Never Look Down ...

How To Become An Entrepreneur - The Very First Steps

Being an entrepreneur is a mindset. To become one of them, you need just one thing – to think like an entrepreneur.  

But to achieve that, first you need a plan and then you need to be consistent. 

You have to start thinking differently. 

You should not avoid problems, you should face them; you should not listen to people who say you will fail, you need to believe in your success. You will have to take risks, instead of avoiding them.  

These and many other states of mind are what make entrepreneurs different from ordinary people. 

So where to start?  

This infographic, created by startup consulting company FoundersandFounders, suggests that the first thing you need to change is your behaviour, if you want to become an entrepreneur ...

http://businessideaslab.com/how-to-become-entrepreneur/

Dragons' Den: Peter Jones Golden Rules for Business Success

Six Things I Wish Somebody Had Told Me When I Started My Small Business

By Leslie Barber .......... I co-founded my business NutraBella, Inc. in 2005 after hearing my pregnant friends complain about their horse-pill sized pre-natal vitamins. We dreamed of giving women better vitamin options with Bellybar.

Fast forward to today where I spend my days on the QuickBooks team working to make small business management easier and more fun.  As I hear from small businesses owners from all walks of life, I am constantly reminded of the things I wish I had known. Owning a small business is a challenge, but here are six tips that will make the road to success easier.

1. Follow your passion and don’t let go. Your business probably stems from something you’re passionate about, but over time, the day-to-day running of the business makes it hard to keep that passion alive.

Fuel it daily by reminding yourself why you started your business. Make sure that you fall in love with a problem, not a solution. If your first solution doesn’t work, fall back on your passion for solving that problem to find another answer for your customer.

2. Cash is king. Running a business is an art and a science. The art is your passion. The science is your business model. Make sure you understand your own business model. It’s not something to abdicate to someone else. Understanding money-in, money-out, is critical to business success. Ignorance is not bliss. If you know how your business is doing at every moment, you can celebrate your success or plan for how to get more cash.

3. Hire smart. Hiring a team is thrilling but also scary. Take time to hire the right people for the right job. Fire them quickly if it doesn’t go well. As a small business owner, you can do anything but you can’t do everything! Hire people who love to do what you hate to do so you can focus on your dream and evangelize your passion.

4. Communicate with partners. Partners can be a great way to bring complementary talent to grow your business but, just like a marriage, it’s critical to communicate values and expectations. Create a business “pre-nup” to set expectations for the partnership.

Like every good marriage, go on date nights and remind yourself why you went into business together in the first place. You can also use it as an opportunity to brainstorm new ideas or talk through problems in a less stressful space.

5. Protect yourself from the unexpected. Think about roadblocks you might hit along the way. Expect the best but prepare for those unexpected hiccups.

Things will happen that you can’t control. Do what you can to protect yourself. Set up systems and processes in your business so that you can take a vacation or care for a sick child. Make sure that things won’t fall apart if you step away for a moment. Respect yourself enough to ensure that you can take care of yourself outside of your business.

6. The buck stops with you, but… You don’t have to be alone! As a small business owner, it can be lonely making all of the decisions. Ask for help. Not everyone has the courage to start a business but most people want to help and support you.

Find other entrepreneurs to learn from. Someone a few years ahead of you can provide invaluable advice. Someone just starting can bring energy and creative ideas. The best advice I ever received came from other entrepreneurs. It takes a village.

Running your own business is one of the most exciting, and challenging, adventures you will embark upon. Take care of yourself as you set the tone and culture of your growing business. Protect yourself to ensure the business will survive the ups and downs. Running your business can be fun with a little bit of planning and with processes to make things run smoothly. Take time to set it up right so you can get back to doing what you love. I’m cheering for you!

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236499

Starting A Business With No Money - Top 10 Tips

Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur these days, but the one thing holding them back is lack of money. The banks are reluctant to lend to start ups, a tough economic climate makes it hard to borrow from friends and family, and funding it on your credit card comes with big risks. 

If you do need cash, government-backed Start-up loans seem to be more accessible and come with mentoring and support.

But funding isn’t always necessary. The good news is that providing you follow a few basic rules, starting a business with almost no money is entirely possible. 

Here’s how to do it:

1. Use the resources at your fingertips. Work from home or a local café or library which offers free wifi. Have a car? You could offer a local delivery service. Have a kitchen? You could start making cakes or providing catering for parties.

