Entrepreneurs might just be the answer to global poverty

Some of the world's top entrepreneurs come together at the U.N. with a big idea: empowering entrepreneurs everywhere to raise themselves and their communities out of poverty.

• Jeff Hoffman, the founder and former CEO of Priceline.com, decided to take a year to say yes. It was an experiment to see what would happen if for one year — to the best of his ability — he responded to anyone who asked him for help.His responses led him to cities and villages around the world, and that's how he ended up in Senegal with a 19-year-old young man who wanted to give him a business pitch.The slick slide show and smart ideas were on par with presentations Hoffman had seen and heard in Silicon Valley, London or Harvard University. But this time he was sitting in a hut with a dirt floor and a goat bleating outside."Where did you learn how to do this?" Hoffman asked.The young man had never left Senegal. Every night, after he worked in the fields, he took free online business classes from Stanford on Coursera. He learned how to present by watching TED Talks. He used free software from Slideshare, and had studied the 10 best investor pitches."That's how I found you," he said. "I emailed you after I found you on the Internet."The point of the story, Hoffman said, was that the kid in Senegal could not have existed 10 years ago. "He could only have existed in the last two or three years, thanks to the democratization of information," said Hoffman.Hoffman offered this story at the Global Accelerator Conference at the United Nations last week, a gathering of top entrepreneurs and high-ranking United Nations Foundation officials with a big idea of their own — using entrepreneurship taking root in remote areas of the world to address global development and poverty.In the United States alone, almost half of all new jobs in the past 30 years have been created by firms that are less than five years old, according to the global entrepreneurship GEDI index, and globally, 65 million entrepreneurs each plan to create 20 jobs or more in the next five years. Many of these startups offer innovative products that are new to the market, according to a GEM report.Supporting entrepreneurs isn't just about bringing new products to market, though, as far as Hoffman is concerned. He sees enterprising, business-minded young people pulling themselves and their communities out of poverty. We have the ability now, he says, to deliver tools and resources to "every little village on the planet so every kid can change the future of his nation."Risk and reward High-risk entrepreneurs and bureaucratic U.N. officials might seem like a strange combination, but applying the problem-solving of a startup culture to global development is the idea, said Michael Dell, who spoke at the meeting via video call.Dell was announced as the new United Nations Foundation global advocate for entrepreneurship at the meeting, a position that advocates for technology and innovation with policymakers and world leaders.“Part of what we’re trying to do is sort of raise entrepreneurship to the level of the public policy agenda,” said Dell. “If you look at what’s going on in the world today, in terms of where jobs are being created, we need more entrepreneurs. We need more risk-taking."More than 565,000 small businesses start each month around the globe, and the innovations and consumption they drive could be key to the recovery of the world economy as they create jobs, more global disposable income, and new products, according to Kauffman Index research. But only 15 percent of entrepreneurs say their country's culture supports entrepreneurs, according to ey.com.At Tuesday's conference, the room was filled with 100 successful risk-takers from around the world who would like to kickstart the startup mentality in developing countries, including innovators like Neil Blumenthal of fashion eyewear company Warby Parker, producer and talent manager Troy Carter, and Tina Wells, founder of Buzz Marketing Group. Most were under age 45."Technology has enabled underserved communities to get out of poverty," said Ruma Bose, an entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. "In the slums of India we saw a lot of hope and magic, there are thousands of new businesses there, and factories that generate millions in revenue and provide clean water. Even in the worst conditions the entrepreneurial spirit exists."Pitching for changeSaba Gul, CEO and founder of the handbag company Popinjay, presented how her company's handbags are not only available through high-fashion retailers like Nordstrom and Anthropologie, but they provide Pakistani women with livable wages. Gul trains and employs 150 women artisans, who work four hours a day for about $3 an hour — a fair wage in that economy, says Gul.Popinjay came about when Gul, an MIT graduate who grew up in Pakistan, was inspired by the story of Azaada Khan, a girl who grew up in a Taliban-ruled village in Afghanistan and dressed as a boy for 12 years so that she could go to school."What did I really do to deserve to be here?" Gul asked herself. So, she left her job as an engineer and went back to Pakistan.“When I started Popinjay, my goal was really to get women to sustain themselves, but what I realized over time is that it wasn’t just about the money,” Gul said. “It was also about the fact that they gained so much dignity and pride in knowing that they were creating something with their own hands."Likewise, Christopher Ategeka's startup has a model that helps people become self-sufficient but also provides a public service. He pitched his venture, CA Bikes, that makes bike ambulances to help save lives in rural places in Africa. The drivers of the bikes "ride-to-own" their ambulances to support themselves; it's a model that he calls "pulling entrepreneurs out of poverty."Ategeka was looking for $500,000 in investor capital, and had already received some pledges before the day was out. "What I like is that this is a business that directly saves lives," Ido Leffler, co-founder of the Yes To line of natural skin care and beauty products, and one of the event organizers, said of Ategeka's pitch.Developing countries are growing faster than rich ones, so savvy innovators are looking to market in up-and-coming countries like Brazil, China and India with emerging middle classes, but event organizers were quick to point to other reasons for promoting global innovation."Being an entrepreneuer is not just about making money, it's about creating change," said Leffler.The idea that entrepreneurship is primarily about getting ahead or making Silicon Valley millions is an idea that Hoffman tried to dismiss as well — instead trying to emphasize the impact a startup can have on an individual life as well as a community."My whole life has been an adventure that I never dreamed of, brought to me by entrepreneurship," said Hoffman."I feel like I'm even more tasked with making that possible for others."When he met the young would-be entrepreneur in Senegal, Hoffman told him: "I'm here to help you." But in the spirit of entrepreneurism, the young man wanted to find his own way."I want you to teach me to help myself," he said. "I want to never have to call you again."
  
