5 Questions to Determine If You're Ready to Be an Entrepreneur

The only difference between people who want to be entrepreneurs and the ones who actually are is the work and the risk of getting started. If you feel like you want to be an entrepreneur but aren’t certain if you’re ready yet, here are five questions to help you determine your capabilities.

1. How comfortable are you with being uncomfortable?Entrepreneurship will mean a lot of uncertainty. If you’re the kind of person who needs a lot of control and a strictly scheduled life, you may not be able to handle the ambiguity that surrounds entrepreneurism. That being said, don’t think just because uncertainty makes you nervous you can’t be an entrepreneur. If you find you have a need for a controlled schedule, that trait could actually work in your favor.

Entrepreneurship requires long hours, hard work and dedication when you start out. Being able to manage your schedule and control your environment could help you with the organization of your business. However, you might want to plan before you leap in. A few great ways to do this are to stockpile savings, already have a business plan you’re prepared to work and seek out a community of support to talk you through the tough times.

2. Are you disciplined? You are totally responsible for yourself. Right now, wherever you’re at, whatever you’re doing -- it’s your choices that got you here. How do those statements feel to you? If you feel yourself bristling and ready to argue, then you might not be in the right mindset for entrepreneurship yet. When you start, you must take full accountability for everything -- there’s no back-up plan on why you got passed over for a promotion or why you didn’t get your report done on time. Clients won’t want excuses and they’ll drop you.

Even when it’s their fault you have to be prepared to deal with the possibility that you’ll have to handle it. You need discipline to survive and stay ahead of your work, ahead of your bills and to grow your business. If you struggle with accountability and discipline, don’t rule out entrepreneurship forever. Take stock of ways your current situation could be improved by better decisions and try holding yourself accountable.

3. How’s your health? Taking care of your body is important for everyone, but can have particularly far-reaching implications for the entrepreneur. There are no sick days in entrepreneurship when you’re getting started. There’s a chance there won’t be for years. That’s going to mean you have to be productive, even when you don’t feel good, or risk missing business opportunities. You have to keep yourself in good health with diet and exercise that keeps your body strong and your mind keen.

If you aren’t a healthy person, you may want to figure out a plan for improving your lifestyle before you transition into entrepreneurship. Also important, think of how you’ll cover health insurance and medical needs when you start your journey. Get a plan for your health and work it.

4. Do you love what you do and are you good at it? There are going to be long hours in entrepreneurship. If you enjoy what you’re doing and are passionate about your project, that intense amount of work is enjoyable. Don’t fool yourself into thinking money alone will be enough to motivate you.

Make sure you’re passionate about what you’re intending to pursue as an entrepreneur and that you have the skill set to get to work. If you don’t, consider how you can improve your skills before making the leap and how you might get involved in something you’re passionate about doing.

5. Do you play well with others? You might think entrepreneurship is a solo activity, but the truth is that having great relationships is crucial to long-term success. It's not only for the value that comes from referrals and the camaraderie of close relationships, but also for the support you will need. If you’re starting out as an entrepreneur, you’re going to have periods where you need to rely on the strength, wisdom and friendship of others.

Look for opportunities to build your network: mentors, mastermind groups and other programs will help you find the right people. Just be sure that you invest in them, too. Relationships are based on give and take. Build strong relationships and open yourself up to the great support and learning that comes from others.

From Entrepreneur

The 80/20 Rule and Listening to Your Inner Procrastinator

A decade ago, my friend Bill said, "Perry I've got a million-dollar idea for you. There's just one catch: If you sell a million dollars, you have to give $10,000 to my favorite charity."

"OK Bill, you're on," I said. He insisted I was leaving tons of money on the table by only writing and publishing books. He advised me to expand into business coaching.

I decided he was right. And guess what? I had the hardest time getting myself to actually do it. When I sat down to execute the details, my inner procrastinator said, "Wait a minute, why don't you go get a haircut."

I recognized the inner procrastinator as a signal that I was precisely on the right track. I resolved to finish the project.

That move doubled my income. Bill's favorite charity, an inner city school in Philadelphia, got a check for $10,000.

I'm a passionate advocate of the 80/20 rule, which says 80 percent of your sales come from 20 percent of your customers. It applies to most other aspects of business and life as well, like how you spend your time.

I've discovered that your inner procrastinator -- if you pay close attention to him -- tells you exactly what you should be doing.

The top 20 percent activities that produce 80 percent of your results are the very same things that trigger you to procrastinate -- to delete old emails or water plants instead.

