4 Ways to De-Stress While Getting Your Entrepreneur Hustle On

We’re goal-driven hustlers -- in the best meaning of the word. Every day we take on hundreds of small tasks that add to our overall stress level. Without healthy strategies in place, these items can snowball. We forget to follow up, we drop the ball on projects and we procrastinate.

Life doesn’t have to be that way.

Below are four ways to channel your mind into a positive mental state. Over the years, I’ve incorporated these techniques to help stay balanced, increase productivity and reduce stress.

1. Eliminate bad habits and get organized.

Mornings are often a race to get out the door. If you’re like most people I know, you check your email before getting out of bed. 

Your mornings set the pace for the rest of your day. Turn off technology, slow down and reevaluate your day.

Write down goals you’re aiming to accomplish. Focus on your most important projects and write down all outstanding items on your “to-do” list. This is key to staying organized.

The less information you keep in your head, the more productive and creative you will be.

If you haven’t considered hiring a virtual assistant before, check out this podcast with Chris Ducker, who explains how this can transform your ability to stay organized.

2. Practice creativity.

Your mind is the greatest gift you possess. Just as physical exercise is important to keep your body in shape, practicing creativity is important to train your mind.

One way to do this is to log ideas or write in a journal.

Purchase a journal with blank pages so your thoughts are less restricted. There are no limits when it comes to expressing creativity.

Free-writing your ideas, experiences, and thoughts can inspire creativity and reduce stress.

Journaling also allows you to block out external distractions. Use journaling as an exercise and you’ll see your creative mind strengthen once you put your thoughts onto paper.

If you want to try some other creative practices, check out this webinar I did with Jonathan Fields where he discusses how to change your workflow to turbocharge your creative process.

3. Build playlists to build momentum. 

Music is a powerful way to alter your mood. Find music that allows your mind to de-stress and puts you in the zone.

I create a playlist every morning to increase my energy and help me focus, and I absolutely recommend taking 10 to 15 minutes out of your day to do this too.

Creating playlists also becomes a creative process. It’s a fun challenge to pick the best songs to keep you motivated throughout the day, and also gives your mind a mental break from your work.

Don’t limit playlists to just your computer. Throw in your headphones, turn on your music, get outside and take a walk or engage in some form of physical exercise.

4. Read books that inspire. 

Despite people’s excuses, reading is a necessary part of anyone’s daily routine. Create time in your day to immerse yourself in a book that will allow you to generate more creativity when coping with stress.

I recommend reading books that will give you insight into to subjects you know little about. I’m not just referring to self-helps books.

You can carry a book everywhere you go. E-books are a handy alternative if you’re on the go and don’t have time to sit and read.

Point is, the smallest object, such as a book, can make the biggest impact when your mind is looking for motivation, creativity and resolutions. Integrate each of these solutions into your daily routine and you will prevent small stressors from becoming big problems. Trust the process.

From Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs Hate Rules but Can't Avoid Them

Nick Friedman wanted his startup to be fun and stress-free, but then it started to expand. College Hunks Hauling Junk

It's one of the ironies of entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurs generally don't like strict rules and red tape. That's why many of them give up jobs at big companies and strike out on their own. But as their owncompanies get bigger, they often realize they need to lay down the very rules that got on their nerves in the first place.

Whether it's dress codes, strict schedules or limited sick days, many entrepreneurs discover they need to rein in their company's anything-goes spirit—because a lack of structure and professionalism can do big damage to the business.

Fun Time Is Over

In some cases, laying down rules means changing the entire company culture. Nick Friedman co-founded College Hunks Hauling Junk with no formal policies about vacation, dress codes and other things. He envisioned "a real-life Never Never Land where work is always fun, and the culture is always stress-free."

Then the company grew from one cargo van to over 50 franchises. And the freewheeling spirit made the employees lose focus.

"Client-service ratings decreased, employee morale was low, and profitability dwindled as excessive expenses skyrocketed," he says. "Also, we didn't have any alignment or positive company culture. We needed structure, we needed processes and systems."

Coming up with rules and procedures "can put a strain on the company culture, but we have fought hard to maintain a healthy balance of fun company culture with an accountable organization and team," he says.

Likewise, Joe Apfelbaum, CEO and co-founder of Ajax Union, an online marketing company based in Brooklyn, N.Y., wanted to start a business that was free of corporate red tape—no meetings, no paperwork, just get the job done.

But when Ajax hit 50 employees, he realized the business needed systems in place to scale properly. In hiring, for example, Ajax used to interview people without asking for an ID or asking them to fill out forms.

Then things started going wrong. One potential hire, for instance, turned out to be a con artist "who threatened one of our employees personally," he says. Now Ajax has a detailed process that involves multiple interviews, personality tests and background checks.

