What's the Best Age to Start a Business?

By Stephanie Meyers

When should you start a company? It's an ongoing debate with two pretty clear sides: the wisdom of age versus the prime of our lives. 

In a recent thread on Quora, the question attracted a lot of attention, thanks to some big names who jumped to respond. 

It all started late in August when an anonymous user asked:

What do people in Silicon Valley plan to do once they hit 35 and are officially over the hill? Since life in Silicon Valley ends at 35 unless you hit it big or move up in management (and simple logic tells you that most won't), I'm curious what people younger than this think they'll be doing at that age.

Since then, the thread has only grown, mainly with comments from programmers over 35 who found success. Among them were Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, Netflix's Reed Hastings, Craigslist's Craig Newmark, and Zipcar's Robin Chase. 

Those entrepreneurs were 35, 35, 37, 42, and 42, respectively, when they founded those companies, not surprising since the Kaufman Foundation found the "average and median age of U.S.-born tech founders was 39," and "twice as many were older than 50 as were younger than 25."

Meanwhile, 24- to 35-year-olds have only become more risk-adverse with time, according to an American Express survey, which found 16 percent started businesses right out of school, a 12 percent drop from 2007. 

Perhaps that's why a suggestion from Wales, now 47, seemed so on point. "A better question might be," he wrote on Quora, "How can we in the tech community make sure that unusual success at a very early age is not mistakenly thought to be the norm?"

After all, age is only a number. 

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Never Too Old To Start a Business

By Issie Lapowsky

Silicon Valley adores its wunderkinds. It's easy to look at the Mark Zuckerbergs and Jack Dorseys of the world and assume that youth is a necessity, or at least a major benefit, when starting a business.

And yet, according the Kauffman Foundation's annual Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, the rate of new businesses being started by entrepreneurs between 20 and 34 has actually been falling in recent years. Meanwhile, the number of businesses created by older entrepreneurs between the ages of 55 and 64 is rising drastically. In 1996, just 14.3 percent of new entrepreneurs were older than 55. By 2012, that number had risen to 23.4 percent.

Now there's a conference specifically targeting this demographic of entrepreneurs.

On Thursday a non-profit called the Center for Productive Longevity launched a national conference in Washington D.C. to promote entrepreneurship in the over-50 crowd. The event is the brainchild of 86-year-old Bill Zinke, who previously founded and ran a management consulting firm that focused on issues that arise with older workers. Around 2007, he started thinking about ways to encourage the growing population of seniors to remain productively engaged as they grew older. Drawing on his own experience, he believed entrepreneurship was a particularly good fit for older generations.

"Older people possess something younger people lack: namely experience, expertise, judgment, and performance," he says. "That's why the older people who create new businesses have a better rate of success."

Last year, the Center hosted four regional meetings to encourage people 50 and over to consider starting a business. The national conference will focus more broadly on the policies that need to change in the public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors in order to lower the hurdles for older entrepreneurs. For instance, few academic institutions hold courses in entrepreneurship for older people.

"The reality is, older people don't need the same education as younger people do," Zinke says. Encouraging schools to add more of these classes is one of many calls to action being made over the two-day conference. Another is urging President Obama to set up a presidential commission that would review and improve upon the regulatory environment for entrepreneurs in America.

Zinke insists this initiative is not merely empty discourse. After the conference is over, he hopes to raise funding to sponsor a series of workshops around the country for people over 50 who are interested in entrepreneurship. According to Zinke, the timing has never been better.

"In more recent years, the economy has shifted from being industrial to knowledge-based. Older people can continue working well into their 60s, 70s, and 80s," says Zinke, who founded the Center when he was in his 80s. "I guess I’m an example. And I do not think I’m an anatomical wonder. I simply reflect the reality of demographic change in America."

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7 Things Great Entrepreneurs Don't Do

By Steve Tobak

These days, everyone with a MacBook and a blog thinks he’s an entrepreneur. Well, here’s a little tough love for the entrepreneurial generation: Calling yourself a CEO doesn’t make you one and a small army of Twitter followers doesn’t make you a leader, either.

As a wise VC who’s name escapes me once said, “There are entrepreneurs and there are Entrepreneurs.”

Not to dash your hopes and dreams, but the truth is the vast majority of you simply aren’t cut out to be entrepreneurs or leaders. I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s true. And the sooner you realize you’re not going to be the second coming of Mark Zuckerberg, the better.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s great to reach for the stars. As Robert Browning said, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” But having grown up in the high-tech industry and worked with hundreds of real CEOs, VCs, and Entrepreneurs for decades, one thing I can tell you is the word has become so overused, it’s almost meaningless.

