16 New Rules of Business

Entrepreneurs are nothing if not a trailblazing bunch, and they know firsthand that many rules were made to be broken. From hiring to time management, email etiquette to funding, today's business owners are tossing the guidebooks. More and more businesses these days are even breaking the (former) cardinal rule of business — don't start a venture with friends — and seeing success.

We spoke with a handful of entrepreneurs about their approach to business — and the rules they broke along the way.

1. Hire outside the box

"I have learned over the past eight years that it is better not to hire someone with 'industry experience,' particularly when your product and business model is a disruptor. People with industry experience have been trained to approach growing a brand, going to market, and selling in the same way that all big incumbents have. When you are a disruptor, you purposefully need to think and act differently — to see the opportunity where others haven't looked. It is true in how you talk with your consumer, how you make your product and how you go to market. I have found that people from the industry have a very difficult time thinking another way." — Kara Goldin, founder and CEO, Hint

2. Timeshift your team

IMAGE: MASHABLE COMPOSITE. ISTOCK ELAPELA

"Of a Kind HQ doesn't officially open for business until 10:30 a.m., and we made the decision to have a late start-time in order to protect our mornings. We realized quickly when launching the company that our nights were almost always packed with commitments (drinks meetings! events! dinners!), and that if we didn't do things like exercise and drop-off dry-cleaning in the morning, we would never have that personal time. This way you can come into the office feeling like you've got your sh*t together, which sets the tone for the day ahead." — Erica Cerulo, cofounder, Of a Kind

3. Do a little bit of everything — even the dirty jobs

"In the very early days we did everything ourselves to save cash (cleaning toilets is not below us!). But this was really instrumental in helping us understand how to operate the most efficiently, and it has generated enormous respect from our employees. When they see us doing everything and working our butts off, it helps motivate them to do the same." — Chelsea Kocis, cofounder and COO, Swerve Fitness

4. Tune out

"Disconnect and take time away from your 'baby.' When first starting a business, you most likely play the role of the CEO, COO, CFO, CMO and Director of HR. This leads to long hours and very little separation between work and home. Set aside time to shut off your phone and take time to disconnect. You will be a better entrepreneur and a better human being by doing so." — Tracey Noonan, owner,Wicked Good Cupcakes

5. Be transparent — even in HR

"Every new employee joins us on a 45-day trial. At the end of that trial, the entire company gets to have input on whether that person should join the team — kind of like Survivor, where the person can be voted off if there isn't a fit. Cultural fit is so key to an early-stage company that spending this extra time in hiring is key — about 60% of candidates successfully make it through the trial. We also don't have many of the traditional recruiting levers at our disposal. With all salaries banded and transparent to the rest of the organization, it isn't possible just to get a potential employee to sign up by slipping a few extra thousand dollars. Negotiation really doesn't exist in the salary component, which changes a lot from the normal process.” — Dane Atkinson, CEO, SumAll

6. Enforce a hard stop

"My company is distributed, with most of us working from home most of the time in different time zones. Our rule: No email on weekends or after 7 p.m. in whatever time zone you're in. You can work any hours you want, but you have to use Boomerang for overnight email. (We make exemptions for urgent business and in the time before a big event.) It helps everyone stay conscious about working too long and ensures that we have meaningful breaks from each other. Plus general sanity." — Sarah Milstein, CEO and cofounder, Lean Startup Productions

7. Don't think in annual terms

"It took the experience of running five companies before I was able to slap some sense into myself and convince myself I could bootstrap it out of cash flow and sales. Many times it's not until you begin to lose money in business that you cut back on marketing and customer service, which is a vicious cycle. It's foolish to cut costs in the business to the detriment of the delivery of your product or service. Simply getting rid of staff or resources that adversely affect great customer service or quality of your product will only serve to end up costing you more in the long run. [In the beginning, you should] seek better supply chain deals to reduce cost of goods and bonus staff on performance so your salary and wage costs reflect a sales result or improvement of revenue in the business. [Also], monitor your P&L monthly, not annually — a business is typically going broke 12 months before it does, so an annual review is too little too late. Spend time managing the money you've made, not just on making more money. — Troy Hazard, former global president of the Entrepreneurs' Organization, founder and owner of 11 businesses and author of Future-Proofing Your Business

