young-entrepreneur

6 Tips to Get People to Look Past Your Age and See an Expert

by Paul Joseph January 25, 2012 Featured

You want to make the big deals and the big bucks. However, your hurdle is the fact that your looks and voice haven’t matured as much as your ambition has. You have the disadvantage that your potential clients and business partners think you’re a young cub, rather than a king of industry. Here are some tips to make you the known expert in your industry and not the “kid” in the conference room. Become a virtual real estate tycoon Become the Donald Trump of your market by owning the entire first page of Google. How?  When you publish expert articles in multiple outlets with authority, the pages from these publications often rank for your brand or your target keywords. Make an effort to get your social media accounts to pop up in the top results on Google. You’re basically leasing virtual real estate for free on these sites, as well as on Googleʼs first page of search results. If people search for you and you appear to be the real deal, it gets you one step closer to earning respect as an expert. Create a networking web with A-players Who knows who your potential clients and partners will be?  The best time to build a network of A-players is before you need them. Smart entrepreneurs know they can’t be experts at everything, and they’re always looking for other experts to bring into their inner circle. Take advantage of speaking opportunities, guest contributor opportunities, and interviews to get your expertise and message out there. You’ll be shocked at how your message catches fire and how complete strangers become new evangelists for you. This will grow your web of influence to attract and seize new opportunities, building your reputation among your peers. Don’t be a social media robot Have you ever noticed that there are two types of people talking in social media?  There are those who share original thoughts, and those who simply repeat othersʼ original thoughts. Thought leaders amass a following. Now is the best time in history to make a difference by leveraging your social media following. Make an effort to share original thoughts to create a magnet for building a tribe on social networking sites. Know where the line is with self-promotion Know what’s repulsive?  Self-promotion – banging your own drum. Know what’s magnetic?  Concentrating on sharing your expertise and not just promoting your products or services. Sales resistance goes to zero when you’re a trusted expert. Start more meaningful conversations No one likes to be ‘talked at,’ but everyone likes to be ‘talked to.’ Conversations are where real relationships develop via two-way communication. Being an expert, having an opinion, and sharing it in multiple outlets puts the microphone in your hand; you lead the conversation. Your message is the fodder for dialogue in blogs, social media, and email. When you do get expert posts out there, make sure you comment back to people who bring credible points to your expertise. Build an audience at warp speed The fastest way to build an audience is to find one that already exists and get introduced to it. Literally overnight, you can go from virtually unknown to wildly popular. That’s why it costs millions of dollars per minute to access the audience created by the Super Bowl, the most-watched program ever. The money is in the size of the reach. 188 billion email messages are read every day…yes, BILLION!  Some sites, like Linked2Leadership, have massive email lists that you can reach by being a guest contributor. It allows you to drive readers back to your site, and nurture them over time with your message and your personality. This builds a community around your personal and company brand. If you’re ready to be a lion in your pride, don’t let your youthful appearance stop you. Brand yourself as an expert, and develop a true following among your readers. You’ll be leading the herd soon enough by being a leader, rather than trying to look like one. John Hall is the CEO of Digital Talent Agents , a company that helps experts build their personal and company brand through producing high quality content for reputable publications.

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, business, business planning, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, marketing-strategies, small-business, starting a business, young-entrepreneur

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Entrepreneurship 101: Are you Ready?

