Your Role In History As An Entrepreneur

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY written and published by Peggy Salvatore

Imagine Finance

Financing in the New Economy has two radical differentiators from the old days. One is the way in which you attract investors and the second is how much it actually costs to start up your Internet business.

Direct Access to Investors
Remember the good old days (say the first decade of the 21st Century) when prospective entrepreneurs seeking funding would schlep their slide decks into a startup incubator and make presentations to veteran investor gatekeepers who doled out wisdom about business plans, management teams and boards of directors?

• Gone? Not quite. Still the #1 startup funding path? No longer!

With crowdsourcing and crowdfunding ideas like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, you can fund your idea by throwing it out to the Internet and letting the investors come to you. You can raise a little money taking donations and small sums from interested Internet friends and advocates, or you can raise serious millions using more structured funding mechanisms that require investors to meet certain criteria.

• For an entrepreneur in the New Economy, this simply means that Internet Joe can bypass more traditional and restrictive funding mechanisms and go straight to the public. Or combine them both and aim for Shark Tank!

Startup Investment is Minimal
As an entrepreneur in the New Economy, Internet Joe has nearly limitless and cheap/free resources at his fingertips – those fingertips tapping on the keyboard. You can start up a business idea with minimal capital. And you can get world-class advice for the price of an Internet connection.

• I will explore some of these resources in greater detail in the next book, but for now suffice to know that there are brilliant people sharing their startup knowledge for nothin’. The saying “you get what you pay for” does not hold in this case.
• This rich vein of Internet resources is the exception that proves the rule. In fact, the incredible free startup advice and business acumen, market research and tools to reach a global market cost close to no money at all. Remember the more you chase money, the less time and energy is available to make your business work!

In his program, Product Launch Formula, Jeff Walker shares the secret that you can actually sell products that you haven’t yet developed. You sell the product then develop or produce it in response to buyers. The only catch–the big asterisk–is that you better know what you are doing so you can deliver when the time comes. Selling lamps? You’d better be able to produce them when the orders come rolling in.

• The idea is not sleazy; it’s actually excellent business advice that has been around for decades: Develop your prototypes and first generation iterations of products and services in cooperation with your customers.
• By designing products as you sell them, you are developing products the marketplace actually wants and needs.

Transactions: Global, virtual, no boundaries
A favorite New Economy guru is Ray Kurzweil, the innovative genius who wrote the seminal work regarding all things future, The Singularity is Near. In his 2005 epic work, he straightened out my main misconception about the global economy. I had been stuck in the idea that all money and value is tied to concrete productivity. I was just plain wrong.

• Kurzweil perceived that the value of the Internet changed the definition of value. Money has changed because it is now a fluid concept based on the nearly limitless possibilities of the global computer mind which creates exponential relationships that expand past our individual ability to make connections.
• Given that premise, he predicted the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) would triple in ten years. In 2005, it stood at a then-unprecedented 10,000 and, to some, was wildly over-valued–the stock market tripling seemed ludicrous.
• Then in 2008, the global economy crashed and bubbles like the real estate market burst. Also, the dry bulk index hit an all-time low, indicating that global shipping crashed. What did the DJIA do in response? It rose, and continues to rise.

Traditionalists scratch their heads. But futurists just sit back and wait because they know that the measure of value has changed and the DJIA reflects latent value as the economy rearranges itself. In 2015, the DJIA stood at 18,000 and traditional watchers shook their heads saying it continued to be overvalued.

For those who are stuck in the worlds of the dry bulk index and the movement of tangibles in the market, the stock market ascent appears to be smoke and mirrors. When I read Kurzweil I understood, finally, that my attachment to things like physical products and national monetary systems were outdated.

Finance in the New Economy is global and virtual, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Quite the opposite. The inherent value in the instantaneous transmission of knowledge and the ability to transact with anyone, anywhere, anytime has reinvented the basis of the financial system.

As Internet Joe builds his business on this very solid foundation of the virtual New Economy, he is plugging into nearly limitless abundance.

The new rules of finance have yet to be solidified. Entrepreneurs are writing them AS they build the New Economy.

# # #

C’mon back TOMORROW 10/1 for Day 18.
YOU think great MARKETING that works is simply pulled out of a hat?

