The Entrepreneur in You

There are no easy shortcuts to successful, sustainable entrepreneurship: being your own boss takes lots of time. Most of all, it takes work, work and more work. Those unwilling to embrace this truth usually end up doing entrepreneurship the hardest and most costly way possible–by trial and error–and become unhappy and frustrated, if not bankrupt. If you’re even thinking about starting your own business some day–or even if you’re an established entrepreneur who started on the path to business ownership without a road map–do yourself a favor and read Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months: A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works by Melinda F. Emerson (Adams Business; $14.95). (Click to read my full review of the book.) As founder and CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, a marketing video production company, Emerson provides a month-by-month road map, with critical checkpoints along the way, for anyone who is truly committed to their entrepreneurial journey.

–Alfred A. Edmond Jr.

I once heard a man say, “You are one idea away from accomplishing anything you want.” This is true. Entrepreneurs are visionaries. They see the big picture. They are leaders and innovators.

Sometimes, though, their visions are too broad and grandiose. They want a billion-dollar company like Google; a million-dollar business is not enough. Confidence in your ability and your product or service is essential, but the business vision must be realistic. You need to define that vision by your core services or products, your unique value proposition, the year-to-year revenue growth, and ultimately, how big you want the company to become. Your business vision is the articulation of the future of your company.

VISUALIZING YOUR BUSINESS

Let’s start by defining a small business. The Small Business Administration has established two widely used criteria:

• For most manufacturing and mining industries, the company can have a maximum of 500 employees
• For most non-manufacturing industries, average annual receipts should not exceed $7 million

Go to www.sba.gov for more info  about these standards.

Remember that you’re starting a small business, in line with these standards. Don’t let your vision run away with you. There will be plenty of opportunity for growth. While self-confidence is essential, you must be careful not to give the appearance of overconfidence.

If you’re successful, you will attract mentors by being approachable and responsive. Some mentors will be clients; others will be angel investors or retired executives who may see something in you they want to nurture.

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As a result of my experience working with thousands of small business owners to start and grow their businesses and talking to many successful entrepreneurs and small business experts, I have evolved seven essential principles of small business success. These elements are highlighted in detail throughout this book.

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET

Why does one small business owner flourish while another one fails? Because successful entrepreneurs develop the right mindset. How you perceive your business and your life defines your reality.

• Business owners with an entrepreneurial mindset seek  to stand out in the crowd.
• Successful small business owners keep a positive attitude.
• Entrepreneurs are willing to fail in order to eventually  win. They understand that not every idea is a good one.
• Real entrepreneurs learn from failure and move on to the next big idea.

Each day we make hundreds of choices–from what to have for breakfast to what we’re going to accomplish that day. The choices we make cause the results we experience. Your answers to the questions you ask yourself will determine the outcome of the day. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need not only to get the right answers; you need to make sure you’re asking the right questions.

You must not be afraid of failure. There will be occasions when you are doing your best, but feel frustrated by a lack of progress in your business. Every entrepreneur goes through these difficult periods. I certainly have been there. Times like these are when you need to focus on the positive and maintain your optimism.

The key is to avoid negative thinking. To change the outcome of each day, you must change the questions you ask yourself. Try rephrasing your questions in a positive fashion. Rather than ask, what can I do to avoid being late? ask, how can I make sure I am on time? Make sure your questions are not keeping you from reaching your goals. More than 50 percent of business problems are well-disguised personal problems.

Losing the fear of failure and making mistakes (provided, of course, that you learn from them) comes in part from a willingness to delegate. Beware of what I call “the cult of personality” business. Any company that kowtows to the owner’s ego will ultimately fail.

I made this mistake in my first business. Everyone who called the office had to speak to me. My staff was scared to make a decision until they checked with me. My excessive control was keeping my business from growing.

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You must hire smart people and empower them to make decisions, even if they are not the decisions you would make. Remember: It’s not always about you. It is about your family, your employees and your customers.

Be a family first entrepreneur. This means that you always have options not obligations, and your family is always your number one client. Don’t let your business become your mistress. Try to compensate your family for the fact that in the beginning of your business, you’ll have to work very long hours.

