A Mentor is a prerequisite in Business

Yesterday I was reading a very interesting book called ‘The Millionaire Mindset’ by Gerry Robert. The book talks about how ordinary people like you and me can create extraordinary income. What I want to share with you is a paragraph from chapter one of this valuable book to reinforce my article. The first chapter talks about ‘Magic thinking’ I quote Gerry Robert below:

Bob Proctor, my financial mentor, sat me down and shared how his mentor, Leland Val Van de Wall, had influenced him. Bob was a fireman. Being a fireman is a secure job. He was “set” for life if he wanted to be. As a fireman Bob was earning $4,000 per year, a handsome sum back then. He didn’t have to work very hard, and he could never be fired (no pun intended). Instead of being satisfied with that, Bob read a little book that was quickly becoming a bestseller calledThink And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

You may be wondering why I am quoting this paragraph….as you can see Bob Proctor is Gerry Robert’s financial mentor. Gerry is a very successful entrepreneur and New York number one bestselling author; you also see that Bob has his own mentor Leland Val de Wall. By the way Bob Proctor is a financial expert and motivational speaker; he is a very successful entrepreneur.

I strongly believe in the old adage that says ‘experience is the best teacher’, in order to succeed in the business world you will need to interact with people who have already made it. By this I mean you have to be careful when selecting a mentor, the person you choose to be your mentor must be someone who is successful in the sector you are planning to establish.

By definition a mentor is someone who will take you by hand and show you how to do things. In other words mentoring is where one person helps another to make changes to their life or work. It is a partnership between two people: the mentor and the person who is being mentored. Both partners have a role in making sure the relationship works and both gain from it. In simple terms a Mentor is a wise and trusted guide and advisor.

Mentoring is the best form of acquiring knowledge, it’s good in the sense that you will be learning from someone who has already travelled the same road you intend to travel. The best way to get to any destination is to ask a person who has travelled the same road again and again.

Approaching a Mentor

This is the most important task for any aspiring entrepreneur. How do you choose a mentor? Will he or she agree to spend his or her precious time with a newbie? How do you approach a possible mentor? These are all questions you need to answer before you approach any person you want to act as your mentor. The first step is to identify someone who is successful in the same business you are planning to venture into.

There are two ways you can use to approach a prospective mentor. If you do not know him personally, you can either contact the person through email or phone to book for an appointment. If you are granted the appointment make sure when you go there you have prepared your case professionally in order to convince him or her about your seriousness in venturing into business. One of the things you must take with you is your business plan professionally printed in book format.

Before discussing any business details, please let the mentor know you ARE NOT LOOKING FOR FUNDING. This way you can now create a conducive atmosphere to present your case. You must be able to present the business plan to the mentor from your head.

Tell him or her how you have been following his /her success and how you want to learn a few tricks on how he/she have managed to get to the top. Depending on how you present your case, you should succeed in getting a mentor who will guide you in your journey towards realizing your dream. If you want standard email templates you can use to approach a mentor feel free to contact me, I will be happy to send the template to you.

As a parting note, Wayne Dyer said ‘Successful people make money. It's not that people who make money become successful, but that successful people attract money. They bring success to what they do’.

To your success!!!!

Pillars of Successful Entrepreneurship

In my previous post I discussed about pitfalls many aspiring entrepreneurs fall into before making it in business. Today I will be looking at some nuggets you can apply to ensure your business gets of the ground and doesn’t become part of the 80% that are nipped in the bud.

Running a successful business can look so simple when you are looking from the outside. You look at a successful entrepreneur and he doesn’t look like he is doing anything special but he is living a good life. It really doesn’t look like he is working all that hard. He seems to be enjoying life immensely.

Running a successful business is the proverbial ‘piece of cake’! Right? WRONG!!! Wrong, wrong, wrong! You are looking at the results of a very, very long and tedious process that consisted of many very long, late-night hours and a lot of blood, sweat and tears over a period of several years.

This successful entrepreneur worked very, very hard for the success that you are looking at. It is more than a little bit likely that he first placed four pillars first as he began the long process of building his successful business. Those four pillars upon which he built his success are: (1) The right mind set, (2) Recognizing and using leverage, (3) Building a set of useful contacts, (4) Having a mentor

We will discuss these four pillars that must be laid down first so that a successful business can be set up. All the four pillars are important, even crucial to the success of any business.