# # #

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———-

For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

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Hal@Businessworks.US      Peggy@Businessworks.US

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Your Role In History As An Entrepreneur

 Imagine Leadership

and Management

The traditional organizational chart is a construct left over from Alfred Sloan’s leadership at General Motors in the early 20th Century. That, my friends, is 100 years ago.

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY written and published by Peggy Salvatore

In the 1980s, the hierarchical organizational chart was challenged by enterprises that found products were better built when workers had ownership of their production. The philosophy of pushing decision making down to the employee flattened the organizational chart somewhat and relationships became “matrixed.” In other words, people sometimes had multiple layers of reporting and responsibility as well as accountability and all those layers were spread throughout the organization.

The shift away from top-down thinking has been gradual. It paved the way for entrepreneurs in the New Economy to be comfortable spreading responsibility, accountability and rewards across the organization — based on performance, not role.

Leadership and management in the New Economy is about vision— and goal-setting.

It’s about being able to get out in front of the parade with a baton while respecting the fact that without a parade, Internet Joe is leading no one.

And here is where the distinction between leadership and management takes a leap.

True leadership isn’t conferred as much as it is earned.

True leaders are people who others follow, in fact emulate, for their innate qualities. This harkens back to our first and most important quality of leadership, and that is integrity. People naturally follow someone they trust; they know they will wind up somewhere worth going. That requires a bit of a track record.

Management skills can be learned. Management is about the ability to align and assign resources to achieve goals. Managers don’t require the kinds of rigorous traits of a true leader but they do require consistency, persistence and organization.

Managers don’t need to be leaders.

But great leaders get nowhere without great management of resources. If an entrepreneur is not a great organizer, it is critical she or he hires one.

A great idea, even with enthusiastic followers, goes nowhere without someone to arrange the resources in straight lines, all headed in the same direction.

Leadership and management don’t have to be embodied in the same individual. They do, however, need to be together at all times for efficient allocation of resources. An entrepreneur in the New Economy needs efficient organizational alignment with wise distribution of responsibility and accountability — even though your business map will not resemble, even remotely, Alfred Sloan’s hierarchical organizational chart at GM.

A successful Entrepreneurial Leader today

is not at the top of her or his organization.

He or she is in the lead, and that is a very different position.

# # #

For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

 # # #

Hal@Businessworks.US     

Open Minds Open Doors

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Your Role In History As An Entrepreneur

K N O W L E D G E

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY written and published by Peggy Salvatore

Knowledge, confidence and a sense of adventure are the entrepreneurial trifecta. One or two makes someone a great employee but a successful entrepreneur needs all three.

Imagine confidence and a sense of adventure without knowledge – you have a risk taker who has no context and who won’t win the respect of employees and customers. There is a place in your startup for this person – perhaps cleaning windows on the 100th floor – but not at the helm.

What about knowledge and confidence without a sense of adventure – you have a good researcher and expert who won’t step out of her or his comfort zone. There is a place in your organization for this person in the lab, but not at the helm.

Imagine knowledge and a sense of adventure without confidence – you have a risk taker who will step out but is unable to follow through. There is a place for this person in your startup, perhaps as the pitch person, but not at the helm.

An entrepreneur in the New Economy enters the global marketplace with a certain set of knowledge and skills to support his or her confidence and sense of adventure. That knowledge is the ticket to entry in the global entrepreneurial sweepstakes.

A successful entrepreneur in the New Economy has a learning mindset because the environment is always in motion. Remember our discussion earlier about the pace of knowledge and the rapid acquisition of data: 90% of what we know we have learned in the last two years.

What Internet Joe knows may have been true yesterday. However, with the rapid expanse of knowledge and data collection, that truth may be different today. In fact, if you are starting a new business, there is a pretty good chance you can assume you are operating with outdated information even as you develop your products and services.

In a fully interconnected, 24/7 marketplace,

knowledge isn’t static. It’s fluid.

And it includes knowing your SELF.

A business in the New Economy is a learning organization and that requires a learning CEO. The leader sets the example. There is an old saying that “leaders are readers.” More accurately, leaders are learners. As situations materialize and unfold, leaders can process what is happening and adjust their product, service or approach based on constantly changing data.

The world is always in beta and successful entrepreneurs practice agility. Think permanent beta and constant learning, and you have the essence of knowledge in the New Economy.

