May 2023 - BOLLYWOOD SURKHIYAN

Publicity Predicament Number 2 – What’s the Right Timing For Publicity?

Media outlets are in the news business. And as you can tell from the close resemblance between the words “news” and “new,” the mission of the media is to bring you interesting and timely reports on what’s new. If you’re an entrepreneur or organizational marketer and you feed your news about what’s new to the media at the appropriate time, you’re helping both them and yourself. You give them news to share, and you receive credibility and exposure to potential customers.

Ah, but what is the appropriate time? Media deadlines are the most important element in proper timing. Follow these guidelines to make the publicity process work in your favor.

In one group are radio, television, newspapers and web sites, which have short-range deadlines, and in another group are magazines, which have considerably longer-range deadlines. For the short-range deadline media, one week is generally enough lead time for those media outlets to pick up your story. For magazines, the lead time depends on the publication schedule: Monthly magazines need to receive your press releases or pitches 3-6 months ahead of time, while those published every other month need even longer lead time. Weekly magazines need 3-6 weeks advance notice, whenever possible.

When announcing events or looking for coverage for them (as opposed to, say, announcing a new product or providing perspective on a trend), you often need to add a few weeks to the lead time, because daily media often have a weekly rather than daily publication schedule for their calendar listings. That is, upcoming events get published in a batch once a week on Thursday or Friday rather than every day.

The biggest timing complications arise with a product launch, because magazines need to receive your publicity materials 2-3 months before the newspapers, radio, TV and websites in order for them to feature new stuff around the same time. If you rely simply on press release distribution for publicity, either magazine coverage will lag way behind the other media or the newspaper etc. coverage will be premature.

Solve that dilemma by sending publicity materials directly to the magazines at least three months before you want the coverage to appear, then wait until the week before you want the coverage to hit up the newspapers, radio, TV and websites, either by contacting them directly as well or by doing a general press release distribution. That’s right – do publicity in two batches.

Using the guidelines above, plan your timing carefully so you don’t have publicity appearing before your product is ready for purchase or after it’s too late for customers to plan to attend your events.

Bonus Tip: Improve your timing even more by looking up or requesting a publication’s “editorial calendar.” This is an issue-by-issue rundown of planned topics – for instance, the March 16 issue will cover network security, the March 23 issue software upgrades and so on. If you dovetail your publicity with a particular publication’s editorial calendar, you’re practically a shoo-in!

Supporting Your Work at Home Wife

The new trend in our society is working from home. Many women are leaving the corporate world to come home and care for their families, but they still desire to contribute financially. It can be challenging to work from home, especially for women who have children to care for as well.

Is your wife is one of the growing number of work at home moms? Here are ten key tips on supporting her:

1. Encouragement is key

Sometimes all that your wife needs in order to be successful with whatever she is working on is a little encouragement. Often times she won’t have anyone else around to give her the encouragement that she needs and you may be the only person that can give her the encouragement she needs.

2. Help with whatever she is doing

Depending on the business there may be extra work that could be done by you. For example, with my wife’s website, Christian Work at Home Moms (www.cwahm.com), she will often need someone to write a script, setup an email account, or proofread a document. Some of the tasks aren’t going to be the most glamorous but 5 minutes could save your partner hours of time and added stress.

3. Be positive

It’s easy to be a positive influence on your wife and her business. Listen to her when she talks about her business. Don’t put down her ideas for business growth – help her think of new ideas to help her business grow. Remember that just because she is working from home, that does not make her business any less important or legitimate. If you are a positive influence on your wife and take an interest in her business, there’s no telling how big the business might grow! As wives, we need our husband’s support and encouragement!

4. Watch the kids

Your wife is at home with the kids all day every day. Sometimes she is going to need a chance to work with no distractions. If the kids are constantly asking questions and bugging your wife she can’t get anything done. Don’t wait to be asked. Be proactive and offer to watch the kids.

5. Listen

Your wife might not have a large support system or other co-workers to bounce ideas off of. She is going to need someone to talk to and more importantly listen to the ideas she has. I think this goes hand in hand with encouragement. You will need to listen and encourage, sometimes that is all she needs.

6. Let her run the show

This is her job her business she gets to call the shots. I know that the way my wife and I handle the business decisions is that she runs all of her ideas by me and we mutually make the decisions. A lot of the decisions can be costly and take a lot of time. Those decisions should be made together but ultimately it isn’t your decision.