8. Splurge on things that are often overlooked

IMAGE: STITCH FIX

"Many ecommerce companies make the mistake of only thinking about the customer experience in relation to the website experience. There are a series of touchpoints that customers will have with your brand, and 

the shipping experience is a huge opportunity to improve your customer’s overall brand experience

the shipping experience is a huge opportunity to improve your customer’s overall brand experience. Many companies only think about how to make shipping as cheap as possible, and as a result, the items you spent your hard-earned money on arrive in plain, dirty packaging. We made a point not to skimp on shipping, instead investing in beautiful branded boxes, tape and tissue paper. Our warehouse team puts an incredible amount of care into packaging each Fix so when it arrives, it's an exciting and engaging experience for our clients, like opening a gift. As a result it's one of the most inherently sharable parts of our service, and beautiful packaging has become synonymous with the Stitch Fix experience." — Katrina Lake, founder and CEO, Stitch Fix

9. Toss out the projections — your business is you

"The new rules of business say that a voluminous business plan is no longer necessary to get in the game. Friends and family, angel investors and VCs care deeply about who you are as a business owner, what you bring to the table, your experience, your likability, your drive, your horse sense. Everyone knows your financial projections for a startup are best used to wrap fish. There’s no formula based on silly projections — you have to show you know your offering and your market in a way you never did before. While you don't need a big fancy business plan anymore, you need even more clarity and direction than you'd find in that plan. Under the new rules of business, no longer is your business something you do, it’s something you are." — Emily Chase Smith, Esq., attorney and author of the new book, The Financially Savvy Entrepreneur: Navigate the Money Maze of Running a Business

10. Embrace a hybrid model

"We started our menswear brand on Kickstarter last year to test our market affordably, and since launching we've adopted a hybrid model. Half of our line is direct to consumer and exclusive to our online store. The other half, we do the traditional wholesale/retail way. We also make a point of keeping our prices affordable and our items eco-friendly while still manufacturing small-batch goods in the U.S.A. Our hybrid business model straddles the traditional and direct to consumer pricing strategies. By offering online exclusives, we're able to sell some items at a lower (D2C) price point while still expanding the brand's reach through retail accounts. It doesn't pigeonhole us into only using one method. It allows us to test things out and we can pivot at any time." — Josey Orr, cofounder, Dyer and Jenkins

11. Ditch the HQ, go BYOD

"Formerly a part of a large agency, we're working to provide the same quality of service with much lower overhead expenses. We have reduced real estate overhead through telecommuting, allowing our employees to work wherever they are most effective, while bringing each other together for necessary meetings. Along with this, we have implemented a BYOD (bring your own device) to work policy, again cutting down on infrastructure costs. We use cloud-based networking and CRM and CMS tools in cost-saving ways. Additionally, there are many free and freemium tools that we use to further cut down on overhead." —Katie Mayberry, principal, Spyglass Digital

12. Nix ineffective meetings

"We don't like meetings. We have weekly staff meetings that last 30 minutes or less, but otherwise we do not schedule and plan lengthy or otherwise repetitive meeting dates. Meetings don't accomplish what we want and often waste the time of the parties involved. [Similarly,] we don't feel the need to involve every single person in all our tasks; we prefer getting things done versus just talking about getting things done." — Luke Knowles, CEO, Kinoli Inc.

13. Use CC to replace your old "status update" meeting

"Claire and I are CC superfans. We CC each other on most everything — we ask our employees to do the same — and it gives us peace of mind. Yes, it means you have a ton of emails in your inbox, but you don't have to actually read them all: They're there for reference when you wake up in the middle of the night and think, "Dear god, did so-and-so ever do that thing?" And, because Claire and I have a general sense of what the other's working on, we can spend our meetings together thinking about bigger-picture projects and can be better brainstorm partners — it eliminates the need for the endless stream of status meetings." —Erica Cerulo, cofounder, Of a Kind

14. Go on and ask for things

"Don't be shy to ask for favors. When you're building something valuable, you'll be amazed by how many people are genuinely excited to pitch in and help." —Trina Chiasson, CEO and cofounder, Infoactive

