Posted by Ben Jones on April 14, 2008
There are hundreds of things that must go right in order for you to succeed as an entrepreneur. Let’s just be honest…….it’s difficult. However, it becomes ten times more difficult when you begin to listen to your critics. Ok, so maybe you’ve went into a few hundred “surefire” business opportunities and none of them have materialized as of yet; Or maybe they have shown some promise but not to the extent that you originally thought. That shouldn’t cause people to lose faith in you and to speak negativity over every new idea you bring to the table, should it? Well…….honestly………….YEAH, IT SHOULD!
Those people usually only propel you to greatness. Without them you become tired and and are more apt to give up. Every successful entrepreneur has had to deal with it. I know that sounds pretty cliche but it’s true. Look at the biography of any successful entrepreneur that you know and I can almost guarantee you that their business began simply because of some larger entity that didn’t believe in the person or the product. These naysayers are simply a part of the success process.
The key to success, however, is not to allow theses negative forces to destroy your confidence in yourself or your business. You have to learn to put everybody’s comments into the proper perspective. Remember, you have the power to control the way you see things. Below you’ll find a few key points that will help you to put the negativity in its place.
NOOOOOOBODY KNOOOWS……..
The first thing that you have to realize is that nobody will believe in your vision. Not family, not friends, not co-workers, not church members……NOBODY! The vision is not theirs, it belongs to you. I like to look at it this way, “If everybody could see the value in my idea, then it’s probably not revolutionary at all. Thus, not that profitable.” The fundamental principle of profiting from “the next big thing” is to be the first to see it coming. So don’t expect anybody else to immediately jump on board with you.
ITS NOT FOR EVERYONE
The second key is to realize that entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Your drive to create a path for yourself is a God-given instinct. That is why you’ve always envisioned the “cube life” as settling and also why people don’t understand your passion. There is something in you that, despite the failures, ensures you that YOU are a founder, a visionary, a leader. At a young age you probably found yourself driven to create earning opportunities for yourself; Or you were at least intrigued with the idea that you would own your own business as an adult. You must realize that this drive does not belong to everybody…………and for good reason. I give much respect to those people who have the perseverance to be an employee for 30 years and retire. I have just come to the realization that we don’t share like passions.
Fulfillment for us, entrepreneurial types, comes from taking a thought and pushing it past adversity into stability. We thrive on the liberation that comes from being able to create a dollar rather than to earn one. So don’t be discouraged if it seems that you are in those turbulent waters all alone, just know that success means different things to different people……and you share your definition with the minority.
FIND THE SILVER LINING
Another key to fighting through the negativity is to find something positive. One thing I learned from network marketing is that there is power in positive thinking. As a network marketer, you could have had a terrible week and be about to give up on your business, but once you make it to the big conference or even a conference call you would come away with new life and optimism to spare. I would know everything that would be said before I got there, I even knew that they were saying it just to make me go out and work harder….BUT…..IT STILL WORKED! This reminds me of the scripture that says “Faith comes by hearing.” It is the exact same principle and it is the absolute truth.
So, when other peoples negativity threatens your growth, go out and find something positive to get your juices flowing again. Read a blog, or a success story in a magazine, or even call a friend who shares your ambitions. I guarantee that it will not take much to get you back in the right state of mind again, because everything that you need to succeed has already been placed inside of you. All you have to do is protect it from the grim reaper of negativity.
negativity, motivitation, entrepreneur, small business, christian, business growth, entrepreneurial growth, skepticism
Posted by Ben Jones on April 2, 2008
One of the most difficult things for most entrepreneurs to do is to stay motivated. There always seems to be an overwhelming amount of discernibly justifiable reasons to give up and to concede your ambitions for contentment. One minute your up at all hours of the night carefully constructing your business plans, or on a family outing and the whole time your thinking about what you will do when you get back to your laptop; One short month later you can’t think of one good reason why you should put any more of your time into that dead businss venture.
