3 Tips to Help Avoid Overwhelm If You're an Entrepreneur With a Business to Run.

Most entrepreneurs feel overwhelmed at one point or another. In fact, staying focused can be one of the biggest daily challenges.

This can prevent your business moving forward as quickly as you'd like... and leads to that feeling of there never being enough hours in the day.

Here are some tips to put yourself back on track:

1. Focus on 'results' rather than 'goals'
Goals differ from results. You might have a goal to complete a new sales page by the end of the month and get it online. You may even have a series of mini-deadlines to help you achieve this goal. But what is the RESULT you want to achieve? The result you want is to land new clients. The sales page is just part of the puzzle to achieve this. Always focus on the outcome, rather than getting bogged down by short-term goals.

2. Be specific
Results need to be specific to be effective. "Increasing sales" is not specific, for example. "Get 10 new sales in the next 30 days" is a very specific outcome. As is: "Get 20 targeted leads before the end of this week." This is a much better way of monitoring your progress.

3. Prioritize
It's easy to get overwhelmed by the seemingly 'urgent' tasks and lose sight of the truly important ones. Supposing you want to increase your online sales by a specific amount this quarter. But maybe your website isn't set up to achieve this outcome. Your first priority would therefore be to get the revisions done and put online. That result would allow you to move on to your next goal of driving traffic to your website. If you do things in the right order, it makes it so much easier to achieve results.

Using these tips will help give you clarity and focus, so that you can build your business faster and with less frustration. Once you get into the habit of using them, you'll find staying on track much easier.

Intrapreneurs Are What Dreams Are Made Of !!!

A new career development programme-learning intrapreneurial skills.

Bill Gates said, “I want to put a PC on every desk, in every home and in every office.” Ford said, “I want to put a car in every garage, in every home.” It is these dreams that led to great achievements. Dreams are what help people move ahead. Narayan Murthy never let go of his Infosys dream.

In a random survey of young executives, especially those in the IT industry were asked what they wanted from their careers. The good news is that most of them were happy doing what they were- but only right now! The rejoinder to their response would alarm any HR department. After all, hiring the right candidate is a Herculean task!

The story unfolds!

Well, the inevitable is that these employees will move on to pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams. But organisations can take advantage of the fact that while three-quarters harbour dreams of their own enterprise, most of them are unaware of how to get there! Once organisations recognise this entrepreneurial drive amongst their employees, they should also recognise the gold mine in it. Unfortunately, most consider this drive as a major obstacle in workforce stability.

Organisations don’t have to lose top performers to the desire of nurturing entrepreneurial dreams. Smart organisations should realise that in such dreams lies an untapped pool of initiatives. When given the opportunity within the organisation itself to realise a sense of ownership and satisfaction these individuals are bound to stick around allaying HR fears of high turnover.

In addition creating an environment in which creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial skills can be exercised would fan the individuals’ aspirations bringing out the best in them. This would reflect in their ability to perform better thereby impacting the organisation positively. Some smart managers pay attention to maintaining good relations with such individuals for future references. After all, history has it that entrepreneurs are celebrated the world over.

What next?

Having identified individuals with an entrepreneurial drive, the organisation would now have to give them the ‘ownership and satisfaction’ opportunity. How does an organisation cater to this need? It does so by developing intrepreneuring skills in such employees.

What’s the good word?

“Intrapreneuring is the process of encouraging employees to initiate and manage new ventures or improvements within the organisation.” Intrapreneurs closely resemble entrepreneurs. They are the hands-on doers who turn ideas into realities inside the organisation. The intrepreneurial process synergises individual aspirations with organisational objectives. When organisations create a culture, which allows individuals to satisfy their entrepreneurial itch without leaving the organisation intrapreneurs are born!

The lamenting lot!

Common exit interview remarks and retirement announcements are, “I’m leaving in search of something more.” “I’m leaving to start my own business.” The underlying message is rather clear. These individuals look for more than a paycheque at the end of their workday. They desire for opportunities where they can establish, nurture and hold responsibility for their work. When the HR department develops intrapreneurial skills in such individuals it provides them:

• Reasons to stay on
• Challenges that helps tap their potential
• Autonomy and leadership opportunities

The key to the success of any intraprenuerial initiative is to see that the new idea or an improvement venture fits into the organisational framework. While allowing employees to exhibit their entrepreneurial talent, organisations must ensure that the ‘new division’ complements its functioning.

The other angle

Not all employees desire to branch out and do something on their own. Infact most of them are not even ready for such opportunities within the organisation, leave alone their own enterprises. Managers should nevertheless remember that while these individuals are not ready to take on responsibilities they are ready to leave the organisation when denied the opportunity! Therefore, intrapreneuring is the safest way out!

Intrapreneurs at work

IHS Support Solutions started of as IHS Helpdesk Services company. It provided on-site services. A young employee whom the management had already identified as one with great potential suggested, “Why not provide 24/7 phone service as well? That way people looking for help at their client companies would call us and speak to an HIS staff member who would be the first to see if the problem can be resolved. This staffer can then determine whether the person on call should disturb the client.

This new division can be hired by clients to be their on-call persons".

The management promoted the idea. IHS has now diversified to providing help desk staffers both on-site and to various clients and organisations. The young employee stayed on to head the new division. This illustrates how the entrepreneurial desires of individuals can be successfully teamed with existing organisational framework. Texas Instruments is another organisation that is running high on its intrapreneurial successes.

A study of fifty of its new products revealed that:

• Intrapreneurs persisted despite obstacles
• Every failure lacked a dedicated intrapreneur
• Innovations were on the decline till someone donned the intrapreneurial role

Training intrapreneurs

Most training managers believe that intraprenuers are born not made. But a marked improvement in individuals post intrapreneurial training tells a different story!

Most organisations provide training in intrapreneurship only to those who volunteer! The assumption is that only those who are courageous enough to volunteer can succeed as intrapreneurs. Training success is partly because these individuals look around the training room and realise, “My goodness, there are other people like me in this world and it seems that the corporation is really serious now about wanting this aspect of me employed.” In other words, training allows these individuals to use a part of their potential that they failed to recognise. Training boosts their drive and vision.

An intrapreneur possesses complementary skills. He needs to be knowledgeable HRD, finance, sales, marketing and quality control. Training is crucial if these skills are missing.

Getting started

An organisation needs to develop an environment, which supports individuals with new ideas. To encourage intrapreneurial initiatives organisations should:

• Identify individuals with new ideas and risk taking abilities
• Look for ways to retain then from the start as such people are most likely to leave
• Provide opportunities to develop their strengths and work on their weaknesses
• Align individual goals with organisational objectives
• Ask the most-likely-to-leave employee what would make him stay- he might take on the ownership of his idea and stay on!
• Implement and support ideas whenever possible

Career development opportunities is one of the first ‘carrots’ organisations offer bright employees. Developing intrapreneurial skills in employees not only keeps talent in the organisation, it also keeps them satisfied and happy.

Reference:
The ManageMentor

How to Start a Home Party Business?

Tips on How to Start a Home Party Business That Makes You Money.

One of the major issues facing women today is how can they find a way to stay home with their kids and make money.

Be it to contribute to the household bills or to simply have some pocket change to splurge on whatever they want to splurge it on. Many are probably seeking to know how to start a home party business.

The good news is that to start a home party business is one of cheapest, easiest, and fastest way of making the dream of making money while staying home with your children a reality. You can become a direct sales consultant for one of the major direct selling companies.

Here are some statistics on home party business reps: Did you know that there are over 43 million direct sales consultants around the world, and approximately 12 million just in the United States alone?