# # #
C’mon back TOMORROW 9/29 for Day 16.
ARE  YOU cut out to be a leader or a manager?

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With Hal and Peggy’s wealth of business coaching experience, you’ll learn how YOU match up with what successful entrepreneurs are thinking and doing RIGHT NOW. Get ideas you never imagined. Gain the traction you need within 2 hours — not days or weeks or months. Simply call 931.854.0474 Central Time: 11AM to 4PM Monday-Friday for details, to explain your business pursuit focus and to reserve your seat! $99 total for 2 hours. Satisfaction Guaranteed.

———-

For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

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Hal@Businessworks.US      Peggy@Businessworks.US

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Your Role In History As An Entrepreneur

C O N F I D E N C E

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY written and published by Peggy Salvatore

Confidence has two meanings.

In relation to business, we think about the assurance of self. Self-assurance means one believes in oneself enough to trust their decisions. They take measured risks and can make hard decisions because self-assured people believe they have the capacity to act correctly.

The second definition of confidence is to hold something close and keep it in secret. When I tell you something in confidence, I trust that you will not broadcast it. The term “con man” in the vernacular means someone who pulls tricks someone else. But it derives from the term “confidence man” or one who acts in secret.

It requires both types of confidence to run today’s entrepreneurial business in the New Economy.

First and foremost, entrepreneurs in the New Economy need the self-assurance to operate in the global environment, make assessments and act quickly. After all, the universe loves speed and the spoils go to the person able to grab opportunities as they arise. Even more accurately, the spoils go to the entrepreneur who grabs opportunities just before they arrive . . . to the entrepreneur who trusts herself.

He sees markets that don’t yet exist or envisions ways to serve existing markets in ways that others do not see. The ability to act on unrealized markets and opportunities ahead of their manifestation requires much self-assurance.

And importantly, spreading self-assurance is the mark of a true leader. It requires only a consistent and mindful effort to use inspiring language in daily electronic, telephone, and in-person conversations. Go here for a starter list!

The second definition of confidence, the ability to hold things closely and quietly, also plays an important role in entrepreneurial success. All of the advantages of the global market on the Internet everywhere, always and everything, also mean that the opportunities that are not yet realized are also evident for anyone who has eyes to see.

For someone who imagines the possibilities, it is important to hold your vision close to your inside team long enough to realize it but briefly enough to bring it into full realization before someone else does.

Quick, quiet, assured. These are among the most confident and most meaningful behaviors of the new entrepreneur at the top of his or her game.

# # #

C’mon back MONDAY 9/28 for Day 15 —

DO YOU REALLY KNOW ENOUGH TO MAKE IT ALL WORK?

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With Hal and Peggy’s wealth of business coaching experience, you’ll learn what successful entrepreneurs need to be thinking and doing NOW. Simply call 931.854.0474 Central Time: 11AM to 4PM Monday-Friday for details and to reserve your seat!

———-
For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

 # # #

Hal@Businessworks.US      Peggy@Businessworks.US

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Your Role In History As An Entrepreneur

A D V E N T U R E S O M E N E S S

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY written and published by Peggy Salvatore

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. Actually, leadership of any sort is not for the weak-kneed, and taking this trip into the new frontier requires stamina and hard work. Risk-taking is at the core of starting a business and putting your time, resources and reputation on the line. To move forward taking resources and reputation along for the ride certainly requires an adventuresome spirit.

A Master Key to successful business

is to take calculated risks.

Taking calculated (reasonable) risks means both your experience and your instincts kick in when you make a decision. Like Indiana Jones when he stepped off the cliff into thin air, entrepreneurs have an instinct–a sixth sense–that when they take that footstep into the sky, a footbridge will appear.

Internet Joe [See DAY 5, DAY 6, and DAY 9 in this series of posts] understands the difference between adventuresomeness and foolhardiness.

He is adventurous. He is willing to spend enormous amounts of time and money (often investor money) to initiate and implement his creative vision. He is building a business and making promises to customers that he will be there to deliver on his promises. He is also promising employees they can count on him and that it is safe to bet some of their life and livelihood participating in his vision.

Internet Joe is not careless, though.