Eventually I had to cloister myself in a library with no Internet to craft the marketing for a business move that scared me deep down. Those demons inside my head knew it was a good idea, so I decided to harken unto them.

Whenever my inner procrastinator tells me to check Twitter or iron my shirts, instead of what I've planned, I know I'm on to something good. I switch it around.

It's not that we don't want to work. It's that we're afraid of doing work that will move the needle. Most of us are afraid of success.

Here are tips on how to direct your inner procrastinator to your advantage:

Flip your daily to-do list. You wake up and list the 10 things you need to do today. Odds are, one item is worth 10 times more than the rest. Our natural human tendency is to put it off until later, diverting into mundane tasks like Facebook. We invent devilishly clever reasons not to get that one thing done.

Check your gut and do it. Now. (Or at least after you finish reading this article.)

The 'procrastination demon opportunity detector' works for big-picture projects, too. If you're all-consumed with $10 per hour busy work, you have no time to stop and ask yourself, "What salvo should I launch next week that will double sales next year?"

That question makes you squirm. The more disconcerting, the better. It challenges the status quo. Whatever gives you that queasy, familiar feeling of asking for a big check -- or for dad's car keys at 11 at night -- that plan probably belongs on the top of the stack.

Make constructive use of the time you liberate. I urge entrepreneurs to hire house cleaners and personal assistants to free themselves up from mundane activities. What do you do with the extra two hours a day you free up? You could fritter it away - or go nuclear on your business strategy.

Perfectionism is the root of all evil.  Most of us soothe our anxieties and stay mediocre by perfecting things that don't need to be perfect at all. You spend 15 minutes editing that email before you press send. You clean out your car twice a week.

Most procrastination isn't doing nothing, it's doing what's comfortable and mediocre.

Put 'Do Nothing' on your to-do list. I'm a huge advocate of Sabbath -- taking Saturdays or Sundays off. Instead of wasting time on busy work such as checking email, everyone should create space where they pray or meditate -- or simply do nothing. Your best business ideas will come when you're not working. When you're having fun doing what you enjoy doing, whether it's reading novels or tossing a baseball with your kids, that feeds your creativity.

I learned this the hard way. I spent years with the pedal to the metal, working seven days a week. It got me nowhere because I was not doing what I needed to do most.

Harken unto your "procrastination demon opportunity detector." Choose the thing that makes you most anxious. Then head straight into the wind, because those anxieties are merely birth pangs of a larger success.

From Entrepreneur

7 Leadership Lies You Need to Stop Believing

We live in an age that seeks quick fixes and easy answers. Sometimes leaders abdicate their thinking to others and accept "prevailing wisdom," which is often an oxymoron.

I grew up, like most, accepting many things at face value. It wasn't until I started giving important issues like leadership a second and third thought that I realized I'd been believing what turned out to be some serious leadership myths.

Here are seven leadership lies and why they simply aren't true:

1. "All managers are leaders." Truth: some managers can lead and others don't or cannot. Management is a subset of leadership, not its equivalent.

Managers are good at setting up, monitoring and maintaining systems and processes. They hire people. But if they can't bring out better performance in people and take the organization beyond where it is, they aren't leading.

Leadership always involves change, improvement and growth.

2. "Some are born leaders." Truth: even someone with a predisposition to lead must learn the skills of leadership.

A young person who is 6'6" might have the predisposition to play basketball, but he or she still needs to learn the skills before they can play successfully.

Leadership might be more latent in some than others -- and you can't always tell -- so focus on what is developing someone's behaviors, not their biological background.

3. "Leaders always have the right answers." Truth: leaders ask the right questions and know where to find the best answers.

If your people always come to you for answers, you're stunting their ability to think. And if everyone in your company keeps asking the same questions, I assure you, you're not that innovative.

Without questioning and curiosity, leaders simply manage by using familiar answers long after the marketplace has started asking different questions. It isn't about knowing the answers as much as it is about knowing who to ask and where to look.

4. "You need a title to lead." Truth: to lead you only need to know when it is appropriate to do so and how to do it.

When I stay at a hotel, the majority of people I encounter -- from the front desk to housekeeping to foodservice -- have no formal title or power over people, yet they are responsible for creating my experience there -- good or bad. Good staff willing to take the lead are as important (and probably more) than the official leaders at the top.

Leadership is about making things better, and the best organizations teach everyone to take responsibility for leading.

5. "Leaders are focused." Truth: Leaders create a shared focus.

