Helpful advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. Tips for Starting Entrepreneurs 4 Tips for Starting an Entrepreneur

Andrew Griffiths

Andrew Griffiths is an unusual businessman. His parents left him six months after birth, so Andrew does not know the exact date of his birth. A difficult childhood did not prevent Griffiths from realizing his own dreams. Now he famous business coach and a consultant helping entrepreneurs to earn the coveted million. His portfolio includes talks at the Million Dollar Round Table, TEDx and 11 best-selling marketing and entrepreneurship books.

1. Don't listen to skeptics

Andrew Griffiths admits that most of his friends in the marketing world were adamant and advised not to. However, he ignored the skeptical remarks and did what he wanted. The first book was written and published after all. It became commercially successful around the world and brought Griffiths popularity and wealth, and has since published 10 more best-selling books.

2. Pursue your goals

Getting out of bed in the morning, you should clearly know why you are doing this. Check your goals and aspirations daily. Sometimes you will feel that your desires are changing. In this case, it is imperative to find out why this is happening.

Your daily routines and activities should be organized according to a global purpose. If it changes, so will your schedule.

3. Don't make common mistakes

Modern entrepreneurs are impatient and often give up long before their business is successful. You need to find your niche and do everything to fill it. Then the business will work.

Another common mistake: entrepreneurs do not talk about themselves and their business. But many consumers want to know all about it.

By the way, about the importance of the story about own company says Angela Ahrendts, Apple's senior vice president of retail and e-commerce:

As the world becomes more complex and connected at the same time, stories gain an amazing ability to nurture, connect and inspire. I believe that with the tools of the digital age armed, the future of storytelling could be even richer and more significant than its past.

Andrew Griffiths advises: you need to understand how your business is different from any other, and tell your clients about it in order to stand out from the rest.

4. Think of problems as opportunities.

The problem should be regarded as new opportunity... But you need to be ready for this. Identify the bad scenarios and figure out how you can respond to them in each case. What will be the biggest damage? Maybe your company will only get better in the face of a disaster? It shouldn't be seen as a sign that it's time for your business to change. You need to learn how to use critical situations to grow your company.

When I was 20, I lost $ 50,000. A little later, I realized that this was an investment in the future that would save me a fortune in a few years.
Andrew Griffiths

5. Don't forget about reputation

Honesty and a good reputation are very important to an entrepreneur: they will feed you. Therefore, be careful when choosing partners. Respect people. Constantly . Lay the foundation for future steps and perspectives. Be patient. Make acquaintances.

Help people get what they want and they will definitely give you what you want.

6. Learn to empathize

Put yourself in other people's shoes. Think not about yourself, but about how to help people who are listening to you. Before you start talking, ask yourself what you can do for the person you are talking to.

11 commandments of the aspiring entrepreneur

Readiness

Readiness for business ... This is such a state ... When you understand that you want it or when you decide that you want to work for yourself and only for yourself. When you will not plow day and night for some uncle .. When you are ready to devote yourself to this business ... When you are ready to face problems. When you live with an idea, when you breathe it - then you are ready ...

Confidence

Confidence in the idea. In your future business. What you want to open must be successful. It cannot be otherwise. When you will definitely tell everyone concerned, all employees, friends - YES, I will do it. YES, I will definitely do it. And only then take the idea. If you’re not ready to speak, if you’re not sure, don’t even try. If there is a fix idea in your brain, accompanied by words - I want or it seems to me that I will do it - this is not the case. When you are burning with an idea, when you are confident in it - then take it.

Enterprise

You have to be "not an employee". You must be a businessman. You have to organize the case. You have to lead people with you. You should be seen as an entrepreneur. Feel it in conversation and business. You have to see ideas, you have to take everything you need ... You have to be ideological. You have to be adventurous. Remember this.

A responsibility

Business needs money. You must realize that this is a huge risk. You should not take money without realizing that this is a huge responsibility! Many people around me have committed suicide due to debt. This breaks up marriages. From this, friends are lost, relatives turn away. If you take money, you have to give it back. Please understand that this is a huge responsibility and that these are huge risks! Do not borrow if you are not sure of 100% repayment. This is dangerous.

Awareness

You must know your area. I must understand what it is and how it works. It is excellent if the field of activity of the company is your favorite. You understand this. You know the loopholes ... Imagine a grandmother who wants to do not sewing production and web design. Not so simple.

