The Single Greatest Factor in Entrepreneurial Success Mike Armour On a flight to New York this month I found myself seated beside a veteran entrepreneur. Now retired and headed to Europe for a vacation, he was the founder of two … Continue reading
Category Archives: Success
One fact alone should make you determined to have a quality business card: unless you have a high-traffic website, more people will see your business card than any other item in your marketing inventory. Yet business cards do not always serve us well. Or at least not as well as they should. Startups in particular make common mistakes in the design and production of their cards. Here are some of the most serious mistakes that you want to avoid.
Continue readingIf you’re an encore entrepreneurs without a website, I want to show you how simple and how essential it is to create one. When I started my business in 2001, the smartest thing that I did in the first three months was to develop a website. Over the years this one move has paid immeasurable dividends and brought me untold new business. It’s simply short-sighted to do business today without a web presence.
Continue readingIn selling ourselves to others, our purpose is to gain their cooperation, collaboration, business, or support. Without influence, we can accomplish none of these objectives. And if this is true of people in general, it’s particularly true of small business owners. To achieve their dreams and to do so with their limited resources, small business owners must daily capitalize on their ability to influence people. As an encore entrepreneur, your self-improvement agenda should therefore make it a priority to enhance your capacity for exerting influence.
Continue readingPeople start businesses with a dream of the freedom the business will give them. Then they find themselves a few years later frustrated, exhausted, and on the verge of burnout. One of the primary reasons that this happens to small business owners is that they never shed an employee mindset to assume an entrepreneurial mindset. Had they done so, they would have structured their time and their business much differently.
Continue readingRecent research in neuro-science has demonstrated the critical role of a primary system in the brain for helping us solve problems and evoke our curiosity. Ironically, this system does its best work when other systems are not being stimulated by the activities and distractions of daily life.
Continue readingPeople starting a small business often devote themselves primarily to what they will offer rather than innovating the way in which they will offer it.
Continue readingAre your personality traits conducive to entrepreneurial success? It’s risky to start a business without asking yourself that question. As much as anything, your success in building a small business will depend on your personality and how well it is suited to the task.
Continue readingAre you enthusiastic about your startup? Great! Great, that is, if you don’t let it get you in trouble! Any entrepreneurial undertaking is risky enough without compounding the risk by letting your enthusiasm lead you into assumptions that are less than judicious.
Continue readingTrack Four of our LeaderTrack Small Business Coaching Series emphasizes the interpersonal and communication skills that are vital for anyone who owns a small business.
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