Entrepreneur? You?

Are you cut out to be an Entrepreneur? 

Am I cut out to be an Entrepreneur?

How do the successful ones succeed while so many....the majority....fail for no lack of effort?

Might you be the next Bill Gates?

Could you succeed and might you be much happier and more fulfilled if you carefully and cautiously started your own Small Business which would enable you to finally focus on simply doing what you love to do and are truly passionate about?

What really is an Entrepreneur?  Why are they collectively considered such a unique and special group of human beings?

Wikipedia defines this so-often used and often-misunderstood term as follows:

An entrepreneur is a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and is accountable for the inherent risks and the outcome.^{[note 1]} The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to help launch a new venture or enterprise and accept full responsibility for the outcome. Jean-Baptiste Say, a French economist, is believed to have coined the word "entrepreneur" in the 19th century - he defined an entrepreneur as "one who undertakes an enterprise, especially a contractor, acting as intermediatory between capital and labour".^{[note 2]} A broader definition by Say: "The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of lower and into higher productivity and greater yield."^{[clarification needed]}

Regardless of how anyone specifically defines an Entrepreneur one thing is for sure: it takes a highly special and creative individual with great drive, perseverance, and passion, to be able to, in the face of all the nay-sayers, many doubters, and willing negative anti-risk advisers, push forward with a dream, a vision, and a plan, and to successfully start their own business.

Whether I will ultimately fail or succeed with my dream and vision (Selling By Building) remains to seen: only time will tell if I will be successful in making the transition to doing what I love to do and am passionate about and be able to make a living.  But I am confident.  I believe.  I am committed.

But, regardless of trying to predict the future, I am absolutely loving and enjoying the entire entrepreneurial process and all of the accompanying challenges inherent with starting a new business.

As a result of my current efforts in starting my own Small Consulting Business I have gained a much greater understanding of and appreciation for Entrepreneurs.  Their chosen path is not easy!  Those without sufficient perseverance, passion, and dedication may give up in the face of the varying challenges that all Entrepreneurs face on a daily basis. 

But......I believe and I think most Entrepreneurs will tell you that it is all worth it! 

To Succeed against great odds an Entrepreneur must be blessed with or committed to continually developing the following success traits and characteristics:

• Strong Work Ethic
• Highly Competitive
• Great Passion
• Great Vision
• Unyielding Drive
• Genuine Empathy
• High Level of Organization (or at least keep striving to improve in this area like me!)
• Uncanny Communication Skills: the ability to easily communicate in a positive manner in any given moment
• Exhibit Strong Leadership Skills
• Strong Presentation Skills
• Highly Developed Listening Skills
• Be Patient When Necessary
• Great Confidence
• Not Be Patient When Necessary To Make Things Happen!
• Want To Genuinely Help Other People and Other Businesses To Succeed and Develop Solutions To Problems
• I could go on.  But for brevity sake and because I know you have other things to do I will stop.

For anyone who is dissatisfied with their current lot and personal situation and who is in the research and personal exploration phase of potentially taking on the biggest and most exciting challenge of their life there is an infinite amount of knowledge and tips available at all times on the Web and many great books on being an Entrepreneur and what it takes.  We must all be committed to continual learning and never, ever giving in to "complacency." 

http://www.entrepreneur.com/ is a great source of knowledge and guidance.

If you are interested in starting a Consulting Business I highly recommend "Getting Started In Consulting" by Alan Weiss, PhD.  This is a fantastic book which has helped me a great deal; I share his Philosophy and like the the way he lays out information in an easy-read manner. 

I have also been learning a great deal from the life experience of several Entrepreneurs and Business Owners that I know and have met during my Journey.  There is no better source of knowledge and help that from those who have already been down the road, survived, and achieved success.  So do not hesitate to reach out; I have found Business Owners are more than willing to share their success and experience and to help teach and coach others.   

"When you reach an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity. You have the choice. You can overcome and be a winner, or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser. The choice is yours and yours alone. Refuse to throw in the towel. Go that extra mile that failures refuse to travel. It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure."
- Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

"If it really was a no-brainer to make it on your own in business there'd be millions of no-brained, harebrained, and otherwise dubiously brained individuals quitting their day jobs and hanging out their own shingles. Nobody would be left to round out the workforce and execute the business plan."
- Bill Rancic, winner on Donald Trump's "The Apprentice"

"The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it."
- Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies

Being an eternal optimist and annoyingly positive person who loves to help others I am going to say if we are 100% confident in our ability and passionate our Personal Dream and Vision that we should leave the hesitation behind Get Moving.  Then is it all up to you to make it happen.

