The Right Experience in the Right Business
Published November 17, 2011 | 
Common Business Mistakes You Want to Avoid
Let me start by stating what should the obvious, and that is starting a business in an industry you know has obvious advantages. The major advantage is that you’ll be starting out in an industry where you have prior experience and expertise, which saves an enormous amount of time by achieving significant results and success sometimes much quicker. A major reason is that your personal network and business contacts can be extremely invaluable when it comes to getting your new business off the ground including finding employees, securing important capital financing, locating suppliers and distributors, and don’t forget finding customers.
You can use your knowledge about the industry, your training and skill-set, and your network of contacts to begin to quickly establish and grow the business to the critical break-even point and even more important, positive cash flow.
If you think there is something you know and love that can be turned into a business, then talk to friends and people you’ve worked with about what it may take to start, operate and manage that kind of business. You will also need to learn all you can about initial start-up costs, what overhead is along with operating expenses, and just how much revenue you can expect to make selling potential products and services.
Now, if you have several interests, and aren’t sure which would make the best business, consider how easy it might be for you to translate your personal strengths, applicable education, and skill-sets into feasible business opportunities. An important part of this process is to thoroughly research the marketplace to determine which types of business are presently needed in your market.
Starting a Business in an Unfamiliar Industry
Unfortunately for many people, the unsubstantiated promise and temptation of quick profits convinces many people to take the great risk of starting businesses in areas they know little or nothing about. This is an amazingly sure and almost guaranteed recipe for disastrous failure.
But if you are dead-set on starting a business you don’t know much about, you have to be prepared and make it a point to spend enough time learning it before you begin.
Whatever you decide to do, don’t fall into the trap of starting a particular business just because someone tells you, “It’s a sure thing.” If you hear that, immediately run the other way and don’t look back. Remember, any potential customers will decide to part with their hard-earned money only if you can persuade them that they’re receiving their money’s worth in return, so you’ll need to know exactly what you’re doing, no matter what you decide to do.
Brilliant Business Ideas – Business Ideas
Published June 2, 2011 | Business Ideas
There is one thing that almost everyone in the world has in common with each other, that we all have a few good ideas and maybe even a dream or two we’d love to test out because we just know it would be the greatest idea since sliced bread. Of course, the really good ones are real gems of innovation and creativity like Google or the iPhone. And then there are the amazingly not so good ones like the “Segway” which even though start out good or even great, and eventually take a short nosedive off a high cliff, or in reality never make it past the “Have I got a great idea for you!” phase.
Let’s just say you think you actually have a great innovative idea that may be worth turning into a company. After you have a chance to get it started, it might even generate some revenue and decent positive cash flow. 
The question becomes “How do you decide if that idea is worth pursuing?”
Understand that most creative minds and entrepreneurial-types constantly have several business ideas filtering through their mind at any given time. The key is they are able to filter these results and limit pursuit to those ideas that have the greatest probabilities of being most successful.
As the filtering goes it may be a good idea to cancel an idea if there is no valid target market, if there is no feasible revenue stream, enormous barriers to entry, no way to compete on the same level with any competition you may have, or if you enter the market too late in the game to ever have a chance to catch up and be profitable.
You should be aware of and avoid common pitfalls including starting a business or trying out a business idea just because your friends like the idea. Keep in mind that your friends are your friends, and most likely biased in your favor no matter what, and ready to support you. But keep in mind that also when it comes time for them to dig deep in their pockets, make the purchase and put their money where their mouth is, they just may not like the idea as much as they originally did.
The Next Great Entrepreneurs – Shopping Goes Social
Published April 6, 2011 | 
Believe it or not, virtually half of all Americans are now members of at least one social network, with many that are members of multiple networks, and of course spending more money while they’re at it. That’s an eCommerce spending rate that has doubled from just a short couple of years ago. Recent research indicates social media users are spending on average, approximately over one and a half times more time online than the normal web surfer. Actually, intense Facebook users spent an average of $67 online during the first quarter of the year, when compared with less than $50 for the common citizen of the Web, according to very recent research from comScore.
Strong evidence indicates that eCommerce has gone social, meaning the days of one-way, private online shopping are long gone in the past.
In looking back over the brief history, the first to really go social were online flash sale sites, where incredibly steep discounts are offered to members for an extremely-limited time. Sites like Gilt Groupe, HauteLook, Rue La La and DailyCandy’s Swirl mimic designer sample sales, offer luxury fashion for a small portion or mere fraction of the retail price. These sites rely a great deal on conversations taking place online as a driver for sales. Stylishly so, because a recent MediaPost study revealed that approximately 60 % of consumers rated “personal advice from friends” as the most valuable and influential source of 
information for their purchase decisions, and 51 % of Twitter users reported they follow companies, brands or products on social networks.
In addition, going social are collective-buying sites including Groupon and LivingSocial, which are appearing in most urban areas across the U.S., and each day members are e-mailed discounts offered by local businesses. These sites have integrated tools allowing users to very easily share deals, recommendations, and plan activities with friends in their social networks on Facebook and Twitter respectively.
