Why should You become an Entrepreneur?

There are so many reasons not to become an entrepreneur. I am not going to list them for you, because if you are not an entrepreneur already, I am convinced that you know all of them. So I will try to point out two important reasons to become an entrepreneur.

Passion. Only if you are a really lucky man or woman, and you like something enough to love it, will you be able to dedicate your life to it. After thousands of hours of hard work you will start to generate great value and suddenly your passion will have become your livelihood. Someone will recognize the value and will be thrilled to pay a price for it. If you are ambitious you will create a company to deliver your passion to your market. Entrepreneurship just happened, as everything great in life. This is the best reason to become an entrepreneur: Your passion.

But what happens if you do not have a passion in life?

Do something that matters by solving a real problem. There are plenty of real problems in life waiting for a solution. If you can find one and figure out how to solve it by delivering great value at a competitve price, then you have the opportunity to become an entrepreneur. The size of your market will determine the dimension of the business and how to build it. Entrepreneurship that happens as an analytical process is a great thing in life. This is the other best reason to become an entrepreneur: To solve a real problem that matters.

Do you admire someone? Think about people whose passion led them to do something that matters by solving a real problem. Get inspired by them. You will find the path through their stories. Pay attention to their feelings, not to their skills. To grow as an entrepreneur you need to know about strategy, execution and leadership. You will need to provide the right balance between cash, people, strategy, execution and technology to your project. You will need all these skills, but don't forget to focus always on people's emotions. Then you will be able to solve real problems with passion.

Entrepreneurs - Top 10 Essential Entrepreneurial Traits

By Hilary Basile

Are you intrigued by the possibility of being your own boss and starting a business but not sure you have the right qualifications to be an entrepreneur? What are the characteristics of an entrepreneur? Although there is no single perfect entrepreneurial profile, there are many characteristics that show up repeatedly in successful business owners.
Following are the top 10 essential entrepreneurial traits that anyone who is interested in starting a business must possess:
(1) Independence:This is the most common denominator of all entrepreneurs. They want to seize control of their future; thus they decide to become their own boss instead of laboring under the gaze of a master.

(2) Persistence and Determination- The world of entrepreneurship is fraught with both success and failure. An important quality of a successful entrepreneur is the doggedness to continue pursuing a goal despite some setbacks and obstacles they may encounter on the road. This persistence and determination is fueled by a burning desire to achieve the goal of succeeding in the chosen field of business.

(3) Self-Confidence - Along with independence, an entrepreneur possesses self-confidence. They believe in their capabilities and makes sure that they will put in their best effort into their particular endeavors and likewise expect the best results from it. Belief in one's capabilities is very important in achieving any goal - especially in the world of entrepreneurship.

(4) Creativity-In the business world, you can not afford to be complacent and uncreative unless you want the competition to move up on ahead of you. Creative people are naturally curious, inquisitive, bright and highly flexible when thinking. They keenly observe their environment and have an eye for spotting new trends that could spark a business opportunity.
(5) Organized and goal-oriented:An entrepreneur knows the value of organization in a business endeavor. A good entrepreneur has the ability to consolidate resources.

(6) Visionary- An entrepreneur has a vision for his/her future.

(7) Risk-taking and Tolerance for Failure - A good entrepreneur realizes that loss and failure are inherent in any business endeavor. Thus, an entrepreneur must always be ready to make calculated risks and face whatever consequences accompany those risks. As in all fields of endeavor, the characteristic of a successful entrepreneur is in never giving up and in picking up the pieces and continuing the journey even if failure momentarily obstructs the way.

(8) Perseverance and Hard Work - These are perhaps two of the most important entrepreneurial traits.

(9) Commitment - An entrepreneur will not achieve success if he/she gives up at the first sign of trouble.

(10) Honesty and Honor - Another very important mark of a good entrepreneur is being honest and honorable in all business dealings and interpersonal relationships - whether it is between business partners, employees, peers or investors.

If you possess these traits, you may have the necessary skill set to become a successful entrepreneur.

Hilary Basile is a writer for MyGuidesUSA.com http://www.myguidesusa.com

A Profile of Steve Jobs - A Brief History of Steve Jobs and Apple

by Paul Suggett

Born February 24th 1955, and passing away on October 5th, 2011, Steve Jobs was co-founder, chairman and CEO of Apple Inc. His impact on the technology industry, entertainment, advertising and pop culture was vast, and he leaves behind an empire that is changing the way we all live and work.

The Beginning of Apple

It all started with three men - Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Mike Markkula - who together in the late 1970's designed and marketed the Apple II series of computers. It was the first commercially successful line of personal computers, and led to theApple Lisa in 1983 - the first computer to use a mouse-driven GUI (graphical user interface). One year later, the Apple Macintosh was born (launched by one of the greatest ads of all time, 1984), and with it, the Apple legend began to grow.