by Paul Joseph January 19, 2012 Featured

You’ve decided that you want to own your own business. You’ve got a great idea you’re sure will take off, and you’re pretty sure you have what it takes to become an entrepreneur. Whether you’d like to run a company on your own or with partners, your goal is to be a successful entrepreneur, and being a successful entrepreneur often depends on being prepared in a few key areas. No matter what business you plan to start, working through these critical areas will vastly increase your chances for success. If you’re lacking in any of these areas, you might not be ready for the world of business ownership. So, review the list below and make sure you’re prepared to take on the challenge of entrepreneurship and realize the success you’re striving for. Choose Well – Spend an adequate amount of time deciding exactly what kind of business it is that you want to get involved in. Of course you want to choose one that can make you money, but it also needs to be something that you truly enjoy. It’s also a good idea to go with something that you already know a lot about or can easily research and gain the understanding required to run your own business. Choosing an Internet based business is a great choice because they’re often very low cost and have high growth potential. Remember the Money – Once you’ve decided on the type of business that you’d like to start, it’s time to figure out how to fund it. This may include getting a line of credit or perhaps even an SBA loan. You will need to bring any frivolous spending to an end as well. Of course there are plenty of success stories that include bootstrapping, so you might not need a ton of money, but this element is not something to overlook. After all, statistics show that the majority of business failures are the result of a lack of funds. Find Customers Fast – It’s best to do what you can to land customers as early as possible. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is obvious – money. The second, and actually more important reason is that new customers can give input which will help you build your products and services into something they would be interested enough to buy more of or even pay more for later. Customers can help us to build amazing products just by engaging them and listening to them. So think about where you’ll find your first customers and be ready to sell to them as quickly as possible. Be Ready to Work – Working your butt off is the only way your new business will be as successful as you hope it will be. This doesn’t mean you can no longer have fun or that you should ignore your family. This is the time when you need to make like a Super Hero and do it all!  Others do it all the time, so you can too! Check your Commitment – This is one key that most successful entrepreneurs site as most important to their success. Make sure you’re ready to go into this venture full-force. Stick with what you’re doing, even at times when you’re asking yourself if it’s all worth it. Backing out at the first (or tenth) sign of difficulty can be an epic mistake. Be prepared to stick with your new venture through good times and bad times. Consider Partners – While many entrepreneurs prefer to work alone, having other people on board can benefit you immensely – especially if they’re more experienced or have skills you don’t possess. Consider bringing on a good, solid partner early on in the process. Leave your ego behind and realize that a small piece of something larger is so much more valuable than a larger piece of something that is small – or worse yet, non-existent! Of course there are never any guarantees in business, but by being prepared in these areas, your new business will stand a much better chance at success. What else does a new entrepreneur need to be ready for? Share your experience in the comments and on our Facebook page ! Adam Toren is an Award Winning Author, Serial Entrepreneur and Investor. He Co-Founded YoungEntrepreneur.com along with his brother Matthew. Adam is co-author of the newly released book: Small Business, Big Vision: “Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right” and also co-author of Kidpreneurs .

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, business, business planning, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, small-business, startup, young-entrepreneur

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Four Myths of Entrepreneurship Debunked

by Paul Joseph January 11, 2012 Featured

You may think you understand the life of an entrepreneur, but your perceptions may not match reality. Many people dream of starting a company because they hate their job, have an innovative idea or want to emulate their childhood hero like Steve Jobs. But people tend to believe conventional wisdom about entrepreneurship and don’t investigate what it actually takes to start a business. For example, few people realize that most small businesses fail within the first two years. And of those who do succeed, the daily grind of running a small business can wreak havoc on their social lives. Here are four popular myths of entrepreneurship and why they aren’t true: 1. You are your own boss. Entrepreneurs, regardless of how successful they are, are working for a number of bosses. Instead of having a single manager at a large company, an entrepreneur must serve multiple clients or customers daily. That means you will need strong communication and organization skills to maintain relationships with current customers while pursuing new ones. As an entrepreneur, you do enjoy more control over your destiny than an employee who has no choice but to take orders from his manager. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, can drop clients if they aren’t a good match or prove hard to deal with. 2. If you work for yourself, then you’re an entrepreneur. If you’re a consultant providing a service but have no ambition to develop a full-scale business with multiple employees, then you aren’t really an entrepreneur. In fact, most small businesses aren’t run by entrepreneurs. According to Small Business Administration statistics, 21.1 million of the 27 million small businesses in the U.S. have no workers other than the owner. If you work for yourself, call yourself a consultant or independent contractor, not an entrepreneur. 3. All entrepreneurs are rich. Many entrepreneurs are striving to make a difference, not simply make more money. They don’t live the lavish lifestyles you see in the movies and on television. They aren’t all billionaires like Richard Branson or Donald Trump, who have spent years building their brands. The typical entrepreneur actually earns less money than if he had decided to be a company employee instead. In The Illusions of Entrepreneurship , author Scott Shane says the typical profit of an owner-managed business is slim. In 2008, the year his book was published, their take home was just $39,000 annually. 4. Venture capital is required. Very few entrepreneurs can raise venture capital, especially in this economy. Most entrepreneurs go into debt to finance their companies until they become profitable enough that venture capitalists want to invest. Shane notes that the average amount needed to start a business is between $15,000 and $20,000, and only 0.03 percent of new companies get venture capital funding. Entrepreneurs tend to go to relatives and friends for help before tapping the investor community. Even then, fewer than one in 12 startups will receive investments from family and friends. Ultimately, many entrepreneurs end up using their own personal resources, such as savings and retirement accounts and home equity, to get up and running. Dan Schawbel is the Managing Partner of Millennial Branding, a full-service personal branding agency. Dan is the author of Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future , the founder of the Personal Branding Blog , and is a personal branding speaker.