  
  From Pekin Times

Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught, Or Are You Born That Way?

Are good entrepreneurs born that way, or can entrepreneurial skillsets can be learned over time. Let’s study which skillsets make for a good entrepreneur, and whether or not they can be taught.

High Intellect

Some people are naturally intelligent and have high IQ scores, while others struggle in this area (with a whole lot of people in between). I am not saying you need to be genius, to be successful as an entrepreneur, as many geniuses are very book smart, but not street smart. But, intelligence certainly goes a long way. But, to be fair, people are not born intelligent, they are most-typically taught the information required to accumulate intelligence.  Advantage: Taught.

Visionary and Good Instincts

Anybody can be smart about the current status quo. But, very few people can actually see “outside of the box” to imagine new and innovative ways of solving current world problems. You typically cannot teach imagination. You are either imaginative or you are not. Advantage: Born.

Passion, Energy and Excitement

Nothing helps move a startup along like a good “fire in the belly”. Especially, if that energy is focused around a product that an entrepreneur is passionate about. Passion is particularly important for exciting prospective employees, customers, partners and investors. You either have passion and can instill excitement, or you do not.  Advantage: Born.

Persistence and Drive

Entrepreneurs need a “succeed despite the hurdles” mentality and drive. Most startups have a lot of challenging periods in their growth, and if you are not persistent enough to “slog through the mud”, you are never going to succeed or survive. You can’t teach persistence. Advantage: Born.

Fearless and Calculated Risk Taker

As far as I know, you can’t teach someone not to be scared, or not to boldly go where others have not gone before. Yes, you can teach a person how to assess or minimize risks, but in my opinion, this category leans more on the side of wired.  Advantage: Born.

Good Communicator, Listener, Salesperson, Team Builder and Motivator

Entrepreneurs need to do a good job of communicating their vision, listening to input from others, selling through the vision to employees/partners/investors, building teams and motivating employees. For the most part, many of these skills are basic business skills which can be taught (although I could have easily shared the vote here with born given the intangibles required here). Advantage: Taught.

Domain Experience In The Industry

The most successful entrepreneurs have had some exposure to their industry, typically from a previous work experience, where they had on-the-job training that prepared them for their big venture. Advantage: Taught.

So, despite a valiant effort from “taught,” “born” hangs on to win by a nose, 4-3. But, the overall point here is: it really isn’t one or the other, as you really need both to maximize your odds for success, and a 7-0 shutout victory!