If your team isn't focused, it doesn't matter how focused you are on doing what matters. A manager is usually focused, but a leader creates shared focus and doesn't waste resources by allowing team members to do work that doesn't matter.

Being focused is about self-responsibility and discipline. Creating shared focus is about engaging others in the leadership agenda and making it specific to their jobs.

6. "Leadership is about ambition." Truth: leadership is about the greater good.

There's nothing wrong with ambition, but it primarily serves the ambitious. If what you're doing serves only you, you almost certainly aren't leading.

When others are served better as well -- customers, colleagues, vendors, the community -- that is the sign of effective leadership.

7. "Anyone can lead." Truth: Nobody can lead if they lack the desire to do so.

You can't make people lead any more than you can make a horse drink once you've led it to water. Desire is the sine qua non of effective leadership.

And you, Mr. or Ms. Leader, cannot become better without the same desire. I've observed that nobody improves by accident. Getting better is about getting past the common thinking, lies and misconceptions and digging for wisdom. Once you know the truth, it can set you free and make you a better leader.

From Entrepreneur

Want People to Support Your Ideas? Conquer Their Fears

Whether you have a new idea, innovation, or change effort, you'll need to overcome people's anxieties. The key? Understanding psychology.

One of the biggest challenges of innovation and leading change is presenting ideas in a way that overcomes people's anxieties and resistance to change. 

As I've argued before, a good idea is not enough. If you want support for a new change, innovation, product, process, or strategy, you need to understand the psychology behind this resistance--the fears, concerns, and worries that keep people from embracing change. 

Here are four of the key reasons people (including employees, board members, and others) resist your ideas: 

Fear of failure: Think of what you're asking from others. You want them to invest time, effort, and maybe money into a project whose outcome (no matter how certain success seems to you) is uncertain to them. Given that most people are risk-averse, the fear of failure is an obvious source of anxiety and resistance. 

Fear of the new: In theory, many will not challenge a new direction. But when change actually starts--and routine, budgets, and work processes are discernibly different--people get conventional, fast. Appreciate that while people may say that they want new, innovative ideas, they may not be as receptive when dealing with the results. 

Turf paranoia: The introduction of new ideas can create a shift in priorities and resources that will make some feel alienated, undervalued, or nervous. Broad change initiatives make it difficult for people to protect old turf and old ways of doing things. New ideas may imply an infringement on the status and power held before. You have to take these concerns seriously and think of ways to preserve the status and resources of key stakeholders while implementing your new ideas.

Confusion: New ideas are often complicated and not easily understood. Because of this, they may require too much concentration and energy from the very people you are trying to bring on board. 

How to Win Support for Your Ideas

To overcome these obstacles and get people excited about your ideas, innovations, or change efforts, you'll need to mitigate these anxieties as you make your pitch. Here are five tips: 

1. Accentuate the payoff: When proposing a new idea, leaders often assume that the benefits of their idea are self-evident. Stress the benefits, and don't assume that everyone will have an immediate and deep appreciation of what you're trying to achieve. Tell a story that shows your audience each and every advantage of your idea. 

2. Couch it in their reality: You always have to be thinking of your audience and their world. You need to illustrate your ideas by explaining how your ideas relate to their lives. 

3. Address the risks: Often, leaders don't dwell on the inherent risks of their ideas when presenting them to the team. Take the time to identify areas of risk and ways risk can be mitigated.

4. Be concrete: Ideas can be rejected because they sprawl or are too sweeping. Rein in the scope of your idea, and focus on exact costs and timelines. Don't allow the drama and power of your idea to make you promise more than you can deliver.

5. Accentuate prestige: Knowing that individuals will often resist change because they fear loss of status and turf, accentuate the social prestige and recognition that they will likely receive by joining your effort. 

From Inc.

Delivering World-Class Service on a Startup Budget

The late Maya Angelou once said “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel.” This is as true in business as it is in life: Outstanding service can help a company stand out and be remembered in a crowded marketplace.

Unfortunately, many startup founders believe that great customer service can’t be delivered until their company has reached sufficient scale. While it’s true that customer service can’t be streamlined and automated to the same extent as some other business operations, even the leanest of startup teams can create a wonderful experience if they have the right mindset.

Here are three ways your company can provide world-class service on a startup budget:

1. Put your customers on a pedestal. It may sound obvious, but if you want to deliver excellent service, you need to make customer satisfaction the top priority in your organization.