I’ve seen it time and time again……………………………………………………………………………….in myself. I had been working pretty hard on trying to obtain business for our Export Trading Company and things were actually going pretty well. Then we hit a few deadspots and it was incredibly hard to get myself to make pushes for the business again. The only thing that will usually get you going when you reach this point is a sudden influx of opportunities(which thankfully did happen in my case, but does not always).
Therefore, most people just close up shop when they reach this point in their business’ life. This is the main reason for the incredibly low success rates of new businesses. It’s the desire and the determination to persevere through rough times. It is incredibly easy for most people to give up their dreams because they usually have some previous “career” that they can fall back on. Well, believe me, I’ve had those thoughts too but if your like me there is something in you that just won’t allow you to totally surrender. You always feel that success is right around the corner.
I read a post on my favorite blog the other day that spoke to this very issue. If your struggling through a similar time in your business venture it may help to give you the insight and motivation that you need to keep going. HERE IT IS…..Enjoy!
Posted by Ben Jones on June 13, 2007
The name is one of the most important aspects of your business. Once you’ve decided to become an owner, the name is probably the first thing that most people start to consider. While I do think that there are probably some other concerns that should be addressed first, considering the name of the business should absolutely be given some priority.
Sometimes people will decide upon a name simply because they are tired of putting thought into it. I guarantee that this will come back to haunt you. Make sure that the name that you choose will be a sustaining representation of what your business is about. I have listed a few things that you should consider when naming your business:
1) Is it Descriptive?
This is probably the first thing that you want to ask yourself when you have tentatively decided upon your business name. You want to make sure that a potential patron can easily figure out what product or service your provide just from the name of your business. How many times have you driven by a building without paying it much attention because you don’t know what it is that they do? People will automatically assume that if they don’t know what you do, your product or service is not applicable to them.
For instance, I drive by a tall building everyday with the words “Bad Ass” sprawled across the top of it. Of course I payed attention to the building because the title of the company was just ridiculous. However, i had no idea what it was that they offered. Turns out, they are a coffee company very similar to Starbucks. It is allegedly some very good coffee too! So how many people do you think drive right by that place on their way to the Starbucks up the street? Hundreds, I can guarantee it.
One day everybody will catch on that this is a coffee shop but how much many potential customers will have rode right by it by the time their name gains the Brand Awareness of Starbucks? Hmmm….. Makes you wonder about their marketing technique doesn’t it. So make sure that your title is representative of what you offer your customers(especially in crowded industries). This will give you an advantage from day one.
2) Is it Memorable?
Well, the company I mentioned above gets extra points for this one. A memorable name is essential to building brand awareness (although its no point in being memorable if nobody knows what you do). Short, simple names that are descriptive are very easy to remember and tend to stay on the minds of customers longer. For instance “Burger King” is a premium names because it conveys a message about both what they serve and about the quality of their products. The best part about it is that they’ve done this in two words. How easy is that to remember?
A memorable name coupled with some clever marketing tactics could gain you an immediate influx of customers. However, without the memorability, marketing is much less effective and will end up being much more expensive.
3) Is it Timeless?
We have to remember that most business will evolve over time to become slightly different than was initially envisioned. So it is imperative that you choose a business name that will be a great representation of you even in the future.This particular factor is the one that usually requires a great deal of thought and some insight. Nonetheless, it is something that must be considered. For instance, you wouldn’t want to name your store “Burgers Only” because you may want to sell fries in the future (bad example but you get my point).
If your gimmick was that “your burgers are so filling that you don’t need fries”, I would recommend that you use that in your marketing schemes and not your name. That way if your gimmick does not go over as well as you had planned, you can easily adjust your menu to include some products that may bring in more customers. Get my drift?