Most of the direct sales reps happen to be women, who eagerly embrace the business in order to work part time, set their own hours, and empower themselves to make as much money as they want or need, according to the number of hours they decide to put into their business.

Does this sound like something you'd be interested in learning more about? Would you like to learn how to start a home party business? If so, there are some things that you will need to be informed of:

There exist a variety of direct sales companies and home party businesses as there are direct sales representatives. You will learn that most sales reps encourage that new representatives pick a company based on their interests and products that they would want to buy themselves.

If you are genuinely passionate about your business, this will go a long way towards your ultimate success as a direct sales rep, in particularly during the times when you're having a hard time getting bookings, recruit other reps, or even marketing your business.

Before starting your research on how to start a home party business, sit down somewhere where you're not going to be disturbed for at least 30 minutes, and give some serious thought as to what you want and need from your business.

What are your long term and short term goals? How much money do you want to make a month? How many hours do you want to work per day? Week? Month?

Don't forget to factor in your personality - if starting a home party business going to be right for you? Do you enjoy meeting and talking to new people? Do you look forward to going out or going to parties?

Are you motivated person? Are you able to stay focused and on task? Do you find yourself procrastinating a lot? Although anyone can learn how to become a successful entrepreneur, it will be quite a challenge for you if you have to learn new habits at the same time you're trying to learn how to start a home party business of your own.

Once you have a crystal clear picture of what you want and need from your business, then it's time to start doing your research about the different companies that are out there.

Make sure to thoroughly research any home party company that you're strongly considering becoming a representative/consultant for. You'll want to make sure that they have a good reputation, that they guarantee their products, and that other reps are satisfied.

The amount of commissions you will be earning, the cost of the initial sales kit, even the rate and schedule of pay should all be taken into account when making your final decision.

The sales literature is not enough to go by - you want to figure out how much money you need or want to make a month. Then look at the amount of money you can make per party, and how many parties and how much in total sales you'll have to make in order to reach that goal.

If reaching your goal is going to require you to work longer hours or more than you're willing or able to commit to, then choose another company.

You'll want to be a little careful of any company that charges a really high amount for a sales kit, or asks you to pay for training.

Furthermore, your commissions ought to be based on the products or services you sell, and not on recruiting more people in under you.

In fact, any time you're told that your largest commissions are based on the number of people you recruit or the memberships you sell, tread slowly. Often times these types of companies turn out to be pyramid schemes or scam companies.

Don't forget to check into the company's return policy. You should be able to return any unused or unsold merchandise with no questions asked.

If the company fails to list a clear and open buy-back policy, make a request to get it in writing before committing or signing a contract.

Be careful about falling for the promise of easy money in your quest to learn how to start a home party business. There is no such thing as easy money without serious consequences.

Instead, search for a company whose products will help you to build a real, growing home party business of your own, a company that you'll be proud to be affiliated with, and that will help you to reach your goals.

Reference:
Jane Boss

Is Entrepreneurship For You?

In business, there are no guarantees. There is simply no way to eliminate all the risks associated with starting a small business - but you can improve your chances of success with good planning, preparation, and insight. Start by evaluating your strengths and weaknesses as a potential owner and manager of a small business. Carefully consider each of the following questions:

Are you a self-starter? It will be entirely up to you to develop projects, organize your time, and follow through on details.

How well do you get along with different personalities? Business owners need to develop working relationships with a variety of people including customers, vendors, staff, bankers, and professionals such as lawyers, accountants, or consultants. Can you deal with a demanding client, an unreliable vendor, or a cranky receptionist if your business interests demand it?

How good are you at making decisions? Small business owners are required to make decisions constantly - often quickly, independently, and under pressure.

Do you have the physical and emotional stamina to run a business? Business ownership can be exciting, but it's also a lot of work. Can you face six or seven 12-­hour workdays every week?

How well do you plan and organize? Research indicates that poor planning is responsible for most business failures. Good organization ­ of financials, inventory, schedules, and production ­can help you avoid many pitfalls.

Is your drive strong enough? Running a business can wear you down emotionally. Some business owners burn out quickly from having to carry all the responsibility for the success of their business on their own shoulders. Strong motivation will help you survive slowdowns and periods of burnout.

How will the business affect your family? The first few years of business start­up can be hard on family life. It's important for family members to know what to expect and for you to be able to trust that they will support you during this time. There also may be financial difficulties until the business becomes profitable, which could take months or years. You may have to adjust to a lower standard of living or put family assets at risk in the short-term.

Why Small Businesses Fail

Success in business is never automatic. It isn't strictly based on luck - although a little never hurts. It depends primarily on the owner's foresight and organization. Even then, of course, there are no guarantees.

Starting a small business is always risky, and the chance of success is slim. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, roughly 50% of small businesses fail within the first five years.

In his book Small Business Management, Michael Ames gives the following reasons for small business failure:

• Lack of experience
• Insufficient capital (money)
• Poor location
• Poor inventory management
• Over-investment in fixed assets
• Poor credit arrangements
• Personal use of business funds
• Unexpected growth

Gustav Berle adds two more reasons in The Do It Yourself Business Book:

• Competition
• Low sales

More Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail

These figures aren't meant to scare you, but to prepare you for the rocky path ahead. Underestimating the difficulty of starting a business is one of the biggest obstacles entrepreneurs face. However, success can be yours if you are patient, willing to work hard, and take all the necessary steps.

On the Upside

It's true that there are many reasons not to start your own business. But for the right person, the advantages of business ownership far outweigh the risks.

You will be your own boss.
Hard work and long hours directly benefit you, rather than increasing profits for someone else.
Earning and growth potential are far greater.
A new venture is as exciting as it is risky.
Running a business provides endless challenge and opportunities for learning.

For more related information, check out:
Small Business Planner

7 Reasons Why Speakers Flop.

7 Reasons Why Speakers Flop

Few qualities create a more vivid impression of a leader than the ability to speak in public. The higher a leader rises within an organization, the more frequently she is called upon to address others. Ironically, hapless leaders are offered little or no training to develop their speaking skills. A fortunate few ooze natural communication talents, but the vast majority must labor to sharpen their speaking skills of else suffer from their deficiency.

As a professional who makes his living giving speeches and seminars, I have sat through hundreds, if not thousands, of executive presentations. Most of the speeches I have heard (or endured) have been less than memorable. Far too often, the presentations have been painful, not only for the speaker, but also for the audience trying to feign interest.

The majority of presenters, even those who flopped dramatically, were well-intentioned. They had a message they believed was relevant, or a passion they were eager to share. Moreover, they stood to gain something, whether support, respect, or credibility, by delivering a masterful presentation. Clearly, nobody sets out to destroy his reputation with a mind-numbing speech. Why, then, do communicators fail so miserably when they have every incentive to excel?

Thoughts and emotions require technique to be successfully communicated. Consider putting in golf. Without technique, it doesn't matter how brilliantly you wish to hit the golf ball, or how shrewdly you've accounted for the slope of the green and the speed of the putting surface. In the end, only good form and practiced skill allow you to consistently make great shots. Public speaking is no different.

Public speaking, like any skill, must be developed. The more often you speak, the better you become — IF you learn from your mistakes. The fastest gains to improve your speaking ability come when you eliminate potential sources of disaster. While I've observed great creativity in flopping a speech, there are seven common reasons why speakers fail.

1. A disregard for time

Long-windedness — speaking beyond the allotted time — may be the easiest way to alienate an audience. Strangely enough, it seems to be epidemic among business leaders. Speaking overly long is rude and smacks of arrogance and self-importance. It suggests to the audience that the speaker values his presentation greater than the time of his listeners or anything else on the program.