He is backed by a good (though probably not “formal”) business plan . . . it may just be scribbled on the back of an envelope! But he will for sure have at least a professional grounding in what he is doing.

As I mentioned earlier in this blog-adaption series, Internet Joe probably landed on his own after a stint at a major corporation. He has a finely-honed sense of quality and what it takes to build his vision. The adventure is taking on both planned and unforeseen opportunities to execute it in a whole new way — serve new markets, create products and services, and uncover new revenue streams where none existed.

If he has venture capital or crowdsourced income, people have already vetted his credentials. So the risk may have a stronger likelihood of an upside for investors than backing a relative unknown venture or creator, but working with other people’s money invested because they believe in someone or the idea puts stress on entrepreneur shoulders.

Regardless of whether a venture is investor-backed or self-funded, it is critical to regularly step back from the idea workbench to execute good judgment and seek the advice of close associates moving forward. Successful business development always reduces itself to being an authentic boss!

In either case, at the core, Internet Joe is taking some risk. Many ventures are well-vetted by professional investors, many people build businesses based on solid skills, and yet the annals of business are littered with failures within the first two years. More than half fail in the first five years according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics . . . and this is likely understated.

Soooooooo, “The Force” may “be with you,” but the odds are not, and your success is clearly not guaranteed . . . at least the first time around.

BEST BET: Pepper your adventuresomeness with

calculated, educated, realistic, well-advised

moves to increase your chances for success.

But don’t let all that practical good sense dampen your adventuresome spirit. Hey! Who knows where you’ll end up?

# # #

C’mon back TOMORROW 9/25 for Day 14 —

ARE YOU CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO MAKE IT ALL WORK?

# # #

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

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Get fresh, informed, proven insights geared specifically to your business market, your biggest problems, your biggest opportunities.

With Hal and Peggy’s wealth of business coaching experience, you’ll learn what successful entrepreneurs need to be thinking and doing NOW. Simply call 931.854.0474 Central Time: 11AM to 4PM Monday-Friday for details and to reserve your seat!

———-
For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

 # # #

Hal@Businessworks.US      Peggy@Businessworks.US

Open Minds Open Doors

Thanks for your visit and make today a GREAT day for someone!

SEE SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT IN RED AT END OF POST

Your Role In History As An Entrepreneur

C R E A T I V I T Y

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY written and published by Peggy Salvatore

Many entrepreneurial thinking-and-doing hardliners are justifiably quick to distinguish between creativity and innovation! They say ANYone can have creative ideas, but the true measure of success in entrepreneurland is innovation–taking a creative idea all the way through to the point of completion.

 

Just dreaming up a new behind-the-knees deodorant, for example, means nothing without also being able to produce accurate cost estimates, ingredient and package testing plans, financing and manufacturing sources, liability issues, distribution/warehousing arrangements and costs, marketing and branding strategies and tactics, etc., etc. etc.

 

That said, we need to be reminded that all of these, and other innovation-based issues, nonetheless begin with a single creative idea . . . the adopted child of every entrepreneur!

Peter Diamandis, President of Singularity University and Founder of the XPrize, is known for promoting “moonshot thinking,” as are the people at Google X. Moonshot thinking, as Diamandis describes it, doesn’t seek to achieve 10% sales but rather 10X more sales. Moonshot thinking is at the heart of the entrepreneurial spirit driving our culture into the New Economy. It is a creative kind of boundlessness that sees where nothing is and imagines what can be, full blown, in color, in 3D.

Entrepreneurs who will succeed well into future decades have a 360-degree view of the world, and it is magnified by a high-powered telescope. When the world was more linear, it was enough for an entrepreneur to see around corners and make an educated guess about where the world, his business and the two were going together. But today, an entrepreneur who merely sees around the next corner isn’t seeing far enough to guide a business into the New Economy.

SUCCESS calls for the kind of vision and creativity

that combines what we know now with what we are

working on– and what we haven’t yet figured out!

It calls for the kind of disciplined creative genius that birthed the light bulb, the airplane, the automobile, the Statue of Liberty, and Superman. It requires the kind of creativity usually associated with the arts . . . creativity that calls into being, something that has no grounding in the present and can’t be imagined by the minds of others . . . David, Mona Lisa,The Sistine Chapel, The Beatles, the pyramids, the Ferris Wheel, space travel, comic strip character Dick Tracy with a 2-way, video wristwatch in 1946 — long before television became a common household device, and very long before cellphones.

