Tag: Entrepreneurs

  • Youth Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development Mentorship – The Perspective

    Youth Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development Mentorship – The Perspective

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    The youth are the leaders of the future and deserve to be treated like we would treat any candidate of a succession planning in any organization, institution, and company. Such candidates are often enrolled in some sort of development programme in preparing them for the future challenges they would face. Such programme could and should include mentorship development programme.

    The Mentorship Development Programme could include projects that expose the youth to the opportunity to practice leadership as early as possible in their lives. The most effective programmes are those that are designed by the youth, for the youth, under the mentorship of the elderly and/or experienced members of the society, the institution, the organisation or the company.

    The progressive members of the society see the mentorship of the youth as their responsibility and they take the ownership. They would contribute to the formulation of the youth leadership development mentorship. They go all out to also oversee the successful implementation of such a programme. The programme should create the opportunity for the contribution by the parents and guardians where practical.

    The effectiveness of the youth leadership development mentorship programmes is seen in the evolving leadership qualities of the youth. Hence, the need to create the space in the NGOs, Community Organizations, and Clubs for the youth to practice their leadership. Countries are encouraged to introduce national youth development organizations, projects and programmes to absorb those youth that are truly committed to taking their leadership development to the higher level.

    The mentorship guidelines for the youth leadership development programmes are the basis on which to package the programmes. These guidelines are based on experience over many years, but also the lessons from benchmarking local and international programmes. They evolve over time. They are genuinely supporting the youth initiative.

    The youth leadership development programmes that requires mentorship intervention could cover diverse areas as education, community development, art, culture, sport, entrepreneurship, business, etc. They therefore genuinely form part of the country’s real sectors and areas of development need. It is therefore expected that the mentorship programmes be informed by the needs of the society under these sectors and areas. Making resources available for such programmes, including the mentorship programme, should be viewed as investment in the future.

    The youth leadership programme could take a specialist dimension, for example entrepreneurship development. Developing the youth in entrepreneurship early in their lives caters for the supply of future businessmen and women. The majority of the youth respond positively to the mentorship programmes dedicated to the entrepreneurship development. The entrepreneurship opportunities for the youth are mostly in the technology sector. The 4th Industrial Revolution is the main reason why this is the case. The start-ups in technology by the youth is becoming a norm. This, however, provides a challenge to a number of mentors, as they require the understanding of the context from which these youth are functioning.

    Entrepreneurship will always be the most direct option to employment for the youth. As more companies are shedding jobs, more people would see entrepreneurship as the direction to follow. This makes demand for youth entrepreneurship mentorship to grow. The mentors assist the youth entrepreneurs in accessing the markets through their network. Most governments have entrepreneurship support programmes and incubators. These incubators are making mentors available to the youth entrepreneurs.

    It is important for the youth to make a shift and consider entrepreneurship not as a survival means but an opportunity to innovate solutions that mitigate the challenges in the society. Since they are the youth, they are expected to continue paying attention to their holistic development. Involvement in the youth entrepreneurship development initiatives must not become replacement of their education and development. The mentors must continue to challenge the youth to explore many options about their future. We do not expect them to jump certain stages of their development and become adults too soon. They must enjoy their life journey.

    The business case for early youth leadership and entrepreneurship development is very strong. They are laying strong foundation for future responsibilities as entrepreneurs and leaders in the society. They could become serious value chain additions in the various economic sectors of their countries and international. They are the future ambassadors of their countries.

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    Source by Sam Tsima

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  • Why Every Entrepreneur Needs An Exit Plan

    Why Every Entrepreneur Needs An Exit Plan

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    When an entrepreneur starts a business, it makes sense for them to consider what the long-term strategy is for the idea. If there is no way to create an exit strategy, it might not be the right business choice (depending on your life goals).

    Let’s look at reasons every entrepreneur needs an exit strategy and the different types of exit strategy.

    People Get Burned Out

    If your business is run only by you, and you’re the only face of your business, it can cause serious problems with burnout. Forming an idea in your mind and putting it down on paper about how you’ll exit the business and approximately when, can help you avoid burnout because you know what the options are.