2. Build a business round the skills you already possess. What can you do that someone else might be prepared to pay for? Can you make clothes, paint and decorate, programme a computer, speak Italian? Do you have a hobby you could turn into a business? If you possess a skill that other people don’t, or would need to invest time and money learning for themselves, that immediately puts you at a big advantage.

3. Sell a product or service which people need rather than want, which they instantly understand, and which they feel comfortable buying without having to consult anyone else first. Umbrellas at £10 each are a better bet than hot tubs at £10,000 each.

4. Get customers to pay you upfront – or at worse, half upfront, half later, so that your costs are always covered.

5. Tap into free advice.  The British Chambers of Commerce runs free events for start-ups; Startup Britain has an enterprise calendar on its website listing events for entrepreneurs around the country, many of them free. The Business and IP centre at the British Library has a wealth of resources for start-ups.

6. Source any equipment you need for free through Freecycle, a community website where people can recycle unwanted items, or the freebie section of listings sites such as Gumtree and Craigslist.

7. Do virtually all the work yourself – and plough virtually all income straight back into the business. Thankless and austere, yes, but also the only way you will be able to build up enough cash reserves to invest in new equipment or premises, and so grow the business.

8. If you have a job, hold onto it. Start your business in your spare time and only give up your day job once your venture is able to pay you a wage. If the venture doesn’t work out, you still have your job. If it does, the transition to being your own boss will be a lot less risky.

9. Replace fixed costs with variable ones by linking your costs to your sales. Hire meeting rooms by the hour, staff by the day and services as you need them. Platforms like peopleperhour.com make hiring freelancers easier than ever.

10. Make the most of free technology to promote your business. Build a website for nothing using an online website builder such as moonfruit.com, wix.com or basekit.com. Then get social networking. It’s free, it’s easy, and it’s an amazing way of promoting your business without spending any money. Sign up to Twitter, create a Facebook page, and join Linkedin.

Kate Jenkins has effectively grown her chocolate brownie business for free using Twitter. She started out in 2007 making chocolate brownies in the kitchen of her home in Llanmabog, Wales. When a friend told her about Twitter she signed up and began running competitions to win brownies on Twitter. She quickly built up a supportive community of followers and more than 70,000 tweets later, her business, Gower Cottage Brownies, now has nearly 5000 followers. Turnover has risen to £120,000, a third of which Jenkins estimates has been directly due to Twitter.

She said: “It is not just that people are buying my brownies, they are also supporting me and doing PR for me because they are talking about my brownies. Twitter is like the biggest word of mouth.”

Success in business is not about starting out with lots of money. It is about adopting the right attitude, thinking your way around problems, and having the determination to put the effort in and give it your best shot. So what are you waiting for?

http://www.prowess.org.uk/starting-a-business-with-no-money

Gary Barlow Says It All ..............

I was driving along this morning and a record came on that really lifted me.  

It says everything that this blog is about.

If you get a chance, listen to 'Jump' by Gary Barlow.

Here are some of the lyrics :

"Do you sometimes feel your life is leaving you behind ? 

You want to start again but you're just too scared ?

Jump, fly !

Let your feet leave the ground, step into the sky and jump, high ...

If you want a better view, then another life is calling you to go ahead and try now ...

If life has got predictable, go on do something wonderful ...

The first step is the hardest ...

You'll be safe without a harness so jump !

You never stand to win if you're not in the race ...

And maybe once or twice you'll fall flat on your face ...

But when you move on you'll be twice as strong ...

Go out on a limb now, throw caution to the wind now ...

Make up your mind, you'll be just in time ...

Jump ! Fly ! 

Tony Robbins - The Difference Between A Winner & A Loser

Watch this 8-minute inspirational video from Tony Robbins as he explains the golfing story behind his quote "when it seems impossible, when it seems like nothing is going to work, you are usually just a few millimeters away from making it happen ..."

How Jemal Peters aka Big J's Kitchen Used Instagram To Build His Business ...

A man known by many names, Jemal Peters knows the streets of London only too well. Motivated by the arrival of his daughter, the now savvy businessman picked himself off the streets to form Big J’s Kitchen, a business that blends elements of London culture to offer ‘Da Flavour of Da Street!’

Hi Jemal. Can you start by telling us a bit about your background? 