Final Thoughts
Your business name is your first impression and we all know how important first impressions are. Most people will draw conclusions about your company from the very first glance. So even if your product isn’t great, people may have a good image of them from your name alone. It’s kind of like cooking. Most chefs will tell you that the majority of taste is sight and smell. Therefore, the greatest chefs are able to make food aesthetically pleasing. Although actual palatability is important, modern chefs have recognized that there are other factors that influence their desired result. The same principles apply to your business name. The name alone can go a long way towards making your company a successful one. Leave your comments…
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choosing a business name, entrepreneurship, small business, startup
Posted by Ben Jones on June 11, 2007
Every entrepreneur has dreams of developing financial freedom through their business. However, you have to ask yourself at what point are you independent and how much will this freedom cost you. Success cost something and most of time the price of success cannot be measured in dollars and cents. My experiences have caused me to measure potential business opportunities differently.
I now consider how much time the venture will cost me in comparison to the amount of money I will make. Freedom for me is more about time than it is about luxury. As Yaro Starak states, I would rather make “$5,000/month working 2 hours per day than make $10,000/month working 10 hours a day.” It’s all about what is important to you. If you view potential business opportunities this way it will help you to make business moves that will enhance your life as well as your bank account.
Greed vs. Accomplishment?
There are some people who would rather work the 10 hour day for more money. They may just possess a drive to get more; or for these people, money may be freedom. Now I must say that most people who prefer this method are simply greedy, but there are some who do it simply because money, for them, signifies accomplishment. In this case it is totally understandable. We have all contributed to this way of thinking. It is common practice to see large houses and luxury cars and immediately give a certain level of respect to the owner of them. Therefore, most people are motivated to obtain “things” rather than personal freedom.
True Freedom
I used to be one of those people until I began to try and achieve this status and realized that I was not happy. So I now choose to participate in ventures that yield a high return for a limited investment of time. I am constantly on the look out for these types of opportunities. I have attempted several money making ventures that I eventually quit because I just didn’t want to make the kind of time commitment that was required. The lure of the million dollar business initially attracted me to those opportunities but I soon recognized that I would rather make less money and have more time.
The “Store Owner Lady”
I was recently talking with a colleague who told me about a lady he recently met that owns a dollar store. He spoke about how she was 1 of only 2 employees in her store that was working that day. She was running around, noticeably stressed, attempting to be the manager and an employee at the same time. She would often go into the back in order to complete office work and return to the floor to work the cash register when lines backed up.
This lady is obviously not in a situation to leverage her time effectively. The store is probably not be making enough money to hire more employees, so she is required to work extra hard in order to maintain her income. This is absolutely the worst way to make money (other than being in a cubicle). This all goes back to Robert Kiyosaki’s “Cash Flow Quadrant”, which clearly expresses that the most efficient way to make money is by owning a “system” instead of a “business”.
The “Store Owner lady” has the right idea by choosing to own her own business but she obviously did not take the time to evaluate what this type of “freedom” would actually cost her. So, while we all endeavor to seek financial freedom, I encourage you to make sure that your entrepreneurial path leads to your desired end. Be blessed and Leave your Comments…..
Posted by Ben Jones on June 4, 2007
We’ve all been to the point where we feel like our business (and/or our life) is just not where we want it to be. You feel like your doing everything you should be doing but things just don’t seem to be going your way. Sometimes it may seem like the work that you are doing is actually doing more harm than good. Well, I can assure you that this is not the case. I can also assure you that you are not alone in feeling this way. Everybody who has ever become wealthy has faced a similar time during the course of their business. The key to overcoming this situation is to keep everything in perspective. Let me explain…
I was talking to my father yesterday and something he said (sorry, can’t remember exactly) caused me to remember a sermon he once preached at my church. As I started to think about the message of that sermon, I noticed that several factors in the text related directly to what we experience through entrepreneurship (stay with me I promise this is relevant). The text that he chose was from Ecclesiastes Ch. 3, which reads:
Ecc 3:1 To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to plant and a time to pluck up.
3:4 A time to break down and a time to build up;
3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose.
(So on and so Forth)
What does this mean to my business?
