Entrepreneurship

How You can Start, Build, Manage or Turnaround any Business ?

What it is…

• Wealth is more psychological than physical.
• Productivity and high performance are more spiritual than mechanical
• What happens INSIDE you determines what happens TO you !!

1. Intense DESIRE is the starting point of all riches
2. Necessary to have burning, compelling GOALS to which you are committed.
3. BELIEF is the third ingredient essential to success; Belief in yourself, value of your product/service, mission and destiny in life.
4. Finally, PATIENCE and ability to delay gratification, to sacrifice in the present for rewards in the future, to save your money & work long hours, to go the extra mile, to “keep on keeping on” in the face of discouragement & defeat – all these are required for success !!

The richest rewards, as always, will go to those who find themselves in the situation where “Preparation meets opportunity”

Business is an art as well as a science and a matter of practical experience, judgement, foresight and luck

History: Back to Basics:

1. The role of business in a free society is to organize and coordinate the factors of production to produce the goods and services that people want at prices they are willing and able to pay !!
2. The wants, needs & desires of the customers determine and direct business activity.
3. Customers always want the very most for the very least. In this they are selfish, demanding, ruthless and disloyal.
4. As long as there are customer needs unmet or better or cheaper ways to meet them, there are money making opportunities for the creative enterprising minority
5. There are always business opportunities for those who are willing to: Lower their demands (prices or wages) ; Restructure their offerings (new product / service) ; Change their customers.
6. The purpose of a business is to create a customer (Profits are the result of creating enough customers and serving them satisfactorily at prices above total costs of production and distribution.
7. It is not what producers produce but what customers prefer that determines economic activity and economic rewards
8. The key to business success has always been: “Find A Need And Fill It.”
9. Your success will always be determined by: What you do; The demand for your product or service; and The difficulty of replacing you.
10. If you wish to earn more, you must concentrate on increasing the value of your service.
11. The market only pays superior rewards for superior goods and services; average rewards for average goods and services. (Business success comes from developing excellence in a particular, market related area)
12. Successful people are those who make a habit of doing what failure don’t like to do.

Seven Personal Qualities That Assure Success:

1. You must KNOW yourself and know exactly what it is you want. (Goal-orientation is an essential requirement of all successful people)
2. You must determine the price you will have to pay and then resolve to Pay that price.
3. You must accept 100% responsibility for your life and everything that you are or will ever be. “If it’s to be, it’s up to me!”
4. You must make a total commitment to your success. Burn your bridges; never think of turning back.
5. You must be willing to work hard, to go the extra mile, to always do more than you’re paid for.
6. You must use your time well, every minute, every hour, every day. This life is not a rehearsal for something else.
7. Back your plans with determination and persistence and resolve in advance that you will never give up. “Try Harder.”

Entrepreneur vs Intrapreneur

• Entrepreneurs- Those who start business and accept the risk and uncertainty in exchange for independence, freedom, and potentially high rewards.
• Intrapreneurs- Those who work within large corporations and use their creativity to develop new products, processes, services for their companies.

Seven Common Characteristics of 83 Self-Made Millionaires:

1. They never set out to become rich;
2. Became totally absorbed doing something they really enjoyed.
3. Specialized and became very good at their work
4. They were eventually paid very well
5. They were not speculators or risk-takers; they held into the money as they earned it.
6. Most became millionaires almost unknowingly.
7. Did not make their money investing. 

The conclusion that researchers reached after 20 years of study was simply this: “You will always be most successful doing what you most enjoy.”

• Know what you are doing; become excellent in your chosen field
• Believe in what you are doing
• Love what you are doing.

Five key abilities of Successful Business People:

1. Judgement – Wisdom acquired through experience and reflection, especially making mistakes and learning from them.
2. Foresight – The ability to see the big picture, to anticipate trends and results.
3. Leadership – The ability to inspire, to elicit extra-ordinary performance from ordinary people.
4. Communications – The ability to interact effectively one-on-one to make presentations to groups, to communicate on paper.
5. Sales Ability – The ability to influence, persuade, motivate people to act in a certain way.

All these qualities are learned and can be learned by an ambitious, determined individual.

Reasons for Business Success:

1. Product or service well suited to the needs and requirements of the current market.
2. Complete business plan developed before commencing business operations. 
3. Complete market analysis followed by development of advertising promotion and sales programs
4. Tight financial controls, good budgeting, accurate bookkeeping and accounting-frugality.
5. High degree of competence, capability, integrity on the part of key staff.
6. Good internal efficiency, time management, job descriptions, clear and measurable output responsibilities.
7. Determination, persistence and patience on the part of business principles.
8. Good communication among staff- open-door policy.
9. Strong momentum in sales department and emphasis on marketing.
10. Concern for the customer at all times is a top priority.

Reasons for Business Failure !?

1. Lack of direction – Failure to establish specific goals and plans to achieve them
2. Impatience – Trying to accomplish too much too soon.
3. Greed – Trying to ‘cream’ the market, make a quick killing, become an instant millionaire.
4. Action without Thinking - Impetuousness
5. Poor cost control – Overspending, especially at beginning
6. Poor quality of product – Difficult to sell; difficult to get repeat business.
7. Insufficient working capital – Expectations of immediate positive cash flow; Six months minimum should be provided.
8. Bad or non-existent budgeting – Failure to develop pro formas and budgets for operations
9. Inadequate financial records – Failure to set up book keeping and accounting system at the beginning.
10. Loss of momentum in sales department – Leads to loss of cash flow and collapse of the enterprise.
11. Failure to anticipate market trends – Changes in demand, consumer preference, economic situation.
12. Lack of managerial ability or experience – Not knowing or understanding the important details of the business
13. Indecisiveness – Inability to make decisions in the face of difficulties
14. Bad human relations – With staff, suppliers, creditors
15. Diffusion of effort – Lack of priorities ; Going off on tangents

Some of the Entrepreneurship's I suggested / plan created are:

• In India, you can start business with < $200 (~Rs.10,000/) - review ~20 businesses 
• Farming as a Hobby & generate good Revenue ? using Smart Farming models :)
• NatiKodi Farm : If you are looking for > 1 lakh/moth income, then try Country Chicken form
• Have Dry lands & expecting income ? Try Subabul plantation
• Have good money & looking for Food processing (Tomato etc) ?
• Have Marketing opportunity & Bamboo availability ? try Bamboo crafts Industry.
• Educational consulting - Graduate to Professional program for Academia 
• You can write your story - https://yourstory.com
• What is Entrepreneurship, how to start, manage etc !?

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed & content within this article are the personal opinions of the author.