Wantrepreneur Wednesday! - (February 05, 2020) Entrepreneur |
- Wantrepreneur Wednesday! - (February 05, 2020)
- Automation #9 - How one smart virtual assistant made a small fortune
- Doing nothing? You're not lazy. Your brain will only let you do what it realistically believes you will succeed at
- Cookie Delivery Business Open Late
- 5 practical ways to help you improve your brain power, creativity, imagination and problem solving for work or business..
- International business - Exporting questions
- It's important to hire the right freelancer.
- Marketing idea
- I'm launching a new social media video service as a part of my video production company and curious who would be interested ?
- If you're planning your startup, you may consider including cryptocurrencies for fast and private payments, and creating smart contracts with your own conditions within your organization members
- How I pulled myself out of depression
- The Modern Music Industry & It's Playlist Centric Infrastructure.
- Information Product / Course PDF Stamping
- Building an app, would appreciate your help!
- Best website building companies that will do it all?
- Late 20s, want to start a software-based business
- Mint Mobile for business phone?
- How to get over the fear?
- Social Media Marketing courses online
- Distribution Agreements (food manufacturing)
- Feedback on my Kickstarter draft wanted :)
- Restaurant Owner need help with advertising (maybe Facebook?)
- Early stage valuations
- 5 Simple Ways To Emulate The Greatest Entrepreneur Of All Time
| Wantrepreneur Wednesday! - (February 05, 2020) Posted: 05 Feb 2020 05:10 AM PST Please use this thread to ask questions if you're new or even if you haven't started a business yet. Remember to search the sub first - the answers you need may be right at your fingertips. Since this thread can fill up quickly, consider sorting the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top") to see the newest posts. [link] [comments]  |
| Automation #9 - How one smart virtual assistant made a small fortune Posted: 05 Feb 2020 05:43 AM PST A while back i made my first post on automation ( If you're not using automation you're wasting your time and money) and got a fantastic response (And, full disclosure, a few leads too). Today I'd like to talk about my favorite automation story. Disclosure: Together with my father I run three small businesses and also work as a freelance automation developer . Both of my businesses are highly automated and I've helped over 30 clients save more than a combined 100+ hours every day. If you'd like to read some of my previous posts, please check them out here:
The problemI had a very old friend that worked as a virtual assistant. Their job was mostly E-Commerce research. Their client would send them a list of products and they would try to find these products online via Amazon, E-Bay etc and estimate their going rate or let them know it is too vague. The problem was that this list was extremely vague. Sometimes it'd be like "Dyson Vacuum Cleaner", other times it might even just be "Vacuum cleaner" or "Cleaning equipment" One day their client reached out to them and asked them if they could refer more virtual assistants. But he had an idea: Instead of simply referring a few people, he could take on the entire contract. He pitched his client for a fixed fee per search and he'd take care of the rest. They agreed. The problem? They didn't have much of a margin. The client wasn't willing to pay a lot and by their estimates almost all the revenue would go towards paying the people working under him. The solutionThey reached out to me to see if i could help automate it so their staff costs could go down. The bad news? Well i can't exactly automate something like that. I can automate a lot of things but some things just need a human's judgement. The list was too vague to automate. But hope was not lost, because even if it couldn't be completely automated, i could make it so that 5 people could do the work of 20. The solution comprised of a single portal where when they enter a term, it automatically searches all popular E-Commerce sites & also through Google finds shopify sites. It then shows a list of all products found along with their price. The assistant can then simply look at this list and estimate the product's price based on all these results in one place instead of having to manually search through all these websites. On top of this, i had recently started my own Virtual Assistant agency. With the software built, who better to operate the software? They ended up outsourcing it all to me. My virtual assistants would receive the list, process it and send them the response. They pretty much automated themselves out of the business completely and walked away with a fat margin. Why i love this storyI feel that this story is the crux of being an entrepreneur - Taking calculated risks and making smart decisions. My client was an old friend of mine, and they bet almost 30% of their life savings on this project. That takes guts. To embrace the