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, business, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, management, startup, young-entrepreneur

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Answers to 5 Common Entrepreneurial Questions

by Paul Joseph January 3, 2012 Featured

When trying to decide whether or not to take the plunge into entrepreneurship, people have an endless number of questions. Whether it’s your first shot at being in business for yourself or you’ve done it before, some questions are sure to continue popping up. Below are some of the most common questions we hear, with some ideas about how to answer them. This article won’t answer all your questions, but it will get you off to a great start! How will I know if my business idea is a good one? Speaking with potential customers before you go forward with building on your startup is important. By speaking with these people, you will either have your assumptions validated, or you’ll learn that they were all wrong. Either way, you’re gaining some valuable insight. Although it can be difficult to hear criticism at times, learning from criticism can save you a whole lot of time and heartache. Certainly don’t fool yourself by assuming that the source of the criticism is crazy and you’re doing everything correctly. Be realistic and face the truth gracefully. How do I fund my startup? If at all possible, you don’t. Bootstrapping is always our preferred startup method. One good idea is to start out by doing some consulting services for customers, which tends to have almost no overhead. By doing this, you’re not only supporting yourself, but you’re also remaining in contact with the customers and are learning which problems they have. Then you can develop a product or service based on a clear understanding of what your customers’ wants and needs are, rather than on your assumptions. In the next five years, which industries have the biggest growth potential? Look around. What big problems do you see? By looking for problems, you’re also looking into the biggest opportunities. Poverty, homelessness, energy crisis, water crisis, etc. All of these are huge problems. You could address some of these problems with your new company. Another place to look for problems is within big companies. In every industry, there are giants, and it’s inevitable that within these giants of industry, there are places where they are weak. You can look for these holes and create an expertise related to them. For example, although Google is obviously the largest search provider, it’s not the only one, because others have seen where they are lacking and created companies around the needs that are not being met by Google. How can I possibly overcome my fear of failure? This often comes down to the importance of having a clear vision. Your vision helps overcome fear because it allows you to picture your business as successful and focus on that picture. You also need to find some sort of philosophy to draw inspiration from. Whether you get your inspiration from a book, partner, or mentor, the important point is that you’re gaining inspiration. It’s becoming increasingly popular for entrepreneurs to use other business leaders as their sources of inspiration. Look around – there’s something out there for you. Where can I find mentors? Take a close look at the people who you’re surrounded by every day. Who has your respect and truly believes in you? Do they respect your work? Someone like this has a terrific potential for becoming a good mentor for you. This type of relationship is a very personal one, so it’s important that you have good chemistry with one another, and not only common business interests and goals. You can expect to invest a lot of time and emotional energy with your mentor. If you can find someone who will allow you to do a little bit of work for them, it can provide a setting in which they can coach you. In a sense, you are working for each other in this way. So, what about all the other questions you have? Take the time to seek out people who will not only answer your questions, but also provide you with examples of their own experiences. The more knowledge you can gain ahead of time, the higher your chances for success. Matthew Toren is an Award Winning Author, Serial Entrepreneur, and Investor. He Co-Founded YoungEntrepreneur.com along with his brother Adam. Matthew is co-author of the newly released book: Small Business, Big Vision: “Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right” and also co-author of Kidpreneurs .

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, business, business planning, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, starting a business, startup, young-entrepreneur

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7 Vital Keys for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

by Paul Joseph December 31, 2011 Featured

We live in a world where we can no longer depend solely on our education, and certainly not on employment. This would explain the increase in the number of people who are branching out on their own and starting their own businesses. If you happen to be one of these people who are thinking about creating your own startup business, the tips below will be of great use to you. 1. Have Great Expectations – Being limited by your goals is not an option. Do you know what your goal is? Truly successful entrepreneurs generally have goals which differ from the goals of the average person. Not only are their goals unique, but they’re quite lofty as well. Never underestimate the power of your goals. Your future will be affected by the goals you’ve made, and it can also be affected by your way of thinking. Reach for the stars and dream big! 2. Don’t Listen to Haters – Don’t expect everyone to agree with you and your big goals. A lot of people will think that you are jumping in over your head or being foolish. Never let others’ perceptions of you hinder anything you do in your life. This includes becoming an entrepreneur. If you find that particular people are overly skeptical or discouraging, it might be a good idea to distance yourself from them for a while. If that’s not a possibility, simply don’t share your thoughts and plans with them. Setting yourself up for criticism will only get you down and make you doubt yourself. 3. Get Started – No matter who you are and what experiences you’ve had, it’s very common to feel nervous or afraid to take the first step and get started. Whether it is the fear of the results or the fear of what other people might say, you’ve got to rise above it. A person can have the best ideas and visions, but if they don’t take action and get started, they will never achieve anything. 4. Take Risks – In any new venture, there will be risks involved. Every successful person has had to take risks and sacrifice more than they sometimes wanted to. It’s not always easy to let go of money – or sleep for that matter. You get what you put into things, so the more you give of yourself to your business; the more you will get in return. Not only that, but the risks you take along the way will make your success story that much more interesting. 5. Get Networking – Any aspiring entrepreneur needs to be able to network with people. The people you know and associate with says a lot about you. Success tends to rub off. If your friends are successful entrepreneurs themselves, they are likely to share their secrets with you. Having this type of firsthand knowledge on your side will benefit you and your business immensely. 6. Make Mistakes – Let’s get real. We all make mistakes. The ways in which we deal with these mistakes is where the importance lies. Nobody is perfect, and pretending that you are will only negate what your goal is: Success. Admit your mistakes and then learn from them. After all, whether or not you’ve done this before, you can’t possibly expect to be mistake-free. 7. Get Motivated – Everyone needs encouragement now and then, but as an aspiring entrepreneur, you’re going to need more motivation than most. Find books, audios, and people who motivate you, and immerse yourself in their words. Most importantly, keep your eye on your vision and the reason why you want to be an entrepreneur. There are going to be a lot of stumbling blocks along the way, but with true dedication and devotion to your entrepreneurship, you can overcome any obstacle that gets in your way. Matthew Toren is an Award Winning Author, Serial Entrepreneur, and Investor. He Co-Founded YoungEntrepreneur.com along with his brother Adam. Matthew is co-author of the newly released book: Small Business, Big Vision: “Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right” and also co-author of Kidpreneurs .