Life is Short.  Do Not Settle.  Develop a Plan.  Build a Team of Mentors and Supporters.  Progress Carefully and Thoughtfully.  Never Stop Asking Questions.  Keep on Learning.  Stay Positive.  Remain Flexible.  Follow Your Dreams.  Persevere.  Prioritize.  Focus.  Push Forth.  Help Others.  Do Not Give Up.  Do Not Loose Sight Of What Is Important In Life.  Appreciate Your Health.  Take Nothing For Granted.  Enjoy!

Taking Some Great Personal and Business Advice From Our Dogs!

Our Family has a new addition: a Dog named Red.

He is a Red-Tic English Coon Hound.  (No, I also had never heard of this particular breed!)

We have had him one full week; a small duration of time during which he has already:

• Urinated once on our Bedroom Floor. 
• Busted out of his supposedly solid and full-proof metal crate.  Every single day I should add since we got him.
• Decided to empty every single trash can in our house on several occasions.  Unfortunately because of our young children the contents of most of the trash cans I am referring to included diapers. 
• Helped himself to a big bag of Potato Chips....eating about 50% of the bag and then spreading the remaining chips, very neatly, all around our main living area.

Patience is a Virtue!!

Despite all of this, I have grown to love Red; he is a keeper.  It has been several years since we had a Dog and both my Wife and I love dogs in general.  We are happy to again have a loving and trusting Dog in our lives; and our two little ones are so happy they care barely contain themselves!

This afternoon as I took Red for an hour-long walk and great conversation (mostly one-way) I got to thinking: what exactly is it that so endears us to our Dogs?  Why do we grow to love them so much despite the hard work and sacrifice required to care for them on a daily basis?

After considering this I concluded the secret to their success is: the establishment of Trust and Faith!

We have complete trust and faith in our Dogs. 

I then, shortly thereafter, because I have been thinking so much lately about my new consulting business (Selling By Building) and the many issues and ideas I want to address and share, realized that Business Owners and Entrepreneurs can learn some important lessons from a Dog like Red.

If you (or we I should say) want to be successful and grow your Business you too need to, as a result of how you service and treat your Customers or Clients consistently, successfully establish Trust and Faith.

This is no easy task because indeed there are many dishonest, selfish, unscrupulous, and unethical Business People out there.  Because of this fact Customers or Clients are going to be hesitant, cautious, and resistant to instantly and without good reason, trust us right out of the gate.

But, We can Build Trust and Faith by adhering to the following suggestions and goals:

1. Be honest with your Customers and Clients.  Do not sacrifice honesty and long-term trust and relationships by being dishonest in any way to achieve a short-term benefit.  Nothing helps Built Trust and Faith in the minds of your Customers more than their earned perception that you are honorable and truly operate with their best interest in mind at all times.  (Dogs don't lie!)
2. Listen clearly and intently and sympathetically to concerns and problems expressed to you.  Real and honest empathy both felt and expressed is a tremendous asset.  When something goes wrong with a product or service you have represented and sold very often that is when you can prove what kind of person you are and what kind of Business you are.  If you are resistant to learning about problems being experienced and conveyed to you and not sympathetically passionate about helping service your customer and help find the best solution to the greatest benefit of your customer then you are missing out one the greatest opportunities to lock in a long-term Customer who would have been a willing promoter of you and your Business.  (Dogs are the best listeners!)
3. Do not consistently and automatically judge.  Again, keep the focus on listening openly and sympathetically to your Employees, Customers, Vendors, Management.  Always seek to gain a greater understanding from those you may disagree with or not understand.  Render judgement only when asked or absolutely necessary.  But make sure you are communicating in a positive manner expressing only constructive criticism.  (Dogs don't judge!  They just keep on listening)
4. Be reliable.  I believe to consistently achieve this goal you have to truly care about those you are interacting with and not solely be existing for the benefit of yourself.  If more people would embrace this Philosophy the world would be a better place.  If you are perceived as highly reliable by your customers they will stay with you and keep coming back to you and your Company for help, value, solutions to their problems, etc.  The reason we all turn to our Trusted Dogs at the end of a long, stressful, day is because we know, unquestionably and without reservation, that they will be glad (and excited as only our dogs can get excited!) to see us, listen to us, and help us feel better.  That is why we love them so much.  (Dogs define being reliable!)

So, taking Red's and your Dog's Advice, we can all benefit from focusing on these basics of Communication and Customer Service, to better ourselves and our businesses. 

Now I have to ask Red to proof-read my communication here to see if he approves!  I don't want to misrepresent him in any way.