Posts Tagged ‘entrepreneurial characteristics’

You are in the business of creating WOW. Be so good that they can not ignore you. Be so good that the only question of doubt is who is second.  These are characteristics of an Entrepreneur.

Create your WOW with a gold dust in the air attitude and back it with solid goal directed action. WOW comes from a positive attitude. Attracting the top people to you stems from being a person others like to be around. No one enjoys spending time with grumpy, complaining people. It does not mean you have to turn cartwheels, most of us do not do that on a regular basis, but it does mean that you display a pleasing personality, zest for life and spirit of giving value.

Look at the WOW as W O VV – wealth of value value. The key to creating WOW is doubling the value received by everyone you encounter. When you interact with others in a spirit of giving value to them far in excess of the monetary exchange, you create a win win situation. Double the value and you double the win.

Look at life and business in the spirit of looking in the mirror to see what you can give of yourself rather than looking through a window to see what the outside world can give to you. Rotary Clubs International has a motto of service before self. That gold dust in the air attitude epitomizes the positive outlook on life and the mission of giving value to others. A person who is more concerned about giving value and excellent customer service than they are about their individual income in each interaction, will in fact receive more. Greed is short term. Value is long term.

Look at a W as two Vs put together. Create a gold dust in the air attitude by expecting good things to appear, acting as if the good will appear and serving others by projecting the attitude of giving value to them.

Creating WOW is as simple as focusing on the value you give to others. The top companies who thrive for the long term are always the top customer service companies. It always costs less to retain a customer than to attract a new customer. Customers stay where they are appreciated and receiving value.

Project a gold dust in the air attitude and others will feel good about being around you, customers will choose to do business with you and you will feel better about yourself and your business. It really is as simple as having a gold dust in the air attitude and backing it with positive action. That positive action starts with giving value and follows through with giving excellent customer service.

1. Gold dust in the air attitude

2. Give value which exceeds expectation and price

3. Give excellent customer service

Develop a gold dust in the air attitude and back it with positive action.

For more tips and specific techniques on developing a gold dust in the air attitude and a list of the top customer service companies, join me at www.elaine4success.net

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Would you order a truck load of building materials, a backhoe to dig the foundation, and no blueprint for the structure?  Of course not, that would be foolhardy.  No one in their right mind would spend thousands on materials and equipment without a specific blueprint for success.  Most people spend months designing the perfect structure.  Building departments and homeowner associations need to approve the plans as well.  The blueprint details exactly what materials are needed and exactly how they will be assembled.  The larger or more complicated the structure, the more elaborate the blueprints.

Unfortunately it is quite common for people to start a business without any blueprint for success whatsoever.  The more common delusion follows a pattern of:

1. Buy a business on emotion.  Most people buy on emotion rather than logic.  Accountants and engineers are more likely to buy on logic and analytics; however, it is generally accepted that most people purchase on emotion.  Frank Rumbauskas of “Sales Tips and Advice” declares that “People buy on emotion and justify with logic.”  The fact that emotions overrule logic explains why experienced sales people sell based on benefits rather than selling based on features.  “Don’t tell me what it does.  Tell me what it will do for me.”
2. Now that I have a company, what do I do with it?  It is like the dog chasing cars.  It seems like fun at the time but they have absolutely no idea what to do with it if they ever caught it.

My suggestion is set your goals.  What income do you desire to make?  Set a specific blueprint for success to map out the road from where you are to your desired goal.

1. One of the major elements of your blueprint for success will be your marketing plan.  What funds do you have available for your marketing budget?  What marketing skills do you possess?  What marketing skills do you need to learn?  Marketing either requires time or money.  A small marketing budget means you had better plan on spending much more time.  Which do you have more of, time or money?  A larger marketing budget means that you can advertise in more expensive but less time consuming venues.

Social network marketing, web 2.0, is quite inexpensive financially but extremely time consuming.  Google pay per click requires far less time once it is all set up and rolling; however, it is one of the most expensive forms of marketing.