The length of a speech shouldn't be a function of title or power, but a function of how long a person has agreed to talk. Start on time and stop on time. Not only will your audience respect you for it, but also you will demonstrate respect for your audience.

2. Unclear purpose

Here's the million-dollar question of any presentation: What's the point?
I'm puzzled by the number of leaders who ramble through a speech without saying anything of substance. I'm equally dismayed by the number of leaders who cram 21 bullet points into a 30-minute presentation. Communicators frustrate people when they rattle off reams of information without pointing the way to practical application. If you cannot identify a concise, worthwhile purpose for the presentation, you probably shouldn't be making it.
Design your speech the way the pros do. Begin by asking, "At the end of this presentation, what do I want listeners to think, feel, and do?" Good presenters speak to the head, the heart, and the hands.

3. Inadequate preparation

There is no excuse for "winging it." The best speakers are borderline neurotic in their preparation--even if their demeanor suggests otherwise. Presenters who come across as brilliantly unscripted likely spent hours practicing in order to appear "off the cuff."
If you paid for a ticket to a Broadway show where none of the actors had practiced in advance, you would demand your money back. Too bad the audiences of executive leaders don't get the same privilege. Each speech is a transaction. Your listeners are paying attention, and you owe them a worthwhile presentation in return.

4. Failure to capture attention

The scarcest resource in the world used to be time; today it is attention. The average listener is bombarded with messages from many different sources. From email to radio to voicemail to cell phones, everybody is trying to tell us something, and your attempt to give a speech is just one more bombardment.

Your content and delivery had better grab the audience's attention right out of the shoot. You don't have the luxury of "warming up" your audience. Hit them square between the eyes with something that will break their preoccupation with the thousands of other stimuli clamoring for their attention.

Most importantly, make your remarks relevant. Postmoderns are less interested with the question "Is it true?" and more interested in the question "How does it affect me?" Yes, you need to be intellectually honest to prove your points, but never forget to demonstrate that your message matters to the listener.

5. Pomposity

Ego-driven leaders are more concerned with what followers think about them than with what followers do because of them. Rather than influencing their listeners, pompous leaders attempt to impress the audience. In doing so, they manipulate rather than inspire.

A preoccupation with self is deadly to a communicator. Self-absorbed leaders speak in order to get their needs met rather than to meet the needs of the audience. Unfortunately for speakers, audiences are quick to pick up the scent of a pompous communicator and they will tune out any presenter perceived as arrogant.

6. Boredom

Today's audiences are filled with people who were raised on MTV. This generation spent its formative years watching music videos that contained 150 images in the course of a minute. For them, watching a talking head is about as stimulating as staring at a blank computer screen.

A speaker who entertains never fully flops. Don't get me wrong: entertainment by itself is not a worthwhile goal for an executive presenter, but is sure beats the alternative, which is to be boring. For a speaker, the value of entertainment comes from its ability to mentally engage listeners. I've found the best way to educate is to slip good ideas in on the wings of entertainment.

Great restaurants know that the presentation of cuisine is as important as its preparation. Speakers would be wise to take note: presentation and perception go hand-in-hand. The best communicators use the sizzle to sell the steak.

7. False endings

I've seen the following scenario play out hundreds of times. A speaker starts to conclude, even tells the audience of her intent, and then tells a pithy, witty story. The audience responds favorably, and the speaker gets a rush. "Wow, they liked that. I've got an even better story," she thinks to herself. And then she ends again with another story/quote/challenge. Like a junkie in search of another fix, the speaker keeps ending until there is no positive response, but rather visible signs of disgust. By then, it is too late to recover.

Conclude concisely. Each false ending weakens the message in front of it. A simple rule to remember: good endings only happen once.

Summary

The beginning of excellence is the elimination of foolishness. You can ramp up your speaking performance by analyzing your last presentation with these seven questions:

1. Did I stick to my allotted time?
2. Did I develop and present purposefully?
3. Was I thoroughly prepared?
4. Did I capture attention at the very beginning?
5. Did I positively influence listeners?
6. Was I appropriately entertaining, or at least not boring?
7. Did I end only once?

An affirmative answer to each question virtually guarantees that your next presentation won't be a flop. Not only will your communication be flop-proof, but you will likely be perceived as an articulate and effective speaker.

Reference:
Mark Sanborn

Nurturing the Entrepreneurs Breed.

Just as a plant doesn’t grow with water alone, a startup enterprise cannot blossom only with money. It needs an eco-system that promotes entrepreneurship in addition to early-stage funding. India has not been able to spawn as many entrepreneurs as it can, because of the lack of such support systems. In the last few years, however, beginnings have been made by academic and industry bodies to join hands with funding institutions and nurture networks of entrepreneurs, mentors, customers and skilled workers. 

A popular link in this chain is the business plan competition, in which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business plans to venture capitalists. The best ones sometimes get funding for their ventures, but everyone gets the lasting benefits of networking, mentoring, and learning from peers. 

These contests can be as challenging as the marketplace itself. An entrepreneur needs to give a clear strategic perspective on the demand for one’s business, chart the cash flow and outline competitive advantages. For start-ups with all the elements drawn up, these contests can open the doors to success. 

While entrepreneurs are unlikely to get VC funding only on the basis of their business plan presentation at such contests, they will be able to take home exposure to a professional audience and feedback from a panel of judges who had nurtured startup businesses either as investors or founders, says Alok Mittal of Canaan Venture Partners. “The entrepreneurs get visibility in the right context. VCs and potential investors know the winners are chosen from a large number of entries.” 

One such event helped Abhishek Sinha finetune his business idea for a mobile phone payment system aimed at bringing daily wage earners under the banking system. He presented his plan at a contest organised by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) in Mumbai last year, which helped him get feedback from industry veterans such as Raman Roy, Pramod Bhasin, Mahesh Murthy and Saurabh Srivastava. “To get a validation of my business plan from them was a tremendous boost,” says Mr Sinha. 

At the time of the event, he was already running a company and was in talks to sell it off. Once the sale was concluded, he used the proceeds to start another company, Eko Financial Services, to give shape to the new plan. He had initially thought of a product model, but the feedback at the contest helped him re-focus his business into a service model. The exposure also helped him to network with other experienced professionals and rope in Sanjay Bhargava, a former employee of Paypal, as co-founder. 

TiE has also teamed up with Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development at the Indian School of Business to organise TiE-ISB Connect. In its third year now, the event provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs — both in the early stage as well as the growth phase — to meet venture capitalists, successful entrepreneurs, analysts and academicians in sessions over three days. This year’s event will be held in Hyderabad in the second week of November. About 60 venture capital firms, which have over $5 billion in India-focused investments, will be present. Last year’s event saw the participation of NEA Indo-US Ventures, Canaan Partners, Battery Ventures, Lightspeed and Helion Ventures. The last date for submitting business plans for this event is August 31, 2007. 

Institutes Play A Crucial Role 

It is still early to say if these events hold the answers to solving India’s entrepreneurship problems. But they are a step in the right direction. In the West where such competitions have been around for much longer, they have yielded good results. One example is the MIT Entrepreneurship Center that runs one of the best known entrepreneurship competitions called the MIT $100 K for its students and researchers. MIT $100 K, which has been around for the last 18 years, has created over 60 firms, 1,800 jobs and raised $175 million in venture capital so far. 

