There are lots of books and quizzes that invite you to measure yourself against their set of standards. Ultimately, the test is the hoops that an actual business makes you jump through. As Jim Blasingame said today in our radio discussion, there are so many things that can take a small business down.
If you don’t know Jim’s radio show with its treasury of advice on how to succeed, and his engaging optimism and good will, then treat yourself, and listen to www.smallbusinessadvocate.com.
The paths to success or to disaster are unique to each situation. But let’s suppose you are preparing a business idea, or have recently jumped in to your own business. Here are questions that can spotlight risks you can minimize. You, yourself, may be more of a risk than you know. How well are you doing with the five areas: Plan, Advice, Problems, Resilience, and Trust?
Answer “Yes”, “No”, or “Not sure” with one point for each. Then add up how many “Yes”, “No” and “Not sure” responses to get your Entrepreneurial Quotient (EQ).
1 Plan.
A) Can you come up with an idea for a business?
B) Have you set that unique idea into a system for running the business?
C) Have you created a marketing plan that provides a profit?
You need both the inspiration of a marketable ideaand the structure for making it available and profitable. A few resources:
Jennifer Basey Sander and Peter Sander: Niche and Grow Rich
Tim Berry’s: The Plan as You Go Business Plan
I don’t shop much. But like you, when I need to buy something, I appreciate a knowledgeable salesperson.
I find the whole process of how we make decisions fascinating, so I always welcome books like Buyology, by Martin Lindstrom, and a new engaging audio book, Shoptimism, by Lee Eisenberg. They explore historic trends as well as the Sell side and the Buy side. These get me through dull traffic jams and the tedious morning exercises that the Doc says I must do.
The Sell side is huge, skilled and subtle. We, the “buy-side,” are collectively, an impressive force, accounting for three quarters of the spending in our economy. However, individually, we are often just clay in the hands of the “sell-side.”
Last night, in my study at midnight, the sell-side won. I was furious.
I was trying to finish a report, but could not re-open my Word document. So I tried all manner of clicks, only to encounter—corruption. Yes, I was being protected by the power of security anti-virus, anti-spy, anti-malware, anti-whatever. If I would just activate my anti-whatever software for $90, I could clear up all the corruption that had infiltrated my computer and start fresh. I did not ask for this salesperson’s advice. I did not like the price tag. No you will not strong-arm me, I will remove you and find a polite, free anti-whatever software.
I searched for the reliable free software and to my amazement just as I found it, it was blocked and inaccessible. Same thing for helpful chat rooms.
Shut the machine. Start again. This refreshing clears up many problems. Not this time. Glaring at me was the red lettering and ultimatum which translated into: “buy this or you can’t have your machine back.” Continue reading »