An interesting transition has occurred over the past several months, as companies have lost “total control” over their specific brand’s message. 
That responsibility has actually shifted into the control and hands of the social web, made evident by a recent increase in the number of consumer product review sites like ThisNext, Viewpoints and Milo.
Finally, new social shopping startup ventures continue to crop up all the time. For example, one is Swipely.com, which its social affect is to politely “turn purchases into conversations.” It does so when users swipe their credit or debit card, and the transaction shows up on the site, for the community to discuss, if it so chooses.
The Next Great Entrepreneurs – Business Goes Boomer
Published April 4, 2011 | 
A funny thing happened on the way to retirement. Gen Y is quickly being overtaken as the most powerful demographic by Baby Boomers.
Let’s take a look at what’s happening. The 76 million-strong age demographic has been making banner headlines for providing a lot of market opportunities including construction services that make homes more senior-friendly, supermarkets with senior-friendly lower shelves and wheelchair-compatible shopping carts, and growing sales and tech support by phone for seniors, provided by seniors.
In addition, would-be retirees forgot to retire and are taking over the workforce. Surprisingly to other age groups, almost two thirds of boomers still working expect to remain in the workforce for at least nine more years, and even more surprising by the beginning of the next decade, 80 percent of North American-born workers will be older than 50. Some experts are expecting an even bigger boom in entrepreneurship as healthcare reform begins taking effect in 2014.
Understand that what this evidence means is in the very near future, boomers will have a lot of power. I think it is safe to predict that as boomers continue to age on the road to retirement, employers will definitely have to contemplate creating optional work arrangement choices and other ways to oblige them. The fact of the eminent future boomer takeover is acknowledged by everyone planning for the near-future global markets.
On closer examination, the old stigmas attached to being old continue to lose their significance and doesn’t necessarily mean boomers lose “with it” points. Globally and in the U.S., universities are offering classes, course studies, and gathering important research on boomers and the future.
Here’s a few Interesting Boomer Facts
- Baby boomers are the 1st generation in American history in which the majority has obtained at least some form of higher education.
For Baby Boomers, health care is shifting from a medical topic to a blend of entertainment, fitness, beauty and spiritual well-being.- The top 6 concerns of Baby Boomers are: a) Having enough money to retire; b) Overall financial health; c) Having enough energy to do what they want; d) Having enough money for health care; e) Taking action to prevent disease; and f) Getting good advice from doctors.
- One in four boomers in the U.S. has a second home, and the typical vacation home buyer was 52 years old, earned $82,800 and purchased a property that is 197 miles (median) away from their primary residence. The largest concentration of vacation home buyers is in the Midwest.
- By 2020, healthy living will become a trillion dollar business.
- Gardening is the #1 hobby for adults over 50.
- The median consumer for a new Harley-Davidson cycle is a 46-year old male.
The Next Great Entrepreneurs – In All of Us
Published March 29, 2011 | 
Okay, so if you’re like me, and of course I kind of think of myself as being like everybody else, in a competent and knowledgeable kind of way, in most activities and tasks that I routinely carry out, I always tend to think of myself as an Entrepreneur. I suppose mostly because I have owned and operated businesses with an enlightened spirit of an Entrepreneur, even when I’ve been employed at other jobs at the same time.
So we are all to an extent, kindred spirits that kind of develop the mentality and the mindset of “how do I make something out of this great idea of mine?” Or “I know this would be of value to somebody else,” but of course, not everyone is of the same mindset. Maybe you don’t even think of yourself as a typical Entrepreneur, or Entrepreneur at all, and perhaps you don’t own a business, nor do you have any desire to ever own a business.
But whether or not you realize it, and whether you have ever owned a business or not, you just may well be thinking like an Entrepreneur, whether you know it or not. 
You see, when you have income, expenses, assets, taxes, and have ever had enough information to prepare a personal financial statement; you are just like an Entrepreneur in business. It can be quite surprising, especially when you hadn’t even realize how much you have in common with the millions of business Entrepreneurs that surround you, both where you are and across the global market.
The really important point here is that whether you know it or not, you have had to learn some basic business principles that help you with your personal life and finances. Also, understand that you can receive great benefits by learning some additional basic business principles. Principles that include management of your personal cash flow, just exactly what your assets and liabilities are, and how to prepare personal financial statements or your balance sheet, and your personal profit and loss statement.
By learning the business basics and the meaning of basic financial information that you see and think about almost every day, you empower yourself with information to help you make many important decisions. 
Once you learn, you will realize that the information is actually not extremely complicated. You will also discover that with a little dedication and discipline towards your continuing business education, you can go far, both personally and in the business world. When you learn to read a financial statement and realize it is not that difficult, some really interesting things begin to happen, as you start making better decisions concerning your money that are more profitable and sustainable cash flow wise.
Finally, the first step in developing an Entrepreneur’s Mindset is to admit that you ‘don’t know what you don’t know’ and ask for help. Once you free yourself up and stop pretending you know, you will be amazed how open your mind becomes and what answers, people and success (and potentially millions of dollars) will come your way.