The Fall and Rise of Steve Jobs

In 1985, after a long and drawn-out fight with the Apple board, Steve Jobs "left" the company that he helped create. Some say he was pushed or ousted, others say he left simply to pursue other projects. That being said, his next move was NeXT, a tech company he founded that specialized in higher education and business.

One year later, in 1986, Steve Jobs took a major interest in a small division of Lucasfilm Ltd. Focused on the development of computer generated graphics for animated movies, the company now known as Pixar was acquired by Jobs. It was a master stroke for Steve, who instantly saw the potential for the company (which we now all know as one of the greatest movie-making studios of our time). After many small projects and lots of trial and error, Pixar released Toy Story in 1995 (crediting Jobs as the executive producer) and the rest is history.

One year after the release of Toy Story, in 1996, Apple bought the NeXT company that Jobs owned, and asked him to come back in a leadership role. He was interim CEO from 1997 to 2000, becoming the permanent CEO from that point until his eventual resignation in August of 2011.

Steve Jobs and Apple Begin World Domination

When Jobs came on board in 1996, Apple was still very much a niche computer platform. Windows-based PCs were owned by the vast majority of consumers, with the higher-priced Apple computers mainly being used by the creative industries, including advertising, design and motion pictures.

However, that all changed when the iPod came along in November of 2001. Out of nowhere, Apple was suddenly on everyone's lips. The idea that thousands of songs could be stored digitally on one small device much smaller than any Walkman or CD player was mind-blowing. Steve Jobs had spearheaded a product that literally changed the way music was played and shared.

Within a few years, Apple was the technology that everyone wanted to own. And then came the iPhone in 2007, which took Apple from a major player to the company everyone was trying to emulate. Overnight, the iPhone reinvented cell phone technology, and it was yet another crushing victory for Steve Jobs. His company, Apple, was the brand leader and the one leading the field.

In 2010, after many variations of the iPhone, the iPad was launched to an initially luke-warm reception. People didn't see the need for it, but Steve Jobs knew it was going to have a big impact. And it did. By March of 2011, over 15 million iPads were on the market.

Steve Jobs Loses His Fight With Cancer

The health of Steve Jobs had been in question since around 2006, when his gaunt, frail appearance and lackluster delivery were the focus of his WWDC keynote address. In actuality, Jobs had announced his condition (pancreatic cancer) to his staff in mid 2004. Between 2003 and his death in August 2011, Jobs underwent many procedures and therapies to try and beat the cancer, but it was too aggressive. He stepped down as CEO of Apple on August 24th, 2011, and died just a few weeks later on September 11th (the 10th anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers).

Steve Jobs was a visionary, an entrepreneur, a savvy advertising client, and from what everyone who knew him has said, a good friend. He will be missed by many.

BOOK REVIEW: The High-Performance Entrepreneur : Golden Rules For Success In Today’s World

Book Summary of The High-Performance Entrepreneur : Golden Rules For Success In Today’s World

Highly readable, crisply written…inspirational reading for any new Indian entrepreneur’—Frontline Difficult though setting up a business is, becoming a high-performance entrepreneur is harder still. And yet, of the many thousands who try, there are those who go on to become successful; some even graduate to setting up companies that hold their own against the toughest competition, becoming icons of achievement. In The High-performance Entrepreneur, Subroto Bagchi, co-founder and chief operating officer of MindTree Consulting, draws upon his own highly successful experience to offer guidance from the idea stage to the IPO level. This includes how to decide when one is ready to launch an enterprise, selecting a team, defining the values and objectives of the company and writing the business plan to choosing the right investors, managing adversity and building the brand. Additionally, in an especially illuminating chapter, Bagchi recounts the systems and values which have made Indian IT companies on a par with the best in the world. High-performance entrepreneurs create great wealth, for themselves as well as for others. They provide jobs, crucial for an expanding workforce such as India’s, and drive innovation. In India as elsewhere, governments have become much more entrepreneur friendly than ever before and the rewards of being a successful entrepreneur are many. More than just a guide, this is a book that will tap the entrepreneurial energy within you. ‘The tips offered in the book can make all of us, businessmen and employers, better at our jobs’—Business India ‘[A] wonderful book which will go a long way in guiding aspiring entrepreneurs’ —Sahara Times ‘A guiding light to budding entrepreneurs’— ‘A must-read for all those who dream of building a great institution from scratch’ Free Press Journal.

About the Author:

Subroto Bagchi is Vice Chairman and Co-founder of MindTree Ltd. Till 2008, Subroto was its Chief Operating Officer, a role he stepped down from to become its Gardener. His work involves co-innovating with MindTree’s customers, tending the top 100 minds in the organization and serving its fifty communities of practice. He is also Chairman of MindTree’s Innovation Council. His earlier books, The High-Performance Entrepreneur (Penguin Portfolio, 2006) and Go Kiss the World (Penguin Portfolio, 2008) were best-sellers and received critical acclaim.