Not a Family

For some businesses, laying down rules doesn't make for a drastic change. But it does mean acknowledging that the company isn't as tightknit as it used to be.

When Paul Levering started his own VoIP service-provider business in 2003, he never thought he'd use organization charts.

"As a startup, we were 'all in this together' and did not need a hierarchy or titles," he says. But "as we grew the business and our new hires were more employees than they were adventurers like the group of founders, we needed more clarity."

What's more, "larger and more sophisticated customers wanted to know we were a real business with clear lines of command and escalation paths to solve problems needing attention from higher-ups," says Mr. Levering, whose company was acquired in 2011.

Losing the tightknit feel also means more potential for mischief and misunderstanding, and more need for rules. R.J. Lewis, founder of eHealthcare Solutions LLC, Ewing, N.J., which sells ads for health websites, went without a policy manual for a while, but as the firm grew, things like unlimited sick days became unsustainable.

One team member was "sick" about 20 times in the first half of a year, and "one or two team members seemed to be sick only on Mondays and Fridays. The combinations of these abuses were enough to convince us that the unlimited policy was not fair to everyone."

Likewise, Sarah Schupp, founder and CEO of UniversityParent, a resource for parents of college students, realized she couldn't play things by ear. For example, she had an employee turn in for reimbursement a trip to see her family because she had stopped to see a potential client on the way.

"It turned into a big mess and misunderstanding because I hadn't clearly defined how we would reimburse," she says.

From The Wall Street Journal

Entrepreneurs are born to be wild

Business needs to head out onto the highway and look for adventure, says Michael Hayman Photo: Rex

Enterprise columnist Michael Hayman argues that conformity is the enemy of an export ready business culture

“Get your motor runnin’. Head out on the highway. Lookin’ for adventure. And whatever comes our way.”

The lyrics from Born To Be Wild seem fitting for an economy that is finally heading towards full throttle. Indeed you might say our economy is on the “trip of a lifetime”.

That’s the motto of the new 2014 model from motorbike brand Triumph, which epitomises Britain’s turnaround spirit and the ambition for growth.

It is a brand that has been to the brink and back again — once the choice of Hollywood stars like Marlon Brando and Steve McQueen it was Britain’s Harley Davidson. Then it came off the road so badly that by the 1980s it had collapsed into receivership, a potent symbol of the wreckage of Britain’s manufacturing landscape.

In the early days of its comeback, overseen by entrepreneur John Bloor, it was producing a mere 15 bikes a week. Last year the company sold 50,000. And the best bit? The vast majority, 85pc, were exports.

As the world returns to growth, Triumph offers an inspirational example to entrepreneurs about international opportunity and how to take advantage of it.

That is why the brand was such a fitting centerpiece for the launch of the International Festival for Business 2014, a two-month commercial showcase focusing on the North West and designed to deliver a message to the world that this country is serious about business.

It is an event I have been working on for the best part of two years, so I have seen the national effort up close and the preparations that have been made to build an occasion worthy of 250,000 visitors.

Front and centre on the first day of trading was the UKTI British Business Embassy, packed with a stellar cast of British business and the great and good of government.

The focus was on international opportunity and how to take advantage of it. The importance of this was underlined by the IMF last week which marked our export performance as ‘must do better’. It is a challenge, on the evidence of yesterday, that we can do something about.

The importance of this endeavour was emphasized by former Goldman Sachs chief economist, Jim O’Neill who predicted that the world will grow in this decade by 4.1pc. “The key for any company that wants to prosper in that world is to be a part of it,” he said.

The Prime Minister claimed that if one in four rather than one in five companies exported we would wipe out the deficit. All part of accelerating Britain’s economy to become Europe’s largest by 2030.

That means “a sleeves rolled-up, active, industrial strategy” that is “pro-business, pro–enterprise, pro-open markets,” he said.

Central to this is what he called the "rebalanced recovery" and the "British revival". I did think that these two gems could be new names for models straight off the Triumph production line, but rather they are central to his plans to deliver “one of the most business friendly governments anywhere in Europe.”

And while there is much to show for our record in inward investment – the UK secured a record breaking 799 projects in 2013 according to EY’s UK Attractiveness Survey – we still have a long way to go in export.

Anna Botin, the UK CEO of Santander, made a number of pertinent points. Firstly that the UK is a nation of safety first, more successful at trading with its slower growth near neighbours than fast growth emerging markets from further afield. She claimed that Britain was doing twice as much trade with Denmark as Brazil.

Her call to big business, banks and government alike was that there was an ‘obligation’, if the economy is to grow, to play an interventionist part in getting British firms export ready. And that means enabling a generation of firms that can “think big and seize the opportunity.”