    You May Want to Retire Some Day

    Lots of entrepreneurs, especially individual freelancers and service providers, have the idea that they’ll simply work forever. The problem with that is that you’re probably vastly underestimating how you’re going to feel in a few years. If you’re 30 today, you have no idea how you’re going to feel at 50 or 60. If you plan for an exit, it doesn’t mean you have to stop, but it’s good to have a plan in case you ever do want to retire.

    Helps Create Better Decisions

    When you have your business planned out from start to finish, you’ll have an easier time making business decisions that work. If you are open to retiring and someone offers you money for your business, you may be more likely to take up the offer.

    Enhances the Value of Your Business

    Creating a business that can exist with or without you naturally ups its value. The reason is that it can essentially live forever if it’s adopting and changing based on the market rather than on the people working there.

    To Make More Money Faster

    If you’re open to selling and you build your business to the top of the earning curve, selling it at that point can be a real winning move. When you break it down mathematically, every business looks like a bell curve with a top-earning moment that can last for years and years – but probably won’t last forever. Selling at the top of the bell curve will garner you more money with less work than keeping it until it goes down.

    Types of Exit Strategies

    There are several existing strategies that you may want to investigate as you’re building your business, so that you can plan on doing what is most realistic for your type of business. Some options include an initial public offering (IPO), liquidation, mergers, acquisitions, selling and more. What will work for you depends on the type of business, the lifetime potential of the business, and more.

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    Source by Jon Allo

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  • How To Leverage An E-Retailer’s Online Success To Launch Your Business At Warp Speed

    How To Leverage An E-Retailer’s Online Success To Launch Your Business At Warp Speed

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    If you follow a system that leverages the trust, reach and the extensive user base of one of the world’s most successful online business entities, you can’t help but succeed. In fact, you can expect to do ten times better than if you tried to start your own business from scratch.

    This is what attracts many online entrepreneurs to join Amazon’s e-commerce initiative, which is designed to help independent sellers to dip into their proprietary infrastructure, custom software, integrated payment processing and other resources to sell products to a global marketplace. The company profits from the small share in profits generated from all the resulting commercial activity on its digital platform, making it a win-win deal for both parties.

    Entrepreneurs find it particularly exciting that there’s rich potential and unlimited upside profit potential from exploring synergies that exist within Amazon’s commerce platform. This makes it simpler to adopt the right approach to establishing a Web store.

    It takes most of the risk, trial and uncertainty out of online selling and does away with the need to include technical experts on the launch team to tackle any software glitches or website problems that can crop up at the most uncomfortable and inopportune moments.

    By following a system to sell products on the e-commerce retailer behemoth, taking advantage of their evolved and tested platform, software and payment processing facilities, a beginner to online retailing can save countless hours and huge expenses in building or renting out such capacity. It also offers an inexpensive way to test out offers and see if a model or product resonates with the customer market.

    The difficulty lies in understanding Amazon’s complex mechanisms and learning how to leverage it to one’s advantage. Naturally, this led to the establishment of some experts as ‘coaches’. These business coaches conduct the necessary research, testing out each tactic and strategy to come up with a comprehensive plan to speed up the learning curve.

    Some coaches promise to reveal how to build an entire business selling physical products of your own on Amazon’s digital platform. Trainees can learn how to start sourcing, branding and selling things online to a vast and growing audience. Such training gives any serious entrepreneur the opportunity to build a full-fledged business by tapping into the ready-to-buy audience that throngs Amazon.

    And for those who can’t schedule coaching sessions or attend an event for training, a practical alternative is do-it-yourself courses that teach these fundamentals. The bottom line is that it has become relatively easier to launch an online business on the back of an established online retailer’s success.

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    Source by Cumba Gowri

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  • Techniques For Entrepreneurship Development

    Techniques For Entrepreneurship Development

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    There is a certain way to carry out entrepreneurship. One has to follow certain fixed guidelines to develop an entrepreneurship of any choice. Designing a clear cut plan is necessary. Following are seven guidelines or techniques on the basis of which any entrepreneurship or business can be developed;

    1. Focusing on the key product:

    Your business revolves on the key product so focusing on your core product is the first step to create a business opportunity. A certain successful entrepreneur has stated that “Prospects buy when they trust your value is applicable to them and believe your company is stable” suggesting that an entrepreneur should focus on providing value to the customers. This suggestion is the key to the core plan. An entrepreneur of small business needs to differentiate from big business by concentrating on the core products. Specialization is the biggest asset of entrepreneurs.