Pick a metric or group of metrics that you believe best represent customer satisfaction (e.g. net promoter score, churn rate, percentage of customers who make repeat purchases, etc.) and display it somewhere everyone can see. Let your team know that these are the most important metrics in your company and that it is everyone’s responsibility -- not just your customer service representatives and account managers -- to ensure that you meet and exceed your goals.

2. Listen to your customers, wherever they are. Customer feedback can come through a variety of channels -- email, social media, live chat, telephone and even snail mail -- so it behooves you to build a system that can capture, synthesize and analyze this feedback while your company is still small. Properly organized, this data can provide invaluable insights that can inform your product, marketing, service and even fundamental business model. While it’s probably not advisable to open all of your business’s decisions to a public vote, companies that demonstrate that they listen to what their customers say and take their feedback seriously tend to earn more respect and brand loyalty than businesses that operate inside of a feedback-free bubble.

3. Use technology to connect with your customers faster than the competition. While startups lack in size and resources, they can compensate with speed and nimbleness. Using live chat and social media, you can address customer questions and issues as they arise while putting a human face on your brand. For best results, train your staff to take a helpful, patient and conversational tone (speaking with a rude and uncaring customer service representative is arguably worse than not speaking with anyone at all). On social media, use your best judgment to determine which posts you will and won’t engage with. Direct questions and constructive feedback always merit a response, even if it’s just to say “we’re sorry, we’ll do better.” Personal attacks and blatant provocations, however, are best left unanswered. As the old Internet adage goes, “Don’t feed the trolls.”

In addition to answering customer questions and addressing their complaints, both live chat and social media are invaluable in that they provide you with an additional opportunity to tell your startup’s story in a conversational and personable way. Given how many large companies either do live chat and social media poorly or choose to avoid them altogether, doing these things well can help endear your brand to your customers and build a loyal fan base at an early stage in your company’s development.

While the tactics listed above will help you enhance your customer experience, ultimately the main difference between exemplary and satisfactory service is culture. Is everyone in your company committed to making your customers happy or does that responsibility rest with a small and siloed team? Do you define customer-service success as a lack of support tickets or by an abundance of brand advocates? How you answer these questions will determine whether customer service is just another business function or whether it’s a foundational part of your corporate DNA. 

From Entrepreneur

10 Words Terrible Leaders Always Use

The worst leaders always use these ten words.

What's the telltale sign of a good leader? They know how to communicate in the workplace. People follow what they say (and what they do), listen to their instruction, and respect their wisdom. They say the right things. But terrible leaders? They use words like those listed below that destroy confidence, grind projects to a halt, and discourage everyone.

1. Maybe

Like a flare shot up into the darkness, the word maybe implies a shaky leadership style. When employees ask for time off, a bad leader says maybe. When the sales director asks for help with marketing a new widget, a bad leader says maybe. Confident leaders rarely use the word.

2. Incidentally

Bad leaders tend to say incidentally with a smirk. It's dismissive--those who use the word don't mean it as an aside. It's more of a put-down. Incidentally, I started this company and I'm in charge. Incidentally, you are an idiot and I'm the smart one.

3. Probably

Does the word probably belong in business? Not really. Good leaders know they have to find the hard data first--there is no probably. There is a specific percentage. When a leader says we will probably need better tech support for the product or we'll probably hit our sales numbers, it's a red flag. They don't really know the answer.

4. Unfortunately

I've written before how this is a dismissive term in e-mails. Bad leaders also tend to use the word when they talk to you. Sorry Bob, but--unfortunately--the firm cannot pay the expenses on your business trip. It's a form of control and oppression.

5. Corrective

A bad leader takes corrective action. I have to be corrective about that, they say. What does that even mean? It's a buzzword--the boss is correcting behavior. But being corrective is not a good leadership approach. Redirecting people and guiding them, encouraging a different approach, that's a sign of good leadership. By the time the boss needs to corrective about something, it's usually too late.

6. Blame

The word blame weasels its way into the vocabulary of terrible leaders. They say things like, I don't mean to blame you for screwing up a project. Or, I need someone to accept the blame for our financial losses. Great leaders don't talk about blame in the workplace. They find what is not working and fix it. Or they accept responsibility.

7. Usually

Acting decisively is important because it builds confidence. When a poor leader says usuallyit reveals a confidence issue--they don't have all of the information. They might say new a new app usually crashes or customers usually can't find parking at a retail store. Wait, did you really mean usually? It's best to find out all of the answers: how often, what is causing the problem, what are the exact variables.