Well, what I learned from this text is that we are never really at a stand still; it just seems like we are. Most people will look at this text and conclude that there is a “time for every purpose”. But we should look at this text and take it a step further. Not only does every purpose have a season, every season has a purpose. There is never a time when we are not contributing to motion. Either we are moving ourselves forward or we are moving ourselves backwards, but we are making a contribution.
If we find that we are doing the work that is necessary for forward progress but have yet to see the fruit; it is probably just because we are expecting a harvest during the wrong season. We have to learn to continue to plow and sow and do the things that are necessary for growth with the understanding that a season for harvest is coming. The people who do this are able to one day realize the benefits of their labor while the other 95% will pack it up and quit having completed their work for naught.
Im sure you’ve heard this…
You will often hear successful entrepreneurs speak of the theory of “feast or famine”. Most of them will testify that their business ventures go from seasons of extreme debt to seasons of extreme wealth. Well, “feast or famine” is probably not the correct phrase to describe this situation. If they were to place things in proper perspective they would recognize that the “famine” season is nothing more than the season for “building or planting.” The “feasting season” is the season of reward.
If you keep up with professional athletics, you will know that most of them consider the “off-season” the most important time. It is not the season where they complete the activity that directly brings them money. But the off-season is the time when they put in all the blood, sweat, and tears to enable them to to produce during the season. So it is with us and our businesses. If we do not put the work in during our “off-season”, there will be no production during our “season”.
I say all that to say that if we learn to keep things in the proper perspective it makes it much easier to do what is necessary to accomplish our goals. We know that we will face adversity. We also know that building a business takes time. However, what we should remember is that for everything there is a season and that the season for harvest will come only to those who have endured the season for sowing. So stay faithful and dedicated because, just like on earth, there must come a change in the seasons.
Posted by Ben Jones on May 23, 2007
I have been avoiding this series of posts since I started this blog because I didn’t think that they would be much fun to write. However, I feel the time has now come to start to discuss business models. Therefore, I will devote my next few posts to discussing Sole Proprietorships, Partnerships, DBA’s, LLC’s, Corporations, and S-Corporations. These will each be individual posts and should shed some light onto which model would work best for you.
The first business model that I will cover is called a Sole Proprietorship. Sole Proprietorships are the most common form of business. The two main reasons for this are because they are the easiest to start and they require the least amount of start-up money. Sole Proprietorships are simply businesses that are owned and operated by one person. So anybody who decides to offer services in exchange for money, and are not incorporated, are sole proprietors.
Con’s of Sole Proprietorships
In a sole proprietorship all responsibility and liability fall back on the owner.This is one of the major drawbacks of this business. It forces you, the owner, to take responsibility for any losses incurred by your business. I advise you to give a lot of consideration to that one fact. Especially considering the high failure rate for new businesses. To take this a step further, your business taxes and personal taxes are not separate. You will be taxed, at the personal rate, for money made from your business.
As a general rule, tax laws are very lenient on businesses. However, you get none of this benefit as a sole proprietor. You are actually being penalized because it is like having more personal income to owe taxes on. This is why I encourage people to incorporate. Every method of incorporation offers more benefit than a sole proprietorship. Most wealthy people incorporate non-operational companies just so that they can reap some of the tax benefits that come with owning a business. So why would anyone who owns a fully functional business not take advantage of this?
In addition to that, sole proprietorships do not provide any name recognition or protection. In most states, a sole proprietor cannot legally conduct business in any name other than their own. The minimum that is required for businesses in most states is a DBA. DBA stands for “Doing Business As” and does not provide any tax benefit. It just lets your governing state know that you are the tax payer for the business operating under that name. (I will post more details about DBA’s later this week)
You have probably noticed that I haven’t given many pro’s of starting a sole proprietorship. That is because I do not endorse this method of business. I do think that it is O.K. to start a business as a sole proprietorship if you do not have the funds to incorporate. But I suggest that you incorporate your business as soon as possible. Most incorporation fees are no more than a couple hundred bucks but it is more than worth it. Especially if you intend to make a lot of money. Nonetheless, there are a few advantages of this model so I will close this post by listing the Pro’s & Con’s.