From Forbes

7 Tips to Guide Young Entrepreneurs

The world needs new entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs create jobs, lift the standard of living, usher new technology into society, and keep competition alive in the marketplace. Starting a business is difficult, and it’s crucial that the next generation has as much ammunition as possible. We are all relying on you to carry on the proud tradition of innovation.

As the CEO of a successful startup myself, with decades of experience launching prosperous companies, I know what it takes to make it. If I could go back and give my 20-something self a bit of advice about starting out as an entrepreneur, these are the seven tips I’d start with:

1. Passion. You will fail. That is part of the game. Your failures are most likely to lead to success if you get involved with something you believe in. Starting a business just for its own sake will leave you directionless, burned out and ultimately, back where you started. Choose an interest that you can be passionate about. Marrying charity to traditional business models may be a great way to combine the things you – and potential consumers – care most about.

2. Define your market. You’ve heard this before. It’s one of the most common mistakes that entrepreneurs make. Go with something that makes sense for your scope. If you’re a small startup and still a student, staying local or targeting fellow students might be the best direction. The Internet gives us almost infinite reach, but it’s vital to narrow your market down to what is realistic, and stick with those who have a reason to be interested.

3. Price point. Risk taking is important in any new business venture, provided that it is sensible. Consider providing your product or service at the most basic level possible (also called minimum viable product). A small investment up front can hook new customers/donations before risking more money. Your target defines the ideal price. Survey your defined market and adjust accordingly. You can always reevaluate your prices as you grow.

4. Be honest. This advice applies to yourself, your employees and your customers. Be honest about what you can commit to your business. It doesn’t do any good to over-extend yourself when in truth; you don’t have the cash or the hours to commit to a project. Be honest about what your partners can expect from, and what you expect in return. And be honest with clients. At PilmerPR, our #1 rule is “First be good, then talk about it.”

5. Utilize, but don’t over-use, social media. Young people are always eager to jump online, and that’s not a bad thing. But it is important to think carefully before plastering marketing materials on the Internet. Social media is obviously a powerful tool. Focusing it on your business can get word out quickly and cheaply. That said, be careful not to put all of your eggs in the online basket. Experiment and measure results, then constantly evaluate and decide what is working, and what you are wasting resources on.

6. Don’t forget PR. Traditional and online press relations can yield coverage that has longer shelf life and costs less than advertising. Think about what makes your product new, interesting, and relevant. Then, talk to the media about it. You might get great reviews, mentions on blogs, or even appear on news segments. Many media outlets have sections dedicated to people in the community doing outstanding things. Even an article in your campus newspaper can be a valuable source of publicity.

7. Look for mentors. The beginning of any venture can be exhilarating, frustrating, liberating and terrifying all at once. Remember, although younger generations can be more tech-savvy than those who have been in business for years, there are still basic principles that are refined by experience. Many communities offer networking opportunities for entrepreneurs young and old. Take advantage of this, and you may be surprised at the wealth of knowledge your colleagues have to offer.

These tips won’t earn you certain success, but every bit of knowledge you can gather before you begin your entrepreneurial career can help you avoid serious mistakes.

From Entrepreneur

Tom Still: What makes for a successful entrepreneur?

Tom Still

What makes an entrepreneur successful? Countless books, articles, blogs and videos have explored that question, as well as scholarly works that have identified common traits spanning time, technology and market trends.

There’s no single answer because entrepreneurs come in distinct flavors. There are mom-and-pop small business owners, lifestyle entrepreneurs who follow a personal passion, social entrepreneurs who turn a cause into a career and “gazelles” who launch high-growth businesses that disrupt markets with big ideas.

The economy needs them all, especially in an era when other factors — global competition, regulatory hurdles and technology itself — are rapidly changing how businesses are created, grow and prosper.

Two corporate leaders who made their marks in very different industries offered their views on what it takes to start and grow a business at the recent Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference, an annual gathering that offers hands-on ways for young businesses to learn more.

