Monday, September 1, 2014

Who to talk to when starting a business?

Starting a business can feel very lonely, particularly not knowing who to share your plans with.  Your coworkers probably think you're crazy to be leaving a good job. Your lawyer will tell you to incorporate, you're accountant will advise setting up QuickBooks, your priest may recommend confession. Typically this is not the right startup advice, with the possible exception of confession, mainly because each of these so-called advisors are employees, and they don't get it. They each work for somebody else -- -- they probably have never formed a new business and they have a boss they must report to. The employee mentality is totally different than the employer mentality -- this initial advice instead of empowering the entrepreneur, often becomes a barrier.

It is best to talk to people who have been there -- -- successful entrepreneurs who have indeed formed new businesses. They know well the mis-advice and,  in some cases, social stigma that is not only untimely but can discourage the startup. Successful entrepreneurs have a penetrating clarity that can  simplify your startup. Instead of all the above mentioned advice they would tell you that you only need one thing to start, a paying customer.

Our entrepreneur mentors remember well and will recount with passion their transition into a new startup. More than a business start up it is a rite of passage, a baptism of fire in birthing a new enterprise, the transition from the employed to the employing, from performing a job to building your own dream.

Their beginning, like yours, was fueled by a dream, and like you they acted on it.  They had the same self-doubt and hesitation and often discouragement --- but unlike advisers who work for somebody else these entrepreneurs took the risk and acted on building their dream.

They have volunteered their time and expertise to help with your transition.

Monday, September 5, 2011

The Entrepreneur's Motivation

What makes us tick? Where does the urge to follow our own path come from? Is it the risk, money, or self expression that drives us?

Tap here and find out: The Entrepreneur's Motivation

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The Runway

This is the flip side of the entrepreneurial spirit, pure pragmatism -- -- how to bound and frame your entrepreneurial risk and how to get started. To succeed as an entrepreneur and create your own future it takes dual abilities -- -- an imaginative creative vision, and sharp pragmatic focus, to translate the vision into achievable concrete steps.
This essay is about focus -- -- the focus required for the very first stage, funding the startup and laying a foundation to launch one's dream -- -- the runway.

Build your runway to launch your business ---- your own private take off pad to the stars. Fasten your seat-belt and tap below: 

Monday, May 17, 2010

Launch issues for entrepreneurs

Here are several of the vision and gut check issues that both enable and dissuade entrepreneurs at launch time. They are highly personal and individual yet common for those about to launch a new business. Most entrepreneurs think they're alone struggling with these issues; not true, even highly successful established entrepreneurs early on had the same demons and dreams. 

Read on to see the 'go/no go' questions to answer before you launch.


Saturday, May 15, 2010

sleepy Dreams to compelling Destiny

A sonnet that captures the spirit of a new startup. The dream grows from a curiosity to a haunting destiny. The daydream gains grown and cunningly transforms to obsession, and off we go. Our path is less a business endeavor, more a spiritual passage.We grow in parallel with the business's growth,  however reluctantly. Daniel Smith's photo suggests the dream is in charge -- be careful playing with fire -- the dream becomes transcendent and we have no choice but to saddle up and go for the ride.

Sound familiar? Click below to see what's really going on here.

from Dreams to Destiny

Blind Spots

Read this before starting a business. Every entrepreneur has blind spots -- -- some you can navigate around, some will kill your business.

Click below