I started my first business back in 2004 and successfully grew it to $1 million turnover, with 50 staff across 10 sites in only 2 years and I loved it. I learned some useful lessons along the way that I feel compelled to share with you. The most important of which is that you need to know why you want to be your own boss and whether you have really thought through the consequences of that decision.

Here are a few of the reasons why many people want to be their own boss and valuable points to consider if you plan on having products, clients, customers and employees:-

You want to be master of your own destiny.
There are many factors effecting any business, depending on what you are selling including, the weather, availability of supply, cost price, choosing the right employees, choosing the right clients, choosing the right bank, seasonality and your competitors, all of which seem to conspire to distract you from your path.

You don’t want to conform to the corporate rules.
You may not want to wear a suit, be politically correct or be the person that others expect you to be, but be prepared to take time to find like-minded people who want to work for and buy from the person you want to be.

You want the flexibility to work when you want.
Employees will expect a good leader to lead by example. If they think you are half-hearted then believe me, they will be. Clients expect to you be available when they need you!

You don’t want anyone telling you what you can and can’t do or to impose deadlines upon you.
What you can or cannot do will become apparent as you see the ebb and flow of clients and customers, they will vote with their feet if they feel they are not getting what they thought they were going to get, when they want it. Also remember your relationship with clients, suppliers and staff is a two way street and if you fail to deliver your part of the bargain, you won’t feel like you are in charge for long.

You are fed up with making money for other people and feel you can make more for yourself.
Check out your ‘Wealth Profile’ online, it costs about $100, but it will be the best move you ever made. You need to find out what kind of character you are and who else you need around you to be successful. For example, I am a ‘CREATOR’, which basically means I am great at coming up with innovative ideas for products or marketing, but I am poor at completing projects and give too much away when closing deals and as a result, I need a ‘SUPPORTER’ on my team.

Your current job does not give you the life you want.
Make sure you have the support of those around you. You can make significant gains, but get it wrong without the support of your nearest and dearest and you could lose more than just your money.

Changes in circumstances such as, you have been fired or made redundant and the current financial climate makes finding another job, with the same pay, in the same field unlikely.
Changes in circumstances can often be the catalyst for helping you make the decision you have feared for a long time and if this is the case then go for it. If you are starting a business because it seems like the last resort, I admire your principle, but you may find it almost impossible to conjure up the self-confidence, drive and enthusiasm you need to succeed.

Your current employer has just appointed you a new Line Manager, who you don’t get along with.
Starting a business, won’t stop other people deciding who you work for. If one of your key clients is the employee of a large corporation, they can be replaced and if your client is a small business owner, they may sell, both scenarios can equally result in change for better or for worse.

You have just come into some money and want to put it to work for you.
‘Learn before you earn’ is a phrase used by multimillionaire Brad Sugars. If you don’t understand the rules of making money, you could stand to lose it and then some! Do a lot of self-development before you risk your children’s’ inheritance.

If some of the realities of being your own boss seem daunting to you, but you feel that you have the energy, stamina, determination, self-discipline and self-motivation, the qualities common to all successful Entrepreneurs and essential in any business, then start with the ‘work from home’ model, with no employees, low overheads and fixed price good quality products, as long as you have honed your people skills you’ll be fine..

Good luck.

Jonathan Bradley
Managing Director
Sharp and Strong Ltd.
If you want the definition of a ‘customer’ visit my blog entitled ‘What is a Customer’ at http://myhealthwealthandsuccesssecrets.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-is-customer.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jonathan_Bradley

Well, now you can. “Wealth Dynamics” matches your personality, natural style and talents with each of the EIGHT ways to create wealth… so you can discover which path to wealth is the right ONE for you.

It only takes 15 minutes to take the test to discover your Wealth Dynamics wealth profile and the 6 steps you need to take to build your wealth… AND you can do it in the comfort of your own home or workplace.

Discover the path to your wealth at 

www.nativelywealthypath

Wealth Dynamics is a wealth profiling system which uses a psychometric test to assess your personality, strengths, productivity, values and group behaviour, to determine your most natural way to build wealth.

Up until now the only way to discover which path is right for you, has been through the process of trial and error. You make your money in business, then lose it all on the stock market… You spend years earning money working for someone else, and then lose it all starting your own business…
Wealth Dynamics was developed to take the trial and error out of the process. It provides you with a map to guide you on your path to wealth, allowing you to identify which strategies, and six steps you need to be focusing on, learning about, and taking action on.

Wealth profiling is a tool based on ancient philosophies which helps you to identify how to use your natural talents and character to live in your “zone”, and in the “flow”.