So while there is no one-size-fits-all model for true entrepreneurs, in my experience, there are some things they seem to have in common. This might surprise you, but what sets them apart isn’t some laundry list of attributes. It’s their actions. What makes them unique is what they do and, perhaps more importantly, what they don’t do.

1. They don’t think about work-life balance.They’re mostly workaholics. What that means is their work comes first. It’s what they live for. They’re not freewheeling, fun-loving people who live for the weekend. They live to do what they love, and that’s work.

2. They don’t try to be what they’re not.Probably the most damaging business myth to come along in decades is personal branding. You are not a product, and you can’t change who you are. Besides, real entrepreneurs don’t think about themselves. They think about their ideas and how to turn them into great products and services. And they deliver.

3. They don’t do it for the money.They don’t whine about how hard they work for peanuts. They just do it. And because they’re passionate about what they do and focused like a laser beam, the money eventually comes, big-time.

4. They don’t have day jobs.Great entrepreneurs don’t just dip their toes in the water. They jump in headfirst without a thought about the rocks below. They don’t do a little of this and a little of that. When they hit on something they think is really cool and exciting, they go all in.

5. They don’t give in to fear.They don’t pay attention to those voices in their heads – you know, the ones that haunt you with everything that can go wrong. They’re not fearless, mind you. Nobody is. They just don’t let their fear stop them from taking risks. They do listen to some voices, though: the voice of reason and their instincts.

6. They don’t have grand visions.While some do have grand delusions that they’re destined for greatness – a prophecy that’s often self-fulfilling, interestingly enough – for the most part, they generally don’t have grand visions for their companies. Zuckerberg, for example, wasn’t trying to create a company. He just wanted to rate the looks of fellow classmates.

7. They don’t have virtual mentors.Most people follow all sorts of writers, bloggers and tweeters these days. That’s fine, but to get somewhere in life, to do great things, you have to have real mentors in the real world. Former Intel chairman Andy Grove mentored Steve Jobs. Jobs, in turn, advised Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Behind every great entrepreneur is at least one great mentor. A real one.

Most importantly, real entrepreneurs don’t call themselves entrepreneurs. They don’t do what everyone else is doing. They don’t follow the status quo, conventional wisdom or popular fads. They carve their own unique path. They’re leaders of their own destiny. That’s what drives them. And that’s why they succeed.

Read more HERE

Worst to First: 4 Startup Lessons From the Boston Red Sox

By Peter Cohan

The Boston Red Sox won the 2013 World Series--fulfilling my daughter’s birthday wish for me. But in 2012, the Red Sox finished the season in last place in their division. Their journey from worst to first offers some valuable lessons for your start-up.

To be sure, the parallels between a 106 year old sports dynasty and your start-up are incomplete. After all, the Red Sox have different individuals who do many of the jobs-- such as owner, general manager, and coach -- that you combine into one.

But in reading Bleacher Report’s analysis of how the Red Sox turned themselves around this season after 93 losses in 2012, I see four valuable start-up lessons.

1. Listen to your people. If you are a just getting your venture off the ground or taking over the helm from a technical company founder, the first thing you need to do is listen to what your employees are saying to you.

Generally, this is easier to do if you are new to the start-up CEO job. That’s because you can come into the organization as someone who is not the one who made all the decisions that you are inheriting.

So if people are unhappy, you should be in a position to listen to them with a clear mind - unfiltered by the defensiveness that comes from having to react effectively to your bad decisions.

This comes to mind in considering the actions of Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington who took over in 2011. Cherrington’s first year was a disaster - after all, he hired Bobby Valentine as the team’s manager and he angered the players.

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, on August 14, 2012, Red Sox players went to the Red Sox owners John Henry and Larry Lucchino and harshly criticized Valentine during a meeting called after a text message was sent by a group of frustrated players to the team and ownership.

Red Sox ownership realized that it needed to change.

2. Fix your mistakes. As an entrepreneur, you are getting negative feedback all the time. You need to decide whether that feedback is signal or noise and whether you are the cause or can be an agent of change who can solve the problem.

In the case of the Red Sox, that blistering August 2012 meeting between players and owners caused management to realize that the feedback was a signal that must be obeyed and that Cherrington was not only responsible in part for the problem, but that he could also be an agent of change to fix it.

In your start-up, you may be able to play the same role that Cherrington did. Or you might need to kick yourself out of the CEO role and hire someone who can fix the problems that you created.