Business plan

No matter how it seems to you that everything is so simple, understandable and wonderful - you are obliged to write a business plan or its semblance ... A short strategy. If you start a business without a business plan, you will make a big mistake. Without a plan of action, don't do it. You need to know your customers. Must see the big picture. As stupid as it may seem - write. That's better.

Friends

Don't take your friends to your staff. You will understand your mistake as soon as you do it. Friends will not fit the job like salaried workers. Friends won't cope. Friends will want more than others. Friends can put pressure on you. Friends will drag your firm down. You cannot fire them out of a sense of duty. If you hire a friend, you will make a big mistake. An old truthful saying: "if you want to lose a friend, give him a loan." So it is here. Don't take your friends. You can cooperate with them, but not hire them on the staff.

Honesty

If you are good partner- you can be relied on. You do everything on time, you don’t let anyone down, you don’t throw anyone. Partners will stay with you. They will rather pay back in kind. Don't throw it! You said - you did. Keep your words! And people will be drawn to you. But all the same, do not forget that in business they "throw" and "cheat" everyone ... Caution never interferes.

Thrift

Don't waste all your money. If the company is generating amazing revenue, don't get used to it. It could be just some kind of luck, temporary success, or just a goof client. If you own a firm, you need better clothes. Entertainment is more expensive. The car is cooler. You will go after it. In this pursuit, you will forget about business. And if it brings even less, you will consider that life is over. And remember - "it's easier to make money than to keep."

Saving

Not that you are taught in universities !!! the performance is not sucking! The opinion is imposed on us that a company is when there is a corporate culture, when everywhere there is euro-renovation, white walls, new furniture and cool equipment! All wrong! Save! No cool equipment needed! Everything to a minimum! Why offices for workers? Cellars, Pentium1, ordinary students working for a pittance. Here are the realities of business. There will be no cool company. Everywhere you need to save! Everything to a minimum!

Distance

You can't be friends with your own employees. Keep your distance. Keep them away from you. You are in charge. You are the boss, you are the director. For example, you don't have to go to "you". In my opinion, this will both elevate you, and employees will feel more and more responsible.

I hope you read these tips and get a more complete picture of the business world. If you have only one desire, this is not a business. Use the advice. Take this seriously.

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Every entrepreneur sleeps and sees how to improve the work of his enterprise. But not everyone can clearly formulate what indicators can be used to judge that the enterprise has become successful.

Very often, active and self-confident people come up with ideas to open their own business. And not in vain - the energy for action, experience and the desire to change life for the better do not allow such people to be content with little. But not all ideas turn into achieved goals.

Various factors stop it: a person realizes what responsibility he will have to take upon himself, or is faced with strong competitors, unfavorable market conditions and other difficulties. Over time, ideas to start your own business remain just ideas.

We have prepared a selection practical advice aspiring entrepreneurs who will help them succeed and see the most positive aspects of this type of activity. On the positive side, we mean the unlimited ability to create: in your own company, you can build a unique corporate culture, set the pace for work, help develop your people, establish valuable contacts, and so on.

1. Start by thinking of money as a coherent flow, without getting hung up on profitability issues.
By providing good gross income, you will get a decent bottom line. Setting up a system is the first challenge to a person opening his business, and you can already make adjustments and improve processes along the way.

2. Don't expect dramatic, miraculous leaps in profits.
There are no jackpots in the business, here you have to move forward in small steps every day, investing time and effort in future profits.

3. Do not pause in the movement towards your goal.
No breaks! Yes, there will be failures, but they are not a reason for a time-out, but rather the opposite. More traffic, activity, continuous search for clients and partners. Such activity will sooner or later “shoot”.

4. In business matters, listen to the people who have done it in practice, not in words.
As an advisor, only experts who know this kitchen from the inside will be suitable for you. Only a person who has personal experience in entrepreneurship, can give valuable advice a novice businessman.

5. Be persistent in your actions.
You have chosen a course - follow it, because excessive change in decisions will only harm the result. In addition, by not sticking to your own stated ideas, you will create embarrassment and misunderstanding among your employees. And if you already had to force objective reasons change plans - be sure to inform your colleagues about it. You should have one main goal (known to your employees), which you need to focus on.