Featured speakers included Craig Culver, who co-founded the Sauk City-based Culver’s restaurant franchising system that includes about 510 stores in 23 states, and Jack Lynch, CEO of globally recognized Renaissance Learning in Wisconsin Rapids and a veteran of several high-growth software companies.

Culver was the winner of the annual Ken Hendricks Memorial “Seize the Day” award, which goes to an entrepreneur who has persisted – usually in the face of adversity. Culver, who resisted getting into the restaurant business as a young man because he saw how hard his parents worked, eventually came “home” when the startup bug finally bit.

Culver delivered an emotional talk on the importance of being passionate about what you do, developing other people and systems along the way, and not compromising on a commitment to quality for customers.

“I believe my father was a true entrepreneur. He believed he couldn’t fail,” Culver said. “Yes, you can fail, but doggone it, when you do (fail), you get back up and go at it again.”

Culver said it’s possible to teach business mechanics to many people, but it’s much harder to instill a sense of passion or cultivate people skills. That’s the secret sauce behind the Culver’s franchising approach, which he described as: “Find other people like ourselves, sell them a franchise and let them go at it” while developing and challenging their own teams.

In his remarks, Lynch focused on three factors that have been critical to the success of Renaissance, which began in the mid-1980s as one of the first computer-based systems for helping children who were challenged by reading. Today, Renaissance programs are used in 43,000 schools by millions of teachers across the United States and around the world. The company was acquired for $1.1 billion early this year and is the largest private employer in Wisconsin Rapids, a city long known for being a paper industry hub.

One success factor for Renaissance is a shared passion for the company’s core mission. “We’re very focused on getting kids literate by third grade,” Lynch said. “(Literacy) is a big problem for our country,” and a long-term threat to the nation’s economic and democratic underpinnings.

Another is commitment to quality through what Lynch described as “intense customer focus.” After describing what happens to users who contact a typical software company with a problem — “it’s usually a horrible customer experience” — Lynch talked about the Renaissance method.

Every call or online chat request at Renaissance is answered in seven seconds or less. That’s no small feat with 353,000 such customer contacts in the latest year. That means more customer service representatives work at Renaissance than in any other employee category.

The third factor? “The boring stuff matters most,” Lynch declared. Even larger companies must pay attention to details that allow them to “fail and learn” along the way, not unlike lean startup principles often followed by emerging companies.

Whether your company sells burgers or bytes, the message Culver and Lynch shared is that passion, customer care and innovation matter. That’s a lesson for entrepreneurs of all flavors.

From Wisconsin State Journal

Improve Your Future By Thinking Like An Entrepreneur

Maybe starting a new business isn't your passion, but in these days of rapid change, where everyone is dealing with uncertainty, I believe that thinking and acting like entrepreneurs will help you get ahead in any profession. In simple terms this means taking control of your life, going after something you love to do, and taking action. Stop letting life decisions happen to you.

As a long-time mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I've been convinced for some time that good entrepreneurs have the right mindset, and the right attributes, to be good at anything they want. Starting a new business is actually one of the toughest things that anyone could aspire to, since it always involves making decisions and progress in uncharted territory, with no one to follow.

So how do good entrepreneurs do it, and what do they do that everyone can learn from? I saw some good insights in a new book Own Your Future, by Paul B. Brown, who has been studying and writing about business leaders for many years for Forbes, Businessweek, and Inc.

He offers a collection of lessons regarding how entrepreneurs think and act, which relate equally well to almost any profession or lifestyle. I'll summarize a few of his principles here as examples, and I'm adding a few from my own experience:

