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RELATED ARTICLES
Staying Ahead of the Perils, Excerpt of Entrepreneurial Motivation Speech Running a business is not an easy endeavor, it takes courage, hard work and a strategic mindset. I feel now that I am retired looking back on it all, that it is my duty to provide to new entrepreneurs a few of the secrets of how to get things done. Every year through out our long history spanning over a quarter of a century, The Car Wash Guys Team had been careful to watch changes that affected our business. One year we are watching droughts in the North Western Hemisphere and how the water supply affects our operations. We needed the water to wash cars and our countrymen need it for farming and drinking. Water is life. We also saw heavy El Nino seasons on the Western United States, British Columbia Canada, Mexico, Central America and parts of Western South America; imagine running a car wash business when it rained almost 60 days straight and we are not talking the drizzle like in the North Eastern US each year. Applying The Daffodil Theory into Business Practice At times all of us need a bit of inspiration to add to our day. When I first read this article, I had started my own home based business and was in a bit of a slump. This inspirational story was exactly what helped spring me into action and keep on going. The Heroic Entrepreneur: Profiting from Your Brilliance If you look up the definition of hero in Webster's, you'll find a definition something like, 'A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life: soldiers and nurses who were heroes in an unpopular war'. Some heroes in our lives have earned that badge of honor by doing something everyone feels is heroic as defined in the traditional sense, whether it's running into a burning building to rescue a child, pulling an injured woman from a car accident, or fighting the enemy in the time of war. Secret Revealed In The Business Code ? Beginners often rush into business without any planning. Key to Starting Your Own Clothing Company Starting your own private label clothing company is not as difficult as you may think. I assure you that the founding members of Volcom, Paul Frank, Hurley and Von Dutch, are not mad geniuses of fashion. You can duplicate their rise to brand stardom provided that you have the following: Judging Entrepreneurial Ideas Most entrepreneurs constantly come up with new ideas. Whether they are working on another project, driving, or lying in bed, their minds are constantly churning out new products, services and ways of doing things. For these entrepreneurs, the startup challenge shifts from coming up with ideas to choosing which idea to execute. Starting a Company on a Shoe-String Budget A lot of people never start businesses because they believe they don't have enough money to do so. Unfortunately, these same people don't realize that many of the world's most successful companies were started on a shoe-string budget by an entrepreneur with limited resources. Below is a list of tips to help you save money when you're first starting a company: Manage your finances in MS Excel, not Quickbooks. Manage your contacts in MS Outlook, not ACT. Get free legal and accounting advice from law/business students or lawyers/accountants who are willing to do pro-bono (free) work. Look for and join organizations that support youth entrepreneurs and small business owners. Hire unpaid interns and make their job exciting. Partner with somebody instead of paying them. Use credit cards. Get free, professional advice from SCORE, Teachers, and Professors. Get investments from family and friends. Find organizations who incubate startup companies or companies who might have office space that might be willing to let an aspiring entrepreneur use it. Perhaps, your school will let you use their copy machines and phone lines. Swap services with a company instead of paying them. Learn how to do graphic design and web design yourself. If you have these two skills, the startup costs of every business you have in the future will be dramatically reduced. What Qualities Do Franchisors Need? When I got into business I wanted to build a company, which helped people and provide a product and service that people loved and were willing to pay for; one I would not have to sell or convince anyone of. Something that people truly wanted to extend and enhance their pursuit of happiness. I found the perfect service that everyone wanted and where sales were not really needed at all. In addition I found a way to allow my team to reap the rewards of delivery of that service to the masses. Franchising Companies Need New Franchisee Checklists When franchise companies are moving fast in the market place they must pay attention to the details. If a franchisor fails to give the required items as outlined in the franchise agreement to the franchisees on the prescribed timeline they risk legal issues and regulatory issues. In addition even if they do provide the items on time, there is a chance later that a franchisee may claim that something was not provided and they will use this to break the franchise agreement, sue or file a complaint with regulatory bodies at the state level or even the FTC, Federal Trade Commission. But if you keep proper records and have checklists and monitor dates and deliveries you can win a law