Academic institutions are a critical constituency of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and institutes in India are beginning to take a lead at grooming entrepreneurs. For example, IIM  Bangalore in association with the Nadathur S Raghavan Center for Entrepreneurial Learning conducts a management programme for women entrepreneurs at the IIM-B campus. Held every summer since 2004, the programme takes in 60-70 participants for a fee of Rs 15,000. The programme is spread over six weeks and helps the participants get a basic understanding in finance, business strategy, sales and marketing, managing people, negotiation and other basics of management. All participants submit a business plan at the end of the programme and the two best business plans are awarded. This programme is inspired by the Oxford Brookes University, which has a programme to train women entrepreneurs in tourism. 

Over the years there has been an increase in the number of B-School graduates wanting to start their own ventures on graduating. In 2006, nine students of IIM Lucknow, including the batch topper, opted out of final placements in order to start their own company. To meet their needs, IIM Lucknow started an entrepreneurial cell at the school called Abhiyaan. Among its other activities, Abhiyaan organises business plan workshops and an annual national level business plan competition called Nirvaan, which is open to all business and engineering schools across the country. Nirvaan 2006 saw participation from 40 schools and 550 participants who battled it out for prizes worth Rs 7.5 lakhs and a chance to get funding. 

IIM-L students who start their companies while still on campus are provided facilities, mentorship, and networking and business opportunities with the help of faculty, the IIM-L alumni community and Abhiyan partner organisations. Two such firms, including a guitar school chain, are being mentored this year. 

In TiE-ISB business plan contest in 2006, 20 entrepreneurs were chosen from 200 applicants, made presentations to a VC panel. In 2005, 14 entrepreneurs were selected for presentations. The organisers are reluctant to share the amount of money that these companies have raised since those meetings. “This is not a speed dating service, but more of an opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors to meet each other,” says Sateesh Andra, Venture Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson. After the event, TiE-ISB continues to mentor the selected startups. 

What is an Entrepreneur?

Entrepreneur - a strange word that is hard to spell and even harder to define. Everyone seems to have their own definition, but what is the true definition? 

Entrepreneur is from a French word which simply means "to undertake." The dictionary definition tells us it is a "person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk of a business venture. 

In our society, we think of entrepreneurs as ones who have strong ideas about a product or service, or an innovative way to market or manufacture a product or service. They are people who are not afraid to run the risk of being wrong and are willing to take that "road less traveled" to make things happen. If you begin a study of "famous" entrepreneurs, it will be interesting reading. 

The National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Commerce and others have reported that since World War II, "smaller entrepreneurial firms have been responsible for 67% of all inventions and innovations, and 95 percent of all radical innovation in the United States." That's a pretty big statement. 

When you think of the personality traits of an entrepreneur, what comes to your mind? Do you think of the adventurer? The risk taker? The visionary? The leader? The problem solver? The hard worker? The goal-driven one? All of these are probably true, and more can be added. 

Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made? 

However, are all of these qualities born in a person? Or are we looking at a list of skills that can be developed over time? Perhaps a little of both. 

But how does this affect you? Do you have what it take to be an entrepreneur? Do you even want to be? Do you want to take an idea and run with it, making things happen and developing your own company? 

The good news is, online marketing is quickly changing how we view entrepreneurs and how we define the term. Let's look at what individuals are doing online today. These make up a new breed of "online entrepreneurs" if you will.

What's an Online Entrepreneur? Instead of considering how to take an idea and build a big, new, innovative business, an online entrepreneur simply wants to take back the control of his or her life. In whatever form or fashion that may turn out to be. 

First of all, you don't have to have the original idea for a product or service. Nor do you have to have all the marketing savvy. Many people are setting up their own online businesses because they don't have to do all the legwork (i.e. don't have to reinvent the wheel). Many of these are individuals who, if you gave them one of those "personality tests," they wouldn't even fit the so-called standard entrepreneur profile. 

If you have been thinking about starting your own online business, but think you aren't even the entrepreneur-type, think again. Do a little research on the conventional description of an entrepreneur. Instead of shaking your head and thinking you'd never fit that mold, examine the list and determine which qualities are actually learned skills. Anyone can learn a new skill. Step out and Learn!

If you lack self confidence, read confidence-building books (or listen to teaching CDs) by such greats as Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, Robert Schuller, Brian Tracy, Anthony Robbins, just to name a few. And that's just one area. Whatever you need to learn, you can learn if your desire (your "why") is big enough and strong enough. 

You've never lived in a better time to be able to take back control of your life in an entrepreneurial fashion. There are countless opportunities for wildly successful online businesses. You'll find direct sales, network marketing, affiliate marketing, and tools and tutorials galore. 

All that is required is a will to step out of your comfort zone and learn. One of these areas is tailor-made just for you and your personality. Even if your personality falls a little short of all that is thought to be needed to become a conventional entrepreneur. So if you're wondering if you can be an entrepreneur, the answer is - it's entirely up to you. It's your choice. Go for it!

Reference:

Rob Walcher can be considered as one who had determined to learn all the skills needed to become an independent-thinking entrepreneur. He shot to the top in two different direct sales companies in a matter of 18 months and has become known as the Ten-Figure Guru. Rob has subsequently helped hundreds of entrepreneurs achieve their own success. If you want to learn how to get comfortable with a few more zeroes in your income and work directly with Rob click here: 10 Figure Guru  

Entrepreneur Startup: Starting Up a Restaurant.

Starting up a restaurant is a lot like having children. Everyone tells you how much work and dedication it will be, but you are still so excited. The excitement may cause something in the back of your head tells you it might just be a lot of fun and not so much work.

Don't believe it. Running a restaurant entails wearing a lot of hats and putting in a lot of time, but it can all be worth it if you do your research and a well thought out, organized plan is set in place.

After deciding that you are ready to own a restaurant, a concept needs to be developed. Keep in mind what type of restaurant (family, fast food, upscale, etc.) you want to own. Do you want to buy into a franchise, or create your own establishment?

These are questions that need to have clear and concise answers so that when you enter into writing the business plan, you have it done.

Preparing the business plan is one of the most crucial parts of starting a restaurant. Not only does it help to secure funding, but it organizes information like target market, market demographics, competition studies, and financial projection. The business plan holds all of the necessary information in one clean document.

Secure financing for the restaurant. Make sure you have enough money for the location, design and furnishing the interior, exterior signage, initial advertising cost, and maybe a little cushion in case of a slow start.

Get all of your professionals in place. Hire a lawyer and accountant to take care of their respective matters while you are preparing for opening day.

Prior to the grand opening many things need to get done:

• Hire a good staff 

• Furnish the restaurant 

• Create a menu 

• Contact local vendors and negotiate pricing 

• Begin advertising

A good way to create buzz about the restaurant is to have a pre-grand opening party. Send out invites to friends, family and local business people to come to the venue and experience the restaurant before anybody else does. Allow each person to bring a guest to increase exposure.

Serve a limited menu, with only the best items available.

Introduce yourself and your staff and then run the event as though it is opening day. Make comment cards available so the guests can give some suggestions for you to look at before the doors open to the public.

Above all, prepare for spending a lot of time with the business. No business can survive if the owner does not have a hand in it. It will be a lot of work, but since you have already decided it is work you'll love then it will all be worth it.

Check on the web, two good places with useful info good folks have shared at HubPages and Squidoo booth have good actionable resources at your fingertips including information A to Z.

Garen Garson is a restaurateur with a passion for Restaurant Business,done right. Check out a special page he's put up at: How To Start a Restaurant Business and Get useful, actionable information including restaurant marketing know-how... 

You are invited; Starting a Small Restaurant

The Early Years of Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

At 49 years old, Magic Johnson’s accomplishments stretch as far and wide as the many basketball courts he has conquered in his career. From transforming the Los Angeles Lakers into a championship team, to living with HIV, to launching a multi-million dollar business empire, Johnson has overcome numerous stereotypes in creating his own multi-faceted success.

Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Jr. was born in 1959 in Lansing, Michigan to parents Christine, a school custodian, and Earvin Johnson, Sr., who worked at a General Motors plant. Johnson was the fourth of seven children, but maintained a close relationship with his parents. In fact, as basketball quickly took a hold of his young life, it was Johnson Sr. who would coach his son and provide him with advice on how to be a top-scorer – in the game, and in life.

At Everett High School, Johnson’s reputation on the court began to take off. It was there that a Lansing sports reporter first gave Johnson the nickname of “Magic,” after a 36-point, 18-rebound, and 16-assist performance. Johnson would later take his high school team to the 1977 state championships, and win.

Johnson decided to stay close to home for university, attending Michigan State. There, he played for the Spartans, leading them to their first-ever NCAA title. In that game, Johnson scored 24 points and was chosen Most Valuable Player.

In 1979, just two years before Johnson was supposed to graduate, something happened to him that would forever change his life. Johnson was selected first in the 1979 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. It was an opportunity he could not turn down.

Johnson promptly moved to Southern California and embarked on a career of championship after championship. He led the Lakers to their first NBA championship in eight years – the first of five – and earned three NBA Finals MVP awards.

However, in November 1991, following a routine physical examination for an insurance policy, Johnson made a discovery that would bring his career to a crashing halt. He learned he had HIV, and promptly retired from basketball.

Almost overnight, Johnson was transformed from a basketball superstar into a spokesperson for AIDS awareness. He founded the Magic Johnson Foundation for HIV/AIDS education, and wrote the book, “What You Can Do To Prevent AIDS.”

Still, Johnson’s celebrity in the game could not be overlooked, and in 1992, he was voted back into the NBA All-Star game. After scoring 25 points in 29 minutes, Johnson was named the game’s MVP. He also made the 1992 Olympic team, and brought home the Gold medal.

In the next few years that followed, Johnson would announce his retirement from basketball another two times. He continued to have health concerns over playing professionally and dealing with the consequences of HIV. Some of his teammates shared those concerns, and it showed on the court. Finally, Johnson left the game for good in 1996, and decided to turn his attention to other ventures.

For more learnings check out:

A Champion is Born-Earvin-Magic-Johnson

Estimating Startup Costs.

Estimating Startup Costs

ONE OF the toughest things in starting a business is, well, figuring out what it’s going to cost you to start. It’s tough because startup costs are a moving target, easy to underestimate and almost always subject to change. Here are five rules that can help you start figuring the cost of starting.

Have a solid plan — then change it. Most business startup stories say that you have to have a business plan. And you do. But that’s not the beginning and end of figuring out your startup costs. Jeff Shuman, professor of management and director of entrepreneurial studies at Bentley College, says, “The conventional wisdom is that an entrepreneur sees an opportunity, comes up with a business plan to capitalise on it, determines the capital that needs to be raised, raises the capital and then applies it to building the business described in the business plan.”

There’s one major problem with that model, says Shuman: It all hinges on getting the business right the first time, and that doesn’t often happen. “In reality, it’s likely that some of your initial assumptions are pretty good and others aren’t going to be worth the paper they’re written on,” he says. Shuman and others say that figuring out your startup costs means regularly reviewing your assumptions and changing your initial business model.

Writing a business plan is good because it forces you to write down literally everything you are going to need to start your business — legal help, tax help, office supplies, equipment, postage, office space, employee salaries, insurance and so on. But that initial plan is likely to change repeatedly as you learn new things and incorporate them into the plan.

Be willing to pull back. It’s tempting to add up everything you need for the fullfledged business you imagine, and decide that that’s what you need to start out. But pulling back and looking for a smaller model can give you a way to get started while also preserving capital.

Shuman uses the example of someone who calculates that the total cost of starting a retail business in a local mall is going to work out to $150 a square foot. “You could start that way and write a business plan based on that amount,” he says. “But maybe you’d be better off putting a pushcart in the mall and testing what the demand is for your products at that location.

“This consumer testing reduces your initial startup costs. The result is that the initial cycle of your business is dedicated not so much to generating profits as to generating information. With this, you can fund your business on a cycle-by-cycle basis,” Shuman says. “When you go for the second cycle and for expanding your business, the numbers are now based not on focus groups or surveys but on real-world experience.”

Calculate prices, time correctly. Calculating your initial cash flow is part of figuring out your startup costs. It’s an area where businesses are sometimes less optimistic than they should be. “Small-business owners may under-price their product or service, thinking they have to come in at as low a price point as possible to compete,” says Barbara Bird, chair of the management department at Kogad School of Business at American University. “They don’t necessarily need to do that.”

Correctly estimate your startup time. Yes, when beginning a business, time can literally be money. Let’s say you’re going to have fixed costs such as a monthly lease. If you have to make improvements to a space before you can actually open for business, those fixed costs are going to be additional startup costs until you can actually open for business.

I’ve watched many entrepreneurs draw up a timeline for their ventures and get tripped up on the zoning, safety and inspection requirements imposed by local agencies. For that reason, I think one of the first places a prospective new business owner should go — even before approaching a lender or leasing agent — is to the local government planning or license department. Construction permits and inspections can push a startup’s prospective opening date back by months. If you fail to figure in the cost of this additional time, you could be short of working capital right out of the gate.

Be realistic about the cost of money. Many small-business owners self-finance their ventures by running up big balances on their personal credit cards. Others tap the equity in their homes. But self-financing isn’t a practical option for larger ventures.

Carnegie Mellon’s Emerson says that startups should figure in the cost of capital when determining initial expenses and cash flow. “The cost is usually based on what the interest would be that similar cash invested in something with similar risk would command on the market,” Emerson says. “It’s usually a figure that is a few percentage points or more above the prime rate.”

Adapted from Microsoft’s Small Business Center website.

How to Get the Most Important Things Done.

Have you ever gotten to the end of a "busy" day and then realized that you didn't really get anything significant done?

One of the biggest causes of this common problem is what Peter Drucker calls "drifting into trivia." Getting so caught up in all the small
stuff that you forget to do the big, important stuff.

There are many opportunities during each day for you to drift into trivia: remembering a phone call you need to make, coming across a piece of
paper reminding you of some other project, getting an email asking you a question, a call from a colleague, a drop-in visitor, etc.

Before you know it, the important task that you were working on is hijacked by a much less important errand.

If you find yourself routinely working on unimportant things or not accomplishing as much as you want, you may be drifting into trivia more often than you think.

Drifting into trivia is not always easy to spot. Sometimes the work that you drift into seems important, but if you take a step back and reflect on what you are really trying to accomplish, you realize that the work doesn't really serve your
objectives and is merely distracting you from what you really need to do.

The best way to avoid drifting into trivia is to have clear priorities and objectives. When your priorities are clear, you will be able to tell when that tempting distraction is less important. You will realize immediately that by doing it you would be drifting into trivia.

Setting Clear Priorities

Effective time managers quickly realize that they simply cannot do everything. They have to be selective with their limited amount of time and consciously choose to spend it on what is most important to them.

This is why it is so important for you to be the one choosing, rather than just going with the flow and allowing circumstances, interruptions or other people to choose for you.

Prioritizing means taking conscious control of your choices and deciding to spend more time on the projects and tasks that are important and valuable, and less time on the ones that are not as important or valuable.

This may sound obvious, but the fact is that the vast majority of people don't put much thought on how they spend their time. They just flow through life doing whatever grabs their attention next, or repeating the same things day after day
out of habit and routine.

How to Prioritize

The ABCD prioritization method is a simple, practical and powerful technique you can use to prioritize your projects and tasks.