    2. Keeping it simple and short:

    One should be able to tell what their business is in few precise and concise words(I.e the patter or pitch) lasting for 30 seconds since any prospect can understand clearly about the business without being confused.

    3. Staying true to who you are:

    You can reach your goals by knowing who you are and what gets you excited and not. Notably procrastination as human nature is can delay your growth plan so it’s better to not procrastinate and go for a perfect result oriented plan

    4. Mapping it:

    The best way to determine your service strategy is by mapping your capabilities with your target clients’ needs. Hence the customers who do not need your particular expertise are also avoided. The urge to cast a wide net is one common trait among many entrepreneurs. However a small business flourishes since it has limited service offering. Specializing in distinctive top quality service is the value in having a small business. So in many instances, a small business flourishes. Significantly, while choosing a provider, a list of decision making criteria can be made, from which, your client can choose as per your expectation. Then categorize yourself honestly or evaluate intensely as to where you would be position in each category. After this, make sure that your patter or pitch is still on target.

    5. Utilizing the best marketing tools that work for you:

    Implement the best marketing strategy that suits your personality and that of customers to be served. Identify the top two marketing tools that have worked for you in the past and then start adding new ideas from a fresh perspective. It’s also important to evaluate the selected marketing tools from cost basis. You have to take a decision as to which marketing tool will yield the best returns on your efforts. In one or another each tool should be result oriented or revenue productive.

    6. Implementing a plan of action:

    It’s essential to know whether the plan of action made is in progress or not. This can be done by establishing goals at short term say 3 months to long term of 6 months. During short term, you need to check your plan every month. If the plan is not being met you need to ask questions to yourself like did I select the appropriate tools for my target customer? Did I integrate the strategy into the plan? Or did I focus on only one of the marketing tool? Thus there should be a strategy check on a day to day basis so as to know if the plan is in progress as per your plan.

    7. Exercising the plan:

    The final step is to complete the daily actions and to put n extra efforts to accelerate your plan towards success. Precious time should be not wasted and used for reaching your goal soon.

    These are the basic most important techniques for Entrepreneurship development.

    Thanks

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    Source by Kunas Patro

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  • Entrepreneurial Mind Frame

    Entrepreneurial Mind Frame

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    Entrepreneurs make up only about 15% of the working population in the US. Far fewer actually succeed than those who attempt to become self employed business people and venture out on their own. So what makes people decide to take the entrepreneurial path, when so few actually make it a reality?

    Is the American dream a possibility for anyone, or, does it take more than most to become a successful entrepreneur?

    The success of an entrepreneur does depend on their mindset. A large percentage of business owners will quit in their first five years in business. What is needed is the fortitude and belief that goes with attaining success.

    Entrepreneurs are risk takers and dreamers. The difference between the dreamer and the entrepreneur though, is that the entrepreneur takes actions based on their dreams. They persist through the hardships and never give up! Many entrepreneurs start with an idea. Their success is determined by their belief that they can create something greater than simple monetary success. Often, it is about creating something which will benefit the world.

    James Dyson, for example, came up with the idea of the bagless vacuum cleaner. Despite multiple set backs, over 5000 prototypes and not being able to get any manufacturers or distributors to accept his idea, he persevered. It was over a decade after his initial idea when his concept came to fruition. Even then, it was after a lot of difficulties and hardship due to the vacuum replacement bag industry, which was worth £100 million in the UK.

    In Simon Sinek’s book ‘Start With Why’, he suggests that the biggest companies in the world are so because of their “why?” – their reasons for building a business in the first place. In all cases, it wasn’t just to make money, or make technology better, or some whimsical ideology.

    The Wright Brothers, for example, became known as the pioneers of the first manned flight. But their competition was much better funded and well connected – Samuel Pierpont Langley had worked at Harvard, had a number of powerful connections, including Andrew Carnegie and Alexander Graham Bell. The War Department funded his project with a $50k grant, a seemingly massive advantage to the unconnected Wright Brothers who had no money or influence. However, their passion and devotion to change the world with this new technology drove them to attain the first flight in history in 1903.

    Desire for material things and monetary wealth can only carry someone so far. Unless you have a goal or passion which is bigger than that, you may lose the momentum and fail to maintain your enthusiasm for any length of time.