suit or force a regulatory agency to backtrack. Drive Website Traffic Unconventionally, Force Your Children To Do It If you believe that every little bit helps then keep reading... Entrepreneurship Story; Over Regulation in Franchising Part I Jim and Sally run a successful auto business, which they have built up over two decades and have expanded to three stores and many of their friends keep saying, "You should Franchise." They think about this for about five years read a few books, like "Franchising for Dummies," The "E-Myth", "The Franchising Bible" and many others on the shelves of the new big book store in town with the coffee shop inside. They finally decide that it makes sense especially as they have friends and loyal employees who wish to be associated with them and even own the first franchises. So they set out to franchise. They visit an attorney since that says in all the books to do. Most books about franchising are, at least in part if not whole, written by S2D2s (lawyers: S2P2s; Self-Serving Parasites of Planet) anyway, so they take that advice and visit an attorney. The S2D2 explains the MUD and helps by charging them a good chunk of change; $35,000 to prepare a boilerplate document which is so complicated they could not do it on their own without years of study. They give the S2D2 (scoundrel) the money and they look at the document and start asking questions. They do not ask him about the price gouging laws that their state has after all the flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan, although they feel severally violated in the outrageous costs to prepare the documents. After all there is some new shop equipment they need to test cars to stay in compliance with the latest smog certificates and they are not cheap either. So they ask some typical questions instead of why they had to pay so much. Creativity & Entrepreneurship - Key Questions From My Students Hello Creative Entrepreneurs! Find Me the Expert on This! Many people who set up as consultants never make more than a minimal living. They get some clients who like them, but are so dependent on these few businesses that the resignation of a key contact can destroy their business for months ahead. New Rules Last week I was working with one of my small business clients, a bright and dynamic woman who's passionate about positioning her artisan business for growth. We were talking about her financial picture and forecasting robust sales over the next three years. Hearing That Entrepreneurial Voice? Women business owners are our only clients, so naturally we celebrate and support female entrepreneurship. Operating in this market gives us the good fortune to learn about some of the deeper themes in the lives of women business owners. It gives us insights into what really matters to women, and to what contributes not only to their success, but more importantly to their happiness and gratification in their professional lives. Enterprising Route is to Go Your Own Way DON'T talk to me about education for entrepreneurs. They're pouring far too much public money into it already - not counting the millions some well-known Scottish entrepreneurs are prepared to waste on it. 10 Essential Tips for Starting Entrepreneurs - Ignore these at your Peril! 1. Do What You LOVE: If you've chosen your business because you read that this niche was the next hot one, or because your favorite uncle (or your best friend) thinks you'd be well-suited for this business, you may as well pack up now and save yourself some time and money. If you don't love what you do, it will show...potential customers will know it and will go elsewhere. Is it possible to be successful anyway? Sure -- but it won't be easy and it won't be fun...and isn't that why you want to be in business for yourself anyway? Meet Success: Business Profile of Sylvia Acevedo, Communicard Owner Sylvia Acevedo needed a break from her technology job so she bought an old Victorian house to remodel into a bed and breakfast. "Being an engineer working in technology, I really felt I didn't do a lot of tangible work. But with the bed and breakfast, at the end of the day, I felt like I had actually done something." Part-Time/In-Home Business - Low Expense and Low Risk As a first time entrepreneur, there are a variety of franchises, dealerships, distributorships, and licensing opportunities available for purchase. Many of these you can start by working part-time from your home. In doing so, you save thousands of dollars in start up and operating costs, while at the same time reducing your overall risk. Entrepreneurial Ongoing Education Advice I would like to give some advice to all the up and coming entrepreneurs; if you really want to be a superstar not only do you have to work harder and smarter than the competition, but you must always keep learning. I built a company from a bucket of water and a sponge into a National Car Wash Franchise System in 23 states. To do this you need to know more than what they taught you in school and you can never turn off your brain. Every person is different and has different interests. But I would like you to read thru my recommended reading list. This is a list I hand out to MBA and Entrepreneurial Students when I give speeches. It is a list of recommended book, biography, audio tapes and movies.
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