3. Replace your expensive disruptors with lower-priced team players. In your start-up you may have spent too much money hiring big name talent that does not fit with your culture - or is simply costing too much money. If you realize that this is your problem, will you have the courage to replace the expensive disruptors with lower priced team players?

That’s sort of what Cherrington was able to do on August 25, 2012 when he traded a group of expensive players (not necessarily disruptors) -- Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto with 2013 salary obligations totaling $250 million -- for a group of lower-priced players from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

By lowering the Red Sox burn rate, Cherrington could also afford to bring on the team members -- like Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli, Jonny Gomes, Koji Uehara and Stephen Drew - who helped the team win the 2013 World Series.

If your team is not working as effectively as it needs to, a lesson that you can take from the Red Sox is to lower your burn rate and bring in a team willing to accept less pay who share your values.

4. Be (or hire) a great leader. If your start-up is getting bad feedback, the reason may be that you are not a great leader. Your investors may force you to hire your replacement; they might suggest that you get help; or you may be a great enough leader that you can reinvent yourself on the fly.

And when it came to the 2012 Red Sox, Cherrington’s challenge was not just to fire Valentine but to find a great manager to replace him. And that came on October 21, 2012 when Cherington hired former Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell to replace Valentine.

Cherrington was hiring Farrell, in part, because he could lead a team with a set of values that were inherent to the Red Sox and to players like Victorino, Gomes, and Uehara.

As Bleacher Report wrote, “All these players were lauded for their easygoing approach to the game and bringing Boston baseball back to the forefront. It is a testament to the job Cherington did; not just signing them but going through a vetting process to ensure these players could handle the intense scrutiny that comes with being a member of the Red Sox.“

Like the Red Sox, you need to have a strong culture and make sure that every member of your team fully shares the values that you set.

Read More HERE

Startup Entrepreneurs Have Confidence. Duh.

By Ray Hennessey

Pssst. Want to know a secret? Entrepreneurs are insanely confident.

Of all the data points released about the economy week after week, perhaps the least helpful nowadays is the Kauffman/LegalZoom Startup Confidence Index. With apologies in advance to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and online legal-advice company LegalZoom – both of which I have no doubt carry the best intentions and otherwise do good work – and, with an additional shout out to John Calvin, tracking startup confidence seems an exercise in predestination.

You will never, ever find a time when startup confidence, as measured by this survey, is not high. Ever. Startup owners are confident, so confident that, well, they started a company. One needn't waste human hours tallying numbers to express that.

Let's take a deeper dive into the numbers themselves, released this morning. Despite what the companies call “ceaseless uncertainties in Washington” and “mixed signals” on the economy, it turns out the confidence of owners of startups is at a new high of 86 percent.

Put aside that the “new high” isn't all that significant since the survey has only been tracking sentiment since the first quarter of last year. There are other, more significant problems with the survey and the results:

The life of the businesses surveyed is too short. In ordered to be surveyed, you had to have started a business within the past six months. This is the biggest problem with the data compiled: You are talking to people who felt optimistic enough about their own abilities to quit their jobs and start a business. It puts to mind what Reed Hastings said, that to be an entrepreneur “you have to feel like you can jump out of an airplane because you're confident that you'll catch a bird flying by.” Entrepreneurs may succeed or fail, but confidence never flags.

It asks the wrong question. The lead question is a simple one: “How confident are you that your business will be more profitable in the next 12 months than it is today?” Well, most businesses are not profitable in year one, let alone in the first six months. So, since you are asking people who are trying to turn losses into a viable business whether or not they think they will be more profitable, isn't the answer always “yes?” And, if not, does that matter? Many tech startups have multi-year business plans that call for many quarters in the red. That doesn't make them any less successful, particularly since they probably have raised a war chest of cash to burn.

The survey tracks respondents by age. According to the latest figures, 95 percent of 18-to-30-year-olds and 94 percent of 31-to-40-year-olds feel certain about near-term profitability. That the youngest group should feel more confident again shouldn't be a surprise, because they lack long-term experience in being able to judge consumer demand. There is some evidence that younger entrepreneurs are less successful than older ones.

It is not a predictor of future startup activity. One would think that entrepreneurial confidence would lead to a higher rate of startup creation among the younger demographic groups. In fact, it hasn't. Just look at Kauffman's own Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, which showed the share of startup activity by people between the ages of 20 and 34 fell from 34.8 percent in 1996 to 26.2 percent in 2012. At the same time, the share of companies started by people aged 55 to 64 rose from 14.3 percent to 23.4 percent. So, if confidence is higher among the younger entrepreneurs, why is the growth rate for new business creation so much higher among older entrepreneurs? Well, it is because the population is aging. It has little to do with changes in confidence.