    The entrepreneurial mindset is one which taps into your purpose. Without a purpose driven goal or aim, it can’t take long before disillusionment kicks in. With a mindset which takes into account a larger purpose, entrepreneurs can build huge businesses because they ‘saw’ a vision of what they wanted to create. If the purpose is greater than the obstacles which lie in the path of attaining it, no amount of setbacks will stop you from achieving your goal.

    On the other hand, if you set out to do something and something gets in the way and stops you, your initial reason, (your “why?”), may not have been strong enough to endure all the battles along the way.

    Entrepreneurial mind frame (or mindset) therefore, must be aligned with both your vision, your values and your purpose. If your values are not in alignment with your purpose and vision, you’ll come up against road blocks which will stop you from achieving your goal.

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    Source by Tim Halloran

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  • Multi Level Marketing Principles

    Multi Level Marketing Principles

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    Multi level marketing or MLM is a business model that creates an opportunity for the average person, who is teachable, and who has desire and perseverance, to earn extra income from the comforts of their home. Legitimate multi-level marketing companies usually require a small start-up cost. Multi-level marketing relies on selling to consumers and establishing a market for quality products. That is, once you have a happy customer (customer service is one of the things reps get compensated for, a potential reason it’s not easy or to everyone’s liking, and may be a reason so many don’t succeed), you can rely on repeat sales and repeat commissions. In the majority of multi-level marketing programs, commissions are paid way down the line so the more people you and your team bring on, the better.

    The multi level marketing form of business practice has received a fair amount of negative press and to be honest in some cases justifiably so. The reason for this is due to the number of pyramid schemes. Pyramid schemes, however, are not concerned with sales of the products. Pyramid sales involve schemes in which the right to sell new memberships in the pyramid are sold under the guise of selling a product. While you may find that some pyramid schemes will offer a product for sale, the product is sold from one level to another instead of selling to customers. Distributors at the bottom are then left with a large volume of overpriced goods that cannot be sold. Nevertheless, network marketing still has mass appeal to many individuals looking to escape the corporate world.

    Before you start your journey into multi-level marketing, remember the simple fact that even the most successful products will have partial market penetration. Still, some entrepreneurs have built very successful companies on this concept because the main focus of their activities is their product and product sales. Remember, no marketing plan will ever decide your multi-level marketing success. Sell yourself first, then the products and the marketing plan. Successful distributors, who have recruited and trained a large number of sellers, also have to assume ongoing wholesaling and managing responsibilities as well as making sales to their own retail customers. The most successful network marketers today are merely using their relationships to inspire others to purchase specific products. The ability to start with a program that you find interesting and beneficial to you is a key component to success.

    Indeed, network marketing by its very nature entails that all participants strive to assist each other in making a successful business to enrich the group as a whole.

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    Source by Don Downes

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  • Economic Perspective on Entrepreneurship

    Economic Perspective on Entrepreneurship

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    The concept of entrepreneurship is multifaceted. There are varied, diverse and somewhat contradictory sets of definitions of the term. As a way out the definitional dilemma, this article aims to explain the economic perspective on entrepreneurship.

    The economic perspective rests on certain economic variables which include innovation, risk bearing, and resource mobilization.

    Innovation/Creativity In this approach, entrepreneurs are individuals who carry out new combination of productive resources. The key ingredient, the carrying out of new combination (or innovation) distinguishes entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs. While new venture creation appears as the most prevalent form of entrepreneurship, there exist other forms. Entrepreneurship also involves the initiation of changes in the form of subsequent expansion in the amount of goods produced, and in existing form or structure of organisational relationships.

    In the entrepreneurship literature, some scholars have questioned the use of organization creation as criterion for entrepreneurship. It has been argued that organizations such as political parties, associations and social groups are always created by people who are not “entrepreneurs.” Interesting as it might sound, the terms entrepreneurship and entrepreneur have been adopted by varied scholars to meet the innovation and spirit of the time. This is evidenced by attempts to apply entrepreneurial thinking to contemporary team-oriented workplace strategies. Members of such groups – political parties, associations and social groups – therefore, could be called entrepreneurial teams. Besides, activities inherent in such groups have flourished in recent years, and are increasingly being described as social entrepreneurship.