Having the Right, Healthy Mindset - The success of any business whether online or off line requires the right mindset from idea generation. A right and healthy mind set will not guarantee success but a wrong and unhealthy or unrealistic mindset will most assuredly guarantee failure. So the right mind set is the first pillar that must be laid down in order to launch a successful business.

What is a right and healthy mindset? There are things that it is as well as things that it isn’t. A right and healthy mindset IS the willingness to work as hard and as long as is necessary to achieve the goals that has been set. A right and healthy mindset ISN’T the belief that success will be easy, quick or painless. It ISN’T just jumping in feet first and hoping for the best. The best that can happen under those circumstances is that you get out with anymore than two cents to your name.

Those who believe that they can make a business enterprise thrive without having to actually put in any time or effort are simply doomed to failure from the onset. A right and healthy mindset IS the willingness to take the time to make a good, solid business plan that is based upon sound business principles.

Recognizing and Using Leverage - There are dozens...maybe hundreds....of business models out there. Some are, of course, more successful than others but they all come with their own set of pros and cons. The idea is to get the most bang for money. You need to use all of the power of the Internet to make your business successful. You really cannot afford to leave any stone unturned.

If you are a real go-getter, the temptation is to do everything first and that isn’t possible. You need to make a realistic plan and build one thing upon another until you have a good solid base from which to operate. Remember that reputation and credibility are everything in any business. Don’t take any shortcuts and never damage or allow others to damage your reputation.

It Is Not What You Know, But Who You Know - That is an old saying. “It is not What you know, but Who you know that counts”. Setting a pillar of solid relationships is an important aspect of building a successful business. Working hard at building good solid business relationships is worth every minute of time that you invest in it. Business relationship building should be one of your top priorities.

When you build social relationships, you insert yourself into social situations where you come in contact with people who have interests that are similar to or complimentary to your own interests don’t you? That is precisely the same way that business relationships are established. You insert yourself into business situations where you will meet others who have businesses that are similar to or complimentary to your own business. You develop relationships over a period of time.

There are several ways in which to accomplish this task. One way is to participate in conferences or seminars that are related to your business. You will learn a lot, of course, but equally important, you will come in contact with those who are already succeeding in the niche market that you are working in.

Find a Capable Mentor - I don't think there is any other valuable asset that a new entrepreneur can have than a good and capable mentor. Someone who has already made all of the mistakes can help you to avoid making all of the mistakes yourself. They have the wisdom that comes from experience to point out pitfalls and to help direct you toward making better decisions.

Why, do I need a mentor you may ask, would anyone who has made it want to take their time to help a newbie succeed? Maybe I can answer that by telling you about my friend who is an accomplished internet entrepreneur. He runs very successful blogs which attract thousands of visitors’ to his sites every day. He earns a six figure income every month from his blogs.

As I write this post I am at his house, he is currently mentoring two teenagers how to make pocket money on the internet using blogs. I asked him why he spent so much time doing that and he said, “It is like gaining immortality. If I teach them and they teach others, then what I know lives forever.” Isn't that leaving a mark in the world??? Honestly a candle does not loose its glow by lighting another candle......

Wishing you success in your endeavors!!!!!

How to Avoid Failure as a start-up

Market research has found out that more than 90% of new businesses fail in the first 120 days of operation. As an aspiring entrepreneur you need to understand that all businesses have two things in common. They are BUSINESSES and they must be run like businesses! As an entrepreneur you must understand the accepted practices of running a business.

You need to understand simple and basic ideas like acceptable over-head expenses in relation to projected income. A college degree in business in not essential for an entrepreneur to be successful, but it will be handy in many instances. Just some basic business knowledge is absolutely vital.

If you have a hard time balancing your personal check book, you probably should keep your day job and forget about starting a business. It is true that you can hire accounting firms that will tell you WHEN you must make tax deposits, for example, but these firms will not be able to tell you IF you need to make them.

Accounting firms can tell you whether or not you made a profit but not how to make it. If you have no business background you need to, at the very minimum, get some good business advice before you even consider opening an online business. The fact is that all successful businesses operate on sound business principles. Successful businesses aren’t accidents. It is not even reasonable to expect to make a profit from a new business enterprise for many, many months.

You must have sufficient resources available to not only launch your business but provide for your own personal needs for an extended period of time. It’s called ‘capital’ and there is no way around the need for enough of it.