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7 Steps to Finding Success as a Millennial Entrepreneur

By Blaine Vess

Older generations say millennials have short attention spans, a sense of entitlement, and little patience. The fact is, those qualities are not necessarily bad -- especially for young entrepreneurs.

What some call faults can actually be advantages if leveraged in the right way. The key is finding that sweet-spot between youthful enthusiasm and the more “old-fashioned” values that have served as the backbone of business for generations. I started my company when I was a freshman in college. Fourteen years later, we are generating annual revenues in excess of $10 million.

Here’s what I’ve learned about striking that balance:

1. Stay energetic. Starting a successful business requires tireless enthusiasm. You have to be excited about the product or service you’re providing. If you’re not, no one else will be. On the flip side, enthusiasm is infectious. Your excitement can help you secure business leads and build a committed, energetic team. Your Gen X and Boomer counterparts can attest, you will never have as much energy -- and stamina to work through late nights -- as you do now.

2. Be impatient. Ironically, sometimes the same people who tell you not to be so impatient will remind you that the early bird catches the worm. What they don’t realize is that your impatience stems from your desire to get that worm! Take that impatience and run with it. When a problem arises, don’t wait around hoping it will get resolved. Take action to fix it immediately. Speed and your drive to produce immediate, quality results will serve you well.

3. Take risks. Launching a successful business almost always requires risk taking. Lucky for you, that pill is pretty easy to swallow right now. When you’re young, you have less to lose from a failed business attempt than you will ever again. If you think you have a good idea, give it an honest try. At the very least, you’ll learn something. Now is the time to be bold.

4. Stay social. Do your parents ask you for help with “the Twitter?” When you’re done rolling your eyes at them, consider what an advantage you have as an entrepreneur. Social Media is indispensable for expanding your network, increasing product awareness and building your brand. While older business owners may be struggling to learn the latest social protocol, it’s already second nature to you.

5. Seek help and advice. Smart entrepreneurs know how and when to ask for help. Talk to business owners you admire, read about successful innovators, and seek out a mentor.

6. Hire experience. There is something to be said for life experience. Consider hiring someone older than you when it makes sense. You’ll set yourself up with a team that has the benefits of youth and the advantages of experience. Mark Zuckerberg hired Sheryl Sandberg, a woman with 15 years more experience than he had. Both of them contribute differently to create a company balanced in youth and business expertise.

7. Stay social, for real. Forming real, personal relationships is good business, and this is often best done face-to-face. I love social networking, but it’s not a replacement for getting to know someone in person. Take your hand off the mouse, move your eyes away from the screen, and go meet someone. What are you waiting for? Your next client is out there waiting for you to find them. 

Read more HERE

Planning Ahead: 5 Steps to Dominating in Business in 2014

By Lewis Howes

This year is speeding by and 2014 is just around the corner. While many people wait until New Year's to get their personal and professional lives in order and create the change that they know was long overdue, you shouldn't have to. It is, after all, true that delay is the greatest form of denial.

Make changes early so that you're way ahead of the game next year with these five easy steps to prepare for dominating in business:

1. Set action-oriented goals early, not on New Year's Eve.
Goal setting should be part of your daily and weekly routines, and should not be based on a calendar year or month. In 2014, don't make New Year's resolutions based on what you promise to stop doing or a change in your behaviors. Instead, set goals today as to what new actions you will make to get you closer to your desired outcome.

By setting actionable goals that move you forward, you move toward your goals rather than simply stopping behaviors that leave you at a standstill.

2. Understand the plan to disrupt your industry.
Before you can change your industry positively, you need to understand how to go about doing so. One of the benefits of starting early is the opportunity to look ahead and finish your planning before 2014 actually begins.

Look for ways to stand out next year from your competitors. Reflect back on 2013 and see what lessons you learned that you could leverage today to prepare you for a strong disruption of your competitors in 2014.

Consider what everyone in the industry is saying or, more importantly, how they are saying it. Is it coming across too lightly or maybe too strong? Is there a way you can get ultra targeted with your audience so they feel and hear your message over any of your competitors?

Disruption starts with committing to excellence and taking a stand for your customer.

3. Leverage partnerships.
Partnerships matter, even more so if you plan to dominate your market. Creating the right partnerships takes time and requires multiple conversations before formalizing. Why not use the rest of this year to solidify three partnerships that can help you take over in 2014?