15. Don't charge for status — price your goods fairly

"We evaluated the retail landscape and saw the majority of brands abiding by antiquated norms. Businesses that incur massive distribution costs and rely on high-priced marketing campaigns have less to invest in their product. At American Giant, we decided to forego those norms in order to build a business we believe resonates with consumers. By selling direct-to-consumer, online only, we avoid the costly practice of opening, maintaining and marketing brick-and-mortar retail stores. Represent something your customers care about by focusing on building quality product and selling it at a fair price. We believe this is what resonates with consumers and what ultimately drives word-of-mouth marketing and brand awareness, as opposed to spending on expensive traditional marketing campaigns and materials." — Bayard Winthrop, founder and CEO, American Giant

16. Be the human face of your company

"You are your brand and your company. Social media has changed everything! People expect transparency and — to a certain extent — an element of publicity. Be aware that everything you do and say on the Internet can and will be connected to your company. Use this to your advantage! Share your personal story. When people feel attached to you, they feel attached to your company. Tweet about your company from your personal social media accounts. Include pictures of you and your team in your company blog posts. You and your brand and your company are one." — Jody Porowski, CEO and founder, Avelist

From Mashable

8 Entrepreneurial Qualities That Contribute to Success

There are entrepreneurs who are extremely successful and everything they touch seems to turn to gold, and there are some that do not see as much success. What are the deciding factors that separate those that crank home run after home run and those that struggle at the plate?

While the majority of entrepreneurs have no problem working hard, not all work smart and possess the following entrepreneurial qualities responsible for driving success.

1. Not being afraid of delegating tasks. As entrepreneurs, we tend to always have a full plate and feel that we can take on any task. In reality, if we keep adding to the already-full plate it is eventually going to collapse and create a mess. Don’t be afraid to delegate tasks to an experienced member of your company that has the ability to get tasks completed.

2. Managing time effectively. Proper time management is necessary to distinguish between extremely urgent tasks and those that can wait. Use a notebook or whiteboard to prioritize your tasks by writing them down. Mobile devices and tablets have calendars and notepads, but nothing is more effective than actually writing down your “to-do” list. Focus on one task at a time and don’t let new “to-do’s” disrupt your focus. Knock them out one at a time.

3. Visualizing goals and success. You need to see your goals and success in your mind first if you plan on making them a reality. Not only do you need to visualize the end result, but you also need to visualize every step that it is going to take to get there. Napoleon Hill said it best: “What the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.”

4. Listening and communicating well. If you aren’t a good listener and communicator it will result in miscommunications and wasted time, not to mention added work to correct the miscommunications. Time is one thing that all entrepreneurs would like more of. How often have you wished there was more hours in a day? Avoid wasting priceless time repeating and redoing tasks due to poor communication.

5. Understanding your time is valuable. While it would be great to be able to give everyone the time that they wanted, it would leave you with little to no time to accomplish the things that you need to get done. If a sales representative has a question, they should address it with the sales manager. If a customer has a question they should be speaking with your customer-care representative. While people might demand your time, it doesn’t mean that you have to grant them the time. Your time is valuable, so don’t waste it on disruptions that should be handled by other members of your organization.

6. Seeking help when you need it. We often let our stubbornness prevent us from asking for help. Have you ever been stumped and someone comes along with the answer and you think, “Why in the world didn’t I think of that?” Often times a clear mind and different viewpoint can quickly solve a problem or provide an answer to a question. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it, as it can also help to strengthen the communication within your organization.

7. Getting out of the office. As an entrepreneur, you have probably spent several 18-hour days behind your computer or worked through the night late at your office until the sun came back up. It is important to break your day up, for both your physical and mental health. Take a few breaks throughout the day and walk around the office or take a walk outside to clear your head and give your eyes a break from the computer. Leave your office for lunch, even if you bring it -- go eat outside and get some fresh air. Want to jumpstart your day and have healthy energy throughout the day? Go to the gym bright and early before you hit the office every morning and get a good workout in. You will have a clear mind, abundant energy and improved mental focus.

8. Giving back. It is important to understand how lucky we are, as entrepreneurs, to do what we love. When you are appreciative of what you have accomplished and then take a step back to see what you can do to give back, it gives you a feeling like no other. My company helps several 501(c)(3) organizations with their nonprofit marketing each year. Helping several nonprofits that support causes I believe in is a great feeling. “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want,” said Zig Ziglar.

Nobody said being an entrepreneur is an easy thing to do, and while these qualities will not translate into automatic success, they sure can help.

What other qualities do you feel are important? Let us know in the comments below.