7. Be a part of the business

Many wives want their husbands to take part in their home business even if it’s just helping to stuff envelopes. Taking the time to do even small things like this will encourage your wife and show her that you support her. If there isn’t a way to be directly involved with your wife’s business, pick one day a week and do the dishes or another chore that will free up some time for your wife to work at her business.

8. Don’t let her give up.

Most work at home moms will tell you that it takes 3-4 years to build a successful business. It doesn’t happen overnight. When your wife feels discouraged, listen to her and ask if she would like your input on the situation. She will need your encouragement to stick with it. We wives do not like to fail our husbands and we sometimes feel like failures when our businesses are not doing well. Remind your wife of the time that it takes to grow a business and that EVERY business has times during the year when sales are slow.

9. Surprise her

This may not sound like a business tip, but a great way to help your wife stay motivated is to bring her little “surprises” – flowers, her favorite candy, a business supply that she can’t bring her self to spend the money on. All of these are great ways to remind her of your support.

10. Pray

Most importantly, this business is going to need prayer. Never underestimate the power of prayer to help you get going and keep the whole project rolling. If you aren’t talking to God on a regular basis it will be very hard to stay on track.

By following these ten simple tips, you can help strengthen your wife’s home-based business. She will appreciate your efforts and your marriage will benefit as well. Supporting your work at home wife is one of the best ways to show you care.

Start a Home Based Company With Small Business Grants

In this day and age as we witness the rapid advancing of technology in unison with the increasing unemployment rate, many American citizens are turning to small business grants sponsored by the US government as a means of establishing home based online businesses. This practice is becoming more and more popular each and every day as the evolution of technological business enhancements is rapidly rendering traditional methods of company operations obsolete.

There is no better time than now to begin considering telecommunication and virtual office positions as a regular work or career procedure. This is the age of computers, and web cams, and digital this, and automated that. It’s seldom that you are ever even able to reach an actual live representative when calling most customer service centers. It is pretty frightful to think that your job can actually be eliminated and replaced by an inanimate object, yet those days are growing near. It is a daily occurrence that thousands are laid off of their long time jobs while major corporations downsize employees to redirect payroll funds, in order to upgrade their automated systems. Becoming self-employed is seemingly the last chance at any type of job security for some, and small business grants are often the only chance of achieving that.

The smartest thing about using small business grants to establish an online “work from home” business is, obviously, because this is free government money. Most taxpaying American citizens are eligible to qualify for business grants, and the best part is, they never have to pay them back. There is no credit check, cosigner, interest, collateral, or anything else. This is a gift from the government awarded to you to establish your new business. By using these funds to create an online web and/or home-based business, you can virtually open up shop and see an immediate profit with absolutely no overhead whatsoever. No other type of business can achieve those highly favorable results.

You can acquire enough free government money in small business grants to start your home-based business in the utmost of professional fashions. It is entirely possible to be awarded enough funding to…

*Construct and/or set up an efficient and well equipped home office

*Purchase computers, software, telephones, copy machines, fax machines, printers, and all other essential major electronic or technical equipments to keep your company running smooth and efficiently.

*Buy all paper, pens, folders, professionally printed letterhead stationary, calendars, business cards, and all other necessary office supplies that you will need.

*Afford advertising materials and services to properly promote your business, whatever it may be.

*Obtain special training or college courses that correspond to your choice of career path to enhance and improve your business.

These are just a few of the advantages of creating your own online business. We haven’t even touched on the pleasure and freedom of not having a boss, not having to commute to work, not having to pay for gas or parking, wait for trains or buses, get stuck in rush hour traffic, be late for work, take a cut in pay, or get laid off. Sounds pretty appealing, doesn’t it. Well imagine being able to do all of that, for free.

Follow the links below to see how much free government money you qualify for in small business grants. It may not be long before you are enjoying lifetime job security in that plush corner office with a window…with a view of your patio.

Five Distinct Mindsets of an Entrepreneur

I have written in this column before about whether entrepreneurs are made or born (January 18). As I noted in that column, the issue is no longer the subject of debate. Entrepreneurs can be made, that much is clear. Unfortunately, the culmination of that debate begs a new question: What do aspiring entrepreneurs need to learn?

The most fruitful research into this question has identified a number of cognitive skills that “expert entrepreneurs” possess. Cognitive skills are, in short, unique ways of thinking. Entrepreneurs who have been examined to reveal the cognitive skills they possess are usually NOT able to articulate them. They are aware that they’ve developed capabilities to convert disparate resources into profitable opportunities, but they can’t exactly say how they do it.

Research has identified distinct patterns in the thought processes in an exceedingly diverse set of entrepreneurs. Scholars have translated these patterns into terms that can be used by people who teach entrepreneurship and, more importantly, those who practice it.