6. From now on, optimism is your life partner.
Maintain a positive attitude and belief in success in any situation. Only with a positive person the team is ready to perform real feats! Infect others with good mood. A healthy team environment is essential to a company's profitability and success.

7. Make friends with innovation.
In any area of business, they are the key to prosperity. Understand technologies and innovations from your field, be on a short leg with the developers or manufacturers of your product. This way, information about future trends will come first-hand to you. By offering your customers only the services and products that are in demand, you will be one step ahead of the competition. And this is a direct road to leading positions in the market.

8. Communication is at the forefront.
Communicate with customers as much as possible. Let them communicate their wishes to you about what your product / service should be. Hear them. In addition, by communicating with your target audience directly, you form a positive attitude towards your person and your brand. Feedback is provided to you, and you can look at it from a practical point of view. Who Will Give Up Free Market Research?

9. Test any idea before implementation.
Explore, collect data, study numbers and facts, give presentations to the team - create a powerful information field around a new product or service. This will help you identify and fix potential problems at an early stage.

10. Arm yourself with a legal framework.
Knowing the laws is a powerful privilege that will save you a lot of hardships and help you defend your rights. When confronting various government agencies, you will not let them dictate their terms. If you do not want to delve into all the intricacies of jurisprudence personally, then buy this knowledge - hire a lawyer.

Yes, the path for aspiring entrepreneurs is not easy. But own business grants freedom of choice: how to live, how much to earn, when to rest, how much to work. Trust your instinct, do not give up half-way - and the achievement of any goal will only be a matter of time.

Natalia Churkova, Commercial director and owner of the company "Project-studio" Our city ", Smolensk

What questions can you find answers to in this article

Why is it important to love the product you are selling
Should small companies establish very close relationships with employees?
How to motivate the sales team to strive to meet the set plan without reminders

A little over 10 years ago, my husband and I decided to devote ourselves entirely to your business. We already had a company, but it did not grow as fast as we would like (because of the hired work, we did not devote maximum time to it). Of course it was scary to quit and lose stable income... Circumstances pushed us: a replenishment was planned in our family, we were waiting for twins and understood that there was no time to think - it was obvious that at first the family income would not only not increase, but would also sharply decrease due to investments in a new office, etc. Looking ahead , I will say that we made the right decision and achieved what we were striving for: independence. I'll tell you about the principles that helped us.

Principle 1. Choose products and activities that give you moral satisfaction. We started with the development of custom-made websites. It was a distant year 2005, and the topic for a small regional town with 360 thousand population was not clear to everyone. At that time, only a few local businesses had websites, and even more so no one knew exactly how to make money with them. I had to make my way with this idea to the directors, explain to them how to get profit from the web resource. The studio bore fruit, but almost all of the income went to the salaries of programmers, designers and sales managers. And after a couple of years, too many people began to create websites. It was becoming difficult to compete with freelancers.

Then we began to search new idea... I needed a product related to our favorite area information technologies... It was at that moment that we learned about BSS "Sistema Glavbuh" and agreed to meet with its developers - representatives of the publishing holding "Aktion". Doubts were up to the very arrival in Moscow. The fact is that we both started our activities in a company selling a similar monopoly product - then it seemed to me that competing with him was a gamble. However, a meeting with Aktion employees convinced him otherwise. I realized that we had found what we needed. At that time (in 2009) BSS "System Glavbuh" needed improvements and, like any new product, was groping its way. But she had a fresh idea, and I felt that I could charge her team, they would love the product, which means they would sell it well. I was right. For six years of work in the Smolensk market, we have reached such a volume of the client base, which the sellers of a competing system have been accumulating for more than 15 years. Of course, everything did not go easily right away: in the first three months we did not make a single sale, while we paid employees' salaries. We were helped by the willingness that the first six months or a year the business can be unprofitable: we formed a safety cushion by developing websites.