possibility of failure like this is what makes true entrepreneurs. And it paid off big. By automating most of the work & then outsourcing it, they basically turned it into a money-making machine with little to no input from them. That's how your business should be. What's taking up time, automate. If you can't automate, delegate. As the founder of your business your focus should be on growing it & sourcing new business. Leave the actual work to someone or something else as much as possible. You probably have questions. And i have answers! Feel free to comment and I'll answer as many as i can. Also if you have an automation idea in mind or are not sure if it can be automated, please feel free to reach out via reddit message or my website (http://spdylabs.com) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Feb 2020 12:10 PM PST Imagine you have 2 choices: A) Spend 6 months building an app that, if successful, will make you $200,00 per year. But, there's a good chance it will fail and you'll make nothing. B) You put on a pair of gloves and work full time collecting plastic bottles from public trash cans. But You get $200 day, guaranteed. Which do you choose? If you picked A) it means you're lying to yourself. The human brain must know it's going to get paid before it agrees to put in work. That has to be the #1 factor when picking a business. Otherwise your wasting your own precious time. [link] [comments]  |
| Cookie Delivery Business Open Late Posted: 05 Feb 2020 12:43 PM PST Hey everyone, Somewhat new to reddit, but I am starting a cookie delivery business that is open on Friday from 7:00pm-2:00am Saturday 12:00-2:00 and Sunday 12:00-9:00. We picked these hours because we both work full time 9-5 but the ultimate goal is to be able to open a store front location and ideally multiple. It is more or less the same idea as insomnia or tiff's treats but there is no competition in our market. My partner and I are cooking at home using the cottage food laws in our state and have registered the business with the state so we are cleared as far as compliance is concerned, we have all our marketing materials purchased and on site, we have a functional website where customers can order as well as a google voice number to take orders, we have social media pages that are gaining traction, and have our drivers ready to go. Is there any general advice or something glaring we might have missed that anyone could point out? Would appreciate any feedback. Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Feb 2020 12:30 PM PST So over a period of more than a year now, through curiosity and experimentation, I researched a range of different techniques to see if they actually worked and applied them on myself. After applying these things consistently, I started to become aware of changes in myself and experience results too. This helped develop the motivation to experiment with more things and to integrate these habits into my routine daily too. I did this systematically. As one thing became integrated as a habit, I introduced another. Here they are: 1 - Disconnect from digital devices: spend more time alone and in nature We live in the information/digital age. We are constantly bombarded with messaging and information on a daily basis about who we should be, what we should buy and what we should do. Because the brain has an in built survival mechanism, when we are out and about in public, it is constantly scanning our environment and looking out for danger and pleasure. This is an automatic reflex. The brain uses up in the region of 20% of our daily energy intake. By spending more time alone, we have more control over our environment, more control over where we invest this 20% and can protect ourselves from distraction or things happening in the outside world. Through exercising more control over our environment (though spending time alone or taking walks in nature away from noise in the city) give us the opportunity to give our minds some rest. This also provides an incubation period to help the brain work on problems in the background. I expect we have all had that experience of ideas or solutions to challenges come to mind when we focus our attention on something totally different (I think this is how the term 'lightbulb moment' came about). Research from the Journal of Environment Psychology also indicates that spending time in nature also promotes creativity. 2 - Intermittent Fasting Research from a range of medical professionals advocate the benefits of intermittent fasting on health (Rhona Patrick, Satchin Panda, Valter Longo, Dan Pompa). Research by Mark Mattson, a Professor of Neuroscience at the John Hopkins University indicates that reducing the frequency of meals and energy intake can have a positive impact on the brain. Intermittent fasting can deplete glycogen stores in the body and stimulates the production of ketone bodies. Ketone bodies boost energy levels in your brain. Fasting is a challenge to the brain. The brain responds by activating adaptive response and nerve cells become more active and alert. Intermittent fasting also promotes the production of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF strengthens existing brain cells and stimulates the production of new brain cells which in turn helps the brain operate more efficiently. 