• Use act, learn, build, and repeat to move forward in increments. The entrepreneurial approach is to decide what you want, take a small step toward that goal, pause to see what you have learned, build off that learning, and iterate the process. Other people often seem to bounce around randomly, and be the unhappy victims of other people's actions.
• Embrace smart risks, but don't be reckless. Smart entrepreneurs work extremely hard to find smart risks, like really large opportunities, but limit potential losses, because they know that success is an iterative learning process, with many pivots required. Other people never take risk, or let their passion overcome them to bet the farm on a long shot.
• Avoid overthinking yourself, leading to no action. When the future is unpredictable, as it is today, action trumps thinking. Action leads to evidence, in your job or in the market, which is the best fodder for new thinking. If all you ever do is think, you can gain tons of theoretical knowledge, but none from the real world, and make no real progress.
• Nurture relationships with people who can really help. Entrepreneurs build listening relationships with peers, mentors, and investors who may not even be social friends, and ask them the hard questions they need grow their business. Other people think relationships are only for personal and social use, and only mention work while venting.
• Find and sell your unique competitive advantages. Successful entrepreneurs focus on amplifying their strengths, while many people focus on eliminating their weaknesses. Everyone needs to sell themselves with the same fervor that entrepreneurs sell their product or service. If you don't highlight your competitive advantages, no one else will.
• Focus on problems you can solve and who is your target. A key step in selling yourself or your product is to identify your customer, and focus onvalue that you can deliver to that customer. Don't discourage yourself by broadcasting your value to the wrong people, or not doing your market research on the problem they need solved.
• Always see the glass as half-full, rather than half-empty. Maintaining and projecting a positive attitude is critical to career and personal progress, as well as business growth. How many people do you know that always focus on their setbacks, rather than their progress? Every hiring manager, as well as investor, reads your attitude carefully.
• Generate energy, rather than sucking it out of others. Your actions must always create positive energy for those around you, or people will hasten to get away from you and your business. Entrepreneurs learn this early, to keep their team and customers motivated. You need to do this, to keep your lifestyle and your career moving forward.

I assure you that if you follow these principles in your current career, and think like an entrepreneur, you will advance more quickly, get more done, and be a happier person. According to a recent study by the Wharton School of Business, entrepreneurs running their own business ranked themselves happier than all other professions, regardless of how much money they made.

More career planning and more education is not always the answer, especially when the future is as unpredictable as it is now. Embrace entrepreneurial tactics, assume control of your lifestyle and career, and take action today to assure your own success. Are you still thinking about it?

From Huff Post

Billionaire Tory Burch's Seven Lessons For Entrepreneurs

Tory Burch

Walk down any sidewalk from New York to Shanghai and you’ll see women wearing ballet flats with Tory Burch’s distinctive double-T logo. They’re also wearing her patterned tunics, handbags, clutches, and bold country club–chic pants, skirts, dresses, and tops. Tory Burch hasn’t just made preppy clothes hip and modern, she’s built a multi-billion dollar fashion empire in less than a decade. And she’s leveraging her experience and influence for the greater good with the Tory Burch Foundation, an organization dedicated to empowering female entrepreneurs.

Recently named to Forbes’ list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, Burch has helped change the world’s notion of what being a female entrepreneur means—the fashion mogul has proven that it doesn’t have to be hawking cupcakes or launching a Mommy blog. At just 46 years old, she’s part of a growing group of women who are newly minted, self-made billionaires, like fellow power woman & Spanx founder, Sara Blakely. Including Burch and Blakely, 16 of this year’s Forbes Power Women founded their own businesses.

I recently sat down with Burch at the inaugural Forbes Women’s Summit where she opened up about her dazzling journey to the top of the fashion world—and offered some entrepreneurial advice and leadership lessons she’s learned the hard way on her journey to incredible success.

1. “Follow your passion.” Although Burch grew up as a self-described tomboy, she became interested in art history and fashion in college at the University of Pennsylvania and went on to work for influential designers like Ralph Lauren and Vera Wang. And when she decided to launch her company, she dreamed big—she wanted a global brand. “I never designed before this company,” Burch says. “[You have to] take a risk and put yourself out there.”.

2. “Thicken your skin.” Burch went through 10 names (including Tory by TRB) for her company before reluctantly settling on using her own. And while she’s proved wrong all of the naysayers who thought she’d fizzle out in a flash, having her own name on the brand makes her acutely sensitive to criticism. Which is why she relies so much on the advice of her parents to thicken her skin. “Being a sensitive, thoughtful person opens you up for criticism and being affected by it,” Burch says. “I heard and tried not to listen to a lot of negativity. The noise and negativity were just the sidebar.”