The Right Mindset Just Isn’t There!

You have most likely heard the phrase, ‘He has an attitude!” This is usually a derogatory remark made about a person with a disagreeable attitude. But the word ‘attitude’ is an important one when discussing business start-ups. A good attitude...a good mind set can’t insure success but a bad attitude and a bad mind set can certainly guarantee failure. Here are some wrong attitudes that will absolutely guarantee failure:

I can work when I want to. Wrong, wrong, wrong! You can’t just work when you feel like it. You have to expect to put in many long and very tedious hours of very hard work to make a new Business enterprise succeed.

I can get rich quick! You couldn’t be more wrong and you are not only wrong but you are putting yourself in danger as well. There are billions of crooks out there on the internet who are waiting for their next easy mark and if you are looking for a quick way to get rich, you ARE the next mark.

It is possible to make a very comfortable living by starting a new business enterprise but if anybody ever tells you it is quick or easy, they are lying to you.

I don’t need a business plan. There you are...wrong yet again. Every business needs a road map. It is imperative that you have a plan for success that is based upon sound business principles. I have covered this topic extensively in my previous business posts. Please refer to these articles.

There is an old saying: “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail”. A detailed set of plans for success needs to be made. You need to have the steps from getting from point A to point B listed in great detail that include realistic cost estimates for accomplishing each step.

When you have a business of your own, you don’t have a boss. Wrong again! You are your boss. If you aren’t a good boss who sees to it that work is accomplished on time and in full, you will doom yourself to failure. Unless you are a boss who sets up a working schedule and establishes goals that must be met, you will find yourself working at a job under a boss who does do those things and maybe for minimum wage.

How To Avoid Joining the Failing Masses - The thing about starting a business...any business.....is that there is no guarantee of success under any circumstances. Even big international businesses can fail at new business ventures. Failure is always an option but the possibility of success can be optimized. You can optimize the possibility of success by:

1. Expecting to work very hard to accomplish your goals. You must never expect anything to be easy. You will be right most of the time because things are rarely as easy as they look. Each step toward success requires work, time and patience. Sometimes things don’t work out right on the first try. You have to be willing to try again and again until you succeed.
2. Not falling for ‘get-rich-quick schemes. The business woods are full of those who prey upon those who are looking for quick and easy ways to become rich. Those ways do not exist. Get over thinking that there is an easy way. THERE IS NO SHORT CUT TO SUCCESS!!!!

Remember those statistics! Ninety percent of all new businesses fail in the first 120 days. You don’t have to be part of that majority. You can become a part of that 10% minority of successful business enterprises.

To your success!!!!!!

Writing an Effective Business Plan (Part 3)

I would like to apologize to readers of this blog. This article should have been completed beginning of this week. This was not so due to unforeseen events that took place during the week. Today I will finish off this topic and move to new exciting business opportunities that I have been working on.

One of the most important areas you need to pay much attention is your projected sales section. Sales forecasting may sound like rocket science, please don’t worry it’s not complicated. In fact it is very easy. Just think of your sales forecast as an educated guess- forecasting takes a good calculated guess of your anticipated business performance. You need to clearly define:

• Expected growth rates in units and dollars
• Give concrete reasons for the projections (stating why less or why more)
• State the driving force that will help you attain the stated figures
• How the sales forecast relate to your market analysis, target segments, your sales and marketing strategy
• State what events might impede or negatively affect your forecasts

Sales Strategy – Please note that you must make a clear distinction between your marketing and sales strategy. Remember your sales strategy is responsible for closing deals identified by your marketing strategy. Your sales strategy mainly deals with and when to:

• Close sales prospects
• Compensate sales personnel
• Optimize order processing

Marketing Plan – under this section profile your strategy for generating sales for your business. State your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). How differentiated your product/service is, compared to competition. How you intend to create and sustain value for your business over time? Remember, your marketing plan is the lifeline of your business.

Your Management Team – The backbone of every organization is the resources at its disposal. This can be in the form of human capital, technical know how and in monetary value. Under this section profile summary CVs for the key management, clearly stating the skills they are bringing to the company. State their roles in the business and their level of expertise within their key functions. Using a table clearly state the number of employees that will be in the business by designation. Also justify why you are starting your business venture with that number of employees.

