Project management tools

Hi folks,

They tell me this is a great resource. Let me know if you agree.

About running a successful company

http://www.inc.com/john-brandon/8-secrets-to-running-a-successful-company-and-one-big-mistake.html?cid=sf01002

A success story from an entrepreneurial conservative culture

Teaching Japan to take more risks http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34122635

Don't worry about AI taking your career

How to robot-proof your career http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34175290

Build your powerbase by shifting your focus . . .

http://www.inc.com/chris-dessi/how-to-be-more-attractive-to-the-most-powerful-people-.html?cid=sf01002&sr_share=facebook

Great new free course on entrepreneurship

Now this is interesting!  Having taken a number of courses with Coursera, I was happy to see a great new MOOC is launching very soon called, 'Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship'. Check it out at www.coursera.com.

What makes an entrepreneur?

Hi folks,

This last week I have been looking at free online resources for education - always trying to improve my own classes, aware that there is great material out there - and I came across this from OpenStax CNX (used to be called 'Connections') and just knew that you would like to see it and reflect:

Look here for the full thing, but below is the key summary:

"The Mindset of an Entrepreneur"

Vision: Able to create and communicate an easily understandable mission for what the new venture does in order to successfully launch a new business. This is accomplished while inspiring others to join you in your new enterprise.

Creativity: Ability to inject imagination and uniqueness into a new business venture. It takes skill and ingenuity to create a new venture equipped with strategies to outsmart the competition.

Focus: Able to maintain the vision of the company with unwavering diligence. It’s very easy to get sidetracked especially if you find it necessary to evolve the original vision. Ironically, we have encountered many successful entrepreneurs who get bored easily...

Passion: Desiring to succeed under your own steam [initiative] on a business venture...

Drive: Possessing intrinsic energy to accomplish the business goal even in the face of adversity.

Perseverance: Able to keep going even when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Opportunistic Nature: Sees the possibilities even before they exist. Can take advantage of an upcoming trend or unite unrelated processes to create a unique business venture...

Problem Solving Ability: Thrives on coming up with solutions to complex challenges...

Self-discipline: Able to be organized and regimented in pursuit of a successful business venture.

Frugality: Knows how to stretch every cent so that expenditures are as low as possible.

Empathy: Able to put yourself in another’s shoes and therefore able to show sensitivity and understanding of what others are communicating in the startup environment...

Social Responsibility: Ethics, caring and humanitarianism are characteristics that are commonly found in today’s entrepreneurs...

Spirituality: We have found that successful entrepreneurs have often devoted time to spirituality development. Meditation and positive affirmations are two common examples of spirituality.

Good Timing: Able to identify a market opportunity and know when it’s the optimum time to launch a new venture or expansion of an existing enterprise.

Luck: Can a person be predisposed to be lucky: Is luck a human behavior or a karmic universal predisposition?”2

Read on: [link] is dedicated to this topic and delves deeply into “The mind of an entrepreneur”.

Blog Back 1: Mindset

Blog Back: Is an entrepreneur born or made?

What characteristics are necessary for an entrepreneur to be successful and why? What additional entrepreneurial mindset characteristics could be added to the list and why?

Go to: http://www.Mentorography.com and make your case.

Source: OpenStx CNX - creatve commons

A definition of an entrepreneur . . . in an image

Things great entrepreneurs don't brag about

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/9-things-great-entrepreneurs-are-too-humble-to-brag-about.html?cid=sf01002

How good is your business plan?

This is a tough question to answer because there are really no absolutes, and you have to know your audience. This is a bit like a job application: you need to show clearly that you fit with the recruiter's needs.

Start with a good basic business plan structure. If you have not worked through my Concept Paper approach, now is the time to do that. See here!

Next: assess the audience. If you think a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to business plans, think again. You know how useless generic CV's are when applying for jobs. Same here. You need to really hit the target between the eyes - make sure they understand how what you are doing, or planning to do, exactly in line with their criteria.

A few examples:

• If the BP is intended to be a base for internal company operations and budgeting you will need to focus on operational stuff, so that everybody knows what they are targeting in the next stage. Sure, everything changes! No BP is ever implemented as written. Even the big corporates (and I have been there!) need to re-plan at least every year. With a start-up that will probably read 'every three months'. But that does not excuse you from doing some planning, and the BP is a good starting base. But, be ready to dump it and start again if reality beckons too strongly.
• If the BP is to draw in an angel investor, then you need to look closely at the angel's motivations, and respond accordingly. Is this 'angel' a retired expert in your field that really wants to stay involved and contribute to something? Maybe the focus in the BP should then be on the practical details, and an exploration of the risks involved and the knowledge that you, modestly, need to acquire to fill any gaps. You see how this works?
• If the target is a VC organization, then you had better have some real earned revenue under your belt - having real sales proves that someone has put out good money to acquire what it is that you are selling. So, focus on the practical (and proven returns) and, eventually, on the exit strategies, and time-frame, for the VC. Talking vaguely about a future IPO is probably not going to cut it unless your business has already gone viral. A staged share buy-back scheme, with a clear algorithm for computing the share price, is probably a good idea. It shows a practical mindset and can form the basis for real negotiations. Don't be overly generous in your initial proposal. These are practical people looking for great financial returns and will try to negotiate you down. So, make sure that you have some wriggle room in your proposals.

These three will give you some idea of the thought process. Of course, there are many other potential readers of your business plan: Aunty Joan, potential partners, even potential supplies (cut out the profit details for their copy, but keep the basic operations stuff and the summary financials to show that you can pay!), and many others.

Again, you can use my Concept Paper approach to work through your BP construction ideas for each target audience. BTW, on a very practical note: be sure that the front page of the BP is clearly titled with who this copy is for. In the rush of those early days, you really do not want to discover that you have handed the wrong version to someone. I have seen that happen!

To get you started, below is a link very simple form that was being used by a VC firm that I worked with a while back (on a due diligence project). It looks deceptively simple . . .
Not all organizations or people will think like this. You are marketing your firm here, so, study the needs of the audience before you prepare you 'ad'.!

Talk to me if you need guidance in thinking it through: email: kenpopekpz@gmail.com

 Linked In: here. Also, please, drop any comments and observations below.

The Business Plan Assessment is here.

Inspiring quotations to help you through the day . . .

These are really great, really inspiring - especially that from Mark Twain . . .
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one." --Mark Twain

http://www.inc.com/logan-chierotti/inspirational-quotes-about-15-common-business-problems.html?cid=sf01002

This graphic will demolish every excuse you have for not founding a startup

 

 

Source

Things you think you need to start a business but you don't really

You don't need these:
http://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/6-things-you-think-you-need-to-start-a-business-but-really-don-t.html?cid=sf01002