ENTREPRENUAL SKILLS & TIPS FOR SUCCESS

PLAN LIKE AN ENTREPRENEUR!

6. Do not jump into anything without doing a study.

A real entrepreneur does not decide the possible profitability of a business venture by ‘hunch’ alone. Yes, the best entrepreneurs have the best ‘hunches’. But even so, they make sure that their business idea undergoes thorough feasibility study first. A feasibility study serves many purposes. But first and foremost, it tells the entrepreneur if a business idea is likely to ‘fail’ or succeed’. A feasibility study also allows an entrepreneur to assume possible difficulties and solutions to problems.
Advice: You can hire a professional to conduct a feasibility study for you if you are not familiar with the procedures.

7. Know the demography of your target customers.

As an entrepreneur, you will be part of the so-called ‘supply’ chain. You will be supplying the ‘demands’ of your customers-to-be. Therefore, it is necessary that you know the demography of your target customers. For example, once you have identified that your target customers are women between the ages 16-30 that lives in the Nigeria or across Africa, you will then need to ask the following questions:
How many are they?
How many of them will want to avail your products/services? How many of them can afford your prices?
How many of them have the means to pay (PayPal, credit card, etc.)? By obtaining this information, you will have a better idea how many people will likely buy from you.

8. Establish a contingency account.

Before you start a business, you will need to conclude how much you will need for the startup costs. Once you have concluded how much money you will need, it is advisable that you add a ‘contingency’ budget to the total amount. Ideally, the contingency account is 5% to 10% of the established startup costs. For example, if you have concluded that you will need $10,000 to start your business, make sure that you start your business with at least $11,000 in capital.

9. Establish budget for initial months' expenses.

In most cases, businesses are not expected to make income during its first few weeks to first few months of operation (could be up to a year or more in some industries). In some cases, the business may even incur losses in the beginning. As such, it is necessary that you allot a budget to cover your expenses during the ‘no income’ period. Examples of such expenses include utilities, rent expense, mortgage installments, salary expense, and all the rest of them.

10. Know the characteristics of your target customers.

What characteristics should you look for? These include age, gender, financial capability, and in the case of online marketers, internet usage as well. But more than anything else, you should want to know the interests of your target customers. To achieve such information, you may need to do a study. Use the information to attract the attention of your target customers (example. Your target customers are teenage girls living in Africa. Your study revealed that teenage girls in Africa or even Nigeria are currently into 'Ankara fashion madness. As an online seller of clothes, you must decided to include ankara made dresses in your list of products in order to attract more African teenagers.)

11. Establish a scope of service.

You should set current boundaries. For example, are you planning to extend your services to all States? Or, you are planning to sell only in select States? And if you are an online seller of clothes, will you be selling all clothes for everyone? Or, are you planning to sell only women’s clothes, men’s clothes, children’s clothes, formal wear, casual wear, etc.? Of course, you may extend your scope of service in the future.

12. Make a list of external stakeholders.

What are stakeholders? These are groups, organizations, firms, and individuals that your business will have a connection to during its course of operation. These include suppliers, service providers, creditors, and others. Before you start a business, you should make a list of your stakeholders first. Contact them and make an agreement with them. If you will be selling computer accessories for example, you should contact several suppliers first. Discuss things with them. Can they supply you continuously? Are they willing to give you discounts?
Optional:You may also want to make a list of lending firms so you know where to get additional funds when you need it.

13. Establish a well-planned organizational chart.

If you will need to hire people to be a part of your business? Then you will need to make an organizational chart. This will define the flow of command and authority among your employees (who’s on top and who’s below). It must be clear who makes the decisions, who reports to whom, who follows who, and such. This will you cushion confusion.

14. Deliberate on the requirements for each job position.

Now that you have an organizational chart, the next step is to set a list of qualifications for each job position. For example, what qualifications do you think your webpage administrator should have? Should he be knowledgeable in Wordpress? Should he have an experience in sales? Make sure that each job position is handled by a qualified person. This is important if you want your business to succeed.
Advice: Hire the best qualified.

15. Decide on modes of receiving payment.

How should your customers pay you? When choosing a mode of payment, you have to make sure that your choice is available and accessible to your target customers. For example, it may not be feasible to offer PayPal only as a mode of payment if half of your target customers have no access to PayPal. In which case, you may need to offer multiple payment methods.

16. Establish a business growth projection.

You may want to start small in the beginning. Also, you may have set some limits in your scope of service (refer to tip #11). However, you must also make plans for future growth. If you are starting as a seller of teenage’ clothes for example, you may want to make plans for selling adult's clothes too in the future. Try to imagine what your business will be like after a year, after three years, after five years, and after ten years.
Axiom: Vision is irreplaceable!