Apart from listing your team’s key competencies, also be objective and list skill gaps you think need to be filled when the business takes off the ground. Service gaps can be skills lacking with your team such as accounting skills or IT skills. It can be anything related to skills shortage. The most important thing is to be objective and remember skills gaps are not a negative even if you are seeking funding from banks.

I hope I have managed to impart some knowledge through this three part series in writing an effective business plan. What is left now is for you to take that dreaded action to START.

I hope you will have the courage to move a step in the direction of your dreams. Remember ‘The world has the habit of making room for the man whose words and actions show that he knows where he is going’. For more information and inspiring articles visit: www.entrepreneur-101.blogspot.com or alternatively write to me at farai@bluemoonzim.com.

To your success!!!!

Writing an effective Business Plan (Part 2)

The importance of a professional designed business plan cannot be over emphasized as this forms the basis of any business venture. A business plan is a road map clearly detailing the route you need to follow in order to reach your final destination. As Napoleon Hill said ‘The world has the habit of making room for the man whose words and actions show that he knows where he is going’. Lending institutions and investors will pay attention to business ideas which are well documented. As a follow up to my previous post, today I will continue explaining in detail the elements that make up a professional business plan:

Mission Statement

Use your mission statement to clearly define the fundamental goals of the quality of your business offering, customer offering, employee welfare, stakeholder compensation and so forth. A good mission statement is a critical element in defining and communicating with your customers, employees and stakeholders. It is also a platform where you can clearly state the business you are involved in.

Your Company

Under this section, you need to give concise details about your business, such as where your business is located, what services it offers and your target customers.Try to be as detailed as possible as this forms the back bone of your business plan. You should be as simple as possible in order to clearly communicate what your business has to offer. Remember simplicity is the key to brilliance.

What you are selling - your Offer

Under this section you must succinctly describe your services/product offering. This part is descriptive and may have tables to show and illustrate product description and pricing points. You can also show how unique your offer is compared to competition, this must be supported my strong points based on market research. This way you can convince investors or financiers to sponsor your business, if you are looking for capital.

The Market

This section is where you will define your market. You need to describe your market segment strategy, market needs, trends and project growth and so on. The market segmentation is crucial to market assessment and market strategy. You will need to divide your target market into workable segments based on age, income, type of product, buying patterns, customer needs, location e.t.c. Market research input is critical for this section.

Market Analysis

For this section, you will definitely need market research input. You will describe the different customer segments within your target market. You will follow up with supporting reasons why you are targeting these segments. You need to build a strong case which will show your knowledge of the market segment you are targeting. You may also bolster your analysis by including verifiable market growth projections based on recent market research. It is important you display detailed knowledge of the market segment you are planning to enter.

Market Segmentation

Use this section to clearly explain and define the segmentation process, define the various classifications. You need to details demographic profiles of customers in each of the market segments you are targeting. This will include in depth information about their shopping habits, spending patterns and motivations based on psychographics.

Remember it is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. For today l rest my case here, I will continue with part 3 of this five part series on writing an effective business plan. l will leave you with one of my favourite quote by Napoleon Hill: ‘All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth’.

May your dreams come to pass!!!

Writing an Effective Business plan (Part 1)

Wikipedia defines entrepreneurship as the practice of starting a new organization or revitalizing existing organizations, particularly new businesses generally in response to identified opportunities. The best reason to start an organization is to make sure the venture serves a purpose and addresses a need that alleviates and elevates the living standards of mankind. The desire to bring about change and make a difference in people’s lives should be the driving force for an entrepreneurial venture to succeed. Money should not be the main motivator; it should be a conduit upon which the entrepreneurial dream will sail through to fruition. You need to be passionate about the type of business you are planning to venture into.

It has been said countless times that for one to succeed in business, you have to venture in a business you are passionate about. Your passion could be a hobby like writing or antique collection which you can turn into a business venture. However, the basic steps must be followed; you need to check if there is a need for this type of service before you even think of turning your passion into a business. This goes back to my earlier assertion that every business idea must be able to make a difference in people’s lives. There must be a problem in the target market you wish to enter, and your business should be able to provide a satisfactory solution to the identified problem which in this case is the business opportunity.

Every business idea must be written and a plan of action must be put in place on how you intend to transform the idea into a business. When Sam Walton started Wal-mart, which is today the world’s biggest supermarket chain employing more than three million people worldwide, he had a vision which he transformed into a business entity. He documented every step of action he was going to follow to realize his dream. Hence, in order to ensure your vision is well presented and well spelt out, there is need to write a business plan.

