New Business Learning Center

As I see it, REAL entrepreneurs almost always display the following characteristics:

1) You can no longer work for anyone else - you like being the boss.

2) You probably started out with very little capital to startup your business.

3) You were a workholic in past work endevors.

4) You are not a clock watcher.

5) You speak your mind - sometimes you regret it.

6) You like to prove others wrong.

7) You handle rejection well and fight on.

8) You like to run projects and controll them.

9) Being alone does not bother you.

10) You are good at time management.

11) You don't like being penned in someplace - you need your space and freedom to roam.

12) You take action rather than spend a lot of time thinking about it.

13) You don't think that you will ever retire completely.

That is what I think...what are your thoughts?  

         I have always been somewhat skeptical when it comes to social networking on-line sites. BUT this week I attended my first live meeting of a group I joined thru MEETUP.COM. I came away from that meeting impressed with both the quality of the group leader and the quality of the participants themselves. I got some new insight into marketing strategies and even had my marketing materials critiqued by the group. The BEST part of the whole thing is that I met about a dozen new business owners (and hopefully potential clients) who got exposed to me and what my business is all about.  At a cost of $3 a person for a two hour learning seminar it is a no brainer. I just signed up for next month's meeting.  Anybody out there had any similar experiences with meetup.com or similar on-line groups?

    Given the price of fuel and the state oft theeconomy in general, isn't about time for small local retailers in many communities to come together and expand their business hours? Except for a few destination shopping areas like Peddlers Village in Lahaska, consumers can't shop late at night or on Sunday afternoons in most shopping area like Newtown, Doylestown, and Yardley.

    But if these small mom & pop retailers really want to take advantage of the consumers desire to conserve energy and increase their customer base, isn't this the time to give this idea some serious thought?   We all want to shop local and help out the mom & pop's............give us the opportunity now! 

  We all notice a lot of new businesses opening up all around us these days. Unfortunately, some of these businesses will never mature and grow up into large successful growing companies. There are many obvious reasons for this, but these are some of the less obvious:

1) You hang with the wrong crowd- If those business associates closest to you are struggling, your company is more likely to struggle too.   It's kind of a "guilt by association" thing. Seek relationships with growing entrepreneurs who can act as mentors to you by their example. If they really care about you, they will give you pointers to get you on the road to success.

2) You want to control everything- You have the attitude that this business was your idea and nobody other than you knows how to take your dream and make a successful mature business out of it. Coach or mentor, no way? Board of directors- Are you kidding?

3) You are not organized- You don't call people or follow up when you are supposed to. You let people down because you have too much on your plate. You depend on your brain to remember everything instead of using a tool such as a

Daytimer or Outlook. 

4) You don't listen well- You miss buying signals from customers. You chase unqualified customers. You need professional help or a business consultant but are too busy to seek the help.

5) You try to do it all- You juggle everything in your business and can't or don't know how to delegate. You don't trust anyone else to do anything important in your business.

6) You sacrifice your family responsibilities in order to make your dream come true - You have no life but your business life. There is never enough time for anything else.

              As the economy tightens, all businesses will attempt to find cheaper suppliers and vendors to reduce their costs as their own revenues wilt in the summer heat. Stress Price to draw attention to your product or service and get your foot in the door and your head in their face. Offer unheard of customer service and expand your hours. Get your networking hat on and hit the pavement running. Sacrifice profit now for new clients with down the road potential. Do what it takes to get a bunch of small sales at a small margin of profit which will fill your new customers greatest need now- new more hungry vendors and suppliers.