From Entrepreneur

5 Quotes to Inspire the Optimistic Entrepreneur in You

Keeping a good attitude will help you weather the storms of entrepreneurship. The daily life and grind of entrepreneurship can be filled with big highs and lows, but staying focused on the end goal and seeing the opportunity in your challenges will take you far.

Here are five quotes that will inspire you to keep your chin up from five successful optimistic entrepreneurs who have been where you are now. They just might inspire you to see the possibilities in risk, failure and every opportunity that lurks around the corner when you're open to it. 

1. "The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change by merely changing his attitude." -- Oprah Winfrey

When it comes to mega success, there are a select few at the top who you don’t need to reference their business to know who they are and what industry they’re in. Oprah Winfrey is one of those people. She turned a news career into a talk show and her talk show into an empire. However, the real tipping point for Winfrey was when she started focusing her show on making people’s lives better. Whether that was in body, spirit or mind, her empire has expanded to make her the go-to guru and established her as a truly optimitistic entrepreneur.

2. “Optimism helps us persevere. Life isn’t easy. But life is always good.” -- John Jacobs, co-founder, “Life Is Good” clothing brand

You know those cute little T-shirts that you see around the mall or in airport gift shops with the stick figure that says, “life is good,” or the stick-figure dog that says, “bark less, wag more?” Those are from John Jacobs and his brother Bert’s T-shirt startup, Life Is Good, that’s transformed into a happy brand embraced around the world. It all started with a lot of elbow grease, selling shirts on the street and college campuses. A good attitude can take you a long way, and who knows, might even make you a success story in business, too.

3. “Don't let what you don't know scare you, because it can become your greatest asset. And if you do things without knowing how they have always been done, you're guaranteed to do them differently.” -- Sara Blakely, founder of SPANX

SPANX is a globally recognized brand of hosiery that has set Sara Blakelyas the youngest female billionaire (and that’s self-made). She talks a lot about the success and optimism that’s behind failure and how it fueled her to keep going. When you’re feeling stuck in a rut or overwhelmed by what you don’t know, remember that the optimistic entrepreneur always looks for the growth and the opportunity in challenges. Don’t worry about what you don’t know -- it could help you change the game.

4. “Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.” -- Richard Branson

Like Oprah, Richard Branson is another one of those rock-star entrepreneurs who is known without even needing to mention his vast line of Virgin-branded products (which includes a cell phone service, an airline and space tourism, to name a few). Branson is all about risks and big ideas. Sometimes as an entrepreneur you might think the only opportunity is the one right in front of you, or you may even lament one you passed up. However, as Branson says, there are always opportunities wherever you go. The key for the optimistic entrepreneur is to keep your eyes open and see how regularly they show up.

5. "Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember you can achieve." -- Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

Mary Kay started her cosmetics empire to provide women with career opportunities from the ground up after struggling with workplace injustices in the early '60s. Her desire to create options for herself and her family in the business world has led to the well-known cosmetics company. But what might’ve happened for Ash and her family if she had limited her belief in what’s possible in the workplace? The optimistic opportunity works like an alchemist to spin setbacks into golden opportunities that create change.

From Entrepreneur

The Mind-Body Practices of 5 Mega-Successful Entrepreneurs

There’s lots of research and advice around making sure you care for your body and mind as much as your business. You know it’s important to stay mentally and physically healthy, but can there be a strong case made for mind-body-connected mega-successful entrepreneurs? You bet.

Here are five common practices of some very successful entrepreneurs who live and promote aspects of the mind-body connection.

“What tribes are is a very simple concept that goes back 50 million years. It's about leading and connecting people and ideas. And it's something that people have wanted forever.” -- Seth Godin, entrepreneur, speaker and author

Godin devoted an entire book, Tribes, to the discussion of the deep desire humans have for connection and how to tap into that truth. At the most basic level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the desire for safety and belonging. Successful entrepreneurs know that a valuable relationship of trust and respect is invaluable. They put time and effort into cultivating strong ties to their families, friends and those they care for in strong networks. If you think or act like you’re an island, you’re bound to fail. Take time to invest in the relationships that matter. 