There are literally hundreds of companies waiting for you to contact them, because your product or service can add some extra value to their clientele. Greatness in business is about blowing your customers' expectations away. How can you position your business to partner with a company that can help them wow their customers?

4. Create immense value for others.
Before the year is over, there is still time to ensure that everyone in your life who has invested in your success in 2013 gets a refresher on how important they are in your life. Take the next two months to create immense value for those closest to you by ensuring they themselves are prepared for 2014.

Here is a little secret: If there is something that you truly want next year -- such as more money, more support or an amazing mentor -- go out and give it away. If you want an amazing mentor, be a mentor for someone else. You would be surprised how much you learn from giving and be surprised how the laws of reciprocity eventually work in your favor.

By taking initiative and creating value for them, you are almost guaranteed that they will create even more value for your support in 2014.

Read more HERE

4 Lessons in Success From Millionaire Entrepreneurs

By Lindsay Levine

How great would it be to be a fly on the wall as some of the biggest companies are developed? Or to hear about the challenges entrepreneurs have faced on the road to their first million? Last week at the third annual Chicago Ideas Week, a group of successful entrepreneurs opened up about how they created their companies, shared the successes and struggles faced along the way, and the lessons learned from the experience. Here are their pearls of wisdom:

1. Accept failure as part of the journey.
"The great ones treat failure as a necessary part of their journey. It's not win or lose. It's always win or learn," says Eric Lefkofsky, CEO of Groupon. Lefkofsky shared several anecdotes of past ventures that failed, including Brandon Apparel Group and Starbelly, which he says led him to the brink of bankruptcy in 2001. That year, he started InnerWorkings, a print procurement company that was a success. Lefkofsky insists there was no magic to what worked and what didn't. He kept working and trying new things until eventually he developed InnerWorkings and things clicked.

2. Keep your eyes open for opportunities.
For the founder of Honest Tea, inspiration came at the grocery store. Dr. Barry Nalebuff, a professor at Yale School of Management, was just looking for a good glass of tea. While there were dozens of beverage options already in the marketplace, Nalebuff found water was boring, soda to be liquid candy, and diet drinks dangerous.

He applied economic theory to the beverage market, and found that the best product should be less sweet: Less calories for the customer, less cost for the manufacturer. Nalebuff knew tea was the world's cheapest luxury good, and teamed up with a former student, Seth Goldman, to create Honest Tea in 26 days back in 1998 (they sold Honest Tea to Coca-Cola in 2011). Nalebuff calls it the "Princess and the Pea" theory, after the children's tale: "If something out there's annoying you, that's an opportunity," Nalebuff says.

3. When opportunity knocks, be ready for it.
After Honest Tea launched, Nalebuff was at a yoga retreat and noticed Oprah Winfrey on a nearby mat. Because he always carried samples with him everywhere he went, Nalebuff offered Winfrey a drink, and Honest Tea was subsequently featured in her magazine. "When opportunity strikes, you have to be prepared for it," Nalebuff says.

4. There's no set path to success.
"There's no set path to success, there are many ways to get there." says Dan Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans and a principal of Detroit Venture Partners, an organization that funds start-ups and is leading revitalization efforts in Detroit. Gilbert says he's most proud of creating an environment that lets his employees sell and listen to customers. Both he and Quicken Loans' CEO answer complaint calls. When asked what drives him, Gilbert says, "I like to build. Most entrepreneurs at their core like to build."

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/229565#ixzz2j2M7mf4Q

The Five Must-Dos To Generate Media Buzz For Your Business

By J. Maureen Henderson

Recently, I did a presentation on making friends with the media for a roomful of startup founders and solo entrepreneurs. For them, the question wasn’t how to craft the perfect pitch or how to newsjack or publicity hack in a way that doesn’t end as poorly as this UNC-Chapel Hill student’s attempt, but simply how to get started building relationships with journalists and what those initial rules of engagement were. How do you go from reading the newspaper to appearing in it? Here’s what I told media newbies about how to start building their public profile and raising their street cred with reporters:

Do your homework

Think of the media is a vehicle through which you talk to your target market. It’s not about your ego; it’s about their eyeballs or ears. In order to reach them effectively, you need to know exactly who your target market is,  what they read, watch, listen to, who they trust in the media and where they spend their time online. If you’re aiming at travel-loving seniors, you want to appear in AARP’s in-house mag and not Vice.

