkedIn has done some of this research for you. By examining LinkedIn profiles of millions of recent grads across the U.S., the business social network has uncovered the top 10 companies hiring entry-level employees and the most popular positions.

Here are the most popular companies for recent graduates:

1    Deloitte

2    EY

3    PwC

4    Amazon

5    Oracle

6   Accenture

7    Target

8    JPMorgan Chase

9    Insight Global

10   Lockheed Martin

Sometimes, the most difficult part about job-hunting post-college is figuring out what you want to do.

Here are the most popular entry-level jobs for recent grads:

1  Account manager

2    Software engineer

3    Business analyst

4    Customer service representative

5    Administrative assistant

6    Recruiter

7    Consultant

8   Investment banking analyst

9    Graphic designer

10    Staff accountant

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SOURCE: Entrepreneur

9 Types of People Who Never Succeed At Work

Straight to the point:

1. The coward. Fear is an extremely powerful motivator. This is why presidential candidates tell people that their opponent will “destroy the economy” and advertisements warn that “smoking kills.” In the workplace, people overcome by fear resort to irrational and damaging behavior. Cowardly colleagues are quick to blame others and to cover up important mistakes, and they fail to stand up for what is right.

2. The Dementor. In J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Dementors are evil creatures that suck people’s souls out of their bodies, leaving them merely as shells of humans. Whenever a Dementor enters the room, it goes dark and cold and people begin to recall their worst memories. Rowling said that she developed the concept for Dementors based on highly negative people—the kind of people who have the ability to walk into a room and instantly suck the life out of it. Dementors suck the life out of the room by imposing their negativity and pessimism upon everyone they encounter. Their viewpoints are always glass half empty, and they can inject fear and concern into even the most benign situations.

3. The arrogant. Arrogant people are a waste of your time because they see everything you do as a personal challenge. Arrogance is false confidence, and it always masks major insecurities. A University of Akron study found that arrogance is correlated with a slew of problems in the workplace. Arrogant people tend to be lower performers and more disagreeable and to have more cognitive problems than the average person.

4. The temperamental. Some people have absolutely no control over their emotions. They will lash out at you and project their feelings onto you, all the while thinking that you’re the one causing their malaise. Temperamental people perform poorly because their emotions cloud their judgment and their lack of self-control destroys their relationships. Be wary of temperamental people; when push comes to shove they will use you as their emotional toilet.

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When customers start abandoning your business, what do you do?

There are a number of reasons why customers may decide to abandon your product or service. But if you don’t find out why—and fast—you’ll never know how to keep new customers from sticking around in the future. That’s why FORTUNE  asked eight successful entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council the following question:

Q. My customer retention rate is declining. What’s the first thing I should do?

1. Assess the Situation

Ask yourself what their reasons are for leaving. Is your service or product frustrating or difficult to use? Is it too expensive? Is there a superior alternative out there? Then, create an approach to address the most common concerns. You can learn a lot from a simple, honest conversation or email exchange with a customer who is leaving. —Volkan Okay Yazici, Stonexchange

2. Pick Up the Phone

In my businesses, I’ve found that picking up the phone and calling clients goes a very long way—it trumps email any day of the week. Ask people how things are going, what you can do to help, and what problem areas they have that need your attention. You’ll learn so much about your product offering and company in a very short period of time, and customers will really appreciate the one-on-one attention. —Alex Miller, Upgraded Points

3. Check Your Data

Look at your available data to see when, where, and why the decline happened so you can pinpoint a particular set of actions or communications that put customers off. While you can ask them why they decided to leave, it’s important to sift through your data for any patterns in the decline and better understand the problem from inside the organization. —Angela Ruth, Due

4. Survey, Discuss, and Take Action

Use periodic customer satisfaction surveys and discussions to find the reasons behind your churn rates. Hire account managers that have experience with account/crisis management. Set realistic expectations on what you are capable of doing so that you have the ability to wow them. Under-promise and over-deliver. —Deepti Sharma Kapur, FoodtoEat

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SOURCE: FORTUNE

7 Problems Preventing Your Business From Being Profitable

Rich or poor..your business still needs to generate Profit.