3 - Binaural Beats I started listening to binaural beats as I developed my meditation practice (when I first started meditation I was using the Headspace app). Over time, I noticed that my meditation practice had dramatically improved when listening to them. From personal experience, I really found that they helped me 'get in the zone'. I decided to start listening to them for work. From personal experience, I noticed that my concentration had improved dramatically. My approach to work was calmer and more measured. It helped me manage stress and anxiety. It seemed I could concentrate for longer periods of time. The research is inconclusive about the clinical benefits of binaural beats. I can only speak from my personal experience but there is evidence out there that suggests that positive mental states help improve cognitive function and learning (Shawn Achor who is a researcher and lecturer at Harvard University and author of The Happiness Advantage talks about this a lot) You can try binaural beats out for yourself and observe if they work for you. 4 - Meditation Meditation is known to change the brain's waves and vibrational frequency. The brain waves most associated with meditation are Theta, Alpha, Gamma. Theta is associated with creativity and imagination. We are also in a state of Theta when we sleep which is why we dream. Alpha is associated with a relaxed flow like state and creativity. The Gamma state is involved in processing more complex tasks and are important in learning and processing. So through meditation, you can actually unlock these states of creativity, imagination and learning. It can be quite challenging to incorporate Meditation into your routine. At first I didn't really understand what it was, quite how it could benefit me or how to approach it. Naturally, because I didn't have anyone to guide me, I just researched, experimented and made mistakes. Through practice and consistency results came. I now make time everyday for meditation. 5 - Minimalism Now this comes back to my first point about conserving the 20% of energy that our brain consumes each day. By practicing minimalism both at home and in life (what I do, who I see, etc), helped me to better manage how and where my energy levels were invested. Sometimes our attention can be unconsciously taken away (that is just the way the brain is) but by practicing minimalism does give a level of control over the situation. I simplified my life (I am always looking for more ways I can simplify, it is an ongoing process). As a result, my brain has less to focus on and doesn't get as distracted. This has helped me to focus more of my attention on the few things that really matter to me… I put together a short Youtube (it's under 8 minutes) which shares more info, the resources I used to incorporate these things into my life and the mistakes I made so you can avoid those too. If you want to find out more and get the resources to help you get started, take a look.. [link] [comments]  |
| International business - Exporting questions Posted: 05 Feb 2020 02:33 PM PST I'm interested in exporting a few high priced goods to other countries. For those who already export, how did you make contact with buyers in other countries? Through consulates, conferences, associations or did Google search? [link] [comments]  |
| It's important to hire the right freelancer. Posted: 05 Feb 2020 01:42 PM PST I know a lot of you will probably end up using a freelancer at some point. I wanted to share this article with you to help you find the right one. https://www.revisionagency.com/13-things-to-look-out-for-when-hiring-freelancers [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Feb 2020 01:21 PM PST I'm 19 years old and I want to start a business from home then venture into buying stores and build from there, in my country (Jamaica) most people are driven towards each other buy looks so, I'm thinking of buying hair, face, skin and body products from other countries bring them to my country and market them from home, is this a good idea or should I try something else, I want to become and philanthropist and an entrepreneur by age 26 and I would like to design my own products with brand names, I'm not a designer or inventor by the way [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Feb 2020 01:00 PM PST Hello! I am wondering if anyone here uses social media video ads as a part of their marketing strategy and if this is a service that you would find beneficial? We create social media video ads with multiple variations that can be used for split testing. We then use the data to create new versions that can again be run and tested to achieve better and more targeted results. I have been doing this for a few clients and want to know if this is something that others would find useful? