Immature Entrepreneur

This post is written with the understanding that you do not want a gimmicky, in your face, obnoxious “buy me!” type of website. If that is you, you are the weakest link. Goodbye.

Here are a handful of items to avoid on your website, less you run the risk of coming across like the annoying screaming guy on an overnight informercial.

• Excessive use of exclamation marks. Example — Click now to buy in the next 10 minutes!!!
• Multiple colors and/or fonts. Unless it’s Christmas, I don’t want to see red and green all over the place. It’s distracting. Think K.I.S.S. — Keep It Simple Stupid.
• Spam-like phrases. Example — Opportunity of a lifetime!!! Buy now!
• Pop up ads. Advertising is fair. We all need a source of revenue. Disruptive “look at me!” advertising, however, is unfair. See Seth Godin’s thoughts on “permission marketing.”
• Poor grammar or misspelled words. Unless you’re an English teacher, it’s going to happen from time to time. That is why God invented Spellcheck. Use it.  

These mistakes will cheapen your site, dilute your message and cause you to come across like a used car salesman, damaging your credibility. If possible, have several friends review your site and offer constructive criticism before going live.

In our relationships and in business, the little things are the big things.

While getting ready for the gym this morning (hopefully this isn’t the beginning of a gym rat theme here), I opened a new canister of powdered amino acids. This brand new container was literally half full. While I’m sure some settling occurs during shipping, certainly a fine powder wouldn’t settle to the extent that it only fills half the container.

Unfortunately, this tends to be the norm across most food/supplement industries. So here is the opportunity: do the opposite. Promote “responsible packaging” with all of your products, displaying this proudly on your containers. This is an opportunity to say “we care about the environment,” ”we’re trying to do the right thing,” “we promise not to mislead our customers.” This is an opportunity to stand out from the crowd. This is an opportunity to shine.

While everyone else is afraid of change, the opportunity to be different is right in front of you. All you have to do is look for it.

At the gym this morning, I saw a blurb flash across the tv: 14 million Americans are unable to find a job. Wow. Sounds bad, huh? Pretty sobering statistic.

The current state of our economy is certainly a major factor here, but there is one other relevant component that is not being talked about: the face of a modern day job is changing.

We are rapidly becoming a global economy. Many traditional jobs are being outsourced. You’re competing with people in China or India that are willing to do your job for less than .50 cents an hour. How do you compete with that?

The answer: you don’t. More and more people are going to have to create their jobs, rather than looking to someone to hire them. What worked yesterday won’t work today (and certainly isn’t going to work tomorrow). We need creativity and imagination and leadership.  Now more than ever, we need entrepreneurs.

Don’t look for a job. Create one.

A frequent question I receive is how do I become an entrepreneur? After all, there is no “entrepreneur school.” There’s not a specific course you can take in college or a certain degree you can strive for. The concept of entrepreneurship is vague by nature, so it can seem like an elusive target.

For a budding entrepreneur, the challenges you will face initially are internal. You must look inside yourself before you can even begin to look to external things. There are several key behaviors and psychological traits that must first be in place in order to lay your groundwork. See here for more detail.

Marketing, selling, networking and the like are “things” that can be taught. Anyone can learn the technical aspects of business. But possessing the right mentality and perspective is what will ensure you have a strong foundation from which to create your reality.

The act of giving may come from a selfish place. Before you react, pause and reflect on this. Why do we give? Because it causes us to feel good. A seemingly selfless act can have selfish underpinings. In fact, Mother Theresa often referred to herself as ”the most selfish person in the world.”  

Be cautious when donating. While on the surface it may seem as though you are doing good, have you evaluated the repercussions? If you give someone food, do you take away their ability to provide for themselves? If you give someone money, do you rob their dignity? If you donate clothing, do you steal the motivation to be self-sufficient? Are you giving? Or taking?

A hand up is different than a handout.

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and you have fed him for a lifetime.” — ancient Chinese proverb

Studies have shown that those who are truly happy found their joy as a result of following their passion–not following money.  Most of us have this backwards. Money will get you stuff, stuff will make you happy temporarily, but ultimately your thoughts will return to dreading Monday morning.

So how do you find your passion? How do you figure out what you are wired to do? Start by creating a “joy list.” Grab a piece of paper and write down 10 or 20 things that bring you joy. Take your time and really give this some thought. This process will require some serious soul-searching and may take a few days to complete.

Once you have a list of things that make you happy, get creative and begin thinking about how you can turn these passions into a source of income. Try to refrain from thinking in traditional terms or you may become frustrated. This will take time, imagination and creativity.  

As an aside, those same studies mentioned earlier also found that those who follow their passion ultimately become wealthy as a result. When you spend your time angaged in an activity that you enjoy, you will pour everything you have into it and success will undoubtedly follow.

The entrepreneur featured in this video has opened a store which provides products made solely in America. The name of the store? Made in America, of course.

This is a great example of identifying a need in a market and acting on it. No such store exists that I’m aware of. Obviously the concept of “made in America” will resonate with Americans, especially given that 9/11 still lurks in our thoughts and currently we have a foreign country (via BP) polluting our waters.

Train yourself to be mindful of your surroundings. Learn to truly open your eyes and examine that which is around you. What potential opportunities are you passing by just on your commute to work today?

The commonly accepted standard for success is to have a good job making a lot of money. We measure success by having a nice car, a big house, and lots of things.

Finances are only one area of success. The same is true with work. While both are certainly important, it is just as critical that we not neglect several other key areas of success including relationships, spirituality, health, personal development, and so on.

Do not live by someone else’s version of success. The definition of success is innately different to each of us. What brings you joy? What makes life worth living? What does success look like to you?

It is foolhardy to measure things only in terms of the financial impact. Money cannot be the only quantifier. 

We purchase food with artificial chemical additives or produce that has been sprayed with pesticides because it is cheaper than organic food. Or is it? Are you adding in the healthcare cost for your future cancer treatments? How about the enviromental costs?

Some justify neglecting family and loved ones in the pursuit of success. After all, there are bills to be paid. But take a moment to examine the situation. Do you really need all of that stuff? Are the material things in your life bringing you true joy? Are your relationships deteriorating? Is your health suffering? Are you happy? What is the cost to your soul?

While money certainly matters, it is but one piece of the puzzle. True success comes by way of balance. Money cannot be the only quantifier.