“If you don’t exercise, if you don’t get the creative muscles going and stay healthy, then when you are older all of that junk adds up: You’ll be less happy, less healthy, quality of life will be down.” -- James Altucher, entrepreneur and author

In his bestselling book, Choose Yourself, Altucher discusses the importance of taking care of your body as one of his pillars of a daily practice. He stresses it isn’t about being perfect or a body builder. Walking, yoga, the gym, whatever your practice -- take care of your body to be successful. It matters.

“I have one piece of advice for you: sleep your way to the top.” -- Arianna Huffington, entrepreneur and author

Huffington has become something of a sleep warrior these days. She’s led a crusade in recent years to help entrepreneurs and everyone understand that if you aren’t getting enough sleep, you’re going to crash and burn. It’s not just your body either -- it’s your mental acuity, your emotional state of being and your whole life that requires good sleep. Make sleep a priority -- the mega successful do.

“Be thankful for what you have, you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.” -- Oprah Winfrey, entrepreneur

It’s such a simple piece of advice but it might possibly be one of the most important you’ll ever adopt. Successful people are grateful people. They started somewhere less than where they are, and along the journey they remembered to continually say thanks and appreciated what they did have. This isn’t just a mindset, it’s a practice and the more you do it the better you get at saying and seeing gratitude in everything.

“Stillness is the best way to create physical healing.” -- Gabrielle Bernstein, author and entrepreneur

Kind of like Shakespeare’s rose in Romeo and Juliet, a meditation practice by any other name would still smell as sweet. Whether it’s stillness, yoga, meditation, mindfulness or any other form of practicing a collected calm presence, it’s important to tame what the Buddhist call “monkey brain” and learn to be still. It has ramifications on your ability to react appropriately, proactively approach your day and otherwise solve problems in an improved way. Take the monkey brain and achieve greater results and peace in your life.

From Entrepreneur

What Type Of Entrepreneur Are You?

A fun aspect of entrepreneurship is the diversity of people that you meet and the variety of ways that people have gotten to where they are.  There isn’t one single formula on how it is done, which makes the journey that more exciting.  Some start as salespeople, some investors, some from other failed or successful ventures.  Since nearly everyone has become an entrepreneur, similar to how nearly everyone in Los Angeles is an actor, I’ve noticed, through the “coffee-having,” “brain-picking,” “introduce-me-to-investors-please,” meetings that as diverse as they are, entrepreneurs fall into the same few buckets.

Illustrations by AnshulMathur[/caption]

The Sales Person: This type of business-minded entrepreneur could sell ice to Eskimos.  In prior years they had a top tier MBA and / or did two years in a banking or consulting analyst program.  Usually the businesses that this person starts arise from the need to solve a problem, which they themselves experienced.  They have the right Rolodex for early customers and given their finance background could probably raise a small seed round.  They have the skills to create a great PowerPoint deck and a sturdy dynamic Excel financial model.  On the marketing front, they also understand the customer acquisition funnel from digital search mechanisms like Google to Facebook to Cooperatize to broader branding mechanics like content marketing and PR.  Steve Jobs and Mike Bloomberg come to mind as “sales” entrepreneurs.

PROS:

— Business focused; investors feel somewhat comfortable that they’ll know how to get their money out

— Domain knowledge; they are solving a problem that they themselves encountered and are now coming up with solutions using technology

— Financial connections to raise seed capital

Despite these great characteristics, I’ve sometimes noticed that technology is sometimes a foreign concept.  As a worst case, they treat their developers like “code monkeys.”  This lack of understanding sometimes causes tensions between this entrepreneur and their technical counterparts.  If they are waving around their deck and model and describe themselves as the “idea” person, developers and investors are less likely to believe in their ability to execute.  Selling their skills to “technical co-founders” also is difficult when they try and make the argument that once the product is made they can raise the capital.  (The developer takes the bulk of the risk by building the product for equity and then realizing that some of the original business assumptions were flawed.)  Understanding this chicken or egg problem, some sales types get around this by getting a prototype built on a site like Elance or even taking a class on Code Academy.

CONS:

— Difficult to pivot into another business

— Must depend on a technical resource

— Technology is sometimes a foreign concept; can they receive the needed respect from developers?