6 rules for choosing a partner that will ensure sales growth while diversifying your business

Principle 2. Quickly identify problems and solve them. There will always be mistakes! It is important to correct them promptly. This is the key to success. For example, after a year of work, we faced the problem of a large churn of clients. The fact is that customers acquire access to the BSS "Sistema Glavbuh" for a certain period (for example, for a year) and our task is to convince them to renew their subscription for the next period. We could not understand why customers are unsubscribing. Customers like the product, there are no complaints about the quality, the price is competitive, but people are returning to old suppliers. Then we started interviewing clients and asked them to fill out questionnaires. We found out a paradoxical thing: our main advantage, which we were proud of, turned out to be a weak point. BSS "System Glavbukh" was the first product on the reference systems market that was not installed directly on the user's computer - it could be accessed remotely through the website www.1gl.ru. This gave, in our opinion, two advantages. Firstly, the user was not tied to the workplace and could get access to the necessary information wherever there is the Internet. Secondly, the system was updated on the site daily and automatically, customers did not have to wait for the weekly arrival of the support manager. Many people really liked it at the stage of buying a product, but then the same paradox occurred when the client began to consider the advantages as disadvantages. The fact is that over the long years of work, users have become accustomed to the fact that specialists in system maintenance come to them, and that they can discuss their questions with them once a week, talk, and just drink tea! And it was this warm companionship that the customers appreciated more than the product. We've even heard some companies reproached for inaction. We were told: "Before, a person came to us once a week and brought news, but you just call and no one has ever come to us in three months!" This opinion is typical for the regions. And if the customer support scheme by phone worked perfectly in Moscow, it failed miserably with us. I had to go and drink tea!

How we solved the problem. To admit, we were not ready for such a turn. In addition to the sales department, it seemed illogical to maintain, in addition to the sales department, a support service, given the technical capabilities of the product and its automatic updates. But later we realized that the creation of such a support department was simply necessary, and the product developers came to this decision, setting the standards for customer support. Now we have it: its employees go to clients and really drink tea there. In addition, the specialists of this service record in the questionnaire the dates of births of key subscribers of the company, the birthday of the company, professional holidays, etc. At the beginning of each month we approve a list of congratulations and deliver “ good mood" (presents). A small monthly budget has been allocated for this, especially for March (most of our subscribers are women) and December. Since our company has the status of "Gold Partner", we periodically receive interesting gifts from "Aktion", as a rule, these are some kind of designer items, exclusively created for our clients.

Principle 3. Valuing employees, but not treating them as family. As James Goodnight said ( General manager SAS Institute and America's Best Employer of 2010): “Every evening, 95% of all assets in my company drive home. My task is to create such working conditions that the next morning all these people would have a desire to come back. "

Don't shy away from uncomfortable questions from employees. Then the subordinates will trust you and will not let you down. So, I constantly collect feedback from employees, I often organize competitions for ideas to improve the work of the company. One day an employee asked me why we have no material motivation for seniority. Soon after, we introduced an award for the number of years worked. And many have been working with us for four years or more, and this award is significant for them.

We also had a problem with the loss of documents when transferring them from department to department. The most indignant was the customer support specialists (they have fines for the loss of documents). During the next indignation, I invited the employee to write to me how she sees the system for storing and transferring customer agreements. The emotions of the subordinates immediately disappeared, and in the morning I received a letter with specific proposals, which I later implemented. All that was needed was to introduce a rule that when the contract was withdrawn from the public folder, a piece of paper with the name of the person who took the documents to work had to be put. The mistake of most managers is that they do not want to notice small discontent, spend time on this, which is always not enough, namely because of these little things, then at the most inopportune moment the work of an entire department collapses.

Staff motivation. 24 “eternal” ways that always work

Remember that all subordinates are just employees. And tomorrow they can leave, because somewhere they will be offered Better conditions... You need to be always ready for this and not let it pass through yourself as a personal drama. And know in advance how to quickly solve the problem. To do this, the company must always have a staff reserve for key positions.

Principle 4. Don't take work home or work on weekends. I am often asked whether there is time for myself and for rest at such an intense pace of work. Remains! Yes, my husband and I are workaholics: we come to the office first, and we leave last. However, I have a rule: do not take work home and do not work on weekends. Because first of all I am a mother. I spend evenings and weekends with my three children. Three years ago, we realized an old dream - we finished building a house, which would have been impossible without a successfully developing business. We love to travel and have already visited many countries, which also became possible thanks to our own lucrative business. You cannot leave your business for a long time, so our vacations are usually short - 7-10 days, but 2-3 times a year.

10 tips for aspiring entrepreneurs

Believe in yourself. Whatever they tell you, listen to yourself.

Read books on how successful people built their businesses. They always have something to borrow. And most importantly, you will see that even the greatest had falls and disappointments, and the winner was not the one who was not mistaken, but the one who knew how to correct mistakes and prevent them. One of the last books that inspired me is the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.