Subroto is married to writer Susmita Bagchi and they have two daughters, Neha and Niti.

(Source:Flipkart)

BOOK REVIEW:
Difficult though setting up a business is, becoming a high-performance entrepreneur is harder still. And yet of the many thousands who try, there are those who go on to become successful, some even graduate to setting up companies that hold their own against the toughest competition, becoming icons of achievement. In "The High-Performance Entrepreneur", Subroto Bagchi, co-founder and chief operating officer of MindTree Consulting, draws upon his own highly successful experience to offer guidance from the idea stage to the IPO level. This includes how to decide when one is ready to launch an enterprise, selecting a team, defining the values and objectives of the company and writing the business plan to choosing the right investors, managing adversity and building the brand. Additionally, in an especially illuminating chapter, Bagchi recounts the systems and values which have made Indian IT companies on a par with the best in the world. More than just a guide, this is a book that will tap the entrepreneurial energy within you.

(Source:GoodReads)

TOP 10 BUSINESS PLAN MISTAKES

An  Excerpt from 'Entrepreneur's INSTANT STARTUP GUIDE'

1-MISUNDERSTANDING THE PURPOSE: IT’S THE PLANNING THAT MATTERS, NOT JUST THE DOCUMENT. Planning is a process of setting goals and establishing specific measures of progress, then tracking your progress and following up with course corrections. The plan itself is just the first step; it is reviewed and revised often.

2-DOING IT IN ONE BIG PUSH:INSTEAD, DO IT IN PIECES AND STEPS. The plan is a set of connected modules, like blocks. Start anywhere and get going. Do the part that interests you most, or the part that provides the most immediate benefit.

3-FINISHING YOUR PLAN. If your plan is done, then your business is done. That most recent version is just a snapshot of what the plan was then.

4-HIDING YOUR PLAN FROM YOUR TEAM. It’s a management tool. Use common sense about what you share with everybody on your team. But do share the goals and measurements, using the planning to build team spirit and peer collaboration.

5-CONFUSING CASH WITH PROFITS. There’s a huge difference between the two. Waiting for customers to pay can cripple your financial situation without affecting your profits. Loading your inventory absorbs money without changing profits. You don’t pay your bills with profits.

6-DILUTING YOUR PRIORITIES. A plan that stresses three or four priorities is a plan with focus and power. A plan that lists 20 priorities doesn't really have any.

7-OVERVALUING THE BUSINESS IDEA. What gives an idea value isn’t the idea itself but the business that’s built on it. Either write a business plan that shows you building a business around that great idea, or forget it.

8-FUDGING THE DETAILS IN THE FIRST 12 MONTHS. By details, we mean your financials, milestones, responsibilities and deadlines. Cash flow is most important, but you also need lots of details when it comes to assigning tasks to people, setting dates and specifying what’s supposed to happen and who’s supposed to make it happen.

9-SWEATING THE DETAILS FOR THE LATER YEARS. As important as monthly details are in the beginning, they become a waste of time later on. How can you project monthly cash flow three years from now when your sales forecast is so uncertain? Sure, you can plan in five, 10 or even 20-year horizons in the major conceptual text, but you can’t plan in monthly detail past the first year.

10-MAKING ABSURD FORECASTS. Nobody believes absurdly high ”hockey stick” sales projections. And forecasting unusually high profitability usually means you don’t have a realistic understanding of expenses.

What is the Role of an Entrepreneur in Economic Development ?

What is the Role of an Entrepreneur in Economic Development ?
by Chinmoy Kumar
The entrepreneur who is a business leader looks for ideas and puts them into effect in fostering economic growth and development. Entrepreneurship is one of the most important input in the economic development of a country. The entrepreneur acts as a trigger head to give spark to economic activities by his entrepreneurial decisions. He plays a pivotal role not only in the

development of industrial sector of a country but also in the development of farm and service sector. The major roles played by an entrepreneur in the economic development of an economy is discussed in a systematic and orderly manner as follows:

(1) Promotes Capital Formation:

Entrepreneurs promote capital formation by mobilising the idle savings of public. They employ their own as well as borrowed resources for setting up their enterprises. Such type of entrepreneurial activities lead to value addition and creation of wealth, which is very essential for the industrial and economic development of the country.

(2) Creates Large-Scale Employment Opportunities:

Entrepreneurs provide immediate large-scale employment to the unemployed which is a chronic problem of underdeveloped nations. With the setting up of more and more units by entrepreneurs, both on small and large-scale numerous job opportunities are created for others. As time passes, these enterprises grow, providing direct and indirect employment opportunities to many more. In this way, entrepreneurs play an effective role in reducing the problem of unemployment in the country which in turn clears the path towards economic development of the nation.