Once you know your profile you’ll have clarity on your path of least resistance. Not surprisingly, what you do most naturally, is also what creates the least stress and the most enjoyment. That’s the point – if you’re doing something that feels like hard work, you’re already doing the wrong thing.

When you discover your wealth profile, you’ll also receive the rules for the game for that profile, so you gain incredible clarity on how to invest your time, what steps you need to take next, who you need to learn from, where you need to be, what you need to do – and equally important, what not to waste your time on any longer.

“If you want to learn basketball, then don’t spend your time on the football pitch.”
Roger Hamilton

Article Source: http://www.nativelywealthy.com/dynamicPage.asp?PageID=

©Marewa Paranihi

I want to know what the situation is like for women in different countries when it comes to business. What factors come into play from a cultural perspective as well as from a historical and political standpoint.

The spotlight this week is on female entrepreneurs in the USA.

I was really heartened to read a recent article on Forbes.com that shows women are becoming the nation’s job-creation engine, starting new businesses and completely outdoing our male counterparts. Yes, women who own businesses in the US will be responsible for creating one-third of the 15.3 million new jobs anticipated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics by 2018!

You should definitely read the article but here the key highlights from a newly published report by The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute that excited me most:

Female small-business owners are focused on making work more enjoyable

Not only are women creating a positive work environment and more opportunities for other people, they’re also giving their employees a reason to feel better as a part of the team, paying the more and looking after their healthcare.

Female entrepreneurs are more concerned about building a lasting business

Women are adept at keeping the customers they have and cultivating customers who appreciate what they do. They are skilled at differentiating their businesses from competitors in a meaningful way, knowing what other small businesses are doing to improve, succeed or fail, and taking advantage of economic conditions.

Women are more open to taking advice and seeking valuable information

Women entrepreneurs seek input from their employees, chief operating officers, chief financial officers, accountants and financial advisors. They’re becoming better at taking a longer-term view of their businesses including having a succession plan in place, a retirement plan and something to sell at retirement to ensure they’re able to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

I really look forward to more people like Mark Wolf, the director of the Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute, to produce more research on the way women are impacting the world.

If you like what you’re reading then come and visit http://www.womanzworld.com and me – Natalie Sisson, a Kiwi Entrepreneur and Adventurer passionate about getting more women into business and having fun while doing it from anywhere around the world.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Natalie_Sisson

By Natalie Sisson

This author says most books on personal or business success start with the theory that you need to understand, digest and then put into practice. He submits that this text is different as it bypasses the theory part and straightaway hits the practical road by showing you 101 ways through which you can enhance your business.

Structurally, this text is segmented into eight parts of 101 of ideas. Part one is eclectically christened Product and covers the first 12 ideas. The first idea is entitled Observe your product or service from the customer’s point of view. In the words of this expert here, “Trying placing yourself in the customer’s shoes and see how you feel. It is human nature that everyone likes his own child and the same thing applies to our product too. But it is not what we think of our product or service that matters; our success depends on what our customers think of our product or service.”

Desai says it is easy to know what the customers want because it is the same thing that you want for yourself, when you buy a product or service. This expert asks that to be honest, would you buy your product or service as it is offered to the general consumers? He submits that if your answer is in the affirmative, then you are in business, but if there is even a slight hitch, you need to find out what prohibits you to go in for the product.

“Is it the price, or the utility of the product, or do you have any doubt about its performance? Whatever it may be, give a serious thought and come to a conclusion. But do not stop here; take corrective measures right away until you are fully satisfied with the product. Sometimes, companies purposely send customers to their branches, their agents and dealers just to monitor how their customers are treated,” illuminates Desai.

Idea number two is based on the subject matter of expanding your product range. Here, this author advises you to take a look at consumer durable product companies, where each one has a wide range of products to offer. According to him, “A household appliance manufacturer has refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, and now even, microwave ovens. Not only that, each category also has a wide range to offer the maximum choice to consumers.”

Ideas three to 12 are based on the need to keep adding value to your product or service; going for ‘mass-volume’ product; targeting an upper-end market; revamping your product portfolio; promoting new and more usage of your product or service; having a catchy brand name, attractive logo and smooth slogan; building a strong brand image for your product or service; extending your brand name to other products; striking a balance between cost and value of your product; and diversifying but remaining within your core competence area.

Part two is generically tagged Customer and contains 11 ideas, that is, 13 to 23. Here, Desai examines concepts such as having knowledge of your customers; ensuring customer satisfaction; respecting your customers and valuing their money; expanding your consumer base; retaining customer attention always; learning to retain clients; creating ‘trust’ among consumers; having few prestigious clients; forgetting brand and ensuring customer loyalty; making your customers partners and keeping an eye on your future prospects.