Where do I start? I’m south London born and raised. I’m a go-getter with a passion for food and drink,

I grew up with my mum and two brothers, and since I was a child I’ve always been known for having entrepreneurial ways and a go-getter attitude… I’m known for making things happen.

What aspects did you learn from your childhood that you have taken into the business? 

Most of it! The obvious things I’ve taken into business are my cooking skills, the ability to taste and mix flavours and then create something special.

From early on I learnt how to hustle and I knew that if something cost me £1… I’d sell it for at least £2, which to me is the fundamental point of a business. Certain situations happened in life which enabled me to realise from a young age that the world owes you nothing but at the same time is willing to give you anything and everything you want … all you’ve got to do is go get it! So I’ve had a saying that I created from a young age: “A dream’s worth nothing if you leave it on your pillow!”, so anything I want in life… I pray for it then work hard to get it.

You have amassed a high following through Instagram. Tell us how you’ve used the app to your advantage… 

I’m always on the lookout for what’s new and ways of doing things that haven’t been done before. My brother takes some top quality photography and about a year or two back he was telling me about this thing called Instagram. He was on it sharing pics and he had people from all over the world contacting him. Facebook's good and Twitter’s cool, I’ll go on them now and then, but I prefer things more visual, so ‘insta’ was perfect for me. I noticed a trend that people would always take pictures of their food and post it… so not only did I start slapping meals up using my products, I also got everyone involved by doing competitions where people put the #BigJsKitchen hashtag on their food pictures and automatically got added to the competition where they could win special Big J Goodie bags and the winning pictures would go up on my website. This took off and went out of control; I got a number of followers and business contacts which led to Big J’s Kitchen products being put in Puma Sports VIP goodie bags for the London 2012 Olympics and many other promotions. This was vital in showing the world that London’s not just tea and crumpets; we have a new food brand that represents the fun, real and diverse urban side on the up – Big J’s Kitchen, “Da Flavour Of Da Street”!

How do you think non-food related businesses could utilise the image-sharing concept to gain a following? 

In exactly the same way. Seeing is believing; it allows people to see what you’re about and get involved with you. A product’s a product, whether it’s food, trainers, clothing or technology. Find your community in there and let them see what you’ve got! Also no one likes stingy people, so give something back… prizes, giveaways, discounts whatever. Social networking is major and it’s only getting bigger… you can reach all corners of the world and it’s usually free! You’d be a fool not to take advantage of it.

To you, what makes a business successful? 

A business that’s something fresh and new, even if it’s in a well established field, as well as the people behind it, good ethics and values.

How would you describe your entrepreneurial approach? 

Trustworthy, creative and effective. I make sure I box clever, and I “Keep It 100”. Integrity is important to me and I like to build good relationships.

Finally, can you offer any advice to those wanting to change their circumstances for the better? 

A dream’s worth nothing If you leave it on your pillow! If you want something, get up and get it.

Learn from others’ mistakes and successes. Don’t do it all on your own, there’s no point! Take advantage of the support that’s out there. I made sure I got support and mentoring from people who had done it before and could really help me, I linked up with mentors like Chelsey Baker and Jim Foxhall through the Rockstar mentoring programme and in a few short sessions they taught me a number of things that would have taken me years to learn and things that I may have had to learn the hard way.

For more information on Big J’s Kitchen go to http://www.bigjskitchen.com or if you need funding and mentoring for your business or business idea contact The Rockstar Group www.Rockstartstartuploans.co.uk

Extracts taken from the full interview with Jemal Peters, which can be found at http://www.startyourbusinessmag.com/jemal-peters-aka-big-j/

Best Motivational Video - Be Phenomenal !

Watch this great 7-minute video and remember "there will never be a 'right' time to do a great thing.  If you are waiting for that 'perfect' moment, it's not going to happen.  You have to CREATE the perfect time ... CREATE the perfect opportunity ... and CREATE the perfect situation" ... 

Make today a great day !! 

4 Ways To Systematically Replace Your Limiting Habits With Empowering Habits

What is stopping you from achieving your goals ?  Are you procrastinating ?  Do you find you never have enough time ? Are you finding all sorts of reasons to NOT follow your dream ?  What is holding you back ? Maybe not following your dream keeps you "safe" and in your comfort zone - because stepping out of your comfort zone might feel scary ?  Maybe you're worried you might "fail" or make mistakes.  Whatever limiting thoughts and habits are stopping you from going for it, this article helps you to replace those limiting habits with new, empowering ones ...