You should start by prioritizing your projects (which represent your outcomes) based on their importance.

I normally assign an A priority to ongoing projects that I'm actively working on, as well as important long-term projects that I want to continue moving forward.

Your A projects represent outcomes that you have decided are important enough to commit time to on a regular basis. So, if you think you should be making progress on a project right now, give it an A priority.

I assign a priority of B to projects that are "under review." They may very well be worth moving forward, but they are not important enough to devote time to them this upcoming week. You can then revisit your decision during your next weekly
planning session.

One common mistake while prioritizing is to automatically assign an A priority to urgent things, and to push back important long-term projects to B or even C priority.

If a long-term project truly is important, you should make it an A and commit time to it on a regular basis.

I usually leave urgent but non-important projects/tasks as either B's or C's, which helps me to productively procrastinate on them until I can truly determine if they are worth doing. Since I review them regularly, I don't have to worry about them falling through cracks or becoming a crisis.

The C priority category represent projects that I may want to do at some point in the future, but definitely not right now. Once I've decided that a project is a C, I won't even consider committing any time to it during the upcoming week.

Finally, I reserve the D priority for projects and tasks that I'm not planning to do at all. They are simply not worth my time right now.

Prioritize Your Tasks

Prioritizing tasks is slightly different than prioritizing projects. In general, projects are things that you are going to work in parallel during the week, so the project priorities help you decide which projects to work on, as well as
how much time to devote to them.

On the other hand, you normally work on tasks for a given project sequentially. You work on the most important thing first until completed, and then you move on to the next most important thing, and so on. Task priorities help you decide the
ordering of tasks within a given project... which task to do first, which task to do second, etc.

You don't need to worry about any other projects or tasks you may have, just consider how important the task is for its project.

When prioritizing tasks, I usually start by categorizing them into one of the ABCD labels without providing a rank.

Ranking the Items

Once I have assigned a priority label to all tasks, I focus on the A's and assign individual priority rank values to the top five to ten tasks:

A1 for the most important, A2 for the next most important, and so on.

You can usually tell which of two items is more important just by looking at them.

If you are having trouble deciding, just ask yourself: "If I could only complete one of these but not both, which one would I choose?"

If you think two tasks are equally important, just assign the same priority value to both of them.

If you have more than ten tasks for a project, you don't have to assign rank numbers to all of them. Just rank the top five to ten tasks and leave the others with their general labels (A, B etc.)

One important benefit of prioritizing is that it allows you to focus on your most important tasks without getting overwhelmed by everything that you need to do.

That's why I suggest you only rank five to ten tasks: it allows you to focus on a small number of tasks at any given time.

Achieve Planner makes it super easy to filter your task list by priority so you can stay focused on your most important tasks.

If you still find your large task list overwhelming or distracting, simply move more of your tasks to B or even C status.

Working with Priorities

The key to making the ABCD method work for you is to develop the habit of using your priorities to guide your work.

Whenever you start working on a project, start with the top priority task and work on it until it's done (or it's time to work on some other project).

If you consistently choose to spend your time on your most important projects and tasks, you'll be making great use of your time and you'll feel much more productive.

Here's What You Can Do Now

1) Look over your projects and categorize them into A's, B's, C's and D's

2) If you start working on a project and you haven't prioritized your task list, spend a few minutes prioritizing your tasks and then get to work on your most important task first.

3) Whenever you start working on a project, start with the most important task first - develop the habit of using priorities to guide your work.

Here are some additional resources and tools that you might find useful...

1) Achieve Planner Software

Achieve Planner software for Windows helps you get organized, increase your productivity, and make better use of your time. Here's what one user had to say...

"After trying Achieve Planner for nearly two months I can honestly say that it has
revolutionized the way I work. I have an incredibly busy schedule so I need something that can cope with a multitude of tasks, projects and appointments whilst at the same time keeping me focused on what is most important. Achieve Planner does all of this and much more besides.

Over the years I've tried pretty much every system on the market and nothing, absolutely nothing, comes anywhere close to this. It looks great, works superbly, comes with excellent instructions, is a pleasure to use, but most important of all - IT REALLY WORKS!

For anyone who wants to get organized and take their productivity to the next level Achieve Planner is an absolute must. It's one piece of software that I'm certain I'll be using for many years to come."
Paul Smithson

2 ) The Journal" Diary Software

Keeping a journal or diary on your computer has never been easier! If you've ever wanted to start a journal or keep a diary, take this opportunity to get started today!

"I just wanted to thank you for writing such a useful program. I use it daily to record my thoughts, which I later review as I write my poetry. The easy reviewing of my previous thoughts from other days has alleviated much of the writers block I experienced in the past. Thanks again for the great software!"
Gregory Allan Clark

Shopping for Success - Mergers and Acquisitions

Shopping for Success

Mergers and acquisitions are all the rage in corporate India. But are such deals good only for the big boys or can startups and small companies too take the plunge?

Education and training firm Career Launcher made its first acquisition in the seventh year of its existence. For a small company that had begun with one offering, the buyout brought diversification, de-risked revenues and overseas customers. In the six years after that, the firm has made three more acquisitions, the latest one in the United States. IIM-Calcutta alumnus R Satya Narayanan, who founded Career Launcher, says acquisitions are a key driver of growth for the company.

He, and other successful small companies, have demonstrated that mergers and acquisitions are not just for the Tatas and Birlas. Even startups, not just those who have already tasted success but even the greenhorns, can buy and manage the integration of outside businesses. But, M&A deals are a risky affair with low potential for success even in the case of multi-billion dollar companies and why should startups venture into them? And if one must, how and when does an entrepreneur decide to go in for acquisition?

IT CAN GET YOU STARTED

When pharmaceutical industry employee K Hari Babu was considering starting on his own in the mid-1990s, he noticed a number of sick drug units in Hyderabad city. Far from discouraging him from his entrepreneurial aspirations, the sorry state of these units only made him sense a rare opportunity. He could spend the time, money and effort to build his own drug factory or buy one of those units cheap and start from day one. He took the latter option and more than a decade later, his venture, Anu Laboratories, has blossomed into a profitable company with Rs 200 crore in annual revenues and exporting to some of the world’s best known drug makers.

But then, why did he choose to acquire to start? “When you are walking on the road and need a car, you don’t sit and build one yourself. You just hire a cab and take the best way out,” says Mr Haribabu. He points out that pharmaceutical industry is one of those sectors that involve a lengthy regulatory approval process for a greenfield project. An acquisition in such industry can make the entry quick and trouble-free.

Laura Parkins, executive director of National Entrepreneurship Network, lists hotels and high-end financial analytics businesses as attractive for early acquisitions by startups. It is difficult to get the land and approvals to build hotels and restaurants and it is easier to buy out. “It is difficult to find skilled people. Hence acquisition is best here and you inherit an already set HR base,” she says.

IT CAN GIVE YOU SCALE

Education service businesses typically start in one city with one offering. Some coach candidates for civil service exams, other train them for MBA entrance tests and still others for courses abroad. Most of these centres remain that way, but those who grow do so by setting up their presence in several cities and expanding the range of training they provide. To achieve scale and breadth, acquisitions can come in handy. On the other hand, setting up coaching centres in each city and letting them grow on their own could be a time-consuming process.

“When you are in your growth stage... when you are near 80% capacity utilisation, that should be the time you start giving acquisitions a serious thought,” Mr Hari Babu says. So many small companies grow up to a point and fail to grow further. They can choose to remain that way — a mom and pop shop — or they can break that barrier with an acquisition.