Part three has a broad thematic focus of Competition and covers six ideas, that is, 24 to 29. Idea number 24 is labelled Face it, competition is here to stay. In the words of this marketing expert here, “Monopoly is a forgotten word in today’s business dictionary. Take any field and there are many players, many products, each one having its own identity, and each one trying to grab the other’s market. On top of that, there will be more players, more products coming in, making the market worse than a battlefield. In a battlefield you commonly fight one enemy at a time, here you will be facing many of them simultaneously.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Idea 25 is entitled Learn to live with competition and learn to beat it. According to Desai, we are living in a world of competition, be it in our business, our jobs, etc. He says you cannot escape from competition, what you can rather do is to create your product and marketing strategy such that yours will be different from others. In Desai’s words, “Avoid direct confrontation with competitors. Find another way to reach your customers. If your competitors are heavy on advertising then go for promotional schemes like free gifts, discounts, lucky coupons, etc. Study your competitors minutely, including their products, business strategy, distribution network, price structure, promotional offers, future planning, etc. Now compare it, segment-to-segment with yours. See where you stand.”

Idea 26 is tagged Join hands with competitors for common interest. This marketing expert says tough times call for tough decisions, even if it means sleeping with the enemy. According to him, “Competitors are no more enemies, they are just rivals in business… You have taken all the steps to control cost, but you are still missing out on one important area and that is, joining hands with your competitors. Surprised? Well, this is the demand emerging from modern business concepts and trends. You can save a lot, here is how. Fiat and General Motors (GM), the world’s largest automobile makers, are exploring the possibility of setting up a power train-cum-engine plant at the Italian major’s facility in Ranjangaon, Maharashtra…The Japanese company Suzuki, a partner in Maruti is also a partner in the GM-Fiat global alliance, could use the diesel engines produced in India.”

Ideas 27 to 29 are based on getting prepared for fresh competition always; beating the giants through innovative ideas and getting prepared for performance guarantee.

Part four is summarily woven together as Price, promotion and distribution and covers ideas 30 to38. Desai says proper and reasonable price attracts customers to buy your product; distribution helps you reach your consumers and promotion helps you to let your potential consumers know of your product and also lure them to buy the product.

Part five is generally labelled Internal operations and accommodates ideas 39 to 54.

In part six based on an umbrella concept of expanding business, Desai examines 20 ideas covering numbers 55 to 74.

In part seven which is based on the generic subject matter of extra tips and contains 23 ideas spanning numbers 75 to 97, this author says you as an individual can do a lot by following these 23 solid ideas and just see the result you will get.

Part eight, the last part has the prcis concept of Action and covers the remaining four ideas, that is, numbers 98 to 101.

As regards presentation mode, Desai says, “The book is not prepared in any particular format. In order to facilitate better understanding of the subject and the concept, I have created a sequence, which shall help you grasp the themes better.”

Meanwhile, by segmenting this text into eight different parts covering 101 ideas, with each part focusing on a specific business topic accommodating related ideas, Desai is able to inject simplicity and easy-study ability into the text. The language of the text is technical yet contextually comprehensible.

However, one of the errors noticed in the text is the use of the uncountable collective noun “Machinery” in the plural form “Machineries” on page five. Another one is omission of quotation mark from the word “Monopoly” in the first line of page 85 thus: Monopoly is a forgotten word in today’s business dictionary. It needs to be quoted since it is referred to here as a word in the dictionary.

Generally, this text is fantastic. It is a must-read and the tips must-apply for business organisations and entrepreneurs, especially those that are still ignorant of what Competition means in today’s business environment and instead hold on to Gore Vidal’s archaic and barbaric win-lose competition concept, which says, “It is NOT ENOUGH for you to succeed. Competitors MUST ALSO fail by all means.”

GOKE ILESANMI, Editor-in-Chief/CEO of http://www.gokeilesanmi.com and Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is a Certified Public Speaker/Emcee, (Business) Communication Specialist, Motivational Speaker, Career Management Coach, Renowned Book Reviewer, Corporate Leadership Expert and Editorial Consultant.

Tel: +234(0)8055068773; Tel: +234(0)8056030424 Email: gokeiles2010@gmail.com; info@gokeilesanmi.com

GOKE ILESANMI, Editor-in-Chief/CEO of www.gokeilesanmi.com and Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is a Certified Public Speaker/Emcee, (Business) Communication Specialist, Motivational Speaker, Career Management Coach, Renowned Book Reviewer, Corporate Leadership Expert and Editorial Consultant.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Goke_Ilesanmi

By Goke Ilesanmi