Imagine this scenario…

What if you could systematically break down all of the bad habits that are currently holding you back from achieving your goals?

What if you could then re engineer those habits so that they actually supported your goals?

There are some habits that move us closer towards our goals in life, we’ll call those empowering habits. Then, there are some that move us further away from the achievement of those goals, we’ll call those limiting habits.

Your goal should be to constantly reduce the limiting habits, and maximize the empowering habits.

How do you accomplish this?

Step 1: Identify Your Limiting Habits

The first step is to simply identify which habits are limiting your success.

You identify these limiting habits by first knowing what goals you’re currently trying to accomplish. After you know your goals, ask yourself which actions you perform on a regular basis that are holding you back from achieving that goal.

For instance, say you have a goal of losing weight, but you also have a bad habit of eating unhealthy fast food. That habit is limiting the achievement of your goal.

Step 2: Identify The Cue for Your Limiting Habit

Once you know your limiting habit, the next step is to identify the cue for that bad habit. What is the trigger that sets your bad habit in motion?

Cues can come in many different forms, so it helps to narrow your focus on a few areas:

• Time – What time is it?
• Location – Where are you?
• Emotion – How are you feeling?
• Other People – Who are you with?
• Preceding Action – What did you just do?

The next time you catch yourself performing that limiting habit, take a quick look at these 5 areas. You’ll eventually start to notice a trend.

Maybe your bad habit shows up every day at 2:00pm. Or maybe every time you’re with you one of your buddies.  Or maybe you fall into your limiting habit whenever you get upset or sad.

Pay close enough attention, for a long enough time, and you’ll eventually see the pattern.

Step 3: Identify the Reward for Your Limiting Habit

Once you’ve recognized the pattern and found the cue that’s setting your limiting habit in motion, you want to identify the reward you’re receiving from the habit. What’s the big, positive thing you get from performing that habit?

I know, this may seem a little confusing. I told you that limiting habits are moving you away from your goals, but now I’m saying they provide you with a reward?

Let me explain.

A reward is anything that brings pleasure. But just because something brings pleasure, doesn’t always mean it provides a positive outcome.

For instance, overeating is a limiting habit many people deal with. It provides the pleasure of eating delicious food and filling up your body, but then there are also negative consequences, like gaining weight, and destroying your health.

Do quick “pulse check” on your limiting habit and see what reward it’s providing you with. What’s the good feeling coming from that limiting habit? Why do you keep doing it?

Step 4: Find a New Action

Once you’ve found your cue and your reward, the only step left is to then replace the negative action, with a positive one.

But there’s one caveat, whatever new action you choose, must provide the same reward and be triggered by the same cue.

Putting It All Together

So let’s look at an example that ties everything together.

I had a goal of increasing my health, but I also had a bad habit of snacking on junk food. Every time I caught myself slipping into the bad habit, I began to pay close attention to those five areas (time, location, emotion, other people, preceding action).

I eventually found the pattern. Every time I was hungry and tired, I opted for junk food instead of a healthier alternative.

So my cue was being hungry and tired at mealtime, and my reward was getting something quick and easy to eat.

I replaced that limiting habit of snacking on junk food, with a different, empowering habit, of eating a smaller, healthier snack that would hold me over until I actually cooked something healthy. I used the same cue, and the same reward. I just replaced the action I was performing.

http://addicted2success.com/success-advice/4-ways-to-systematically-replace-your-limiting-habits-with-empowering-habits

5 Steps To Becoming A Leader In Your Niche

If you are thinking of starting an online business, I'm sure you will have come across the terms "finding a niche" and "becoming an expert in your niche" - particularly when it comes to affiliate marketing.  

This article on Linked In discusses the Five Steps To Becoming A Leader In Your Niche.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”John Quincy Adams

If you look at people who are leaders in Affiliate Marketing, you will notice that they are all experts at building a community around themselves and their products.  This should be the goal for anyone in performance marketing, to develop an almost cult-like following.  With a little swag and an ability to locate and attract followers, you can enjoy the life of a successful Affiliate Marketer.  Transforming that status into profits is the ultimate goal.  Here are several tips to help you become a leader in your niche.

Be Confident

Confidence attracts people.  While being intelligent, hardworking and attractive doesn’t hurt your chances at all, oozing confidence that comes from knowledge and a core set of beliefs which you adhere to like the law is the only way to become a real leader in your niche.  When you can confidently voice your truths, you are on your way to becoming the leader you need to be.

