Tips For Young Entrepreneurs

Tips for Young Entrepreneurs Youngentrepreneur.com Proven to build successful businesses. "Twenty years from now you will be more disap- pointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow- lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain, author Nearly 80% of recent college grads cannot find jobs. source: National Association of Colleges & Employers Class of 2010 Faces worst job market in a generation. source: Economic Policy Institute Start Before Your Degree is Complete An MBA is helpful. Start Now. Anyone can be an Entrepreneur. It takes a lot of learning to be successful with or without a degree. KIDPRENEURS Young Entrepreneurs BIG ideas! You can start learning as early as 6yrs old with Kidpreneurs.org If you have kids, you can fuel a child's desire to get involved in business early by stoking curiosity in simple, engaging, creative, and safe ways. Branding Vital What do you want customers to see when they first research your company? What will last for years and withstand changing trends? Your brand is what people will first remember about your business. "The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore." - Dale Carnegie KISS Keep it simple, silly! Don't get distracted by a million ambitious ideas. Focus on what works best for the business. Develop that over time. Trademarks are Key There's nothing worse than having to change everything about a business after everything has been set up and it's existed for months or years - name, website, etc. - due to a copyright issue. "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second- rate version of somebody else." -Judy Garland Business Plan- While you don't want to get bogged down with planning paraly- sis, success does demand a certain amount of forethought and preparation. Figure out your purpose, your goals, and how (in general terms) you plan to get from here to there, and then use your plan to guide your decisive action. "If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you. Not much." - Jim Rohn, Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker Advisory Board Don't be a know-it-all! IELALTA Having a mentor is great. Having multiple mentors knowledgeable in many business related areas can be key. Their advice will be colorfully varied and helpful. Encouragement will boost morale. Networking Build valuable relationships. Anyone could be an investor, employee or business owner in a relevant and helpful field. Future employees. Business Leaders in Your Field Can give you priceless advice you couldn't find anywhere else. Save yourself from making mistakes. Rare is the entrepreneur who achieves huge success completely on his own. Even Andrey Ternovskiy, the 17-year-old founder of the wildly popular, yet incredibly simple, ChatRoulette website had to take investment money from his family to get the project rolling. Whether you need help with design, programming, finance, or investment, if you plan on going into business, you must possess the ability to approach other people and convince them of the worth of your idea. More than just a friendly atti- tude, you must somehow find a way to bend their vision to match your own so that they come to see the brilliance of your work in the same way you do. Don't Depend on Investments You don't need a fortune to start a small business. Don't rely on someone to invest a large amount of money in you. Be Realistic. Develop a business before expecting a lump sum. Represent Yourself Honesly Don't lie or exaggerate to extremes to make yourself look better. Do more than you say. Support your case with actions. Aim High For fear of failure, low self expectations and a slough of other possible reasons, many people tend to limit themselves when thinking about what's possible for their business. Setting your goals too small can kill your business, because you're likely to get what you aim for. It's infinitely better to just miss a huge goal than to barely hit a mediocre goal. Plan for mediocrity, and that's what you'll get. Budget Leave room for error or unforeseen fees and obstacles. You never know what's going to happen and you should be prepared when it does. Fixed Costs Do research about fixed costs relevant to your type of business. Do you offer medical coverage? Think about payroll and other taxes ahead of time. Learn Business Accounting Software Some software applications are free - - or can be used online without having to download a program. Even if you pay a small fee, the hours of frustration and confusion you save by simply being organized is almost priceless. Cash Flow vs. Profits Cash Flow Cash that comes into your business. Has to be split up amongst employees, paid to taxes, and cover other expenses. Is not the same as profit. Profits The cash the business has after those expenses are paid. Cash Flow Always keep more of it than you think you need. Google for Coupons This can help you save money on large or bulk purchases for your business. Time Budgeting Hire someone else to take care of administrative duties so you can focus on more important aspects of the business. Spending money to make money: Paying for needed help. Pay for the Help You Need Don't settle for less experienced individuals because of the cost if it isn't necessary. Those with more experience may require a higher salary. But they are typically more skilled and business savvy. The business benefits. Teamwork Sales, accounting, management, and an advisory board can't exist in a single individual. Whether you are recruiting friends, family, volunteers, interns, or paid employees. Everyone needs help running a business. Prepare for Team Mañagement Issues Know what you want in an employee. Be fair but don't waste your time. Good help is valuable and can be difficult to find. "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the cour- age to continue that counts."