Creativity calls forth the left brain (which dictates outgoing, communicative right-side-of-the-body activities and associated analytical, practical, methodical thinking) in concert with the right brain (which dictates introvert-ish, artistic, left-side-of-the-body activities marked by free-spirited and unencumbered out-of-the-box thinking) a rare combination of thinking and behavior not often associated with business decision making.

Internet Joe [See earlier posts] can typically make cross-brain connections. He is wired to think out of the box (“Box? What box? I didn’t see any box!”) and yet to organize it in a way that his imaginings are usable and replicate-able. Viable businesses, after all, aren’t built on one-of-a-kind products or services.

Because creativity pulls in so many different skills and types of intelligence, great products and services are mostly built by cooperative teams. Creativity can and should be managed to result in something truly valuable. Great project managers who understand the creative process and can corral moonshot thinking are essential members of these teams, and every entrepreneur needs a good PM if they aren’t one themselves.

Creativity is a team sport.

Creativity isn’t as lone an enterprise as it might be romantically portrayed, a baggy-eyed, frizzle-haired Einstein sleepless and obsessed. Yes, creative entrepreneurs need to be very creative to envision what’s possible. But speed is often the key to success, and acceleration happens when teams multiply their vision geometrically and when project managers assemble the pieces into viable products and services.

Dream, be agile and connected. And then once the idea is born . . . then: innovate!

# # #
C’mon back TOMORROW 9/24 for Day 13.
Find out if YOUR sense of adventuresomeness measures up!
# # #

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Sign up NOW for NOVEMBER 29th (Sunday Night after Thanksgiving for 2 hours) $99 LIMITED SEATING COACHING WEBINAR: “Accelerating Your Business Growth and Development.”

Get fresh, informed, proven insights geared specifically to your business market, your biggest problems, your biggest opportunities.

With Hal and Peggy’s wealth of business coaching experience, you’ll learn what successful entrepreneurs need to be thinking and doing NOW. Simply call 931.854.0474 Central Time: 11AM to 4PM Monday-Friday for details and to reserve your seat!

———-
For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US      Peggy@Businessworks.US

Open Minds Open Doors

Thanks for your visit and make today a GREAT day for someone!

Your Role In History As An Entrepreneur

I  N  T  E  G  R  I  T  Y

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY written and published by Peggy Salvatore

First of all, without integrity, you can stop reading right now. Don’t waste your time trying to lead an organization—or even yourself—because if you do not have integrity in all you do, you cannot perform any of the necessary actions required to grow and lead a successful organization.

INTEGRITY. Is it more than not cheating on your expense account? More than not pocketing stuff in a retail store? More than lying on your taxes or to your partner or associates? Your landlord? Your family?

Integrity is all-inclusive. Maintaining integrity half the time is like being half-pregnant. Integrity has to do with your treatment of all people all of the time.

It includes all of your communications and the commitments you make – written (including texts, emails, blogs, and site content) and oral (including personal meetings, telephone calls, and electronic transmissions).

If you say one thing to one person and another thing to someone else, don’t expect anyone to listen to you or follow you. They cannot follow you because you have proven that you cannot be trusted; if they follow you, they don’t know where they’ll end up.

If there is any incongruity in your actions or words, you will lose the respect and trust of your employees and everyone else who knows you, including importantly (especially if it’s your own business) your customers.

The reality of  this thinking applies not only to all your business dealings, but all your dealings in life.

 You cannot effectively be one person in your public life and another person in your private life.

Without integrity, you have (or will likely end up having) nothing.

An individual with Integrity is one who is wholly integrated. All pieces of that person’s life line up and make sense. A fully integrated person acts from the same core of values in her or his actions, at work with employees, at home with family and friends, at the gym, in the restaurant, on the phone . . . standing in line.

Integrity is about trust and consistency.

When others let you into their world, whether on a screen, or through a product or service, deserve a certain basic level of trust. And people with Integrity are honest in all cases, which is a demonstration of respect for others.

People who are used to treating others with respect can be expected to treat customers with respect, too. It’s a behavior that comes naturally.

People with Integrity have nothing to hide.