17. Know the law.

The law has provisions on how entrepreneurs should run their business. Make sure that you are aware of these laws. For example, you may have to register for tax returns and request for permits. And because these laws differ from country to country, state to state, region to region, and city to city, you may need to research about your locality’s laws. And if you will be selling products to different countries, you have to know that it is illegal to sell some items in some countries. Make sure that you know what these countries and what these products are.
Point: Local knowledge is advised.

18. Plan an effective entry to the market.

When you enter the market, make sure that you are noticed. Unless you are noticed, your business may not get customers. How do you do this? In an online setting, online merchants usually use the following methods: Press Release submissions, Social Media advertisement, sponsored advertisement, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), popups, and so many others.

Business as a journey- phase 2

3. Practice positive pessimism
Pessimism is not all that bad as presumed by many folks. In business, it has its usefulness  as well. Pessimism allows you to perceive potential problems even before they take place. It might sound crazy but an entrepreneur should practice some degree of pessimism.

However, this pessimism should only be used to ‘identify problems’. This pessimism is to be practiced with the positive thought that any problem that arises can  be resolved. Every entrepreneur  that has an eye for risks must possess this ability.  Axiom: Learn patience!

4. Always Think ahead

An average person sees the past and the present time but an entrepreneur thinks ahead and imagine what lays await in the future.  Even the bible acknowledges that, the wise man's eyes are in his head; (Eccl. 2:14) .And to do this, an entrepreneur puts into account things like current news, trends, patterns of changes "he observes the wind of change".
As an entrepreneur you must know what to anticipate and also know how to take advantage of the situations for your own benefit.
Example; A business man will acquire a piece of land neglecting its present look having known the potential value of the land. He'll do this with the knowledge that the area will be developed in the nearest future. Which means more profit by just been smart!
Axiom: Develop a nose!

5. Practice prudence

Never take a step without  thinking things over first.

This is called prudence. An entrepreneur does not recklessly jump into a business venture. He does not make business decisions based on whim rather he researches first, conducts several studies, and thinks things over and again before moving into action. Make reasons the backbone of your actions.

Axiom:  Never act without a plan.

Business as a journey- Phase 1

 Welcome to the first phase our business tips. Just as promised we deliver tips that     will  surely grow and make your business stand out.

                       Lesson 1: Think Like An Entrepreneur

1. Have a keen eye for opportunities.

Successful entrepreneurs have one thing in common - they have a keen eye for opportunity(s). An entrepreneur looks and sees the world differently. Instead of problems he sees ‘business opportunities’, in place of waste he creates wealth.
Illustrating this truth further, you'll agree with me that an average Nigerian or even African would complain bitterly when he/she can't find a supermarket/store around . But an entrepreneur sees profit and of course an opportunity to open a profitable convenient store.
Keep your eyes open for such opportunities and have the courage to grab it when it comes.

2. Practice careful optimism

Be optimistic. This means that you should have a positive outlook. A positive thinking brings forth many possibilities. However, optimism can lead to problems if misused. Do not let your ‘optimism’ blind you from seeing problems just because you want to have a positive way of thinking. Be optimistic. However, you should exercise ‘carefulness’ at the same time. This is careful optimism.
*Nugget: Never get blinded by zeal to act foolishly.*              ...to be continued

Business as a journey.

There is a saying, that true success lies in doing business and not in pursuing better employment. However, it is true that some people who pursue better employment did achieve success, but in their smallest number. Only a small portion of employed people will definitely make it to the top and so because of this many people ditched the idea of employment and turned to entrepreneurship instead. And yes, it is true that enormous number of people did find success in doing business but unfortunately not everyone who goes into business will succeed.
 In fact, there are probably more people who will fail than those who will succeed.

Yes, doing business could be a tough game but don't settle for the status quo, "boss". You have to know the basic rules, the tricks and its principles if you want to be successful in it. 

Does this mean that you have to get a degree in business or marketing in order to be a successful entrepreneur? Well, that is definitely going to help. But there is a less time-consuming way.

These are business secrets that very few people, very few aspiring entrepreneurs know about. With these tips, you will be equipped with the most powerful tools that will help you pave your way towards success. 

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The Coming Soons

The "coming soon's";-
They are those Ideas that were, but never made a difference,
they are the Words that were never said but required expression,
those write-ups and Poems that were buried between the line and pages of note pads,
Songs that were never song,
Arts that were never painted. I mean, those creatures that were never seen but yet existed.
We are all destined by God to show forth and manifest His Glory, Power and Gifts, yes!
we are to shine as stars in our every world but most times we fail destiny, fail ourselves and fail our Creator.
Refuse today to be among the "coming soon's" that never came. Let your light so shine and shine to the fullest. Let it out!

Failure is not your end!

To you who think of failure as a necessary event or experience I have this to say to you, you are just right. Failure could be a factual beginning, it could be the welcome hand shake into your journey in business, career, marriage and life at large but it surely is not the end.
I mean to say that it's surely not the end for the optimist, surely not the end for the resilient, surely not the end for true fighters and its surely not the end for you!