Her second point related to the idea of getting business match fit through access to knowledge and digital skills. “We have world class universities here in the UK. Universities provide a ready made network that business can plug into for talent and connections,” she said.

But her primary call to action was reserved for small business and its need for a greater digital presence. She suggested that “half of the UK’s small businesses don’t have a website and a third don’t believe that it is relevant to them.”

For Jim O’Neill this is all part of the need for business to adapt or die as “we are moving into an extremely different world to the one that any of my generation grew up in.”

The Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, told delegates that he has a John F Kennedy quote framed above his desk. It says, simply that "conformity is the jailor of freedom and the enemy of growth."

That conformity is still the day-to-day reality stifling too many businesses. Firms that could go further by going global but lack the resource, knowledge and opportunity to go for it.

It is why the lyrics of Born To Be Wild resonate. Business does need to head out onto the highway and look for adventure. For as the global economy gathers pace what is coming our way is nothing short of a world of opportunity and that needs a new generation of game changing British businesses like Triumph. It’s time to start your engines.

From Telegraph

South African entrepreneurs create a solar-powered Android tablet

Image Credit: Shutterstock

With Google working on Project Loon, its Internet-delivering balloons, and Facebook’s Connectivity Labs also working to bring Internet connections to remote and developing areas, accessible, Internet-enabled devices are next.

Meet the Millbug Vuya tablet, a solar-powered Android tablet developed by South African entrepreneurs Sabelo Sibanda and Thulisile Volwana.

The tablet is Wi-Fi only, has a seven-inch screen, and runs on the latest version of Android’s operating system, 4.4 KitKat. It has a 1.2GHz processor, 512MB of memory, and 4GB of storage.

The tablet also comes with a solar charger (the duo found that the solar panels they wanted to integrate into the device weren’t powerful enough to charge its battery) and with a detachable power bank that can be charged with the sun’s power because some of the tablet’s components melt in the sun.

Sibanda and Volwana founded Millbug first as an ecommerce site selling women’s clothing. They later pivoted to a technology company after realizing that while South Africa represents a huge ecommerce opportunity, the small screen and limited uses of smartphones are a hindrance. Then the idea of a tablet that could be used even rural Africans came up.

Sibanda and Volwana also created Forefinga, an ecommerce platform that enables ecommerce entrepreneurs to take advantage of the Vuya tablet.

But beyond ecommerce, the Vuya tablet also has major implications for Web development in Africa and other regions lacking a lot of infrastructure. With the rise of browser-based Web development tools, this can mean that people in those areas can more easily learn to program, built apps and sites that are helpful to their lives (or even turn them into a business), and more.

Education is also another big aim, and there are already local college students developing apps for the tablet under Professor Darelle van Greunen at Nelson Mandela Bay University.

Millbug received R35,000 (about $2,400) from the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) to help them with this project. Seda also helped the duo with certifications and licenses, which it paid for. Millbuf self-funded the rest.

The tablet was designed in South Africa, but the units are built overseas. Millbug is also talking to some major companies, including some telecommunications players.

From Venture Beat

These High School Entrepreneurs are Building the Next Google

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The next Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs or Larry Page could still be in high school. Three 17-year-old students at Horace Mann School in Riverdale, N.Y. could be among these future tech entrepreneurs. The three have already developed a search tool some say could change the online landscape completely.

Sahil Gupta, Stan Zhang, and Cavan Klinsky, originally created Gevva as part of a high school hackathon competition. After winning a $500 prize for that accomplishment, the three avoided doing what other teenagers might have done, blowing it all clothing or entertainment. Instead they used the cash for an exhibitor fee at New York’s TechDay billed as “the world’s largest startup event.”

There, they had the opportunity to show off their creation amid big names in the tech world, including Microsoft, Yelp, Uber, and Gilt.

Explaining Geeva, Klinsky told Elite Daily:

“The average Internet user has a routine of things they do each day on the Web. For example, you use Google to look for directions, read the news or find a restaurant to eat at. The result you’re looking for is spread over many sites and Google bridges the gap. But Gevva takes the quickest headlines, best directions, best restaurants and unifies your result into one easy to use and fast package.”

While Gevva is still a work in progress, the event did present some opportunities for future growth. The trio spoke with potential investors, a few people interested in interning, and even received an offer for free office space.

It’s clear that the idea behind Gevva is intriguing and the ability of its founders is solid. They’re self-taught coders and clearly well versed in computers.

Technology has provided endless possibilities for people of all ages and backgrounds to create something truly groundbreaking. The fact that these three budding tech entrepreneurs are still in high school makes their venture even more impressive. But it’s only one example of what’s possible.

Think of  entrepreneurs who have used technology to launch a business based on a long-time hobby or build an advanced piece of gadgetry at a significantly lower price. Consider how you can use technology to create something truly unique in your business.