What you see is the actual sum of the man or woman. This is important for several reasons. Generosity tends to accompany Integrity. People who are fully integrated are free to be open and that means they are free to share their ideas, their friends, their lives and their resources.

As a corollary to generosity, people with Integrity usually have an abundance mentality. They aren’t hoarders. This openness is a prerequisite to have a giving personality, one that believes there is enough to go around. An open hand gives and receives in a virtuous cycle.

Another quality of people of Integrity is their outward focus. The natural integration of their lives means that their business is a member of the community it serves. In the Internet world, some entrepreneurs have a global focus, so that community can be near or far.

An Internet entrepreneur may be the leader of a company of one as a solopreneur, or may lead a company of hundreds. But the same rules apply. As the leader of your organization, Integrity is the make-or-break personal quality.

Integrity is the foundation of success in any
venture and is particularly critical to
long-term successful leadership
at any level. Entrepreneurship is no exception.

Let’s close this discussion by pointing out that this is not a sermon. None of us is perfect. We are, after all is said and done, humans. That requires us to each have faults. The intent of this post is to serve as a reminder that—as motivational guru Brian Tracy so aptly paraphrases: “We become what we think about most of the time.” Thinking more about integrity helps us to gain more of it. And that’s as good for our businesses as it is for ourselves and for those around us every day.

For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US     

Open Minds Open Doors

Thanks for your visit and make today a GREAT day for someone!

SEE SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT IN RED AT END OF POST

Your Role In History As An Entrepreneur

CHARACTERISTICS OF 

THE NEW ENTREPRENEUR

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY written and published by Peggy Salvatore

Many long-standing entrepreneurial success characteristics remain on the front-lines. Reasonable risk-taking and possessing of some mysterious instincts are but two examples. NOW, as we approach the 2020s, other “quieter” ingredients are gaining traction and emerging as higher level success characteristics. Today, Peggy leads us to four of these: Nimble. Flexible. Responsive. Personal.

About 10 years ago, when my three kids were all in high school, I decided to go back to school to fulfill a dream of earning an advanced degree in economics. Okay, geek alert! Yes,I know that not every girl’s dream is to study what most people have always seemed to consider such a dismal science. But it was mine.

A for-profit online university called Cardean University advertised an MBA with a specialization in economics and strategy. The curriculum was developed by professors from The London School of Economics, the University of Chicago and Stanford. And I reasoned that they couldn’t advertise that fact if it weren’t true.

Yet, I still wasn’t sure of the value of an online degree in the real world. I phoned a friend I thought would know the answer. When I asked her if an online MBA would be akin to getting your degree on the back of a matchbook cover (ah, you do remember matchbooks, yes?;).

Okay, so my friend said the credibility issues I was concerned with were no longer the case, and that in the real world, virtual degrees counted just fine. (Eventually, Cardean was sold so my degree ended up being from a bricks-and-mortar school anyway.)

Here I was, attending classes and studying online, and learning real stuff that I still use.

I had classmates all around the globe — many from private sector corporations like General Motors and others from federal entities like the U.S. Army — which had a value all by itself.

I share this here because the Internet has become and remains a legitimate business and educational channel. Unlike the fly-by-night money order, cash-for-gold side street vendor-type people who open their virtual doors with the intention of fleecing the public or churning cash, and whose daily email bombardments we all readily block or delete, I suggest they will not ever gain credibility among credible people. In fact, it’s unlikely they will ever even get as far as the cash-for-gold fleece-master.

The Internet is designed for integrity. Internet Joe needs to have valuable wares he is exchanging for income. If not, he’ll be sniffed out and escorted out of town. So if integrity is the bedrock of business, the Internet is the place where it is most solid. After all, who among us wants to do business with the fleece-master? On the Internet, you probably have less chance of that happening than you do of winning some big-time cash prize at the carnival coming through town.

For Internet Joe, this is good news. The foundational principle of all business is that the owner must have integrity to conduct business successfully and continually. Nowhere is this more likely that in the place where one star versus five stars. Comment boxes and the online star and thumbs-up reviews are available to everyone.

So, if like me, you are concerned that perhaps a virtual business might be less legitimate than a storefront on Main Street, my friend’s “take” on virtual classes was right. The Internet business playing field is for real, and that means you must be, too.