Key to thinking like an entrepreneur is remaining focused. Here are some tips to motivate yourself:

• Develop a daily routine. Get up at the same time every day, take a shower, and exercise before you start work.
• Convert one room in the house into an office. Be aware that using a room with a bed makes naps inviting.
• Schedule breakfast meetings and early morning conference calls to get yourself going early.
• When you feel your energy getting low, take a walk around the block or get on a treadmill for thirty minutes.
• Avoid procrastination; perform follow-up activities right away. Send thank-you cards and e-mail follow-ups quickly.
• Ask a friend or fellow business owner to call or e-mail you to remind you about things you said you really needed to get done.
• Isolation is the enemy of entrepreneurship. You must not let the silence or boredom get to you. You may need to figure out how to change your work environment to get your work done. At the same time, you need to make sure you remain disciplined.
• Find a secondary workplace outside your home, e.g., a coffee shop, a bookstore, or the public library.
• Schedule your time. Plan when you will make sales calls, write checks, return calls, write blog posts, read e-mail, and open mail.
• Make an action list at the end of every day to drive work activities for the next day.
• Do not make or accept personal calls until after 6 p.m., unless they’re urgent. Explain to your friends and family about your work hours and make sure people respect them. “I need to call you back,” works just fine to clear the line.
• Do not run errands until after 6 p.m. Politely inform those who ask that you are working.
• Invest in a two-line telephone with speakerphone and a headset so that you can multitask.(Continued on Page 4)

Get a Kitchen Cabinet. Your Kitchen Cabinet is an unofficial board of directors for your business. It’s a sounding board for your business ideas and challenges. The group should include a variety of people invested in your success, such as an existing entrepreneur, a mentor, lawyer, accountant, someone with a significant network and a generous spirit and (if possible) a client.  People who are already entrepreneurs or other business people are in a position to give you insight into what you need to do. As well, it is helpful to include a potential client in your back channel conversations. Clients can provide valuable insights into budget cycles, current pain-points, and other issues. Most importantly, they can introduce you to other potential customers.

PACE  YOURSELF
Sometimes, when you look back over your day, you’ll find yourself focusing on what you didn’t get done. That’s not helpful. There is rarely enough time in a day to get everything done. The best thing to do is to prioritize and pace yourself.  Even a marathon runner has to rest and refresh to keep going.

The early days in business are the toughest. I believe Dr. Sanjay Gupta when he says we need to get seven to eight hours of sleep a night. But in the early days, while you are working your job and your business, a full night’s sleep will be a luxury. Owning a business is great, but in the beginning it might own you. You have to fight the tendency of the business to take over your life.

In a way, owning a business is like being in a marriage. In business and in marriage, you can get lax about the fundamentals, whether it’s remembering to send flowers to your spouse or using monthly financial statements in your business.

Your business and your family will compete for your time and attention. Wherever you are, be present there. Do not be the parent on the ball field looking at your BlackBerry. The ups and down of balancing your life and your work will sometimes have you turning yourself into a pretzel. But when you get that first sale, when you make enough profit to pay yourself, sharing that moment with your family will be priceless.

Be a lifelong learner. Successful business owners constantly seek to sharpen their own knife. They keep learning and growing. They hire coaches, take seminars, enroll in executive education programs, and approach life with the mindset that they learn something new every day. Even the interns can teach you something.

As you become a successful business owner, you can engage other people in your big dreams. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you believe in yourself, others will believe in you.

Goals and follow-up. Successful business owners are good talkers, but they’re even better with follow-up. They strive for completion, not perfection. They embrace change by breaking out of their comfort zone, challenging themselves and others.

Visionary leaders inspire those around them because they’ve thought long and hard about where they want their business to go and how to get there. If you want to be like them, set Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely goals (SMART goals).
Once you’ve worked to make all these things part of your daily routine, you’ll be thinking like a successful business owner.

Reprinted From Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months by Melinda F. Emerson, Copyright © 2010 by Melinda F. Emerson. Used by permission of Adams Media, an F+W Media, Inc. Co. All rights reserved.

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as “SmallBizLady,” is a veteran entrepreneur, small business coach, and social media strategist who hosts #Smallbizchat weekly on Twitter for emerging entrepreneurs. She publishes a blog at www.succeedasyourownboss.com and you can follow her on Twitter @SmallBizLady. For more information about this book, log on to www.becomeyourownbossbook.com.