The Hacker: This type of entrepreneur is usually a self taught engineer, but immersed in “hacker culture” and “Minimum Viable Products.”  They are up to speed on the latest releases of Rails and the new Javascript frameworks, like Angular, Ember and Backbone.  They are more likely to want to build neat interesting things that people would use rather than build something to make money, since freelance opportunities are not scarce for folks with their skill set.  Some like Wikipedia and Craigslist have decimated industries while retaining little of that for themselves.  While many tools out there get minimal usage some are game changers and thus Silicon Valley investors swoon at these young, sometimes naïve, hackers.  The Wozniaks and Zuckerbergs came from this class of entrepreneur; although “Zuck” may have moved into the next category.

PROS:

— Can build product from day one

— Pivot easily without need to re-scope a project

— Clout in tech community and ability to build a technology team

While every company needs engineers early in the process, sometimes these engineers / hackers miss business opportunities; i.e. Friendster was the early pre-cursor to Facebook.  Further, outside of technology tools like Github, Heroku, and MongoDB, initial customers in other industries might be a challenge to find and to know what their initial pain is.  As some have found, like Wikipedia and Craigslist (until recently), some of these sites don’t make or want to make any money.  Advertising is not the answer to every site’s cash flow problems and sometimes it comes as a hard lesson to the entrepreneurs.  Can the entrepreneur see the big picture? Some, like Steve Wozniak, want to stay a “tinkerer.”  Can the founder build a team around his / her vision and more importantly can the founder communicate his or her vision?

CONS:

— Business savvy or lack of? (This could be a pro too.)

— Can you get the initial customers?  Do you have domain expertise?  (Outside of the technology domain)

— Can you make it into a real business?  (Advertising cannot support every app or site on the Internet.)

— Can you see beyond the weeds and into the trees? (Big picture thinking?)

The Jack-of-All-Trades: With the world’s collective knowledge at our fingertips, a new breed of entrepreneur is arising: The “Whatever it Takes” entrepreneur.  This entrepreneur utilizes Lean Startup Methodology, Google, Social Media, Amazon, Stack Overflow and Wikipedia to their advantage, along with inexpensive services like Pitchpigeon, Validat.io and HelpaReporterOut.com (HARO). “No technical co-founder?” No problem, everything you need to know is online.  Code might not be compliant, marketing might not follow frameworks, and financial models may be missing IRR calculations, but these entrepreneurs can get things done and if the business shows traction, determine which resources they need to build the business.  By understanding each aspect of the business and understanding themselves and what they can and cannot do, they can subsist long without capital.  Jeff Bezos, a Princeton computer science grad, might be a “Jack.”

PROS:

— Can build product from day one

— Can sell product from day one

— Save money on resources

“Sometimes just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should do it.”  The entrepreneur’s dilemma is the ability to say no.  With the ability to do everything, it’s hard to let go of some aspects of the business that they once had complete control over and relinquish that to someone else; even if they believe that they can do it better.  After all, no one can be a master at everything.  Software hackers that double up as CEO’s also have difficulty with scope shifting.  As mentioned about the Hacker, scope shifting takes its toll on one’s brain and on one’s time.  There are some Jacks that write code for a week, take the weekend off, and then come back as CEO the following week.  And finally, through working sometimes four different jobs, the Jack suffers from basically burning out.  And that’s a tough place to come back from.

CONS:

— Difficulty of scope shifting — takes time to go from 30,000 ft to the ground and back again

— Risk of burn out; being responsible for too much

— Hard to delegate to others

— Mediocre product / Mediocre sales effort

Now what kind of entrepreneur are you?  The best teams have an all around combination of all of these folks: sales people, CEO’s, rainmakers; hackers, geniuses, engineers; product developers, sales engineers, and creative types.  Each company needs all of these pieces; it’s all just a matter of where you start.

From Forbes

Take Our Word For It: What Makes A Successful Entrepreneur

It takes one to know one or so the saying goes. So when it comes to identifying the integral characteristics that differentiate a dreamer from the next Oppenheimer or Adenuga, we looked for insight from those who have walked the path already, asking: What do you think makes a successful entrepreneur?

Nkhensani Nkosi

South Africa

One of South Africa’s youngest and most successful entrepreneurs, Nkosi is the founder of the South African fashion label, Stoned Cherrie.

What makes a successful entrepreneur? A clear vision about what you would like to achieve; a life purpose or passion which acts as your regenerating fuel; the tenacity of a stubborn teenager; a “can-do” attitude; accepting that failure is an opportunity to learn and approach challenges with new insights; and a divine spark or energy that enables you to see sunflowers where others see fog.

