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2158 - How
to be an Entrepreneur? The
entrepreneur--constantly moving pieces, organizing activities, leading
initiatives, and putting out fires, and making stuff happen. We will always deal with the tyranny of the
urgent. However, to better create, dream, and thrive as entrepreneurs, we must
shove aside the urgent and not important to make room for these activities.
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---------------------------------- 2158 - How
to be an Entrepreneur?
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Entrepreneurs are busy people. There is always something to do, and most of
the time it's something really urgent.
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That's the plight of the
entrepreneur--constantly moving pieces, organizing activities, leading
initiatives, and putting out fires, and making stuff happen.
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Stephen Covey's famous book, The Seven
Habits of Highly Effective People, nails this issue. Covey sketches out four
quadrants that communicate how we use our time.
- ( I have a Review of this book if you want to
see it.)
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Most of us spend our time in the
"Urgent" categories (Quadrant I and Quadrant III). The problem is,
not every "urgent" task is important. Where should we be spending our
time?
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We should be spending more time on the
"Not Urgent" yet "Important" tasks (Quadrant II) Every
activity on this list is solidly within that second quadrant--not urgent, but
very important.
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Creating time for these things is tough,
and requires a shift in mindset. We will always deal with the tyranny of the
urgent. However, to better create, dream, and thrive as entrepreneurs, we must
shove aside the urgent and not important to make room for these activities.
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Planning the Next Product. New products are where the money is. The more
and better products you can develop, the more and better sales you'll get.
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Let's assume your business is up and
running. You already have a customer base. To best serve these customers, and
to best build the business, create another product. They will buy it. Your
business will grow.
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In order to create the next product, you
have to plan the next product.
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Brainstorming the Next Business. Encourage every entrepreneur to stay loyal to
every business that he starts. But there's always something more--another
adventure, another opportunity, another stone waiting to be turned.
-
- What's it going to be? If you spend all your
time extinguishing flames in your present business, you'll never be able to
plan the next business.
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Don't limit your potential. Don't
prevent great things from happening. Free yourself to brainstorm that next
business, and watch what happens.
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Mentoring Someone. If you've been mentored by someone else, you
recognize the incredible power of entrepreneurial mentorship.
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There are plenty of other people who
respect your ability and would like to learn from you. The person whom you
mentor may be an employee, a co-founder, or a friend. Wherever you find these
people, spend time with them.
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Mentoring is always a two-way street.
You have things you can learn as well, and it always pays to have someone with
whom you can think aloud.
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Strategizing the Next Marketing Move. Not every entrepreneur is a born marketer, but
every entrepreneur has marketing ideas.
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Some of the world's greatest
entrepreneurs are not skilled at business, technology, or product. They are
skilled at marketing.
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Steve Jobs, for example, was a genius in
virtually every area of entrepreneurship. But when you analyze his life and
work, you discover that he was one heck of a marketer.
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He introduced the age of the hyped up
keynote, the nail-biting the suspense of the next big thing, and TV ads that
made history.
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If you can innovate your
marketing--spending time brainstorming and dreaming--you can experience this
same level of success.
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Studying Human Behavior. Every entrepreneur should be a student of
human behavior.
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The time that you spend studying
people--psychology, motivation, behavior, development, cognition--is never time
wasted. For one, you'll understand yourself better. And for another, you'll
understand people better.
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When you understand how people think,
you begin to understand what they want and how to give it to them. You
understand how they make choices, and how to help them make the right choices.
You understand how they face conflict, and how to mediate that conflict. You
understand how they face confusion, and how to remove that confusion.
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The better you understand people, the
better entrepreneur you become.
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Networking.
To
paraphrase John Donne, "no entrepreneur is an island." You can
probably look at each business that you've started (or want to start), and
identify someone--a key connection--that helped to make it successful.
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You'll make connections like these in
the most unlikely places, so it pays to be social. "Networking events" aren't the only
times that you should be networking.
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Reading a Book. So many books; so little time! There is some good news and some bad news about
reading books. The good news is that there are some really smart and talented
authors who are writing powerful and explosive books.
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The bad news is that we're so busy that
we don't have time to read them all.
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Thankfully, we can read some of them. Reading
one book review a week is better than none. A book has the power to change your
thinking, transform your business, and initiate the next business.
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If you find that you have absolutely no
time to read books, try audio books. You can probably find a few minutes during
a commute or daily routine to listen to a few minutes of an audio book. Or, read my book Reviews. It compresses time by a factor of 100.
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Taking Time Off. The last "activity" isn't much of an
activity, and surely not much of a "business activity." Ah, but it's
no less important.
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Take time off. Just stop working. Turn
off your phone, walk out the door, and don't come back for a day, a week, a
month. Do it.
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Entrepreneurs need to unplug, unwind,
and do something different.
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When you take time off, you can do some
of the other things on this list. One of the unexpected benefits of taking time
off is that we sometimes experience our greatest moments of insight and
creativity.
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Final Thoughts. You've got a lot to do, and you just spent ten
minutes reading an article that is asking you to do even more.
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Ask yourself, "Is it worth
it?" Is it worth it to spend a few hours brainstorming, reading, going out
to lunch with someone, or just chilling?
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The only way to find out is to give it a
try. Happy entrepreneuring.
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- November 9, 2018. 1734 1733
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----- Comments appreciated and Pass it on to
whomever is interested. ----
--- Some reviews are at: -------------- http://jdetrick.blogspot.com -----
-- email feedback, corrections, request for
copies or Index of all reviews
--- to:
------
jamesdetrick@comcast.net
------ “Jim Detrick” -----------
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--------------------- Friday, November 09, 2018 -------------------------
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