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, business, business planning, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, small-business, starting a business, startup, success, young-entrepreneur

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5 Keys for Effectively Dealing with Criticism

by Paul Joseph December 30, 2011 Featured

Being an entrepreneur means making a lot of important decisions, and the decisions you make will often please some, and displease others.  Some people might even go to the extent of publicly criticizing you for some of your decisions.   And in some cases, your worst critics can even be those closest to you.  For some people, it can become difficult to continue to move forward in the face of harsh or unyielding criticism, but by remembering some of the points below, you’ll be able to overcome any critics and focus on what’s most important: building a successful business. 1. Know that you cannot satisfy everyone. Having a strong belief in yourself and your abilities is easier when you realize that you will never be able to satisfy everybody.  Once you notice that there are some people who simply can’t be satisfied, you’ll begin to see these critics as the minority, and you’ll no longer take what they have to say to heart. 2. Recognize that misery loves company. There are a lot of people out there who are going nowhere with their lives, and at times it feels as though they don’t want others to succeed, since they aren’t succeeding.  Once you understand that these types of people are going nowhere, it will be a lot easier for you to focus on your goals and be successful.  There are some people who will criticize your every move, but never let these types of people get in the way of your success. When you notice these people criticizing you, don’t allow yourself to take their criticism to heart. In fact, distancing yourself from them as much as possible is a very good way to handle them. They’ll eventually tire of being ignored and move on. 3. Sometimes it’s best to do absolutely nothing. Attempting to convince your critics, or reacting to them in any way, will only give them an ego boost, and will most likely result in even more criticism from them.  There is a great saying that goes something like, “The best answer for a fool is silence.”  By responding to the fool, he thinks he’s important, and will continue to spout negativity in your direction.  Ignoring the fool shows how unimportant he is to you, and he’s likely to move on. 4. Try observing the criticism. Regardless of how difficult criticism may be to hear at times, there very well might be a little bit of truth in what they’re saying, so it’s important to observe their criticism in the proper way.  Pay attention to the numbers of people who disagree with you. If over 50% of your circle of influence disagrees with you, then you might consider that you are the one who’s wrong.  However, if the number of people who disagree is much smaller, like 10%, then you’ll know you’re on the right track. 5. Remember: Criticism = Progress Criticism can be seen as a sign of progress.  If you’re not very well known, you aren’t likely to get criticized, aside from family and friends.  The fact that people are noticing you enough to criticize is proof that you are, in fact, progressing.  Always consider the source of the criticism as well. If the person dishing out the hate talk just happens to be in the same field or niche that you’re in, chances are that they’re simply jealous of your success and are doing whatever they can to try to hinder you. You’ve got so much to achieve with your business. The last thing you need is to be slowed down by critics.  So keep the above points in mind, and don’t let anyone hold you down! Matthew Toren is an Award Winning Author, Serial Entrepreneur, and Investor. He Co-Founded YoungEntrepreneur.com along with his brother Adam. Matthew is co-author of the newly released book: Small Business, Big Vision: “Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right” and also co-author of Kidpreneurs .

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, business, business psychology, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, psychology, success, young-entrepreneur

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Introducing the 2011 Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs

by Paul Joseph October 28, 2011 Featured

As promised, The Hitachi Foundation has announced the 2011 Class of Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs! The Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs demonstrate business approaches that help create greater economic opportunity for low-wealth individuals in the United States. This marks the second year of the Foundation’s Young Entrepreneurs Program. To be considered, entrepreneurs must have been under the age of 30 when they started their enterprise, and operating viable businesses that create jobs, supply goods or services, or use internal management practices that offer low-wealth individuals in the United States a leg up. Meet the 2011 Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs   Andy Posner, Capital Good Fund, Providence , RI Andy Posner (26) believes that access to capital has the potential to transform individual lives, communities and the environment.  In 2009, as a student pursuing his master’s degree, he co-founded the Capital Good Fund (CGF). CGF is a nonprofit micro-lender with a mission to create a poverty-free, inclusive green economy in the United States. While pursuing graduate studies, Andy further learned that millions of Americans are completely shut out of the financial system because of language, cultural, and/or legal barriers as well as a lack of or poor credit history. CGF loans help low-income individuals access the financial system through equitable loans and financial coaching. At the same time, CGF works with clients to green their homes and businesses and take other action and leadership on environmental issues. CGF currently offers business loans, from $500-$5,000, and personal loans, from $200-$5,000. To date, CGF has made 149 loans totaling more than $163,000.  In addition, CGF offers one-on-one financial and business coaching and free tax preparation.  So far, CGF has graduated 102 people through business and financial coaching and provided tax prep to 26 individuals. Lacy Asbill and Elana Metz , Moving Forward Education, Emeryville , CA Moving Forward Education (MFE) is a multi-generational mentoring program aimed at fostering academic and emotional success for underserved students of color in California. Lacy Asbill (30) and Elana Metz (32) co-founded the program – they were inspired by a vision of an organization run by young people, for young people, focusing on students’ emotional well-being as a critical strategy for improving their academic achievement. MFE offers its services in two distinct programs: Girls Moving Forward, a program for girls run by young female educators, and Boys Moving Forward, a boy-centered program run by young male teachers. Girls Moving Forward focuses on building girls’ confidence and self-belief, addresses the persistent pressures that girls face around their body and appearance, and fosters healthy relationships among girls. Boys Moving Forward teaches boys to experience and express their emotions, works to develop boys’ impulse control and ability to resolve conflicts, and provides boys with much needed positive male role models. Both programs include reading, English language arts, and mathematics instruction. Since MFE’s founding in 2006, the organization has served 3,000 students, most at no cost to their families. In addition, MFE has trained 500 young adults to enter careers in the educational field. Tyler Gage and Dan MacCombie, Runa, Brooklyn , NY While working with indigenous communities in Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil, Runa co-founders Tyler Gage (25) and Dan MacCombie (26) saw firsthand the tradeoff they face: while they want to preserve their cultural heritage, they must earn money and feed their families in an increasingly globalized economy. After discovering the commercial potential of guayusa – a naturally caffeinated leaf from the Amazon tree of the same name – as an export product, Tyler and Dan created Runa, a Fair Trade business, to share guayusa with the world. Runa produces and markets ready to drink bottled teas, specialty bagged teas, and wholesale guayusa. It is the first company to bring guayusa products to the United States. In addition to creating an economic base for the Kichwa people, Runa is creating jobs for people living in the U.S. who are of Ecuadorian descent as sales representatives and facility managers.  Runa will build its organic tea factory in Brooklyn – Ecuadorians are one of the largest immigrant populations in New York. The company also supports indigenous farmers and reforestation in the Amazon rainforest. In less than one year of operations, Runa has partnered with over 800 farming families to plant more than 100,000 trees on their lands, and paid over $6,000 of supplementary income for guayusa leaves harvested from existing guayusa trees. Garrett Neiman, SEE College Prep, San Francisco , CA While an economics student at Stanford University, Garrett Neiman (23) decided to use his research and work experience in education to help close the college opportunity gap and increase college options for low-income students. With co-founder Jessica Perez, he created an organization that provides the only SAT preparation curriculum tailored to the needs of low-income students. These students often remain locked out of the test preparation industry, resulting in a nearly 300-point disparity between low-income students and their wealthiest peers. SEE provides an in-depth SAT preparation and college-counseling program, which provides the necessary inspiration, mentorship, and know-how for low-income students to succeed on the SAT and in the college admissions and financial aid process. SEE programming focuses on core academic material that students may have missed in their under-resourced classrooms. Students report that SEE’s programs — which solidify math, reading, and writing skills — have a positive impact on everyday academic performance in high school and college. A significant portion of teaching and mentoring teams are people of color and many are among the first generation in their families to go to college, providing real life examples to SEE’s students. In addition to an average SAT score gain of 202 points, students also leave SEE with drafts of college admissions essays and personal statements. Blaine Mickens, Young Picasso Painting, Cleveland , OH Young Picasso Painting (YPP) is an eco-friendly professional painting company created with the goal of strengthening the underserved communities in which it operates. Blaine Mickens (21) founded YPP to break the cycle of poverty by employing low-wealth individuals, including the formerly incarcerated, and working in low-income communities to enhance the look of blighted buildings. In addition, YPP infuses environmentally sustainable practices into its operations, including using low VOC paints (Volatile organic compounds ) and no VOC spackles. YPP allocates five percent of net profits to its “Give Back Fund,” which is designated for community outreach efforts, including restoring faith-based organizations, day care centers, and other socially valuable businesses. The company removes graffiti and paints exteriors of abandoned properties to both raise community morale and property values. YPP also offers a summer internship for underserved youth. Each individual or enterprise team receives a two-year grant and technical assistance to support their skill development and strengthen their business. Through partnerships with leading organizations, including Investors’ Circle, Social Venture Network, B-Lab, MIT Sloan School of Management, PICnet, and others — Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs receive state-of-the-art mentorship and coaching.  In addition, each award recipient instantly becomes part of a dynamic peer-learning network. You can learn more about the Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs by visiting the Hitachi Foundation’s website:   http://www.hitachifoundation.org/our-work/yoshiyama-young-entrepreneurs-program/meet-our-entrepreneurs .