Know your story

Brant Cooper and Patrick Vlaskovits are the minds behind The Lean Entrepreneur. In a workshop with them, I was introduced to an exercise called A letter from your number one customer. You fill out a MadLibs-style template from the perspective of a customer who loves your product and wants to rave about how they discovered it, how they use it, how it’s changed their personal or professional life and what their feelings are about your brand. The exercise, which I’ve since adapted for companies that want to up their media readiness, forces you to think about the impression you want to create in the mind of your target market and how your communications with them needs to reflect those priorities. If you want your company’s name to conjure up visions of youth, edginess and irreverence, then your marketing materials, your website copy, your social media presence and the type of media you approach and the angle you take to approach them better come across as such. If you want an example of reflecting your brand values in your media interactions, read Saul Colt’s quotes in this piece and see a pro in action.

Begin media monitoring

If you don’t have a Google alert set up for every relevant term in your particularly industry, stop reading this article and do that right now. Keep your finger on the pulse of your field and start forming (and sharing) opinions on its latest news. The most plentiful opportunities for media exposure come not from sending out press releases trumpeting your own org milestones, but from reporters looking for sources who can comment knowledgeably on issue x in industry y. Start boning up on what’s happening around you and pitching yourself as a qualified source (see below) to speak about it – and reap attention for your own business in the process.

Start as a source

Going from obscurity to a media darling overnight is as realistic an aspiration as winning a Tony for your portrayal of Daddy Warbucks in your high school production of Annie. And even if you were to go from zero to front page coverage, do you really want your biggest interview to be your first one out of the gate? I recommend to entrepreneurs I work with that they start small. Sign up for HARO, monitor the queries and reply to those that fit the expertise that you’ve honed according to the tip above. Start following journalists on Twitter who work for publications that your target market reads or whose beats are relevant to your business. Often, they’ll tweet out calls for sources. Starting as a source vs. a feature subject allows you to refine your interview skills over time and build a track record of credible appearances. When you’re finally ready to step into the solo spotlight, you’ll not only have perfected your ability to give a scintillating soundbyte, you’ll be able to point to a portfolio of previous media coverage that functions as social proof that you know your way around an interview.

Sink your hooks in

If your first contact with a given journalist is when you cold-email them your press release, you’re doing something very, very wrong. Start building relationships (via online and offline networking) long before you need to call on your media contacts for coverage. Keep in touch with them and keep them on your mental speed-dial so that when the time comes to make the shift from pal to pitcher, you’re talking to a friendly audience. If you act as a source for a story, ask the journalist if you can pitch them in the future, should you have an angle in line with their interests. A PR pro friend who does this boasts a 80% success rate in establishing warm leads that she’s able to tap when the time is right.

Read More HERE

6 Things Great Entrepreneurs Believe to Be True

By Geoffrey James

Over the years, I've interviewed hundreds of successful entrepreneurs ranging from the famous (like Bill Gates) to those just starting out.  I've noticed that the most successful entrepreneurs tend to share the following beliefs:

1. "Entrepreneurs are born not made."

Great entrepreneurs have usually started their first business while they were still in school.  They believe that being an entrepreneur is either in your DNA or it's not. And if it's no amount of training or coaching can put it there.

2. "I'd rather be poor and happy than rich and miserable."

Great entrepreneurs have the business acumen to make big money working in a big corporation.  Instead, they prefer to risk failure and financial loss, knowing that they'll be happier building their own.

3. "Courage is more important than security."

Great entrepreneurs think that the obsession that most people have with "security" is a form of collective insanity.  They realize that the only real security is the knowledge that you're brave enough to do what's necessary to win.

4. "I love selling."

Great entrepreneurs are always great salespeople.  They have a knack for understanding what customers, investors and employees need and finding creative ways to satisfy those needs.

5. "I can change the world for the better."

Great entrepreneurs believe that they're capable of creating products and services that not only make money but which improve both the lives their customers and the environments in which they live.

6. "I will succeed...sooner or later."

Great entrepreneurs consider failure as a strictly temporary condition.  While their current endeavor may not pan out, they know they'll keep trying until one of their great ideas catches on.

Read More HERE

How to Finance a Startup Today

By Julian Hills

You’ve got an awesome idea, a slick name in mind and the garage space to start your dream business -- but not the cash. I'm not surprised.

Financing a small business -- especially a startup -- is an uphill battle in a crowded field. In the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 27.5 million small businesses. And nearly 80 percent of them get their money through bank loans, credit cards and lines of credit.

It’s no secret that it is harder getting money through those avenues in the current financial climate. But just because it’s a bit of a fight, doesn’t mean your great idea isn’t worth fighting for. Here are some of the ways you can finance your startup, from standing in bank lines to going online:

Bank loans

Once thought of as a go-to option, national banks are still pinching pennies -- even after the Great Recession ceased.