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Feb 2020 12:47 PM PST If you have heard of the bitcoins, theres plenty of coins out there, like more than a hundred. BTC. Some types of currency that may be useful to your business. Bitcoin Cash Store of value, send payments faster than Bitcoin XRP Banks use it, it's way faster than Bitcoin Cash. ETH It's the currency of Ethereum. You can build smart contracts and program payments under your own conditions. EOS EOS, rising up currency, aims to build a user-friendly App building platform for smart contracts as well, but cheaper, practical, and aiming for sustainability. learn a little bit more: https://changeoutput.com/bitcoin-ethereum-xrp-bitcoin-cash-litecoin-eos-the-only-games-in-crypto-town/ [link] [comments]  |
| How I pulled myself out of depression Posted: 05 Feb 2020 02:01 AM PST Some of you might have read this post I made 9 months ago https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/bjdlyy/i_made_a_million_dollars_at_25_now_im_lost_and/ Many people commented and sent me messages sharing their stories, it was reassuring to know that other people are facing the same issues. When you're in a slump it's easy to feel like you're alone, to those who are suffering, know that you are not alone. I am doing much better now and I want to share what helped me to get better. I hope that it will be useful to those who need it. Emotional Intelligence I have the tendency to ignore my emotions and after a long time I became disconnected with myself, I learned the basics about emotional intelligence from a coach and then read a lot about it. I started a daily emotion diary about how things make me feel, it helps me to be more aware of my emotions and connect the emotions to the sources that bring them. I then started to remove the negativity and started doing more of what makes me truly happy. Tip: Limit social media, I set a timer on my phone for facebook, only 5 mins per day. Mindset My early victories were too easy, maybe because I was talented, maybe because I was lucky, but when you get used to winning and then start losing, you might develop a fear of failure. I read the book Mindset (Carol Dweck) and recognized that I was in a fixed mindset, afraid of losing what I already have. Learning to put myself in the growth mindset helps me see failure as a learning opportunity instead of a catastrophic event. At the same time I also read Think and Grow Rich, the kind of writing in these classic books usually put me off(I like evidence, classic books tend to go with stories that might or might not be true) but with the new mindset I started to see why the book is a classic. Motivation Know what motivates you and tap into it, originally for me it was the desire to have a lot of money. When I do have a lot of money I lost all motivation. Since adopting the new mindset I feel motivated by the desire to learn and to grow as a person. It's easy to say but sometimes it's hard to do, you gotta find ways to remind yourself and keep yourself going. Faith I started to realized why religions have so much power and influence over some people. It provides them with Faith. Faith is a strong emotion that can help you overcome many challenges, especially self-doubt. For you to success in doing anything worthwhile it is important to develop faith in yourself and in whatever you're doing. We will always doubt ourselves, even the best of us do, find a way to deal with it. "I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I'm like, 'My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don't have it. I just want to chill.' We all have self-doubt. You don't deny it, but you also don't capitulate to it. You embrace it." - Kobe Bryant [link] [comments]  |
| The Modern Music Industry & It's Playlist Centric Infrastructure. Posted: 05 Feb 2020 12:06 PM PST Tldr: As the music industry shifts, user and automated playlists are becoming more integrated in the organic building of artists' online streaming audience. As the age of the internet grows, the dependance on a record label has shifted downwards. Labels are still at the forefront of knowing the ins & outs of the industry (with a well rounded network & team, they can make sure all royalties are properly collected, artists are marketed, synchronization with film, tv, commercials etc), but a label is no longer mandatory to break out as an artist. (Prime example seen in u/harrydry's post on the marketing genius of Lil Nas X) With enough time, we can step back and see different technology progression. What was once vinyl, progressed to tape, to CD, etc----- and has now become primarily digital (the \)^(Stream! \)*) In today's streaming age, a digital presence has become one (of many) solid marker for the success or current status of an artist, but how does one reach an organic audience? u/harrydry covered an aspect of virality and the production of easily consumable snippets (ie: the memes or short clips posted by Lil Nas X ), so I'd like to cover another aspect; playlists. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aside from burning mixes onto CD's in highschool, I stumbled upon (literally using the website "stumbleupon.com") the website 8tracks.com. 8tracks was a site in which users could make a playlist with a title, description, 5 tags, and at least 8 tracks. This streaming site was similar to that of pandora or spotify, but the significant differences were that; users made all the playlists and you couldn't stream songs individually. Once a playlist was made & published, a trending system could add the mix to a trending section for a short period of time. Based on the streams & "likes" a playlist got immediately after the release, it could remain in the trending section for a longer period of time, and possibly be moved into the "popular" trending section for even more exposure, much like reddits voting system (not only do these playlists exist in the trending sections, but they can be found by users via tags, and the more "trendy" a playlist was, the higher it would show in the search results via tags). Unfortunately, this site 8tracks has gone under, but from about 2013-2015, it was an extremely powerful resource to gain organic moment for a song release. Essentially, by making a playlist (generally of a consistent atmosphere), and tagging it correctly, a song could in theory get millions of plays. For example; by making a playlist for studying and using tags like "study, instrumental, relax, ambient, piano" a user could search these tags on the site & thus find their ideal mix. Then organically, based on the engagement, this playlist could reach upwards of tens of thousands of streams. (my most successful playlist reached over 750,000 streams -) Another example of this concept can be seen with a trend of playlists being promoted on reddit. For example, by going into communities related to "studying, ambient music, relaxing, or piano", one might be able to find users that might be interested in engaging with that same playlist. Now. Why is this relevant in a bigger sense?: Because finding active listeners that engage positively with a track is now correlated to an added algorithmic process that can organically build an artist;----- ie: spotify's algorithmic playlists like "Discovery Weekly", and "Release Radar" . By following the listening habits of its users, spotify's algorithms have gotten quite good at providing recommendations that users are most likely to enjoy. That being said, one must still get creative when trying to reach their ideal audience, and reddit may be a new form of 8tracks.com that is here to stay! Hopefully some of you have enjoyed this ted talk, & happy listening! [link] [comments]  |
| Information Product / Course PDF Stamping Posted: 05 Feb 2020 10:46 AM PST I'm in the process of building an online course and was planning on mostly to use Teachable. The format is going to mostly be videos and questions, but there are going to be some materials in PDF format that the user can download. I want to find a way to prevent sharing. Does anyone know of an easy / good way to stamp / password protect the PDF so it is user specific? I want the user's name and any other identifying information watermarked or applied to the PDF in order to deter sharing. My ultimate goal is to deter piracy, so anything that solves that problem would be great. It would also be great if it was automatically integrated with Teachable. I've heard of a tool called E-Junkie, but not sure how good it is. [link] [comments]  |
| Building an app, would appreciate your help! Posted: 05 Feb 2020 10:20 AM PST Hey folks. I'm taking a product development course through my University and learning all about what goes into building a product. We are currently learning all about constructing a customer profile, and using user feedback to inform our product decisions. For this exercise, myself and my group are building a parking application. We know that one of the most common pain points people face when hurrying to a meeting, or attending an event, especially in busy metropolitan areas, is parking. We are looking to address this issue. We are aware of some solutions that already exist, but we think we can develop a superior solution. If you have just 3 minutes to spare, I'd be very appreciative if you'd take a moment to fill out our survey. You don't have to provide any information you're not comfortable with. I'm also happy to discuss our project, our class, and what we've learned if you are interested. Also, more than welcome to hear your thoughts on the concept. Thanks for your time, and for those who take the time to fill out the survey, extra thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Best website building companies that will do it all? Posted: 05 Feb 2020 10:08 AM PST Hi Everyone, I'm looking for a company that can build an E-commerce website for my products and at the same time, handle every step including photography. Is there a such companies that does it all? I'm willing to spend whatever is necessary. Thank you, [link] [comments]  |