In another field of study, Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner wrote a book titled “Five Minds for the Future”. The rationale for Gardner’s work is that: “One cannot even begin to develop an educational system unless one has in mind the knowledge and skills that one values, and the kinds of individuals one hopes will emerge at the end”. His book focuses on the five “mindsets” that he believes essential to general education: the disciplined mind, the synthesizing mind, the creative mind, the ethical mind, and the responsible mind.

While Gardner’s minds are debatable, his perspective that the way people think largely defines who they become is instructive. In light of his work, it seems natural to wonder whether it is possible to identify five specific “mindsets” that are important to entrepreneurial success. My own research has identified five such mindsets: the opportunity recognizing mind, the designing mind, the risk managing mind, the resilient mind, and the effectuating mind.

The opportunity recognizing mind is cultivated by identifying “pain points” in industry-specific value chains. Expert entrepreneurs rapidly go from spotting a pain point to analyzing the size of the market opportunity. Aspiring entrepreneurs, in contrast, are more likely to extrapolate from limited experience, and they tend to neglect analyzing the SIZE of the opportunity.

The designing mind has learned how to create repeatable production processes that consistently create valuable output for an identified market. In fact, one of the main differentiators between entrepreneurship and small business is the entrepreneur designs and develops of production processes that do not require his or her constant attention. Small business owners generally enjoy working in their business. Entrepreneurs prefer the design approach of working on their business.

Risk management is a too-often overlooked element of entrepreneurial expertise. A common belief is that entrepreneurs are risk takers. In reality, entrepreneurs have learned to be highly effective risk minimizers. Where others see intolerable risk, the expert entrepreneur has learned to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. For example, expert entrepreneurs operate according to the “principle of affordable loss” when launching a new venture. They don’t risk more than they can afford to lose.

The resilient mind is simply the ability to bounce back from the inevitable failures and setbacks that all entrepreneurs encounter. Expert entrepreneurs have learned to distinguish their business failures from personal failure. Without question they still experience disappointment and frustration, but they don’t turn their negative emotions inward. They view their business experiences objectively, and they strive to learn as much or more from their failures than they do from their successes.

Finally, the effectuating mind is simply the ability realistically to assess one’s talents, situation, and prospects. Any particular entrepreneurial opportunity could be pursued by anyone, but not everyone can pursue each opportunity. Some people simply will be better prepared to capitalize on an opportunity than others. This may be due to their life history, family circumstances, genetic gifts, or other factors. Expert entrepreneurs have learned honestly to assess their own unique talents and to leverage them in pursuit of opportunity. They do not care that others may be better suited to pursue other, potentially more lucrative, opportunities.

The five mindsets entrepreneurial expertise are targets for lifelong learning and development. No matter your current level of expertise in any of these mindsets it is likely that you have room for improvement. If you deliberately practice and develop skills in these specific mindsets over time, the chances for your entrepreneurial success inexorably will improve.

Unemployment Rates From Around the World

Small countries with low unemployment rate:

Andorra which is a country with a population of 71,822 has an unemployment rate of 0.00%. Now, how does this country do this? The answer to this is since World War II through its tourist industry, many immigrants both legal and illegal have been attracted to the thriving economy with its lack of income taxes. Now this leads to another country that has the same unemployment rate of 0.00% by the name of Monaco. Many of us have heard of this country that has a population of 33,000. Economic development was spurred in the late 19th century with a railroad linkup to France and the opening of a casino. Since then, the principality’s mild climate, splendid scenery, and gambling facilities have made Monaco world famous as a tourist and recreation center.

Much larger countries with mid range unemployment rates:

As the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, the United Kingdom (UK) played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. The British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth’s surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK’s strength seriously depleted in two World Wars and the Irish republic withdraw from the union. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy. The UK is currently weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. The UK has an unemployment rate of 2.9% with a population of 60,776,238. Another country with an unemployment rate of 3.0% with a third of the population of the UK (27,780,059) is Uzbekistan which is a Russia conquered country in the late 19th century. Stiff resistance to the Red Army after World War I was eventually suppressed and a socialist republic set up in 1924. Intensive production of ‘white gold’ or (cotton) and grain led to overuse of chemicals and the depletion of water supplies. This left the land poisoned and the Aral Sea and certain rivers half dry. The country seeks to gradually lessen its dependence on agriculture while it is developing its mineral and petroleum reserves.