Be Different

Why speak the same words and take the same approach as other marketers in your niche?  The best marketers find a way to separate themselves from the others by being different.  Evaluate the elements that make your competition unique.  Make your perspective unique and one that others will want to share.  By modifying your approach and adapting new ideas you can create an appeal that is worthy of attention.

Find Followers

People often look for simple solutions to whatever problems they have.  They look for people that have the knowledge, experience, and answers to these problems.  Your ultimate goal is to find followers, as many as possible.  If you have something unique and compelling to say, it shouldn’t be hard to find followers.  Building your list of followers is of extreme importance to building a successful affiliate campaign.

Be Persuasive.

Quality Content + Loyalty =$$.  This is a simple equation.  Once you understand why a person engages your content, why they opt in and ultimately buy into you, you will be able to develop an approach that will be effective for your niche.  Influencing one-time actions shouldn’t be your goal, it should be repeatable ones.  The fewer holes you have in your content, the more your content will be shared.

Be Legit.

Longevity +Growth = Legitimacy.  Publishing content often while building your list of followers will help build credibility.  As an Affiliate Marketer, one of your goals should be to earn respect.  To do this, you need to be creative, different, smart, and have a little swagger.  Being a cookie-cutter marketer and producing the same thing, as everyone else is something you need to steer clear of.

http://www.terrellcotton.com/5-steps-to-becoming-a-leader-in-your-niche/

Business Tips From A Once Homeless Billionaire ...

John Paul Dejoria, co-founder of John Paul Mitchell and Patron Tequila, is living the American Dream. In this short 2-minute video, he talks about the business ethos that fueled his meteoric rise to the top ...

A Chat With Logan Hall & Aidan Rushby, founders of Movebubble ...

A collaborative platform, the Movebubble community lets owners and renters communicate directly using technology to replace what was traditionally done by agents. From listing a property, booking viewings, making and accepting an offer, creating and signing a rental agreement to paying rent and deposits, Movebubble lets you do everything in one place without added complication and the cost of a middle person. Once the user finds and negotiates an agreement for a chosen property, a one off £50 fee is paid to reserve it and remove it from the marketplace. We caught up with founders, Aidan Rushby, a former property agent and marketer Logan Hall…

How did the two of you come together to create a business? 

L: Aidan and I met on our MBA, and ‘clicked’ immediately. Aidan had already had an idea in this space, and developed this with Tony and I into what it is now. However, the idea and business is ever-changing and is now really driven by the enthusiasm we see in the team surrounding us and what our customers are telling us every day.

What do you think investors see in the business and in you both as entrepreneurs? 

A: Investors want to be able to understand the idea. They need to feel confident that there is a market, and that there is a profitable ‘unique’ business model. Investors are obviously looking for something that is truly disruptive, and that will fundamentally change the way things are done. I think that is what they saw in Movebubble. They are also investing in the people and the team. We are extremely lucky to have a fantastic community, team and investors that share the vision.

How do you find it working with each other? 

L: Aidan and I work incredibly closely with one another. Having a friendship means we can be brutally honest with one another, which means we don’t waste time and can resolve any issues quickly so they don’t affect Movebubble. One of the great things about working together is that we don’t try and compete for roles. Aidan is CEO, and a great one. I am a CMO and focused on happy customers. It’s important that we don’t overlap as this is a waste of valuable resources.

Have you had any regrets so far or have there been any lessons learnt? 

A: (laughs) Many! I think the one main lesson we have learned is ‘think big, deliver smaller, release faster’. If your smaller releases work you can develop them, but don’t run before you can walk. However, having said that, maintaining a grander vision is crucial to getting buy in from investors, team and customers. You have to have that BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal)!

Apart from financial success, what else would you like to accomplish in life? 

A: I would just love to be the driving force in growing a business and truly disrupting an archaic industry globally. I just want to know that I have made people’s lives easier.

L: I just want to be a better surfer, learn to play the piano and spend my life with my family.

What can we expect of the business in the next couple of years? 

L: Expansion and some really exciting products.

A: All I can say is watch this space!

Extracts taken from the full interview with Logan Hall & Aidan Rushby, which can be found at http://www.startyourbusinessmag.com/logan-aidan-movebubble/