Now, start looking for the tools and developing the skills you need to succeed.

From Small Business Trends

35 Etiquette Tips For Doing Business Around The World

Picking up a sandwich with your hands during a business lunch in New York wouldn't be a big deal. But in Rio de Janeiro, it could signify considerable disrespect. 

That's because what's considered "proper etiquette" or "good manners" varies greatly from country to country — and as a professional traveling overseas for work, if you don't take the time to familiarize yourself with local social customs, you may appear rude and naïve, and you even run the risk of offending those you're doing business with.

Though specific social protocol sometimes differs between cities and regions, learning general cultural customs from different countries will help ensure that you're polite and professional wherever your travels take you. 

Check out the following infographic by Zendesk:

From Business Insider

15 Traits Of Entrepreneurs Who Fail

No matter how great your passion and vision, a few bad habits can drive a promising business into the ground.

Clay Clark, CEO of small-business resource Thrive15, has consulted with entrepreneurs for years, and after hundreds of clients and his own experiences, he's noticed several recurring traits of business owners who fail.

"It's usually two or three traits that cause us to blow up," Clark tells Business Insider.

In his book, "Thrive: How to Take Control of Your Destiny and Move Beyond Surviving... Now!", he lists 15 of the most common traits of entrepreneurs who end up failing. We've summarized them below.

1. They make excuses.

Clark says the most common excuse he hears from clients who failed to achieve a goal is that they ran out of time. It makes him furious. As career guru Seth Godin points out, "I didn't have time" actually means a task "wasn't a high priority, fun, distracting, profitable, or urgent enough to make it to the top of the list."

2. They blame others or outside forces.

"Entrepreneurs who blame the economy, the way they were raised, the weather, the customer, their employees, the acting president, the opposite political party — anything other than themselves — for their situation will never be successful," Clark says.

3. They are dishonest.

Cheating employees on their paychecks or lying to customers are obvious examples of dangerous dishonesty, but Clark also points out that falsely praising employees instead of giving candid criticism can be just as bad.

4. They are lazy.

"Show me an entrepreneur who sleeps in, shows up late, doesn't read, and doesn't like hard work, and I'll show you a failing entrepreneur," Clark writes.

5. They are convinced they know it all.

Self-confidence is a necessary trait for someone setting out to start a business, but the ego needs limits. Clark says that failing business owners are often too proud to admit they don't know something about running their company.

6. They hesitate to make decisions.

It's necessary to gather as much information as possible before making an important decision, but spending too much time mulling it over slows everything down and wastes money. Gen. George S. Patton once said: "A good plan executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week."

7. They have not defined a clear direction for the company.

"No one in their right mind wants to follow an entrepreneur who can't clearly articulate where they are going, yet most of the entrepreneurs I meet cannot clearly tell me their business goals for the current year," Clark says. To attract the best employees, an entrepreneur needs to have a tangible vision for the company.

8. They refuse to delegate.

Misguided or egotistical entrepreneurs feel the need to micromanage every aspect of their business, but no one is good at everything, and leaders should be focused on their company's biggest, most important issues, not fine tuning their corporate website's homepage.

9. They are involved in a niche that is not scalable.

Clark once owned and ran an entertainment company that provided service only on nights and weekends. This meant that most of the time, his employees were not working and his equipment sat in a warehouse. He says it's necessary to envision how a company can grow as more resources and talent become available.

10. They are unable to handle confrontation.

"Employees actually stole from me," Clark says, and though he was aware of their embezzlement, he was afraid to confront them. When employees sense a weakness in their leader, they will often exploit it, he says.

11. They are not organized.

Running a business comes with a never-ending stream of responsibilities, and successful entrepreneurs are constantly arranging their busy lives with a system that works for them, be it a to-do list or app.

12. They serve a niche that cannot possibly be profitable.

Clark remembers diving into a client's numbers and determining that she needed to sell 1,300 of her products each week to be profitable, but her maximum production capacity was 500 products per week. He says some business owners fail to do the math and push on despite any chance at making money.

13. They provide a terrible service or product.

Clark once helped a client promote his business to the point where its offices began getting calls constantly. But the business fell through because the receptionist was not only poorly trained but sometimes missing from her desk, and he kept his clients waiting for at least one hour for their appointments even if they were on time.

14. They are bad marketers.

"If you really do believe that your company offers your customers value by solving their problems, then you should want to scream your solutions from the mountaintops," Clark says. Use your company's growing size to establish personal relationships in person and on social media, and don't ever be afraid of being "too pushy."

15. They ignore metrics.

It is necessary to break your complex business plan into easy-to-follow checklists and management metrics that can be checked on a daily and weekly business. "Whatever you focus on expands," Clark says.

From Business Insider