Plan. Establish a rule "not a day without a plan." Schedule grocery shopping, weekend activities, work activities.

Chat with successful people... Those who have not achieved anything in life will not teach you anything, they will rather envy you. The main thing is to remember that success is not measured only in money. Where do I find new acquaintances? Due to the specifics of the work, I have to communicate often and a lot, even on vacation I am happy to keep up a conversation with new acquaintances, because you never know where an interesting interlocutor will meet on your way.

Don't waste time with jealousy. This is an empty feeling inherent in weak people, and it also takes a lot of energy. If someone does something better than you, analyze why this is happening, draw conclusions, adopt the experience and act!

Hire employees, but try to have as few partners as possible. Very often on initial stage it's scary to take responsibility for a new business, and we take someone to help as a partner. But if you work hard and your partner doesn't, you will soon feel frustrated. Meanwhile, the business is already common, and it will have to be divided. Unfortunately, many companies collapse at this stage.

Pay great attention to working with people. Think over a motivation system - this is key moment: people work for an idea only if they are satisfied with the salary. Everyone should know how much and what he needs to do to get a certain amount... We are all lazy by nature, so every sales manager knows that according to the sales funnel, he needs to make 50 product presentations a month in order to get the planned five sales at the exit. Everyone knows, but until we introduced a bonus for fulfilling the plan for presentations, not a single seller made the required amount. In the second month, only three out of ten made the plan, in the third month only one manager did not fulfill this plan.

Count your expenses. Keep the most detailed calculation of all costs. Start with household items. Train yourself to count how much you spend, and you will see where it is rational to save. It should become a habit.

Set specific goals with deadlines. The theory of small matters is, in my opinion, very effective tool self-organization and self-motivation. You reward your employees, and who will praise you? Only you yourself, therefore you must set goals for yourself, achieve them and be sure to praise yourself for it!

Have a rest! No matter how interesting your business is, and no matter how much time it takes, do not forget about rest and loved ones who are waiting for you at home. Don't deprive yourself of the joys in life. Since salary day has become for you not a day of receiving income, but a day of expenses, you also need to encourage yourself!

reference

LLC "Project-studio" Our city "

Field of activity: website development; sale and support of BSS "System Glavbuh"

Number of staff: 40

Annual turnover: RUB 16 million (in 2014)

Using the text and social science background, formulate four tips for a budding entrepreneur starting a business.

Over the past 250 years, mankind has managed to significantly increase production and improve the quality of life. And now the economic progress of society is opening more and more effective ways transforming the resources at his disposal into the desired goods and services. But this does not negate the fundamental law - a person still experiences and will experience a deficit. The resources in the world are limited, and human desires are endless. And, since everything that you want is impossible to have, you have to choose.

If we use labor, machine tools, Natural resources, - this forces us to abandon other goods that could have been produced in a different situation. This choice in market economy carry out consumer demand and production costs. The demand for a product is a signal from the consumer, indicating to the entrepreneur what to produce. However, in order to produce, the initial resources must be "bought" from other directions of their use. The cost of purchasing resources reminds the entrepreneur that there are other industries that require the same resources.

As a result, producers have a strong incentive to supply to the market only those goods that can be sold at a price at least equal to their costs of production, and especially those goods whose value, in the eyes of the consumer, is most greater than their costs of production.

It is important to understand that a product can be provided to a person or a group of people for free only if someone pays for it, and this will only redistribute the burden of costs, without reducing it in the least. Politicians often talk about "free education," "free medicine," or "free housing." These expressions can only be misleading. None of the benefits are provided free of charge - scarce resources are required to produce each one. For example, buildings, labor and other resources involved in the learning process could be used to produce food, provide services in the field of recreation and entertainment, etc. that the resources required for their production were spent on education. The government can shift these costs from one shoulder to another, but it is impossible to get rid of them. The rule "you have to pay for everything" is true in all cases of life.

(R. Stroup, J. Gwartney)

Explanation.

The following tips can be formulated:

1) study in detail the market of the product or service that is planned to be produced;

2) draw up a business plan for the development of the company;

3) find the most profitable loans;

4) be honest;

5) not to produce goods that harm people;

6) remember about ecology.

Other advice could be formulated.

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