Besides integrity, Internet Joe has a few other characteristics that ideally suit him for success in a rapidly unfolding New Economy.

Internet Joe is:

• NIMBLE: He assembles the pieces necessary to build an online presence.
• FLEXIBLE: He is working his way around obstacles and making adjustments as the terrain changes daily. Updates that change the way his online meeting service functions? He’s on top of those.
• RESPONSIVE: He is always “on alert” for his customers. Customers get answers from his smartphone on the road, his tablet on vacation, and his home office on a 24/7 global schedule. Internet Joe responds with spontaneity!
• PERSONAL: When his name is out there, his Facebook, Pinterest and far more private information is just a click away. Customers know that.

RETURN HERE TOMORROW 9/22 FOR DAY 11

AND THE TRUTH ABOUT INTEGRITY

# # #

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Sign up NOW for NOVEMBER 29th (Sunday Night after Thanksgiving for 2 hours) $99 LIMITED SEATING COACHING WEBINAR: “Accelerating Your Business Growth and Development.”

Get fresh, informed, proven insights geared specifically to your business market, your biggest problems, your biggest opportunities.

With Hal and Peggy’s wealth of business coaching experience, you’ll learn what successful entrepreneurs need to be thinking and doing NOW. Simply call 931.854.0474 Central Time: 11AM to 4PM Monday-Friday for details and to reserve your seat!

———-
For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US      Peggy@Businessworks.US

Open Minds Open Doors

Thanks for your visit and make today a GREAT day for someone!

Your Role in History as an Entrepreneur

The Virtues of Internet Joe

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY
written and published by Peggy Salvatore

It takes a lot of hustle to open your own business.
I recently met a young married couple starting a boutique brewery. Location. Licenses. Equipment. Employees. And some real hassles. A lot to consider. But it was worth it to them. They’ll end up making their own beer.

Internet entrepreneurship requires the same kind of hustle. He might not be cleaning vats or hoisting foamy mugs, but Internet Joe does his own version of cleaning and heavy lifting. Think about it. He will integrate years of expertise (could be 2, could be 50) to come up with a product or service that will provide value to people somewhere, anywhere on this planet.

That’s a pretty wide swath to cut, so Internet Joe (and maybe you too?) needs to build his pursuits on the following ESSENTIAL 7 TRAITS:

1.  CONFIDENCE: Internet Joe has enough confidence to believe he has something to offer and is willing to put in the time, effort and money to offer it.

2.  KNOWLEDGE: He has a defined skill set that he may have used or is using at a corporate job, but he has acquired other skills and knowledge that he did not use in his tightly defined corporate role. He is anxious to use these skills and knowledge in his new Internet business.

3.  DEPENDABILITY: He opened the business for a few reasons, including but not limited to the need for an income. By taking the chance of investing both time and money in developing the Internet business, Joe has already proven that he is a go-getter and is responsible. Customers can depend on delivery from Internet Joe.

4. CREATIVITY: Internet Joe has the energy and creativity to build a business online from scratch. He also has the ability to put that kind of thinking to work for customers. And all those skills that weren’t used by the last employer? Now’s the time to figure out how to integrate his interest in fine art with his sales and marketing expertise.

5. REASONABLE RISK-TAKING: Joe took a risk by putting himself and his products, services and ideas out for sale to the public. That investment of time, money and creativity to build the business came at the risk of not doing something else with those resources. It also came at the risk that his endeavor could meet with crickets.

6. INTEGRITY: This is the core requirement for any business person online and offline. Your word is your bond. You can be trusted and you respect yourself as well as everyone you come in contact with. Without integrity, you have nothing in business. Internet Joe is putting himself in the public eye and subjecting himself to levels of scrutiny heretofore impossible without investing in private investigation services.

7. ADVENTURESOMENESS: The Internet is new. Even if you are following a proven model in your online business, you are bound to uncover some new ways of doing things and improving upon the existing system. Because Internet business is in its infancy, Internet Joe is learning along with everyone else. Internet entrepreneurs are learning together and there is a lot of room for innovation.

Certain personal qualities are essential for success in any business. With an industry that is new, people who succeed will be among the first to find effective ways of operating in this environment.