HAVE CASH, WILL BUY

Whether rookie entrepreneur or a growing company, startup acquisitions have to be made with own cash, typically. In India, banks are not allowed to lend to domestic M&A deals, going by the socialist principle that it is their job to lend for asset creation not transfer. While they lend vigorously for cross-border acquisition deals by large companies, lenders vanish before the word loan can be uttered when it comes to acquisition by an entrepreneur. Giving away stock to the owners of the business being bought can be considered, but it can dilute the startup founder’s control. So, pumping in hard cash is really the hassle-free way to acquire. If there is not much money in hand, going for acquisitions would be one hell-of-a-risk any way.

Small company heads and first generation entrepreneurs don’t have experience in the foggy world of corporate valuations and risk paying too much for a target business, says a Mumbai-based investment banker. For this and other reasons, they must rope in professional help to decide an acquisition strategy and specific deals. One thumb rule, in all cases, is the cashflows of the acquired company should be able to finance the buyout cost over time, a banker said.

BUY AND KEEP TALENT

For a small company, domain knowledge and leadership skills are the biggest assets. In any acquisition, employees of the acquired firm can lose morale and look to change jobs. In a startup scenario, the feeling of uncertainty is even more intense. An acquisition would be meaningless if the target firm’s key personnel were to leave within a few days. So, the acquirer must find ways to bind the best workers to the company at least for some time.

Take the case of Globsyn Technologies, which acquired the promoter stake in Mumbai-based Synergy Log-in Systems. Globsyn was a small firm in education and training and the buyout brought it banking software expertise. It made strategic sense and all looked rosy. But soon after the acquisition, two senior overseas employees left the company taking their contracts with them. “I had to start building the company again from scratch,” recollects Globsyn chairman Bikram Dasgupta. “Some of the existing customers were also very upset with the firm and were thinking of taking their contracts elsewhere. The business had been neglected and nobody was servicing them. I had to convince them to stay on,” he said. Today, Synergy has survived and is making profits, but it has not been an easy bite to chew for Dasgupta.

IT’S A TWO-WAY STREET

Just like it can make sense for some companies to acquire, it could be good for others to be acquired. Smart entrepreneurs don’t cling to their pet startups that can flourish better under somebody else’s care. They sell out and look for alternatives.

“Acquisitions are more about the mindset, and entrepreneurs have to be open to the idea of M&As being bi-direction if they are thinking abut achieving scale through this means,” Manak Singh, executive director at The Indus Entrepreneurs, says.

Buying or selling, a transaction has to fit in with the strategy and vision of the business. Cultural integration is an issue even in small groups of people. Most acquisitions fail because two different sets of employees don’t see eye to eye on what they want to achieve together. For a large company, a failed acquisition may be a mere headache, but for a startup, it will be cancer. So, unless the small business leader is absolutely confident of the strategic purpose and the firm’s ability to digest a buyout, the effort to acquire should not be made. There are always options such as strategic alliances to achieve some of the growth needs, experts say.

The success story of the world’s largest software company, Microsoft Corporation, started really with the acquisition of DOS, the Disk Operating System, in 1981 for a mere $50,000. Though the company paid Seattle Computer Products another $1 million later to settle a dispute, the whole thing was a jolly good investment for the company. Who knows, the next killer acquisition may be yours and the opportunity may just be round the corner.

Article Resource:
Author: Ritwik Donde (With inputs from N Shivapriya) is the cheif editor in the Economic Times and the article appeared in one of their successful columns in "Start-ups".

Mergers and Acquisitions

The phrase mergers and acquisitions (abbreviated M&A) refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling and combining of different companies that can aid, finance, or help a growing company in a given industry grow rapidly without having to create another business entity.

Distinction between Mergers and Acquisitions

Although they are often uttered in the same breath and used as though they were synonymous, the terms merger and acquisition mean slightly different things.

When one company takes over another and clearly established itself as the new owner, the purchase is called an acquisition. From a legal point of view, the target company ceases to exist, the buyer "swallows" the business and the buyer's stock continues to be traded.In the pure sense of the term, a merger happens when two firms, often of about the same size, agree to go forward as a single new company rather than remain separately owned and operated. This kind of action is more precisely referred to as a "merger of equals". Both companies' stocks are surrendered and new company stock is issued in its place.

In practice, however, actual mergers of equals don't happen very often. Usually, one company will buy another and, as part of the deal's terms, simply allow the acquired firm to proclaim that the action is a merger of equals, even if it is technically an acquisition. Being bought out often carries negative connotations, therefore, by describing the deal as a merger, deal makers and top managers try to make the takeover more palatable.

The Big Picture.

You have big ideas and you believe your business model is as good as it gets. But you feel something is wrong. Watch out, it may be that your teammates and employees don’t see the same big picture that you see. Learn to share your vision and values with them.

AT A POPULAR party venue just outside Delhi, about 3,000 had been asked to gather one evening four years ago. They were the employees of Daksh, a business process outsourcing firm, and they were a little perplexed. No speeches, no presentations and none of the usual gobbledygook unleashed in motivation camps. They were just being shown short clips from a range of Hollywood films: Pretty Woman, Titanic, Gone in 60 Seconds and Mighty Joe Young. What the then-CEO, Sanjeev Aggarwal, was trying to do was to communicate with his large team what he wanted from them to build the organisation.

• From Gone in 60 Seconds, he highlighted the need to set a target (steal 50 cars) and accomplish it within the allotted time (three days).

• In Pretty Woman, the clip showed Julia Roberts’ character getting ill-treated by a store keeper, but later treated with respect by the manager of a hotel. By showing this, Daksh wanted its employees to treat everyone properly, irrespective of status.

• A Titanic scene in which the music troupe keeps on playing even as the giant ship is sinking, demonstrated to the employees devotion to customer service comes first.

On that one evening, Aggarwal succeeded in communicating his vision across his company, without having to resort to motivational posters around the office. The unique experience also stayed in the minds of the employees, helping them constantly remember the lessons.

Very often, a startup puts together a team and people are attracted to it because of the excitement of being part of a startup, a bigger paycheck or even a stake. They hear what the target of the company is, but they are not sure what it stands for. While a vision is set for the company, the values need to be put into place as well.

A business leader needs to articulate the corporate vision clearly so that the organisation’s progress towards its goals can be effectively monitored and employees are empowered to take decisions on the move. “Someone once said that leadership is not about leading from the front. It’s like herding cats; you have to herd them from the back. If you are at the back then the ones in front have to know where they are heading. The paradigm where leaders assign tasks is gone. Sharing the vision helps people make decisions on the fly. They can take decisions in the appropriate direction without feeling lost about it,” says Alok Mittal, managing director of Canaan Partners.

Some like Laura Parkin, executive director of National Entrepreneurship Network, believes that a team wouldn’t even be formed without sharing the vision. “The only reason anyone would join a startup is if they see the same vision as the entrepreneur,” she says.

There are entrepreneurs who hesitate to share their vision with the rest of their startup team, worrying they may share too much and lose the idea to someone else. Some may simply be unable to articulate the long-term goals for the company. “Many entrepreneurs are poor communicators. Though they see the light, they are unable to share it,” says

Mr Aggarwal, who is now the managing director of Helion Ventures.For the tongue-tied entrepreneur, help is now available from industrial psychologists, corporate trainers and motivational speakers who can help her/him voice it. One such person is Uma Arora, the founder of Idam Learning. Quoting from her experience, she cited the case of a startup firm that had been growing slow and losing people. “After examining this company closely we realised that they all (team members) hadn’t arrived at a set of values and that their visions were purely in numeric form. They goal was to gain a certain market share, but we didn’t see any vision of what the quality of the company was. There is very often an excessive focus on numbers and not on what kind of company it should be,” she says.