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, business, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, young-entrepreneur

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The Entrepreneurial Life: Personal Freedom

by Paul Joseph October 12, 2011 Featured

Most people, when asked what they would change about their lives, mention personal freedom as something they’d like more of. The biggest culprit when it comes to keeping people on day-to-day lockdown is work. A solid 40-60 hours are held hostage by the office each week, and employees are all but chained to their desks in hopes of getting them to churn out more value per hour than the employees at the competitor’s office. It’s a sad state of affairs, but it’s a reality most people live with. But not me. For the past two years I’ve been moving to a new country every four months based on the votes of my blog readers. During this time, I’ve also continued to work with clients as a brand consultant, have collaborated on new businesses with others and started up a half-dozen of my own. I’ve also written five books and built a large audience around my blog and other ventures. The benefits of working remotely — from anywhere, not just other countries — is that you have the opportunity to gain massive amounts of experience and perspective that other people will lack, and that is a huge competitive advantage. The problem is that working remotely can be incredibly difficult, especially if you’ve never done it before. Below are some things to keep in mind if you’re thinking of making the switch to a remote working situation that should help you stay productive while acquiring more personal freedoms. Schedule Flexibility It’s tempting to think that, when working from home or a cafe in Venice , that you’ll keep the same hours you worked at the office. I’ll tell you now: this won’t happen. And it shouldn’t. One major benefit of working remotely is that if you’re smart about how you do your job, you can create the same amount of value in less time, freeing up your evenings for polo class, or your mornings to sleep until 11. Don’t assume that because the rest of the world is waking up at and working until a certain time that you need to as well. Allow your schedule to be as flexible as possible, and then use that extra time to LIVE. Have the Right Clients/Employers I think it goes without saying that you’ll need to have the right kind of clients or employer to make a remote working situation successful and valuable for everyone involved. Find clients who do not need to hop on the phone every 15 minutes to check up on you, and who are having you do work that is not ridiculously time-sensitive (time zones and internet issues can be a problem in those cases). Set expectations and most clients shouldn’t have a problem with you working from elsewhere. A remote working situation could be a tougher sell to employers, but there are piles of data that should aid you in your ambition to free up more personal time and enjoy the freedoms that not being tethered to an office entail. Go online and snag some numbers that show the benefits of remote working and bring up the concept with your boss to see if they’re open to discussion. If that method doesn’t work, you could start looking for new employment with people who respect your value and your time more. Brent Beshore the CEO of AdVentures , has seen a great deal of success (in terms of money, growth, and employee-happiness) by giving his employees free-reign when it comes to vacation days, sick days, and work environment. He doesn’t care if they work from his Columbia, Missouri-based co-working space or from a hostel in Costa Rica, so long as they’re able to fulfill their responsibilities. Find the right match when it comes to the people who pay you and working remotely will be a much more pleasant experience. Infrastructure Most stationary workers don’t have to consider the quality of their local infrastructure, but remote worker do. Infrastructure concerns are very real when traveling, and depending on where you plan on setting up shop (if even for a day), you may find readily available sources of electricity and internet access, or none at all. Take this into consideration before you pack up, and make sure you have the right adapter (when traveling to other countries) so you can plug in, backup batteries in case there are no available outlets, and some way to connect to the internet when there’s no available WiFi (this is the most common issue I run into). Get a phone that can tether to your computer or a USB Internet Dongle of some sort, just to be on the safe side. Build Your Network Your network is important wherever you work from, but when working remotely, it can mean the difference between doing your job well and not doing it at all. I find that when I arrive in a country I’ve never been to before, getting set up and ready to work is tough if I don’t have a social connection of some sort on the ground, ready to answer any questions I might have. These can be people you meet through a friend, on Twitter, or through work, and they can make your life a million times easier just by explaining how to say ‘power outlet?’ in the local tongue, our showing you where their favorite co-working space can be found. You should also take the free time you’ve afforded yourself by working remotely to build your network further. It may not make sense for you to just head off to Rome on a whim, but if you have a friend there with a spare bedroom and all the broadband you could want, the math may look different, and you might find yourself having an adventure you didn’t plan on having simply because you took the time to reach out and build relationships. Colin Wright is a specialist in lifestyle optimization. He travels the world – moving to a new country every four months and blogging about his experiences . Colin also owns multiple companies including a branding firm and a t-shirt company .