(3) Promotes Balanced Regional Development:

Entrepreneurs help to remove regional disparities through setting up of industries in less developed and backward areas. The growth of industries and business in these areas lead to a large number of public benefits like road transport, health, education, entertainment, etc. Setting up of more industries lead to more development of backward regions and thereby promotes balanced regional development.

(4) Reduces Concentration of Economic Power:

Economic power is the natural outcome of industrial and business activity. Industrial development normally lead to concentration of economic power in the hands of a few individuals which results in the growth of monopolies. In order to redress this problem a large number of entrepreneurs need to be developed, which will help reduce the concentration of economic power amongst the population.

(5) Wealth Creation and Distribution:

It stimulates equitable redistribution of wealth and income in the interest of the country to more people and geographic areas, thus giving benefit to larger sections of the society. Entrepreneurial activities also generate more activities and give a multiplier effect in the economy.

(6) Increasing Gross National Product and Per Capita Income:

Entrepreneurs are always on the look out for opportunities. They explore and exploit opportunities,encourage effective resource mobilisation of capital and skill, bring in new products and services and develops markets for growth of the economy. In this way, they help increasing gross national product as well as per capita income of the people in a country. Increase in gross national product and per capita income of the people in a country, is a sign of economic growth.

(6) Improvement in the Standard of Living:

Increase in the standard of living of the people is a characteristic feature of economic development of the country. Entrepreneurs play a key role in increasing the standard of living of the people by adopting latest innovations in the production of wide variety of goods and services in large scale that too at a lower cost. This enables the people to avail better quality goods at lower prices which results in the improvement of their standard of living.

(7) Promotes Country's Export Trade:

Entrepreneurs help in promoting a country's export-trade, which is an important ingredient of economic development. They produce goods and services in large scale for the purpose earning huge amount of foreign exchange from export in order to combat the import dues requirement. Hence import substitution and export promotion ensure economic independence and development.

(8) Induces Backward and Forward Linkages:

Entrepreneurs like to work in an environment of change and try to maximise profits by innovation. When an enterprise is established in accordance with the changing technology, it induces backward and forward linkages which stimulate the process of economic development in the country.

(9) Facilitates Overall Development:

Entrepreneurs act as catalytic agent for change which results in chain reaction. Once an enterprise is established, the process of industrialisation is set in motion. This unit will generate demand for various types of units required by it and there will be so many other units which require the output of this unit. This leads to overall development of an area due to increase in demand and setting up of more and more units. In this way, the entrepreneurs multiply their entrepreneurial activities, thus creating an environment of enthusiasm and conveying an impetus for overall development of the area.

(First published on: www.preservearticles.com)

The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future

by Chris Guillebeau

In The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau shows you how to lead of life of adventure, meaning and purpose – and earn a good living.

Still in his early thirties, Chris is on the verge of completing a tour of every country on earth – he’s already visited more than 175 nations – and yet he’s never held a “real job” or earned a regular paycheck. Rather, he has a special genius for turning ideas into income, and he uses what he earns both to support his life of adventure and to give back.

There are many others like Chris – those who've found ways to opt out of traditional employment and create the time and income to pursue what they find meaningful. Sometimes, achieving that perfect blend of passion and income doesn’t depend on shelving what you currently do. You can start small with your venture, committing little time or money, and wait to take the real plunge when you're sure it's successful.

In preparing to write this book, Chris identified 1,500 individuals who have built businesses earning $50,000 or more from a modest investment (in many cases, $100 or less), and from that group he’s chosen to focus on the 50 most intriguing case studies. In nearly all cases, people with no special skills discovered aspects of their personal passions that could be monetized, and were able to restructure their lives in ways that gave them greater freedom and fulfillment.

Here, finally, distilled into one easy-to-use guide, are the most valuable lessons from those who've learned how to turn what they do into a gateway to self-fulfillment. It’s all about finding the intersection between your “expertise” – even if you don't consider it such -- and what other people will pay for. You don’t need an MBA, a business plan or even employees. All you need is a product or service that springs from what you love to do anyway, people willing to pay, and a way to get paid.

Not content to talk in generalities, Chris tells you exactly how many dollars his group of unexpected entrepreneurs required to get their projects up and running; what these individuals did in the first weeks and months to generate significant cash; some of the key mistakes they made along the way, and the crucial insights that made the business stick. Among Chris’s key principles: if you’re good at one thing, you’re probably good at something else; never teach a man to fish – sell him the fish instead; and in the battle between planning and action, action wins.

In ancient times, people who were dissatisfied with their lives dreamed of finding magic lamps, buried treasure, or streets paved with gold. Today, we know that it’s up to us to change our lives. And the best part is, if we change our own life, we can help others change theirs. This remarkable book will start you on your way.

(First Published on: GoodReads)