“What I find among today’s entrepreneurs, and there are exceptions of course, is that when we dig deep enough, we see that their vision is simply to raise the valuation and sell it off,” she points out, continuing, “If this is the case then you have to learn to speak two languages. One for your confidantes and core team, and the other for your employees.” For the entrepreneur with the big picture dreams, the vision and values can be etched in stone. For retail chain Subhiksha, it has remained “Be the largest player in the market we operate in and give the consumer the lowest cost.”

Subhiksha is now 920 stores-strong. “Instead of sharing the vision, co-own the vision,” says R Subramanian the founder of Subhiksha. Their vision and values was set back in 1996 when the six member core team set sail.

“If you get the core team into the formulation process, then it becomes our idea and not my idea. Here the team sets the goals, the values and works backwards from there,” says Mr Aggarwal. In 2000, Daksh asked the members of the 25-member core team to make presentations on what it the values of the organisation should be. At the end of the day the funnelled it down and handed it to the human resource department to make it into posters and cards to be distributed.

Sometimes the vision and values change and entrepreneurs must be ready to face it. They can be purists and decide to stay true to their original plan. Or they could evolve with the market for higher gains. “Our initial mission statement was ‘build exceptional customer relationships by leveraging India’s high quality, cost effective intellectual capital.’ In 2000, we thought that India would be the place from where we would deploy our services. We eventually discovered we could deploy our services from Mexico and Philippines as well. So we had to modify our mission statement,” says Mr Aggarwal.

In the case of a large organisation, hitting upon the right vision could be a day-long process that involves numerous people, a clubhouse, a buffet lunch and PowerPoint presentations. For a lone entrepreneur or small team, this could happen at the coffee shop on a paper napkin. “There are a lot of personal styles involved in communicating a vision. But first of all you (the entrepreneur) have to be clear in your head. Clarity and brevity is essential. If the entrepreneur were to write down their vision, if it is longer than even a 150 words, then it is too long,” says Ms Parkin, NEN.

The vision is a mix of numerical targets, values and big picture plan. These automatically set up a monitoring system. ‘’How you do’ and ‘what you do’ is a derivative of ‘where you want to go’,” says Mr Subramanian. Ms Parkin says: “We ask people to envision what their success looks like, and then work towards that.”

Aggarwal and Subramanian had the courage to think out of the box and disseminate their vision innovatively and effectively. As a result, the companies they founded have grown beyond their peers and broke their own targets. Great companies don’t just get the big picture right, but also hang it on the wall for everyone to see.

Article Resource:

Jacob Cherian is the Chief Editor in the The Economic Times, Mumbai and the article appeared in one of their successful columns on Entrepreneurship/Startups.

Media Auditing and the Advertising Industry

Best bang for your ad buck

Spatial Access was started by Meenakshi Madhvani and Prof Claudio Conti, an Italian mathematician. It claims to be India’s first media audit firm. It measures if advertisers are getting value for their money.

TO A CASUAL reader, a company like Spatial Access can be difficult to describe. It’s in the field of media audits and more recently, media analytics, a concept that was arcane to the media and advertising industry till not so long ago. Spatial Access was started by Meenakshi Madhvani in tandem with Prof Claudio Conti, an Italian mathematician, in 2003. The former, a media and advertising professional, had previously set up global media agency Carat’s local operations. So what does it do? Quite simply, it is trying to bring transparency, measurement and order in the black hole that is advertising. Says Ms Madhvani, “Our approach is very fundamental — use data, use technology and in-house tools to deconstruct the data, and finally use experience to overlay the softer issues and draw value judgements.” The total advertising spend in the country amounts to Rs 16,000 crore, and advertisers (or clients, as the industry refers to them), are often not aware as to how exactly their money is being spent by media agencies.

Finally, marketers also have to show their company board that the money spent isn’t going waste. This is where Ms Madhvani and her staff of 25 statistical wonks help the client, measuring efficacy of advertising, and whether the objectives, in terms of reaching out to a certain target audience and a certain number of people could have been done differently and more importantly, cheaper. There is hardly a media audit industry in India, while in advanced markets like the US and UK, media audits are fairly commonplace. Accenture is a global leader in the business.

So how does media auditing work? Naturally, not every ad that’s printed and appearing on TV can be tracked manually. Hence, Spatial Access had developed in-house software to scrutinise data from Television Audience Meter (TAM) and ascertain what ads have appeared where. Once that bit of crunching is complete, Spatial Access cross-checks to see if the advertisers actually get what they’ve paid for. It doesn’t end there. Media agencies get free or discounted spots which they don’t often pass on to the client, so clients often get the short end of the stick. It would eventually mean that the media agencies would have to be more forthcoming about the rates they’re getting from media owners, and advertisers would want to benefit from discounted spots as well.

MEENAKSHI MADHVANI Managing Partner, Spatial Access

Needless to say, the sort of scrutiny that a media audit requires had advertising and media agencies up in arms. “There was a huge concern within the industry, and everyone straightaway dismissed the concept of auditing. Despite being an industry whose raison d’être is change, the industry resisted change,” says Ms Madhvani. Spatial Access’ most vocal critics came from the biggest media buying agencies — Group M, the consolidated media arm of the WPP group, and Madison, one of the few independent Indian media agencies, headed by Sam Balsara. But more worryingly, even advertisers saw little merit in employing a media auditor, and most media owners insisted that advertisers were aware of where their money was going. But Goodlass Nerolac and Bajaj Auto signed on anyway to figure out how their marketing communication investments were faring. According to Ms Madhvani, “After four years, they’re still our clients, and that’s a big thumbs-up for us.” Rajiv Bajaj has said that Spatial Access has helped him save a lot of money on his advertising. The company struggled to make money at the end of the first year, but it was cash-flow positive from the second.

Spatial Access is now branching out into services across the breadth of marketing communications. It has recently taken on the role of pitch consultants, advising clients looking to appoint a creative agency. Again, in an industry where measurement of efficacy isn’t extremely high, the team has developed tools and defined measurable parameters for clients to pick a creative agency after a pitch.

According to Ms Madhvani, “This works fine for a creative agency as well since there’s standardisation and they know they won’t be arbitrarily rejected.” Finally, the media analytics business has been picking up pace, and research and tools that are developed in India has been extended into four other countries — Thailand, Russia, Greece and Italy. Over the past year, three of the biggest media auditors from the UK — Billettes, EMM, and SLE — have all formed tie-ups with Spatial Access.

It’s only recently that a few advertising agencies have begun acknowledging that perhaps media audits are good for the industry. As advertising budgets get bigger and media gets pricier, clients will want to know whether they’re receiving bang for their buck. That’s when Spatial Access could get crowded out by one of the Big Four accounting firms, which are as well equipped as anyone to audit media spends. But for now, Ms Madhvani and Spatial Access are perhaps the only team focused on this niche.

Article Resources:

Irshad Daftari is the Chief Editor in the The Economic Times, Mumbai and the article appeared in one of their successful columns on Entrepreneurship/Startups called "Starship Enterprise". For more information on Spacial Access log on Successful Entrepreneur - Media Auditing

Who needs Media Auditing

Any Advertiser who:

• Looks at Marketing spends as investment and not as expenditure.
• Is interested in increasing ROI on all communication.
• Large Organization with multiple SBU's across geography.
• Deals with multiple service providers and vendors.
• Is in the process of shifting from one service provider to another.
• Requires benchmark costs, quality and value evaluation.
• Is interested in tracking marketing performance over a period of time.
• Is interested in driving internal processes to improve marketing returns.