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, business, business planning, entrepreneur, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, small-business, young-entrepreneur

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Young Entrepreneur Interview: Patrick Chukwura, Co-Founder of Fine & Dandy Games

by Paul Joseph September 27, 2011 Featured

In an entrepreneurial space where there are literally thousands of competitors, you have to have something special to be successful. Today’s interview with Patrick Chukwura highlights just the kind of attitude and savvy a young entrepreneur has to have if they want to make it in gaming or any other industry. Patrick, co-founder of Fine & Dandy Games , is a software developer, but at his core, as you’ll read below, he is a true entrepreneur who can’t imagine doing anything else. Patrick shares some great insights and experiences in the following interview. Enjoy it, and share your thoughts and congratulations in the comments!   Your company is Fine & Dandy Games. Can you sum up what you do, for our readers who haven’t heard of the company? I’m the Co-Founder and Developer at Fine & Dandy Games. At Fine & Dandy we develop video games for multiple platforms such as the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Our first game title Goop was released early August after eight long months of development and launched as a top 50 game in it’s category and has been receiving great marks from both game reviewers and the players of the game.   The gaming industry is pretty competitive. What are your thoughts about entering a market where you have so many big names to compete with? I don’t think people realize exactly how competitive the gaming industry really is. The media has focused on so many story of developers getting rich ‘overnight’ that those stories overshadow the more common one of developers losing money to develop their games. Small game developer shops such as Fine & Dandy have to compete with over 74,379 game titles in the App Store today with about 118 new games a day submitted to Apple for approval. Even knowing all of this, I love the challenge that comes with running a small game company. It drives me to participate in such a competitive market. Only a fool like myself would knowingly enter such a tough market, you MUST enjoy what you do and a challenge when entering such a competitive market, especially when competing against giants. I always have to remind myself that some time ago the giants of today used to be just like me. Where did you get your entrepreneurial spirit? Are your parents entrepreneurial? I’ve always been an entrepreneur for two simple reasons. I always want to be in control of my own income and I’ve always had a belief that the majority of people should work for themselves. I’ve never imagined myself being able to work for one company or even within one industry for many years with no change, it’s not logical to me. I think it completely counters human’s natural tendency to change and innovate. The traditional “9 to 5” has always seemed a little inefficient to me. I don’t think a “job” really gives people the flexibility to work on the projects they want to do even in a workplace. My parents have not yet been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. In fact, they don’t understand why I refuse to complete school, get my degree, and get a “normal job” like everyone else. Ever since I was 12 I’ve wanted to start my own game company. I’ve started companies before and I enjoyed them, but I’ve finally started my game company and there is simply no turning back. With regard to starting your current company, what would you do differently or what mistakes have you made? The biggest mistake we made when starting Fine & Dandy was definitely operating in this artificial and absolutely unnecessary “stealth mode”. I didn’t want anyone to know that we were coming and definitely didn’t want our ideas to be stolen. The truth is, the likelihood of our idea in the gaming industry being stolen was slim. At most, our idea only after some sort of large commercial successful would have had some silly copycat title releases like “Angry Goop” or “ Goop Ninja”, but it was not likely to be stolen. We would have been better served by sharing our experiences with people who were possibly interested in what we were doing. We had the opportunity to get the word to the press in a more interesting and personal way by sharing our story during the process instead of sharing Goop with them as the final product. Both consumers and the media are rarely interested in your product alone. They are more intrigued by the story behind the product. Luckily, we didn’t completely keep people out of the loop and started giving sneak peaks and making people aware of Goop about one month ahead of time. The one thing I’ve learned is that the day to start marketing is the day you start working on the project. What three pieces of advice do you have for young entrepreneurs interested in starting their first business? Just get started. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of just getting started. You can’t finish a project if you don’t start. Figure out a way to start with the least amount of money as possible. Do you really need all those features, that big website, that huge marketing team, or all those employees to get started? Start with as little expenses and liability as possible so you can remain nimble. There is nothing like the burden of bills, loans, high wages, and tax liabilities to kill your entrepreneurial spirit. Start talking about your project as soon as you can. You really want to gauge how well your project will do in the market. In order to do this, you have to share your idea. Sharing your idea will get people excited, spark new ideas, and may even shift your entire project into a new direction that could improve it. Let people know. How do you personally define success? I personally define success as actually getting a product or project that you believe in out there, in front of the eyes of the public. There is nothing like procrastination to stop a good idea from coming to life and just getting a finished product you believe in out there is a true success. How many times have people said “I had that same idea” when someone else makes it big with their idea? Success to me is getting it done and out there. Nothing complex about it.