Businesses and products have a life cycle. The business cycle is traditionally divided into four segments:
• Early Adopters
• Pragmatists
• Conservatives
• Skeptics

“The Chasm” is the space between the innovative early adopters and the majority of early pragmatist entrants when a majority of people jump on to a new idea.

I reproduce this graph here to suggest that we have not crossed the chasm but we are rapidly approaching it.

The Early Adopter phase is the place where

history is made. It is where you are!

The seven traits I list above are essential for success at the Early Adoption phase. I will dedicate the next seven weekdays talking about them . . . the Success Traits of Internet Joe.

There are lots of Internet Joe’s in the new economy. Are you one of

them? Are you one of the “Frontier Pioneers” staking your claim?

C’mon back TOMORROW 9/16 for Day 7
to find out how you and Joe compare.

When you need some personal, one-on-one coaching beyond the Internet offerings, give us a call. (Direct line numbers on masthead above.) In the meantime, follow us HERE for FREE for the next 24 weekdays to see what others think, and discover some of the surprise findings we have in store for you—new and proven “mental apps” to apply to your own entrepreneurial and business development!
———-
For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US      Peggy@Businessworks.US

Open Minds Open Doors

Thanks for your visit and make today a GREAT day for someone!

Your Role in History as an Entrepreneur

Low Cost, High Quality

AND Personal Service

in the New Economy

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY

written and published by Peggy Salvatore

INTERNET JOE has cost and customer service advantages
that elude the big boys. Customers buying from YOU
—the Internet entrepreneur—in the new economy,
enjoy High Quality, Low Cost AND Personal Service.
Purchase from a major corporation yields only one of these three.

1.   HIGH QUALITY: The owner of a small Internet business is often a former employee or consultant with a large organization. That means the small Internet business is run with the same degree of expertise and quality as you get from a major player without the major price tag. When the global corporation laid off or downsized its expertise, that talent found another outlet and became INTERNET JOE.

2.   LOW COST: With a virtual retail storefront, the cost of business for Internet Joe is minimal. So the pricing of products and services through an entrepreneurial Internet business is far lower than the global enterprise that is supporting a huge infrastructure.

In fact, INTERNET ENTREPRENEURING has turned what used to be the price advantage of scale on its head. In the days of large manufacturing dominance, “bigger” meant competitive pricing due to volume. But in today’s New Economy, bigger now means more overhead and higher fixed costs.

NOW
. . . the small business entrepreneur

holds the price advantage.

3.   PERSONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE: When you buy a product or service from an Internet entrepreneur, she or he is very happy to have your business. He or she is running a little virtual store to meet your specific needs. You are his/her bread and butter so—as a customer—you get responsive and agile customer care.

THAT MEANS

. . . as your needs evolve and the Internet entrepreneur sees the evolution by staying in close personal contact, he/she can respond and change with you in lockstep.

. . . due to small size, Internet Joe (as the virtual Mom and Pop) can pivot long before large corporations can get the word that a market has changed.

It can take a large corporation a year or more to engage its strategic planning office, hire a consultancy, conduct an environmental scan, do a SWOT analysis, report to the board, and consider a change in direction.

Meanwhile, the Internet entrepreneur has been

at the customer’s side from the git-go!

Real Internet entrepreneurs are usually hungry critters. With the same kind of determination that drove their forefathers and foremothers—the Mom and Pops—they stake out their virtual storefront (get a URL), pay rent (server space), pay vendors (Internet services to run their business such as mail clients, shopping cart software, writers, graphic designers, etc.) and worry about their online enterprises 24/7.

They probably sweep their own virtual doorstep or hire the kid next door to do it. The daily sense of responsibility alone makes it a great place for customers to send their business. These small online business owners get their customers with self-determination and by NOT acting corporate.

Let’s talk more tomorrow about the

virtues of online business owners.

# # #

When you need some personal, one-on-one coaching beyond the Internet offerings, give us a call. (Direct line numbers on masthead above.) In the meantime, follow us HERE for FREE for the next 25 weekdays to see what others think, and discover some of the surprise findings we have in store for you—new and proven “mental apps” to apply to your own entrepreneurial and business development!

See you here tomorrow 9/15 for Day 6.

———-
For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US  Peggy@Businessworks.US

Open Minds Open Doors

Thank You for Your Visit and Make today a GREAT day for someone!