Community banks and credit unions may serve as your next best bet. Since many community banks avoided the housing crisis, they’ll often have money to lend without the same standards as national banks. Local small businesses are finding success with community banks if they can convince lenders they’ll make a profit and pay back the loans.The U.S. Small Business Administration released a report in July noting that lending to small businesses declined last year. Business loans of less than $100,000 dipped to $138.2 billion, from $139.5 billion in 2011. Even though conditions have improved in recent years compared with 2008 and 2009 (the height of the recession), business owners still find themselves facing roadblocks from banks that continue to restrict their lending.

You might also tap a credit union for available funding. As nonprofit organizations, credit unions may offer better lending terms for borrowers than commercial banks.

Credit cards

Having plastic has its benefits. The perks include immediate access to needed items, cash advances when you’re low on money and a way to track spending. When financing your business with credit cards, a major consideration should be whether you can pay off the balance monthly. Credit card companies know commercial loans are hard to come by and often jack up their rates -- sometimes upwards of 30 percent.

Government assistance

The SBA offers qualified financial assistance programs. While it doesn’t loan money directly, the SBA does set guidelines for loans made by third-party lenders (essentially a commercial loan with negotiated strings attached). Businesses that go this route must first prove they could not obtain financing at commercial banks with reasonable terms.

On the upside: SBA loans are usually structured with longer terms and lower down payments, and may come with lower interest rates. On the downside: SBA-backed loans tend to have a lot of stipulations -- often requiring lots of paperwork and time, as approval can take longer than loans from private lenders.

See if your business qualifies by carefully reading the criteria on sba.gov.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a relatively new and increasingly popular option people are using to fund business ideas. Most often, entrepreneurs will use sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter to raise money from the crowd in return for token incentives like a prerelease product or a T-shirt. This process can cut out professional investors and brokers by putting funding in the hands of regular folks. It also might attract venture-capital investment down the line if a company has a particularly successful campaign.

Another, even newer option: equity crowdfunding through sites like Crowdfunder. Rather than giving funders a T-shirt, startups can offer equity in their companies instead. Know that only accredited investors (people with a net-worth north of $1 million, minus their home's value) may participate in this type of transaction.

Read more HERE

5 Steps to a Successful Start-up

By Karl Stark and Bill Stewart

We're always on the lookout for entrepreneurs who get it--the leaders who are modeling what it takes to launch a successful start-up. We found a great example recently in David Klein, CEO of CommonBond, a start-up aiming to help M.B.A. students with education funding.

David and his co-founders, Michael Taormina and Jessup Shean, are M.B.A. students at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and are part of Wharton's Venture Initiation Program, a highly selective start-up incubator that helps Wharton entrepreneurs.

CommonBond is filling a void in the student lending space by raising capital from individual investors (sometimes referred to as "crowdfunding") and providing loans to M.B.A. students, who have lower loan default rates than the broader student loan population. In addition, CommonBond has promised to fund a year's education of a student in the developing world for each M.B.A. degree. This social mission is inspired by companies such as Warby Parker (incidentally, also funded by Wharton grads) and TOMS Shoes.

After we met Klein last week, we thought it was clear that he's executing in a number of areas that we see as "best practices" for launching a start-up. Here are five things he's doing that other entrepreneurial CEOs can emulate:

1. He has a clear, simple view of the company's value proposition.

It's so important to be able to clearly communicate how your company creates value for a customer in a concise way. If you can't summarize your business model in a three-sentence elevator pitch, it's probably too complex.

2. He's entering a proven market.

So many entrepreneurs think they need to invent the Next Big Thing. That's rarely a successful endeavor. In most cases, the Next Big Thing doesn't exist--because it's not that valuable. We'd much rather see a business model that improves on a proven market than one that relies on creating something entirely new. It's a relatively easy mental leap to believe that a better product is going to take share from an existing market.

3. He has a revenue and profit model that will create cash flow to fund growth and create a return for investors.

This a basic business principle, but it's surprising how many start-ups actively look for funding with no clear view of how to create a return for investors or eventually fund growth from cash flow.

4. He has a view of how he will invest in and improve his business model over time.

Financial services is a competitive market that could be saturated by financial institutions in a few years. The important thing is that Klein can articulate a clear, logical view on how CommonBond will achieve market share in the short term (given its relationships in the M.B.A. community) as well as many ideas on how it will invest in sales and marketing efforts to enhance its competitive advantage over time.