Advantages
Minimal Business Knowledge Required
Personal Tax Advantages
No sharing of Profits
Low Start-Up Cost
You are Sole Decision Maker
Disadvantages
Unlimited Liability
If you are not working, you are not being paid
Difficulty in Raising Capital
No Name protection
Minimal Chance of Tax Benefit
Posted by Ben Jones on May 21, 2007
As human beings, all of our behaviors are influenced by emotion. When it comes to entrepreneurship, this can be both a gift and a curse. I am not one of those Fortune 500 zombies who believes that emotion has no place in business but I do think that uncontrolled emotion is the quickest path to business failure. There are times when the use of emotion is beneficial but the key is learning when it is appropriate to allow those emotions to influence your decisions.
Emotions cause people to make impulse commitments during the heat of the moment. For instance, have you ever been shopping for a car and come across one that you really did not like much only to find yourself considering the purchase? Emotions are the main cause of this consideration. You are either tired of looking, not sure you’ll find what you want, don’t want to disappoint the salesman, etc… If you buy the car you will regret it every time you see the car that you really want. Decisions made purely out of emotion are usually one’s that will benefit someone else more than yourself. This is why sales people are trained to play to the emotions
of customers. Obviously this method of decision making could be very destructive to your business.
What goes Up Must Come Down
Another reason why emotion is the leading cause of death for businesses is because of the low lows. When you are emotional as a business person, you will be overly excited when your company is doing well. However, the same is true in reverse. When your company begins to
struggle, you will be extremely distraught and therefore more liable to quit. You have to understand that every business will have its up and downs(Hey its the law of gravity). You have to learn to be professional as opposed to emotional and you will be able to handle the highs and
lows more comfortably.
Allow your emotions to influence enthusiasm, dedication, and love for your business. Allow them to make you passionate about what you do. This passion is necessary in order to propel your business into the mature industry powerhouse that you first envisioned. Just don’t allow your emotions to make you vulnerable as this is a guaranteed path to that huge, small business cemetery in the sky. If you keep your emotions in check, they will do their job and make you better at yours.
Posted by Ben Jones on May 18, 2007
We, as Christians, tend to lean too much on faith. Yes, faith will take you a long way…BUT…only when it is being applied through action. We cannot expect to be profitable simply because we are favored by God. I believe that God will elevate our businesses only when we have taken actions that justify elevation.
It bothers me to see Christians with no drive to be successful. I am not one who gets caught up in the whole “prosperity gospel” movement, but there are certain aspects of their message that have merit. The belief that Christians have to be poor is unfounded. So why is it that we tend to settle so much?
Most Christians say that they don’t want to seek things because they are just “waiting on God” to give ‘em to them. I can assure you that you are not waiting on God for anything; God is waiting on you! You have to give God something to work with. I have been blessed at times simply because I acted on something and began putting work into it. It may not have even been the best idea, but God blessed it because my faith was applied through action.
We Are Spoiled Children
It seems that we have been spoiled by favor. We are all guilty of this. Through time we have been prosperous only because God has gifted us with things that we did not deserve. I am here to warn you that, this will not always be the case. When it comes to your business, you have to apply some elbow grease. You cannot sit back and expect it to prosper because you have a relationship with God (See below).
Galations 6:7 says, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
James 2:26- “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
We have to re-format our thought processes. We must not allow our faith to be a crutch or an excuse for lazyness. Instead we must learn to apply our faith through the only method that God recognizes……..ACTION!
Be Blessed…
Posted by Ben Jones on May 16, 2007
I was scrolling through the Bible today looking for something to read when I came across a familiar scripture and realized that there are several things we can learn about business from it. The story is commonly referred to as the Parable of Talents. As I read over it, I was amazed at how the principles of this parable apply to entrepreneurship, investing, etc… The story is one that most people will be familiar with. However, just in case you don’t know the story I’ll paraphrase it here before I begin breaking down the metaphorical content.