Without one, you can’t keep the doors open, and you can’t keep doing what you love.

Unfortunately, the majority of new businesses ultimately end up failing within the first few years. In large part, this is due to an inability to generate a sufficient profit, and it’s not a problem to scoff at -- even businesses built on solid ideas can suffer from a lack of profitability.

What may hinder a business from making profits. Here some reasons gotten from entrepreneur

1. Low prices

Setting prices is one of the first and most important decisions you’ll have to make for your business. How you set your prices could easily dictate your future success. Most entrepreneurs immediately caution themselves not to set prices too high; if your product costs more than your competitors', you could turn away your entire target market.

However, if you set prices too low, you’ll end up spending more in production than you can feasibly make back. Consider your margins carefully, and don’t be afraid to charge for quality. If you spend more time making your product better, people will be willing to pay for it.

2. Too much overhead

There are some things your business absolutely needs to survive. However, you may be overestimating your needs in some key areas. For example, do you really need that 3,000-square-foot office when you have only two employees you're running the business with? Do you really need to invest in that piece of machinery that adds only a marginal value to your finished product?

Think carefully about your overhead; if you spend too much there, you could create a hole too deep to dig out of.

3. A lack of market awareness

You may also be suffering from a lack of market awareness; if your product is at an ideal price for both you and your customers, you still might not generate a profit if no one knows it exists. Your greatest tools to overcome this obstacle are marketing and advertising; they cost a bit up-front, but are well worth the investment if you plan them properly.

4. Inconsistency

There’s a chance that you have a perfect way to make your business profitable -- but you’re executing too inconsistently for your business to reap the rewards. For example, your expenses may swing enormously from month to month, or your sales team might perform unpredictably based on individual variables.

Iron out these inconsistencies as soon as you can track them down. It may be tough to pinpoint exactly where your strategy is deviating, but it’s an important step if you want your profit to remain reliable.

We have seen four points..Three more points left..what are they.

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How do you measure Success?

Success is such a powerful word. We all want it, we all admire those who have it and we're all terribly scared of its opposite. Failure is a dirty word and we often think in terms of black and white, for example “if I’m not successful I must be a failure”. This isn’t true.

It’s tempting to measure success by focussing on possessions, money, your job, your body or your partner. It’s time to challenge this because these indicators contribute to an imbalance between perception and genuine wellbeing. This is what you really need to focus on.
The positive impact you have on others

How you treat other people is key to being successful. Not only for the person you are treating well but also for you. It feels good to be kind, thoughtful, empathetic and compassionate. When you create a positive impact on others the feeling of success is inevitable. Give back and create a positive impact.

The ability to be grateful for what you have

Cultivating gratitude is a huge part of success. Looking at the things we do have instead of the things we don’t, being grateful for the road that has taken us to our path and being grateful for the good things we've experienced automatically elevate how we feel. Life is great when you’re grateful.

The ability to overcome your circumstances

Anyone who has ever achieved success in business or love has overcome something to get there. A skilled lawyer never became skilled overnight. Look at the circumstances you have overcome to get where you are, look at the strengths and battles you have had to face to reach your position. Now look back down the mountain at how far you've come. That distance is great measure of success.

The ability to pursue your goals

Everyone has the ability to go for what they really want in life, but defining exactly what that is – and being honest with yourself in the process – is the source of success. It’s easy to succumb to social convention when you’re setting out your stall in the world, but if you don’t listen to yourself you may struggle to achieve the fulfilment that goes hand in hand with success. Re-define success. And do it on your own terms. How you measure your success is, ultimately, up to you.

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SOURCE: GQ MAGAZINE

Division of labor amongst your team. How important is it?

An important part of your job as a manager is making sure everyone on your team has the right amount of work. It’s tempting to give the workhorse more projects than others (especially if she’ll get them done the fastest) or to ease up on someone who is struggling, but you also need to be fair. How do you make sure that work on your team is evenly distributed? What do you do about the person who’s great at saying no and the one who can’t say no?