3. “Put the right people in the right positions.” Burch describes herself as a very loyal person, and one of the toughest business lessons she learned was that loyalty—a strength in most circumstances—can also be a weakness for her. Loyalty made her reluctant to make staff personnel changes. “When you have the wrong people in the wrong position it affects the entire company,” she says. “It’s a hard lesson to learn. It has a ripple effect.” Be aware of the potential for your strength to become an Achilles Heel.

4. “Create relationships.” As part of the programming for her Tory Burch Foundation, there are 10 mentoring events a year. That’s because Burch believes that networking, collaborating with, and rooting for other women helps you make lasting relationships that organically further your career and set you up for success. “Every job that you have might not be the perfect job, but you really take away different things, and you create relationships,” says Burch, who counts Saks’ Ron Frasch, Google’s, Eric Schmidt, as well as her older brother and company’s co-president, as major mentors in her life.

5. “Go big.” On the one hand, Burch had a five-year plan of opening just three stores. (She has launched dozens around the country and world, including stores in Portland, Oregon and Duabi.) On the other hand, from the beginning, she knew she wanted to build a global brand. Just as she’s had to roll with setbacks, she’s also embraced the happy boosts that come along the way, like the Oprah Winfrey show “Next Big Thing” shout-out that gave her 8 million website hits, and media coverage from her editor friends in the magazine world.

Luck is important, but the power of networking and collaboration helps you make your luck.

6. “Be authentic.” While talking about her personal life and her children are off-limits, she is an open book when it comes to her business, her foundation, and the Tory Burch brand in general. One for instance? When her company changed operating systems, they endured a glitch-y six-month period where they couldn’t track shipments. But rather than hiding the snafu, Burch decided to embrace social media and be transparent with customers about what was happening. The result? Her customers became her advocates.

7. “Buckle up.” When you see someone as successful as Burch, it’s easy to view that success as a destination she’s reached, instead of an ongoing journey that takes hard work, creative solutions, handling setbacks, and constant innovation. Burch admits that being an entrepreneur isn’t for everyone: She works long hours and remembers the early days when her business was launching when she would put all of her children to bed and then be on the phone until 4am with her Hong Kong office. “Buckle up, and know that it’s going to be a tremendous amount of work, but embrace it,” says Burch. Setbacks are always going to be there—some of them even bigger than the challenge of launching a business in the first place—and it’s crucial to think of them as learning opportunities.

From Forbes

What Rich People Have Next To Their Beds

You know what you'll probably find on a successful (read: rich) person's nightstand?

Books.

But not just any books, according to Tom Corley, the author of "Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits Of Wealthy Individuals." His research finds that rich and poor people alike are cracking their fair share of spines, but the key difference is that less financially successful people read for entertainment, while rich people read for self-improvement.

Note that Corley defines "rich people" as having an annual income of $160,000 or more and a liquid net worth of $3.2 million-plus, and "poor people" as those having an annual income of $35,000 or less and a liquid net worth of $5,000 or less.

Here's how the numbers break down:

• 11% of rich people read for entertainment, compared to 79% of poor
• 85% of rich people read two or more education, career-related, or self-improvement books per month, compared to 15% of poor
• 94% of rich people read news publications including newspapers and blogs, compared to 11% of poor people

"The overall conclusion that I reached in my research is that your daily habits will dictate your financial success in life, and there are four or five key ones," says Corley. One of those keys, he explains, is self-education. "The rich are voracious readers on how to improve themselves. They're reading self-improvement books, biographies, books about successful people, things like that."

In fact, Corley found that educational reading overlapped with another factor of success: mentorship. After being asked in an interview about his finding that only 24% of the wealthy people he studied had mentors, he went back over the research and found that 93% of those with mentors agreed with the statement, "My mentor was responsible for my wealth."

"The reason why the wealthy people without mentors said they didn't have one was that they got their education through reading books, and through the school of hard knocks," Corley says. Over half of those people were business owners who effectually mentored themselves, through books and experience.

To that end, Corley has included books as one of his five kinds of mentors, which also include parents, teachers, work colleagues, and the "school of hard knocks."

From Business Insider