5. He is asking for funding at the right time and for the right reasons.

CommonBond has already built the financial and legal infrastructure necessary to fund loans. It already has students signed up to apply for the first loans. Its last step is securing the investors. So many start-ups ask for capital first, before building anything. Investors would always rather buy something more tangible than an idea.

Klein seems to have the company on the right track. Of course, that doesn't mean CommonBond will become the next billion-dollar start-up, but at least he is giving it a better shot at success.

Read More HERE

When Starting Up, These 6 Things Can Wait

By David Port

Hunting sales whales 
"It may be best not to go for the home-run account right away," suggests Michelle Fish of Integra Staffing, "because you might not be ready for the size and scope of their business, and you might not get another chance at them if you blow it. Sometimes it's better to get your feet wet with smaller accounts."

Back-office and sales personnel
Prepare to wear many hats, at least for the short term. Rather than hire a salesperson right off the bat, Fish took on all the sales responsibilities herself. "Hiring for sales is hit or miss," she says. "And anyway, nobody's going to do [sales] better in the beginning than you."

Outside consultants 
Look to a mentor for strategic guidance and nuts-and-bolts practical advice. Be strategic when enlisting pros with high hourly rates, such as attorneys and accountants. Pay them now for help incorporating the business, reviewing partnership agreements and ensuring you have a viable accounting system in place upon launch, but wait to enlist them for less pressing matters.

A high-end website

Unless it's e-commerce-reliant,start with a no-frills website. You can roll out major improvements, such as regularly refreshed content, multimedia, a mobile-friendly design and other bells and whistles, in version 2.

Outside marketing, advertising and PR

Rely on grassroots and guerrilla tactics to start. "We said no to a lot of marketing opportunities that we thought would be cool but didn't make sense from an ROI standpoint," says Nick Friedman of College Hunks Hauling Junk. "Sure, it would have been nice to have prime-time TV and radio ads right away … but that would have sent us way over our marketing budget."

New products/services

Focus on your strongest offering first. You can add others once your existing product or service provides a strong, sustainable revenue stream and enough cash reserves to invest in new offerings.

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228697#ixzz2htx9dRel

5 Ways to Get Out of Startup Mode And Grow Your Business

Entrepreneurs stay in startup mode way too long. Keeping a small business in startup mode requires you to stand on the brake. If you keep telling people you're "just a startup," you will never take actions for real growth.

It's time to move from startup to grown up mode and from planning to doing. In two years, you want to look back at your startup phase as an important part of your thriving business' history. You want to say,"I remember when I was sitting on my floor packing boxes myself. Now I employ over 100 people." This is the mindset to move towards and here are five ways to do it:

1. Delegate. When you're in startup phase, you are handling everything. To become a going concern you have to start investing in people to do tasks you can no longer do. Three quarters of all small businesses have zero employees, which underscores the resistance people have to delegating. You have to grow your business. It is a misnomer to think people cost money. A lack of production and failure to grow your business costs far more.

2. Pick your battles. Don't get wrapped up for a week deciding on a logo when it ultimately doesn't matter. Your brand will evolve as your business evolves, so your logo is likely to change. There are more important things to obsess over -- gaining customers and making money. When you are hunting big game, don't swat mosquitoes.

3. Get attention. The single biggest problem every startup has is becoming known. Your most important task is to get attention for you and your company. It's the gateway to every dollar you raise. Muhammed Ali told the world he was the greatest long before anyone knew him. He got attention and infuriated people. But he proved himself, which turned criticism into world admiration. Get attention. Get critics. Then get admiration.

4. Change your pitch. Instead of saying "I own a small web design company," say "I own a web design company like none other that guarantees your company increased sales." Notice the difference? The first makes you seem small and insignificant. It makes no claim. The second makes you seem unique, confident and capable of being a money maker. Know how to pitch yourself and your business. Be ready to quickly explain what your company does that is better, faster and of value to the marketplace. Then, make big claims to the world.

5. Create urgency. If you start a business venture without setting specific timelines for action and achievements, you will be stuck forever with excuses. One of the biggest mistakes I have made in business was not operating with enough urgency. Being an entrepreneur is a marathon activity with lots of sprints. Win a lot of little races and you will provide your people and company with momentum. We recently shot a television show at my office and I told the editing staff that I wanted rough cuts in half the time they thought necessary. Then I called everyday for a progress update. This pressure to perform doesn't lead to inferior products; it get products to be finished. Urgency is key to getting things done.

Remember: Your vision is not improved by staying in startup mode. It's time to accelerate and become a going concern that is grabbing market share from the other bigger more established players. It used to be the big who ate the small. Today, it is the fast who eat the slow. 

Read more HERE