1. Once your business has been purchased, your exact path to success determined, your marketing established, and your leads flowing, you need to follow up with those leads.  Until you are consistently making 10,000 per month, I recommend following up with every leads.  Personally, I like to talk to my people so I still call every lead possible within the time frame available for prospecting.  Each lead also receives both a personal email and a series of autoresponders.  Any lead, potential business partner, who attends a business presentation also receives another follow up call and email. The serious individuals are then taken to a 3 way call for third party validation; the 3 way also assures the new individual that they will not have to answer questions when they get started.  The removal of the fear of answering questions eases many nervous minds and sweaty palms.

The blueprint for success is simply a step by step focused plan to take you from initial idea all the way through to money in your bank account.  For more specific tips and techniques or for assistance in designing and finalizing your personal blueprint for success, join me at http://www.elaine4success.com/.

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In this world of few guarantees, rest assured that a successful entrepreneur is never ever lazy.  The entrepreneurial mindset seems to remain in motion.  One of the most difficult tasks for a successful entrepreneur is to turn off the flow of creative ideas.  There is always one more thing they want to do, one more advertising campaign to launch, and one more marketing strategy to explore.  If you were ever in their bedroom you would find a notepad on the night stand for those flashes of brilliance which awaken them in the middle of the night.

Another of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs is their constant quest to do just a little better or do just a little more.  They are always seeking perfection.  This tendency to constantly tweak a logo or a brochure or even an office procedure can drive those around them to reach for the chocolate or the tenth cup of coffee.  Entrepreneurs may not always be easy to live with because of this constant drive.  We have even been called such names as “workaholic.”  Imagine that.

Yes, we immerse ourselves so fully in the task at hand that we forget to bring home the milk; time just flies by and the focus is on the project of the moment.  Don’t be frustrated with the entrepreneurial mindset; it is simply one of the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.

Examine the entrepreneurial mindset and you will find a checkerboard.  Each task has its own individual square; however there is also the larger puzzle of making each square function to lead to the ultimate goal of becoming a king.  Strategic individual moves, awareness of the moves around them, and target focus on the ultimate goal are all working simultaneously.

The entrepreneurial mindset is complicated but invigorated at all times.  This moving, thriving energetic mind is one of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.

Another characteristic will be the ready smile and the excitement for life.  It is not uncommon to find another characteristic of successful entrepreneurs to be rising early and retiring to bed late.  It is that “one more thing to do” thought pattern.

So if you call your successful entrepreneur and ask him to stop at the store on his way home from the office and he forgets to do so, just smile.  It is just one of the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.  Bring them a cool beverage, a warm smile and forgiveness for the oversight.

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What you are thinking on the inside reflects in your attitude, words and results on the outside.

Guys, have you ever asked a female, “What’s wrong?”  You received the dreaded “nothing.”  You know better, she knows better.  Even worse, you are no closer to a solution.  Your thoughts, or at least the general tone of those thoughts, reflect to everyone around you.  I am just as guilty as other females of doing this “nothing” comment.

Have you ever asked your teenager “How was school today?”  Sometimes we receive a grunt and sometimes it is “fine” Have you ever asked your spouse “How was work today?”  That answer can either be a full dissertation on a word by word basis or that same “fine” which actually sounds like “I don’t want to talk about it.  Don’t ask.”

Locking emotions up inside prolongs the agony and stifles solutions.  Even more than avoiding any possible solutions to the issue, it makes everyone around you uncomfortable.  How do you feel when a boss, co-worker, family member or friend does that to you?

Entrepreneurial success depends on a positive attitude and open communication.  If you can not communicate with your employees, co-workers and clients, your business is doomed.  Equally critical is a positive attitude.  The more you lock off your communication, the more you chase away your entrepreneurial success.