- Winston Churchill Incentives Encourage employees to strive for an additional goal/reward. Structure Step by step guides can - - help employees to avoid making the same mistakes as others before them. - expedite processes or tasks. - make the learning process easier. If everyone knows what they're supposed to do - and they can refer to a guide - productivity increases. Prioritize CHECK LIST You only have so much time and energy. Prioritize according to what's most important. The ability to see an end goal, break it down into many tasks, and see those tasks through to completion isa crucial skillof successful entrepreneurs. Self Preservation Make sure your business is built around some exit strategies. Make it sellable. Can it function without your everyday presence? "Watch, listen, and learn. You can't know it all yourself. Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity." - Donald Trump, Business Mogul Executive Assistant Should be an extension of yourself. Can help you leverage and organize your time. Success Can Be Hard, Too Growing Pains. Adapting to higher stress levels and work loads. "Opportunity is missed by most be- cause it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor and Entrepreneur Be Versatile Learning new skills and about different aspects of the business as you go along is vital to survival and success. Mistakes are inevitable. Learn from them instead of trying to force your business plan to withstand reality. Adapt. Don't get discouraged. Everyone experiences rough patches and obstacles. Don't expect to love every day. The difference between success and failure so often comes down to persistence. If you expect to succeed as an entrepreneur, you've got to expect to run into challenges, and you've got to know that whatever comes, you'll do what it takes to push through. Internal Motivation A key difference between running a business and working a job is that no one will be pressuring you to complete your tasks when you run your own business. Instead, you must be completely self-motivated to do everything it takes to get the work done. Patience and Perseverance So often, entrepreneurs start a business expecting an im- mediate windfall, or the ability to make a good living right off the bat. While there might be a few exceptions, this is generally not how business works. Entrepreneurship does have its financial rewards - no doubt about that. But those rewards usually come after a lot of hard work, and the big rewards usually take years of hard work. If you're in it to get rich quick, chances are very good you'll quit before you see any significant return. Don't Procrastinate Putting off what needs to be done in your business opens up the possibility for a competitor to take advantage of your procrastination. You might end up inconveniencing a customer or client, or you might end up taking time away from another important task later. Either way, you're hurting your business, and this habit is bound to catch up with you. Don't Get Burnt Out Taking care of yourself will mean taking care of your business. Burning out will mean your business suffers as well. "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning/ shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed." - Michael Jordan, Basketball Legend and Entrepreneur The Difference Between Sales and Marketing Sales Influence customers to purchase a product or service. Marketing Supports sales. Can influence the sale. Can influence future sales, and referrals. Packaging - Advertisements - Sponsorships Marketing Vital Spreads the word about your business. People need to know you exist in order for them to become your clients. Marketing Shouldn't Dominate Marketing is important. Learn some marketing skills to save costs. Make sure you get what you pay for. Contracts, agreements. Strategy. Be Proactive. Don't wait for business to come to you. Location. What similar businesses are nearby? Does the area need your service? Could you save marketing money and put it toward a nicer location further away from competition? Social Networking Social networking will, if used correctly, turn a referral base into a client base. lin Social Networking Sites Utilize social networking sites to help you build a net- work of peers and clientele. Linkedin, Facebook and YoungEntrepreneur.com are all useful for expanding your referral base - send out mass notes, invitations, or just meet new people simply by reaching out. Customer Validation Nothing says 'trustworthy', 'dependable' and 'legitimate' like the opinions of real people. Nothing. The Quality Must Support Itself A good product sells for being a good product. 1st Great marketing won't make a difference if the quality of your service is poor. Keeping Existing Clients Like obtaining new ones, keeping existing clients is vital to business. A good relationship with the client ensures their return and possibly referrals. On average, it costs 7 times more to acquire a new client than to retain an existing one. Client Base Feedback is important for - - keeping clients satisfied - shaping future products - being flexible to meet the needs of the client. Have an Exit Strategy Meaning, know how to get money out of your business on a day-to-day basis, as well as if something goes wrong and the ship must be jumped "Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes; work never begun." - Christina Rossetti, Author/ Liquidation: Sometimes things just don't work out. Turn the entire business into money and call it a day. WARNING: This is a last resort. Liquidation sends all funds to existing debts first and to the former busi- ness owner second. Sale of Business/Acquisition: Selling can preserve the business and help the owner continue to make money through down payments, a profit they would have FOR SALE missed out on had they closed or liquidated. WARNING: Be careful not to set your prices or stan- dards in a place that will deter your target audience from involvement in the sale. Look for an acquirer who wants to expand your business, and research contracts that will promote the fatness of your wallet long after the operation has been passed off. Go Public: IPOS can turn your business into a multi- million dollar operation. WARNING: IPOS are very expensive and only com- pleted by an extremely small percentage of small businesses. Merge: Keep your company alive and possibly increase profit by combining two or more businesses. Know When It's Time to Walk Away Be smart and realistic. Take the best offer you can get. INFO GRAPHIC WORLD Youngentrepreneur.com %24 SALE O ALACE