| Late 20s, want to start a software-based business Posted: 05 Feb 2020 09:00 AM PST I spent the first part of my adult life working in the military. Decided I want the autonomy to create my own business and am currently going to school for CS in the silicon valley. I'm good at it. I'm actually being paid to go to school through the GI Bill (profiting around 2k/month) so it makes sense to continue going to school. I'll finish my BS around 30 and my question is what to do next. I can get a master's in CS or an MBA. Similar to my BS these will be paid for. I can also work for a tech company to learn skills. Or, I could go and immediately start building a company. I want to use my time in the most effective way, so how should I do this? I could work at a startup and do a master's at the same time, or do a master's while building a business, but I doubt I could (or should) do all three. What would you do? [link] [comments]  |
| Mint Mobile for business phone? Posted: 05 Feb 2020 02:57 AM PST Hello everyone, I'm sure you are all familiar with Mint Mobile but if you aren't, its basically a prepaid cell service that doesn't require any contracts and you pay by month. My question is, has anyone tried to use this for a business phone? It's only $15 / month when you pre-pay for an entire year which is well within my budget, but I have never heard of anyone doing this before. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Feb 2020 08:43 AM PST Hi guys so I have a business plan, there is nothing in my area doing it and I think the people here will love it. It's a business I really belive in. I have run a couple of businesses in the past but all of these were when I was broke and so the business plan was designed in such a way as to have have only a couple hunder pound startup costs which also meant that if they were to fail I wouldn't lose much. This new idea of mine would require me to buy equiptment, rent a space, and buy some other bits too. So I would have to take out a business loan or something along those line to fund this. Its something I really belive in and am excited to do but I can't get rid of that anxiety I have saying what if it fails you will have all this money to pay back, that could ruin your future for other opportunities etc. I guess what im trying to say is how do you pull the trigger and go for it. Or should I not go for it because Im having these worries? Is it normal to havr this anixety? [link] [comments]  |
| Social Media Marketing courses online Posted: 05 Feb 2020 08:28 AM PST Hi, has anybody got any recommendations for online courses to download that cover the essentials of social media management or how to set up your own social media marketing agency. Anyone with first hand experience of these would be great. Thanks in advance [link] [comments]  |
| Distribution Agreements (food manufacturing) Posted: 05 Feb 2020 07:56 AM PST Are there normal/standard rates for distribution agreements in the food industry? For example, one of the distributors we are talking to asks for "pricing 25% below the targeted wholesale price." [link] [comments]  |
| Feedback on my Kickstarter draft wanted :) Posted: 05 Feb 2020 07:53 AM PST Hi! Last year i showed a thing i designed on here and received really good feedback - now 4 months later, the product is done and the Kickstarter page and video is almost ready to launch. I would really appreciate if you could give me some feedback on both the video and the page itself, i did everything myself and it's hard to be critical of your own work, so help from strangers are needed :) Ignore the pricing, it will be between $79 and $99 Link: Note almost all pictures are gifs, you gotta exit feedback mode for them to load I'll gladly return the favor if you need feedback on something, just post in comments Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Restaurant Owner need help with advertising (maybe Facebook?) Posted: 05 Feb 2020 07:34 AM PST I recently bought a restaurant about 8 months ago and my 2019 numbers were good but I want to start little advertising and not sure the right direction. I'm well known in the area and have a lot of regulars but want to branch out [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Feb 2020 07:21 AM PST A new company is started. Just a founder and an idea. You have no other information, but are in a situation where you need to value the company. An investor has agreed - for whatever reason - to invest $50k and asked you to justify what % of ownership she should take. There are three options to advise the investor: [link] [comments]  |