    Risk Taking This is another economic variable upon which the economic perspective revolves. Risk taking distinguishes entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs. Generally, entrepreneurs are calculated risk takers. They bear the uncertainty in market dynamics. This notion has its critics and advocates. Entrepreneurs may not necessarily risk her own funds but risk other personal capital such as reputation and the possibility of being more gainfully employed elsewhere.

    Resource Mobilization here, entrepreneurship is reflected in alertness to perceived profit opportunities in the economy. This implies the allocation of resources in pursuit of opportunities with the entrepreneur playing the role of an opportunity identifier. This way, entrepreneurs are distinguished by their ability to identify persistent shocks or challenges (of long term opportunities) to the environment, and then to synthesize the information and take decisive actions based upon it.

    This article has conceptualized entrepreneurship based on resource mobilization, risk taking, and innovation. Beyond the above-mentioned economic variables, entrepreneurship can also be viewed based on a set of personal characteristics, motives and incentives of the actor in the entrepreneurship act. This is the psychological perspective, the subject of a future article. In addition to the psychological perspective, we shall also examine the process and small business perspectives.

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    Source by Benjamin C Atuma

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  • 4 Daily Habits Of the Most Successful Entrepreneurs

    4 Daily Habits Of the Most Successful Entrepreneurs

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    Entrepreneurship is hard. It needs unswerving discipline, and confidence in yourself and your business. Lots of people lack the opportunity to enjoy it. But for the few who are determined and ready to put in the hard work, entrepreneurship is the most fulfilling job, identity and lifestyle in the world.

    Let’s look at 4 daily habits of successful entrepreneurs.

    1. They stick to a routine

    A day has 24 hours only and as an entrepreneur, time is the most valuable thing in the world. To get the maximum potential out of every day, successful entrepreneurs follow a strict schedule.

    For instance, Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, schedules his whole day in five-minute blocks and he breaks up his week, where on Mondays and Thursdays he focuses on SpaceX and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays he pays attention to Tesla. He splits Fridays between both companies.

    2. They read a lot

    Most successful entrepreneurs make learning a regular daily habit. For instance, Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, reads 50 books a year. As an entrepreneur, you need to learn as the world is continually changing, and the most impactful entrepreneurs create their profiles by improving their knowledge.

    If your background is in design and strategy, as an entrepreneur you must have engineering and computer science knowledge to contribute meaningfully to your ventures. Examine your future goals and establish what skills and capabilities may hinder you, then start learning today to be ready for those roadblocks. For engineers and designers, that obstacle may be management, finance or project planning. Yours may surprise you!

    3. They exercise daily

    Yes, exercise keeps your body fit and the mind sharp, and it has a great impact on an entrepreneur’s long-term achievement. The reason is that it relieves stress and helps maintain a healthy work-life balance. Many successful entrepreneurs attribute their success to exercising and keeping fit. Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, increases his productivity with daily exercise.

    Don’t make excuses! Fitness and mental calmness are essential for a happy lifestyle. They’re the building blocks to your productivity for days, weeks and months. Find a sport, activity, or practice suitable for you and make it habitual by being responsible.

    4. They stay positive

    As an entrepreneur, you’ll face many challenges, but what makes you succeed is a positive and creative mindset. Every day. Being able to see things from a positive dimension means you can see interesting and unique opportunities others can’t see.

    If you can’t remain positive, it’s time for a change. For instance, Steve Jobs started his mornings by repeating a simple mantra: “If today was the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?” If he answered this question with a “No,” then he knew it was time to make a change.

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    Source by Jon Allo

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  • 5 Reasons Why You Should Do a Product Launch That Have Nothing To Do With Selling That Product

    When most entrepreneurs decide to launch a product, they’re mostly thinking about how many products they’re going to sell or how much money they’ll make during the launch. Now while that’s a great reason to have a product launch, it’s actually not the only reason. In fact, I may go as far to say it’s not even the most important reason. Let’s take a moment and go through the top 5 reasons to have a launch that have nothing to do with selling that particular product.

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    http://www.associationofmarketing.org/articles/view.php?article_id=5392

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  • How Can You Effectively Promote a Press Release?

    A press launch is a beneficial software for entrepreneurs, as it may well assist what you are promoting ship an announcement that shortly reaches a extensive viewers.

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    http://www.associationofmarketing.org/articles/view.php?article_id=5976

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