What the Experts Say

Delegating work to your team may sound like a straightforward task of management, but, in fact, it’s complicated. You are “juggling multiple interests” in the pursuit of optimal team performance, says Liane Davey, cofounder of 3COze Inc. and author of You First: Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along, and Get Stuff Done. “As a manager, you’re thinking about: What matters to our customers and shareholders? How do I get the best outcomes? How do I do it in a way that doesn’t burn out my people? How do I use my resources wisely? And how do I get more out of underperforming resources?” There are real risks involved in not distributing the workload in an equitable way, says Julie Morgenstern, productivity expert and author of Never Check E-Mail in the Morning. “If you overwork your high performers, you will lose them because they start to resent the fact that they’re doing more,” she says. Similarly, “if you’re taking away work from people who are slower,” they will lose interest. “People come to work driven to succeed, to grow, and to be acknowledged. When they aren’t given an opportunity to do that, it’s poison.” Whether you’re dividing up the workload for next year or next week, here are some strategies to help.

Have a plan

Divvying up assignments for your team members requires forethought and planning, according to Morgenstern. “You are managing the energy and brainpower of an entire group,” she says. It’s not something you can do “during the cracks of your workday in between your tasks. You must devote time to it.” Morgenstern suggests setting aside one or two hours at the end of each week for “delegation strategy and review.” She suggests you think about “What are we trying to achieve? Who are my players? Who does what well? And, who needs development and in what areas?” Those questions will help you figure out the best way to allocate assignments. Without a purposeful plan, Davey says that “managers too often do what’s easy in the short-term and ask the most talented person” to do the hard work. The problem is “then nobody else learns how to do [the tasks], and you’re not building the capacity of the team.”

Clarify roles

A key element to your delegation strategy is making sure “your team members are crystal clear on their roles,” says Morgenstern. “Each person is a player, and the surer [you and they are] of their roles and responsibilities, the easier it is for you to assign work, review work, and demand excellence.” She suggests making a list of all the work that needs to get done and then assigning tasks according to each worker’s specific function, position, and strengths. This exercise also helps you discover any gaps in talent—“You might have 10 outfielders and no one at first base,” says Morgenstern. “Put the tasks that do not fit under any specific role on a list and then figure out—with your team’s help—how to handle it.” You might need to temporarily allocate certain jobs to others. Or you might need to hire someone new. You need to “be deliberate” about how you assign work, adds Davey.

Set expectations

Continually stating the objectives you’re trying to achieve as well as emphasizing the level of effort and engagement you expect helps focus the team, says Morgenstern. “There needs to be a clearly articulated and repeated value that everyone ought to be equally contributing his or her talents, skills, and energy,” she says. Let it be known that “people should be pulling their weight” and willing to help each other, she says. One of the difficulties with making sure that a workload is fair and equitable is that employees don’t work all at the same pace; what may take Marian one hour, might take Jim all day. In other words, even when the workload is “even,” it might not look that way. “It’s important to make sure your employees understand you don’t equate hours with productivity,” according to Davey.

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SOURCE: HBR

Six business practices for freelance entrepreneur

The daily life of the freelance entrepreneur can be really filled with lots of irregularities and uncertainties but most of us would rather be self employed than have a 9-5 job and work for someone else. 

But just because we’ve decided to leave the corporate life doesn’t mean we freelancers can’t borrow best business practices from the corporate world. Because there are actually a lot we can personally learn.

As a freelancer, we are a staff of one and the bulk of our decisions rest with us. Being an entrepreneur means that you get the chance to make new rules as they apply to your business and discard the ones that are unnecessary. 

This is where the little nuggets of wisdom from successful big businesses come into play. While not all practices from corporations are feasible for your business, some of them definitely are, and we will be looking at 6 of these business practicesthat you need to follow to make your freelancing business a proper business.

1. Build Effective cash reserves

Because of the uncertain nature of freelance jobs, there will be times when you will find yourself in a feast or famine period. 

When things are going well, cash is plenty, but what happens when there’s a dry spell? 