| 5 Simple Ways To Emulate The Greatest Entrepreneur Of All Time Posted: 05 Feb 2020 07:06 AM PST If you're an entrepreneur, you likely have a role model you carry around in your head as you go about building your business. Maybe it's Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos or everybody's seeming favorite, Steve Jobs. Here's a better suggestion: Sam Walton. Unsexy, to be sure, and not terribly contemporary. But as arguably the most successful entrepreneur of all time, he has more to teach about the basics of entrepreneurship than many of the more dashing entrepreneurs who've come after him. I was recently privileged to reflect on those lessons first-hand when I was granted extraordinary access to the archives of the Walmart Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas while researching a book on entrepreneurship. A diligent team of archivists there, supported by the Walton family and many of Sam's closest associates, has amassed a warehouse full of Sam's notes, reports, artifacts, and memorabilia. I reviewed more than 200 documents, several photo collections, and almost 100 oral histories. I looked over the archivists' shoulders as they dug through boxes of Sam's weekly reports, memos, and handwritten notes. I held in my hands his ledger pads filled with sales, cost and inventory numbers organized by store and transcribed by Sam from phone calls or other sources. I had access to materials dating from the time he bought a bankrupt Ben Franklin franchise in 1945 through his launch of the Wal-Mart brand 17 years later and up until he died in 1992. Here, distilled from that vast treasure trove, are five timeless lessons from Sam that apply to entrepreneurial businesses from startup to IPO and beyond: Always make your customers happier and happier with your product or service. Not happy, happier. It's the fundamental principle of entrepreneurship that Sam understood better than anyone. Week after week for 45 years Sam pursued a program of small improvements on a weekly cadence, meeting every Saturday with his managers to share ideas and design small experiments to be tried the following Monday. Have you established a cadence for making improvements that you pass along to your customers? Are you improving at least as fast as your competitors? Collect all the good ideas you can and adopt the best ones. Sam didn't care where good ideas came from; he never claimed to be the smartest person in the room or tried to be the most dominant. He copied the competition; he listened to his store managers; he welcomed the advice of his brother, his wife and his in-laws. Do you systematically look near and far for ideas you can borrow? How and where—at conferences, from consultants or professors, new employees, through open-ended brainstorming sessions that we now call hackathons? How well do you know your competitors? If you were Sam, you'd know most of them personally. Let your people know they matter. Sam heaped praise and reward on hardworking contributors to the success of the business, and he genuinely wanted them to feel recognized for what they did. In the early days, he routinely gave a small percentage of each store to the manager he had recruited to run it. When the company went public as Wal-Mart, he worked on a hand-written spreadsheet for three days to make sure he fairly translated the value of each manager's partial ownership of their store into Wal-Mart shares. How do you let the people on your team know they are held in high esteem? Keep it simple. That way, everyone understands what they need to do. Sam focused on whether his stores sold more than last year, at a lower cost and with less inventory. Period. Focusing on a few simple metrics is more likely to keep the business on a successful course than the tendency in today's complicated world to measure everything. Does everyone on your team know what simple targets the business is trying to achieve and how they can help achieve them? Never stop experimenting. Many people think of Sam as something of a skinflint whose frugality was one of the keys to his success. In fact, Sam was intent on trying out new ideas and he was willing to accept losses on things that didn't work out. He was also an early adopter of new technologies, making sizable investments in them at every stage of the company's growth. A penny-pincher would have missed out on most of the opportunities that Sam was able to seize. For instance, he invested in the physical infrastructure to operate a high-velocity distribution center when the concept was new to retail—but he did so only after visiting an actual facility in operation. A commitment to experimentation doesn't mean simply throwing everything against the wall and seeing what sticks. Unless you're Google or Facebook, sitting on a mountain of cash, that's a sure way to destroy your company. Instead, adopt a disciplined approach. How well do you understand the most advanced techniques your industry has adopted? How are you experimenting with them and assessing their impact on your business? Happiness. Ideas. People. Simplicity. Experimentation. Adopting these five simple principles may not make you the greatest entrepreneur of all time, but they are more likely to keep you going in the right direction than flashier formulas for success. Is now the right time for you to become an entrepreneur? Take the quiz: https://www.qzzr.com/c/quiz/474681/is-now-the-right-time-for-you-to-become-an-entrepreneur [link] [comments]  |
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