Entrepreneur: 5 Common Pitfalls to Avoid to Grow a Business

You have all heard or seen entrepreneurs whose great idea has worked and the business has grown from leaps to bounds, the entrepreneur and the management team have worked very hard and opened 2 to 3 more branches, then suddenly the business stagnates or it starts declining. You then wonder, what went wrong.

Business Quotes

Entrepreneurs are fascinated by quotes. They spark your creativity, motivate you to action and inspire you to greatness. The right words at the right time can be fundamental to your success. Below are this week’s quotes. Be inspired;

1.      “Not doing more than the average is what keeps the average down.” - William M. Winans, Clergyman

2.      “It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success.” – Havelock Ellis, Physician and Author

3.      “If you work just for money, you’ll never make it, but if you love what you’re doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.” – Ray Kroc, Entrepreneur

4.      “Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes; work never begun.” – Christina Rossetti, Author

5.      “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet

Vision: How to Develop a Vision for Your Business

Entrepreneurs and business managers like you can benefit from the realization that having a vision can provide the required competitive edge to your company strategy and enable you to be successful and profitable.

A vision can serve you in carrying out your leadership role, unifying your employee’s efforts towards the common goal and building loyalty among staff.

Thus far, it is important to have a clear vision which will guide decision making and goal setting.

But, how to you develop that clear and shared vision?

Vision: Importance of Vision Statement in a Business

The greatest responsibility for the entrepreneur or business leader is to midwife a clear and shared vision for the company and to get commitment to and vigorous pursuit of that vision.

Research has shown that businesses that perform well over a long period had their leaders instill a compelling vision into the company while the company was relatively small.

So, why is a vision important to business?

The corporate vision plays four very important roles:

Big 5 Work Habit Tips for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses

The big 5 tips weekly post is as always full of advice and tips for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses owners.Check them out ,then share with a friend.

1. Have self drive. Get right on the task. Avoid procrastination and short cuts.
2. Always tell the truth and particularly the most difficult to tell and without exceptions.
3. Use available resources first to solve problems   before seeking additional resources or asking for assistance from other sources.
4. Work at a steady pace that’s faster than required for the task and faster than anyone else.
5. Think through actions before taking them and consider the consequences.

If you have additional work habit for entrepreneurs and small businesses, share them in the comments section below.

Customer Care: Handling Customer Complaints

As small businesses begin to realize rapid growth and expansion, you may have realized that there is also an increase in the number of complaints from the Clients and an indifferent attitude of the employees towards customers, which in the long run, affects the business and the reputation of the company. 

The most common complaints from the Clients are usually:-- 

Business Quotes

Entrepreneurs are fascinated by quotes. They spark your creativity, motivate you to action and inspire you to greatness. The right words at the right time can be fundamental to your success. Below are this week’s quotes. Be inspired;

1.      “Some people have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can.” Willis R. Whitney, American Chemist

2.      “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” - Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor and Entrepreneur

3.      “Six essential qualities that are the key to success: Sincerity, personal integrity, humility, courtesy, wisdom, charity.” William Menninger, Entrepreneur

4.      “With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.” - Keshavan Nair, Author – Gandhi Biographer

5.      “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” - Anatole France, Poet

How to Sell To People

An entrepreneur’s job is to sell all the time. You have to sell your idea(s), sell your image and sell your vision to your employees, your customers, the public, the bankers and the media.

Selling is not about arm twisting or swindling, it’s about marketing your ideas, your product and your business constantly. Selling is giving your stakeholders (customers, employees, public, bankers, media) what they want in a way that works for you and them.

There is no one way of doing it, though it has to be hard core, purposeful, directed and goal achieving selling. Soft fuzzy selling will not work.

Following is a compilation of how to sell to people.

Big 5 Tips to Run Productive Meetings for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses

The big 5 tips weekly post is as always full of advice and tips for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses owners.Check them out ,then share with a friend.

1.      Have fewer meetings. Get together for very important reasons only: to identify a problem, solve a problem or dispense information to a group. Do away with a meeting if the only reason to have it is that it’s a Monday morning, unless it’s an informal gathering to simply stay in touch with the staff.

2.      Prepare so you can focus. Use an agenda as the tool to keep focused on the issues to be dealt with. Send out an agenda in advance if possible.

3.       Keep the number of people at the meeting as small as possible while still including everyone who needs to be there. A meeting becomes more complex with more people.

4.       Decide on who will run the meeting in advance and how others will get feedback from the meeting.

5.      Physically set up the meeting. Arrange the configuration of the room, where various people should sit to enhance the meeting objective. To make the meeting more effective use the board room or a neural place. 

Successful Meetings: How to Plan, Prepare, and Execute Top-Notch Business Meetings 

If you have additional tips on how to run productive meetings, share them in the comments section below.

Business Quotes

Entrepreneurs are fascinated by quotes. They spark your creativity, motivate you to action and inspire you to greatness. The right words at the right time can be fundamental to your success. Below are this week’s quotes. Be inspired;

1.      “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.” - Henry Ford, Entrepreneur

2.      “The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible — and achieve it, generation after generation.” - Pearl S. Buck, Author

3.      “In life and business, there are two cardinal sins: The first is to act without thought, and the second is to not act at all.” – Carl Icahn, Investor and Entrepreneur

4.      “Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor and Entrepreneur

5.      “It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32^nd American President

Building Your Network Marketing Business 

How to Develop a Business Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is the core of any entrepreneur’s success game plan. It will help you think through your business idea and work out how you plan to attract and keep customers. As you develop your marketing plan, ensure it has market analysis and market strategies.

Market analysis will show you how you plan to turn your idea into a product or service that people will buy. Market strategies will help you identify your target market(s) and outline how you will find and contact potential customers.

By focusing on the needs of a specific segment and carving out a niche may mean the difference between your success and failure.

Below are questions for market analysis and market strategies that will help you develop a marketing plan.

Financial Management-Managing Finances of Your Growing Business

At times, growth can be a pitfall. The rapid sales growth with the long cash cycle and /or low margins can lead you to rapid reliance on debt, which can drive you either into distress or into too rapid need to access outside funds at too early a stage and with too little bargaining power.

You can however avoid these big mistakes.

Secret of Success

Today’s secret revealed!

A clear vision, backed by definite plans, gives you a tremendous feeling of confidence and personal power. Brian Tracy

Secret of Success

Today’s secret revealed!

Aim at the sun and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if you aimed at an object on a level with yourself. J Hawkes