A business plan is your road map; it clearly shows you where you want to go and how you will get there. It is a document spelling out your strategic vision and how you intend to achieve it. Writing a business plan is very easy if you know exactly what you want to do. There are basic steps you need to follow in terms of logical flow, which will make execution easy to implement. I will list the main topics which are usually covered in a business plan below.

1) Objectives

2) Mission

3) Your Keys to success

4) The company

5) What will you be selling

6) The Market

7) Your type of business

8) Sales forecast

9) Marketing Plan

10) Management Team

11) Financial Plan

I will explain in detail elements which will be covered in each of the above topics in my post tomorrow. However, I will conclude by explaining the first topic which is your business objectives. Your business objectives must be specific goals that are measurable. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal. To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as......How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished? Keep the list to three or four goals as it is difficult to focus on a long list of objectives. Your chance of implementing these goals depends on your ability to track progress and measure the outcome.

For instance, if image and awareness of your business is a priority, you need to do a customer survey to get what your target market thinks about the industry and its main players. This way you will have enough arsenal to use for your market entry. The bottom line is you need to set S.M.A.R.T goals. I will explain in detail how you can go about setting smart goals in the next post. Your comments are welcome on this post.

To your success!!!!

Investment strategies for Entrepreneurs

In order to succeed as an entrepreneur, you need to understand and appreciate the essence of saving money. Money is a commodity which makes our lives easy and brings a lot of comfort in our life. Money is a commodity which you need to employ to make more money for you. But how do you do this?. You can do this by investing your money wisely.

Investing is not a sure thing in most cases, it is much like a game of cards – you don’t know the outcome until the game is concluded and a winner is declared. Anytime you play any type of game, you have a strategy in mind on how you can win that game.

Investing isn’t any different – you need an investment strategy in order to safely navigate the mucky waters. An investment strategy is basically a plan for investing your money in various types of investments that will help you meet your financial goals in a given time. Each type of investment contains individual investments that you must choose from. The stock market is a type of investment, with different types of stocks, which are held by different companies in different sectors of the economy. If you haven’t done your research, it can quickly become very confusing – simply because there are so many different types of investments and individual investments to choose from. This is where your strategy, combined with your risk tolerance and investment style all come into play.

If you are new to investments, work closely with a financial planner before making any investments. They will help you develop an investment strategy that will not only fall within the bounds of your risk tolerance and your investment style, but will also help you achieve your financial goals. Never invest money without having a goal and a strategy for reaching that goal! This is essential. Nobody hands their money over to anyone without knowing what that money is being used for and when they will get it back! If you don’t have a goal, a plan, or a strategy, that is essentially what you are doing! Always start with a goal and a strategy for reaching that goal!

Different Types of Investments

There are three different kinds of investments. These include stocks, bonds, and cash. Sounds simple, right? Well, unfortunately, it gets very complicated from there. You see, each type of investment has numerous types of investments that fall under it. There is quite a bit to learn about each different investment type. The stock market can be a big scary place for those who know little or nothing about investing in stocks. There are also three types of investors: conservative, moderate, and aggressive. The different types of investments also cater to the two levels of risk tolerance: high risk and low risk.

Depending on your risk averseness, if for instance you are a conservative investor your best bet will be investing in cash. This means that you can put your money in interest bearing savings accounts, money market accounts, mutual funds, Treasury bills, and Certificates of Deposit. These are very safe investments that grow over a long period of time. These are also low risk investments. If you are a Moderate investor you could invest in both cash, bonds and you may also dabble in the stock market. You can also invest in real estate, providing that it is low risk real estate. If you are an aggressive investor you can invest in the stock market, which is higher risk. You can also invest in business ventures as well as higher risk real estate.

Caution: Before you start investing, it is very important that you learn about the different types of investments, and what those investments can do for you. Understand the risks involved, and pay attention to past trends as well. History does indeed repeat itself, and investors know this first hand!. You can borrow a leaf from Warren Buffet, the world’s number one investor who has defied all odds and consistently reaps big on the stock market. I would appreciate your comments on this article. Suggestions and contributions on other investment vehicles will be greatly appreciated.

First ten people to comment and make contribution to this post will receive my free eBook titled ‘Real Estate Investment Secrets.

To your successful investing!!!!!