Do you have cash reserves for those dry days so you can stay afloat when jobs become sparse? Build your reserves by removing a certain percentage from each paycheck into a special business savings account.

This will help you stay afloat when you’re in a dry spell as a result of not having done much work consignments in a month.

2. Pay Yourself a Salary

Another awesome business practice to adopt as a freelancer is to pay yourself a salary. As freelance entrepreneur, we are often tempted to see our time as free and as such make uneconomical decisions.

For example, if it takes you 25 hours of work to win a $5,000 contract, and 25 hours of work to complete it, you’re making $100 per hour, not $200. 

If someone offers you a $125 per hour contract, you should take it. That contract may be below your nominal hourly rate of $200, but it’s above your real hourly rate (counting the time spent on business development) of $100.

You don’t actually have to write checks to yourself, just keep track of how your monthly earnings measure up to your monthly “salary.” If your earnings exceed your salary, congratulations! If you’re running a monthly deficit, you should either lower your salary expectations or consider finding another line of work.

3. Follow a business plan

A business plan doesn’t have to be a 2-inch thick binder that requires mugs of coffee to read through and some aspirin to quell the headache that comes after reading it.

It can be a one page document that explains in detail what your plans are. For a freelancing business to have a concrete business plan, it needs to satisfy three criteria.

1. It needs to be written down. A plan isn’t a plan unless it’s written. Having it all in your head doesn’t count, as you can’t properly analyze what’s in your head.
2. It needs to have clear and concise goals. How much do you want to land per month? How many new contacts do you aim to make? Let the goals be measurable.
3. It needs to detail the necessary steps to be taken if the goals are to be met. Will you use social media more to advertise yourself? Or will you settle with local listings? Settle on your plan and write it down.

If you had a one line plan that said “My goal is to get $5,000 each month by targeting local veterinary clinics” it would be better than having nothing at all.

4. Learn to Sit Down and Account

A lot of freelancers dread this, but it’s necessary you have a record of accounts for your business. You will not work forever, and at some point you will have to retire. 

As you work, make investments for your retirement. 

And if you can’t properly get around the hurdles of accounting, then find an accountant and have him/her help you out with what needs to be done.

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SOURCE: HUFFINGTON POST

Here are 20 Reasons Why your startup Is about to fail (in pictures)

It’s a reality all entrepreneurs must come to terms with: the potential for failure.

Over 51% of businesses will fail in their first five years (U.S. Census data), and even 25–30% of venture-backed businesses fail.)

But how can you reduce the risk for your next startup?

It is said that when you know what your problem is or where your problem is coming from, then that problem is half-solved. 

Let's see in pictures 20 reasons why startup fail

Image credit: Presitely/Lance Surety Bonds

SOURCE: MEDIUM

Originally published on Inc.com

4 Things to Consider Before Investing in Other Entrepreneurs

A few months ago, in May, the government finally allowed the average person to become an angel investor. This change was known as Title IV of the Job Acts. Technically speaking, it allowed “unaccredited investors” -- that is, individuals who have less than $1 million in assets, earn no more than $200,000 a year and are not professional investors -- to participate in crowdfunding  campaigns in exchange for equity in a company. Maybe you’ve already done this, or at least have thought about doing it.

Is it a good move? Before you jump into an investment, consider a few methods used by the private equity world to increase your odds.

Limit the size of your investment. 

Many big institutional investors allocate no more than 10 percent of their assets to VC funds. Do the same with your personal “angel fund.” The other 90 percent? Keep that in a well-diversified and appropriately allocated portfolio of stocks, bonds and cash.

Vet everything. 

Many private equity funds will look at more than 1,000 investment opportunity  in a year but give money to only five of them. Proper vetting is critical and takes time. So whether you’re investing $5,000 or $5 million, don’t jump at the first deal you see. Do your homework, and be ready to say no.

Hedge your bet. 

Private equity funds will invest in, say, 30 companies, knowing most won’t pay out -- but betting one or two will hit big. You should play the odds as well, even if all you have is $25,000 to invest. Build a portfolio of at least five investments, and count on losing your money on one or more of them.

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SOURCE: ENTREPRENEUR