8. Regrettably

The word regrettably is a dismissive term that poor leaders use to, well, dismiss people. They say regrettably I have to cancel your project, or regrettably I cannot attend your business lunch. The word makes it seem like the leader has a higher priority and, regrettably, you don't rank high enough on the scale.

9. Sometimes

The problem with the word sometimes is that it implies a lack of research and knowledge. If the founder of a company says people sometimes download a new app on Android phones, or new customers sometimes try to call an old 1-800 number, everyone starts wondering what's really going on. Poor leaders deal in vagaries and half-truths. Great leaders have the answer or know how to find it

10. No

There are times when great leaders have to say no. It's just not possible to agree to every budget item or every idea. Yet, if you consistently say no to everything, you become known as a naysayer. Your negativity spreads across the company. Figure out how to say yes more. Or at least how to prioritize more effectively.

From Inc.

How to Lose a Customer in 10 Simple Steps

Do you ever wonder why some people don't respond to your emails or pick up your calls? Here's how to avoid alienating potential customers and business partners.

The cards are generally stacked against someone trying to make a sale. Budget limitations, timing issues, red tape, and other factors you can't control can all come between you and a viable business deal.

But there are also subtle things we do that can negatively affect how potential clients perceive our companies. We can't always be perfect, but we can practice self-awareness to prevent costly conversation mistakes. Avoid these 10 turnoffs next time you're talking to a potential lead:

1. Name-Dropping

If you mention you're best friends with Mark Cuban within the first two minutes of a conversation, you might as well be saying, "I'm trying to impress you right now so you think I'm important." I don't think Mark's best friends are advertising it. Naturally bringing up names that fit into a conversation is OK, but don't force it.

2. Overpromising and Under-Delivering

I would love to tell someone they're going to be the next Seth Godin or Richard Branson after they work with us. But people would see right through it and think my company is making false promises. I've learned that it's better to be real with people about expectations. You have to realign them sometimes, but you'll earn a long-term client who trusts you in the end.

3. Talking About Yourself Too Much

Keeping an open ear when talking business will impress leads more than anything else. Try to go by a 60/40 rule. Spend 60 percent of the conversation listening and 40 percent talking. In sales, this number should go up to 70/30 or more.

4. Not Appearing Credible

Imagine a child wearing a business suit for this one. Just because he's dressed like a professional doesn't mean he'll do a good job. (He'll probably eat a whole bag of Cheetos and watch Scooby Doo instead.) Don't be passive about your online presence. We recently wrote a blog post about how one leader's influence affects the whole organization, which talks about how you need to take a hard look at yourself and your company. Do you have content out there that draws people back to your company in a smart way? Ask yourself whether you'd do business with your own company after doing a bit of research.

5. Lying

People you want to do business with can typically sense BS from a mile away, so don't think you're getting away with it. Ego, pride, and insecurity will shine through like headlights when you're talking to someone. Even telling innocent white lies can catch up to you sooner or later.

6. Not Valuing People's Time

Doing business with someone is a lot like dating. If someone shows up late or reschedules a first date, it should be a major red flag. Chances are that person won't value your time as a significant other. Someone's first impression of you should never be "this person doesn't value my time." Own up and apologize if you're late--don't brush it off.

7. Emphasizing Sales

Trying to sell in a social setting will deter people from working with you later on. Ninety percent of consumers say that when they're ready to buy, they'll come to you. Not every person wants what you're selling, or the timing might not be right. Know when to build a relationship and when to sell.

8. Behaving Inappropriately

It's natural to want to skip past the formalities and interact with people in a more relaxed way. But that doesn't mean you should do keg stands and make off-color jokes the first time you meet someone. Informality before rapport can be a major turnoff to many people. Wait until you know you've secured trust before you bring out the tequila shots. It's not worth the risk.

9. Acting Like a Know-It-All

If you don't have a quality answer, it's OK to say, "I don't know." This honesty draws attention to the things you do know. And by asking more questions, you can actually learn about a person and discover ways you can add value.

10. Using Poor Grammar

Emails aren't texts, and potential clients aren't your BFFs. Not every email has to be perfect, but "u" and "btw" can get on people's nerves and cause immediate judgment that's hard to shake. Slapping an "excuse the typos" onto the end won't stop people from judging you for sounding like a teenager, either.

We've all committed a few of these slipups at some point. And all it takes is ruining that first impression to jeopardize a sale forever. We're not going to land every business opportunity that comes our way, but avoiding these conversation don'ts whenever possible will increase your chances of impressing a client and landing a career-defining sale or relationship.

From Inc.