Tagged as: business, entrepreneur, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, internet, startup, success, young-entrepreneur

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Young Entrepreneur Interview: Maren Kate Donovan, Founder & CEO of Zirtual

by Paul Joseph September 22, 2011 Featured

If you spend much time in the entrepreneurial blogosphere, chances are good that you’ll come across Maren Kate Donovan, or someone talking about her. Maren Kate, as she usually goes by, is a true entrepreneur to her core. Her entrepreneurial journey started just after high school, and she’s persevered through a good number of challenges to get to where she is today. We caught up with Maren Kate recently and asked her to answer some questions for an interview. We know our readers, and we know that Maren is representative of a good percentage of us. She’s young, ambitious, determined, and driven to succeed. So you’re bound to get a lot out of her insights and story. Enjoy the interview, and be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments. Your company, Zirtual , provides a way for busy entrepreneurs to delegate tasks to virtual assistants. Can you sum up the company’s mission for our readers? Our mission is based around the idea that there are two types of people in the world: those who have more money than time and those who have more time than money. The former is our target customer – people whose time is worth more than say $20 an hour, so anything they delegate to a Zirtual Assistant is not only saved time, but it’s saved money. The latter is the perfect Zirtual Assistant candidate, generally college students and recent grads, these people are just getting started in the career world and are looking to sharpen their skills while earning some money – we call it “earning and learning”.   There is a fair amount of competition in your industry. How do you set your company apart, and how are you getting the word out? It took a while for us to really understand the importance of differentiating when it comes to starting a business, but the day that we really embraced that idea was the day when our business started to take a turn for the better. The primary ways we stand out from our competition is the fact that our assistants are all U.S. based, college-educated and dedicated to each customer. This allows our customers to work with a particular assistant who gets to know their preferences and business and who they can develop a relationship with over time. The other way we really try to stand out is through epic customer service. It’s something I drill into each employee and every Zirtual Assistant who wants to join our team. This is a customer service centric business, and if we can provide absolutely out-of-the-world value to our customers and make them feel good about the experience while we’re at it, we’ll always have a solid base. You’ve been involved in entrepreneurship for a long time. Where did you get your entrepreneurial spirit? Are your parents entrepreneurial? My parents aren’t entrepreneurs so to speak, but they’ve always instilled in me that “you can do whatever you set your mind to” drive. My mother is starting her first business selling high-end pet vitamins, and my father does commercial real estate. I always knew I wanted to be a “businessman” when I grew up, even when I was a little girl, so it’s been a natural course for me to lean towards working for myself versus working for others. The hardest part has just been cultivating that dogged determination and persistence that helps you through the good and bad times – if you don’t have ridiculous persistence as an entrepreneur, you’ll have a hell of a time reaching success. As a young entrepreneur, have you ever felt like your age was a disadvantage? What have you learned about dealing with more seasoned entrepreneurs? I can’t stand when people point to anything they’ve been born with as a handicap. There are far too many successful people in the world who have overcome HUGE physical, mental, and socio-economic obstacles for someone like me to complain about my age or the fact that I’m a chick in the 90% male-dominated tech startup world. Instead, I’ve looked at the fact that people are more willing to help young entrepreneurs (than someone who’s more experienced and more of a threat) as a great thing. I ask advice from and listen to every successful person I meet, this way I can grow and learn without having to experience the years it took them to get there. The best thing to do with more seasoned entrepreneurs is to shut up and listen. They will impart so much knowledge if you just act respectful and are truly interested in their war stories – there are goldmines of business genius in each one. What three pieces of advice do you have for young entrepreneurs interested in starting their first business? 1) Absorb everything you can get your hands on about startups, business, and successful people. This can be in any form from books, to Mixergy.com to magazines, even to overhearing people’s business conversations in bars. 2) Start before you’re ready. This means just start trying little things before you think you’ve hit upon your “perfect” idea. 99% of the stuff you try might fail but that 1% will skyrocket you to the next level. 3) Embrace change. After you absorb all there is to know, become a student of startups, and begin trying things to see what works, it’s time to be open to change – because nothing is consistent in a new business except constant change. Every time you hit an issue and have to change, embrace it and you’ll go far. I honestly don’t think a new business or entrepreneur can fail if they are willing to change everything over time until they hit upon the right product/market fit, and sometimes that takes 30 pivots before you’re there. Thinking back to the first days starting up, please share one major struggle you went through and how you overcame that obstacle. The biggest struggle I had was not learning how to sell early on. Anyone can come up with an idea and any smart person can build that idea into a reality; what separates the “men from the boys,” so to speak, is the ability to sell your idea, your team. and your vision to the rest of the world. What’s your best advice for balancing work and life? When you’re starting up early on, there won’t be much of one! Work hard, play hard – that’s my best advice. How do you personally define success? Doing what you set out to do, whether you set out to be a great mother and wife or whether you want to be the next Ray Dalio – don’t stop until you’ve reached your goals, no matter what the obstacles.

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, entrepreneur, entrepreneur interview, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, startup, young-entrepreneur

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