“A man was going on a journey and decided to entrust some of his property to his servants. Each was given talents(money) according to his ability. To one servant he gave 5 talents, to another he gave 2, and to the last he gave 1. The servant who had received the 5 talents immediately went and put his money to work and received 5 more. The servant who received 2 talents also doubled his money. The servant who received 1 talent went and hid his talent underground.
When the master returned he was pleased with the servants who had doubled their money but was very upset with the one who had just hid his talent. He called him lazy and took his one talent away and gave it to the servant who had 10. The masters explanation was this: “He who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”
How does this apply to your business/life?
Parable Point 1- Use What Ya Got!
Each servant was given talents according to his ability. Meaning that the servants who received 5 talents had the greatest ability, the servant who received 2 had less ability, and the last servant had the least ability of all…BUT..as the scripture states the master was equally pleased with the servant who doubled his 5 and the servant who doubled his 2. What does this tell us? It simply tells us that it does not matter how much “talent” you have, what matters is that you utilize what you do have.
( I hope you don’t think its coincidence that the word “talents” was used to describe money in this parable. )
Parable Point 2- The Rich Get Richer
It might seem unfair that the servant who already has the most was also given the talents of the servant who had the least. Well, its not! The servant with the most talents has the most talents because he is capitalizing on the gifts and abilities that were given to him. I have come to the realization that some people are rich because they are just smarter than everybody else. However, the greater majority of wealthy people are wealthy because they seized an opportunity that was more than likely neglected by people with more suitable abilities.
Talent or ability by themselves mean nothing. They must supplement “application” and production” in order to equal success. Without them, someone with less talent will be running the business that God intended for you.
Parable Point 3-Playing it Safe will Cost You
The servant who hid his talents, had his talents taken and given to someone who would utilize them. His opportunity to utilize his talents was gone. I’m sure if he had it to do all over again, he would have done it differently but playing it safe cost him dearly.
Well, believe it or not, this does happen today. We, as entrepreneurs, often play it safe and it ends up costing us too. How many times have you passed on an opportunity that ended up being worth millions because you didn’t want to invest your $50 bucks? Why didn’t everyone invest
in Wal-Mart when they first came out? or Google? The answer is simple……FEAR!
Usually when the window of opportunity is the largest so is the risk factor( See Catch 22 of Entrepreneurship). It will either cost you some time, sweat, or some money but overlooking the opportunity will cost you more. If we fail to take advantage of an opportunity while we have a chance, it is probably gone forever. The worst thing about this is that you will usually have to watch someone else become wealthy off of an opportunity that was meant for you.
So leave your comments and be sure to tell me which servant you are……
Posted by Ben Jones on May 7, 2007
I am posing this question because I continue to meet self-made people who claim to have had no formal education. Actually, most of the successful entrepreneurs that I know did not possess a college degree when they started their respective businesses. Although, some of them have gone back and attained degrees after their business was established, the fact remains that they did not need them in order to get their business moving.
Now I, for one, grew a lot as a person during my undergraduate course work(Maybe that was worth $60,000….probably not). However, I cannot say that I learned a lot about my field that I could not have learned through self-induced reading. Therefore, I am under the impression that I would have been better served by actually doing an independent study of entrepreneurship instead of spending 5(ok, maybe six if you count that year long party.lol) years studying Business Administration.
I would have probably been sittin on the beach somewhere right now, handing down instructions over the phone. I know that that day is still coming but it still leaves one to ponder whether I wasted my time and money in college. I mean, how much can an entrepreneur really learn from college anyway? Most of the things that I learned about entrepreneurship, were learned the hard way: through trial and error.
So, I am posing this question to you:
Is college really necessary for entrepreneurs?
I want to hear from you all on this. So Leave your comments. Thanks!