A positive attitude and open communication are Siamese twins; it requires both to achieve entrepreneurial success.  Without a positive internal attitude, you will never project a positive external attitude.  The best actor or actress in the world can only sustain a role for a limited period of time.  Hiding your feelings or “fake it until you make it” has a limited shelf life.  Just as you see through the mood of others around you, they see through your mood as well.  Consider for a moment how you feel when you believe someone is either not telling you the entire truth or is intentionally misleading you.  You lose trust in them.  Without trust, you will never achieve entrepreneurial success.
Hiding or faking your thoughts and feelings equals deception.  Pretending to think, feel or speak something different than the truth, will come back to haunt you.  How do you snap out of a funk?  Think of something which makes you happy.  Take a walk to clear your head.  Yes, you could go eat chocolate but that would not be a wise long term solution. Movement and reflecting on positives always increases the positives.

Get your head back into a positive thought pattern.  Bring your feelings back to positive memories.  Focus on all of the good things in your life.

Once your thoughts and feelings are positive, you can openly communicate.  When you open up, the others around you will communicate more freely as well.  The major turning point in your entrepreneurial success is your internal thoughts and feelings.  As Jim Rohn, noted business philosopher said “Work harder on yourself than on your business.”

Positive thoughts and feelings coupled with open communication and you are on your way to entrepreneurial success.

For more helpful tips, techniques and mindset shifts join me at www.Elaine4Success.com.

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What is holding you back from being your most productive and most profitable?  Could it really be as simple as not finding your ideal business?  Yes, it really is that simple.

You say if you knew what to do you would already be doing it?  Would you?  Entrepreneurial success stems from being in the ideal business for you at the right time.  Step one is to select the ideal business for you.  Until you truly find your niche, you will never be your most productive and most profitable.  Entrepreneurial success takes focused time and attention to detail.  Spend your precious time and effort focusing on the ideal business for you.

Step one – Determine what you feel strongly about doing.  A florist shop may be a delightful experience for some and pure agony to others.  If you are a “sit on the couch and drink a six pack” person then going into a business selling health products would be a major disconnect.  If you are an exerciseaholic and a devoted to all organic foods then selling health products would fit nicely into your lifestyle.  You could “walk the talk” relating to health.

You have not discovered your passion yet?  Devote time to specific exercises designed to assist you in discovering your passion.  One such exercise is to write fast and furious for at least ten minutes.  Set a kitchen timer, the alarm on your watch or cell phone, or even the microwave timer.  Write everything you would ever possibly want to do.  Do not spend any time analyzing.  Do not be concerned about whether or not it might be possible for you.  Simply let your mind and hand flow freely with ideas.  When was the last time you allowed yourself to dream and freely record all of your dreams and desires?  For most people, it has been months, years or even decades.

Once the timer rings, take a deep breath and a sip of something.  Look carefully at what you have written.  There will be a common theme or even one idea which literally leaps off the page.  It may be something which has been lingering in the back of your mind.  You may have been unconscious of its significance to your entrepreneurial success.  The key to your future business, your entrepreneurial success, is contained within the words you recorded in those ten minutes.

Step two – Turn your dreams into action.  Now that you know in which direction to concentrate your entrepreneurial success activity, you can start your success plan.

The next steps in your entrepreneurial success plan refine the overall idea into specific sections.  There are a few different techniques for compartmentalizing the overall idea into manageable segments.  Which method is best for you depends on how your mind functions.  Some people think in time frames, others think in pictures and others in areas of their life.  Personal, Financial, Professional, Spiritual and Recreational are the more common categories. What is most important to you?  What is most urgent for you?

If you are making money but working so many hours that you do not see your family, then personal may be a top priority.  If you are like most Americans, income may be a serious concern; in that case, financial will be on the top of your priority list.  If you are in a job you hate, then professional may be at the top of the list.  Specific exercises exist to assist you in knowing which method is best for you and helping you determine which category receives top priority.

Once the prominent passion becomes clear, the category of top priority is determined, and the focus is narrowed to a specific workable idea, your entrepreneurial success plan starts taking shape.

Need help with each of these steps to personalize the information into your desired results?  No problem.  Personal individual coaching is available at www.Elaine4Success.com.

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