Suzie Wokabi

Kenya

Wokabi is an accomplished entrepreneur and the founder of one of Kenya’s first cosmetics companies SuzieBeauty.

Focus, passion, perseverance, patience – it’s that simple. Without 150 percent of each of these attributes, there is really no hope. I also think that it is important that someone start a business that they actually love and care about. Then they are doing it for the right reasons – not to copy someone else or being shady or crooked about it.

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu

Ethiopia

Alemu is a pioneer of online selling in Africa and her home country Ethiopia. She is the founder of soleRebels, a global eco-friendly artisan-empowered footwear company.

An entrepreneur is innovation driven, reliant on the power of their ideas, actions and outputs rather than who their family is or how good their connections are or what their market dominance is. Because an entrepreneur’s efforts by definition often involve shattering the old, and literally creating them new, often from scratch, an entrepreneur will always encounter deep currents of resistance from quarters who feel their economic and social interests threatened by these new products and methods. My experience has been no different. But at the end of the day it’s the consumer who decides whether or not something is valuable. Once you connect directly and meaningfully with them then they become the arbiter of your success.

And it’s not enough to have a great idea – anyone can have a great idea – you must be ready to stick with your idea, fight for it against all obstacles, until you are successful. That’s the essence of truly great entrepreneurs.

 From Ventures Africa

5 Childhood Rules Successful Entrepreneurs Love To Break

Most successful entrepreneurs don’t rise to the top by being part of the herd. Instead, they choose to do things a little differently. And often, that means breaking some of the rules that were engrained in most of us during childhood.  

Here are five childhood rules that successful entrepreneurs love to break:

1. Don’t Talk to Strangers.

While steering clear of strangers is a good rule for kids, reaching out to new people can be one of the best ways for an entrepreneur to find new opportunities. Whether you talk to a stranger over social media or you begin a conversation with someone on an airplane, starting a discussion with a stranger can open new doors. Plenty of entrepreneurs have found that being in the right place at the right time has a lot to do with their success.

Dale Carnegie once said, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” Successful entrepreneurs don’t strike up conversations with strangers to brag about themselves. Instead, they look for opportunities to establish real relationships.

2. Wait Your Turn. 

Imagine if Mark Zuckerburg had waited for MySpace to crumble before he took a chance on making Facebook a success? Rather than idly watching his competition achieve success, Zuckerberg pushed his way to front and Facebook skyrocketed ahead of the competition.

Successful entrepreneurs don’t patiently wait for their turn to get to the front of the line. Instead, they recognize that in a fast-paced world, they have to find a way to be heard. They take action to ensure that their products and services are recognized now.

3. Color Inside the Lines. 

Tim Ferris proved that the world is hungry for a little outside-the-box thinking when The 4-Hour Workweekremained on the Best Seller List for 7 years. Ferris used creative marketing campaigns to help his book – which was initially rejected by 13 editors – sell over 1 million copies. In a world that was convinced the 40-hour workweek was necessary, Ferris introduced a new concept and he introduced it in revolutionary manner.

Successful entrepreneurs aren’t afraid to do things differently. There would be little room for innovation if everyone always did everything the same or completed everything the way others told them to do it. So, they choose to color outside the lines sometimes even if it goes against what everyone else seems to be doing.

4. Don’t Argue. 

When Shawn Carter – better known as Jay-Z – couldn’t find a major label to give him a record deal, he didn’t give up. Instead, he fought to create a name for himself as a hip-hop artist. He sold his CDs out of the trunk of his car and eventually, he established his own record label. He now has an estimated net worth of $520 million, making him one of hip-hop’s wealthiest artists.

Successful entrepreneurs don’t take no for an answer. They argue and fight to reach their goals.  They’re willing to express their opinions, even when it’s likely to be met with resistance.

5. Use Common Sense. 

If someone had said a decade ago that they were going to create a startup company that sold “virtual clothing for cartoon characters,” they likely would have been laughed at for such a ridiculous idea. But ten years later, digital gifts and digital clothing for avatars has become a billion dollar industry. Sometimes a little uncommon sense is what’s needed to revolutionize people’s way of thinking.

Common sense is often a moving target and successful entrepreneurs anticipate people telling them that their ideas will never work. But, they recognize that they have the ability to make their vision a reality, even when it seems to defy common sense.

From Forbes