United States unemployment rate is not the highest:

While the United States has a population of over 300 million and an unemployment rate of 5.5% most know that if you can make it to the US, it is by far the best place to live. You have lots of freedom to do almost anything you want to do. The US has a steady growth in building and a rapid advance of technology. The US remains the world’s most powerful nation. Another country with a 40.0% unemployment rate and a population of 31 million is Afghanistan. This country served as a buffer between the British and Russian empires until it won independence from British control in 1919. A brief experiment in democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 Communist counter-coup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan Communist regime, touching off a long and destructive war.

The USSR withdrew in 1989 under relentless pressure by internationally supported anti-Communist Mujahedin rebels. Subsequently, a series of civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hard-line Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country’s civil war and anarchy. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, a US, Allied, and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama BIN LADIN. The UN-sponsored Bonn Conference in 2001 established a process for political reconstruction that included the adoption of a new constitution and a presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005. On 7 December 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan.

In conclusion, unemployment rates from 40.00% in counties with 30 million people and 0.00% in countries with 75,000 people all truly have the same goal. We all want everyone to be financially free or at least financially stable. Many people have computers and internet connections so you are able to work at home even if the economy in your country is not stable.

10 Good Reasons Why Small Enterprises (Small Businesses) Fail

You’ll agree with me that there are so many small businesses which have contributed a lot to the growth of economy. They have created employment opportunities for many families although some remain to be small throughout their operational life.

It is obvious that those who are starting new ventures have objectives to achieve. And to mention each business has got its own objectives to achieve such as maximization of profits and sales, minimize costs, maintain a certain level of production and labor force etc.

Failing of a business opportunity is what an entrepreneur won’t want to happen. Inasmuch as we agree with the fact that there are firms which have succeeded, we should also accept the fact that a good number of them have failed even before two years lapse after they commence business.

If aspiring entrepreneurs addressed the reasons why small businesses fail, then they will not fall to be victims of the same causes of failure. This is because they’ll be in a position to identify these causes and fix them before it’s too late.

Now you may be asking yourself as to why some businesses remain to be small throughout their operational life despite some of them making profits or are capable of growing.

4 Reasons Why Small Business Remain to be Small

1.) The owners of these businesses prefer not to expand their businesses. Some sole proprietors do not want to be bothered with the challenges of managing a big business. They don’t want to employ people to assist them in running their businesses but instead they prefer to be assisted by their family members.

2.) The nature of the product/service the business is involved in doesn’t allow expansion. There are people offering products/services which make it difficult for their business to grow.

3.) Lack of capital for expansion. There are small businesses which are viable and have the potential of growing but they lack enough capital. Such businesses have the challenge of securing funds from financial institutions. Lack of capital plays a negative role in hindering the growth of small businesses.

4.) Very low demand. If the business has a very low demand for its product or service, then at the end of the fiscal financial year/trading period the business won’t realize profits, and if it does, it’s very low, therefore the chances of it expanding are very minimal. Just to mention, realization of inadequate profits as a result of very low demand hinders the growth of small businesses.

However, there must be a starting point and as such, every business starts as a small entity and it gradually grows to a medium entity and eventually it becomes a big business entity which is either a private limited company or a public limited company. Note that a partnership business can also grow to become a big business.

Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail

1.) Wrong Reasons For Commencing Business: People who start a business for wrong reasons haven’t succeeded. Just because another person is making high profits in a certain line of business doesn’t mean that you will also make the same amounts of profits as him/her if you start the same business.

2.) Poor Business Management: When there is poor management of the business it becomes difficult for such a business to succeed in its operations. Finance, marketing, purchasing and selling, planning, hiring and managing employees is what most new business owners fail to execute effectively thus making their small businesses to fail.

3.) Lack of Commitment: Starting a business requires someone who is committed in ensuring that it succeeds. Neglecting the business will cause the business to fail. Many small businesses have failed because the owners didn’t take their time in monitoring performance and in marketing them. Some business owners leave their businesses to be managed on their behalf by incompetent people who lack book keeping knowledge and the knowledge of managing a business.

4.) Lack of Finances: Small businesses have failed because of lack of adequate finances. Some of the owners underestimated the amount of capital required and as a result of this underestimation some ended up running out of operating capital thus ending the operation of their businesses.

There are those who have no reserves which has led them not to be able to take care of loses and disasters when they occur thus making them to quit business.

5.) Over-Expansion of the Business: This has led to failure of many small businesses. This happens when there is borrowing of too much money beyond what the business requires so as to expand the business. Moving to markets that are not profitable is also over expansion of the small businesses.

An ideal expansion is the one that is driven by customers due to their high demand for the products and services which leads to high sales thus the business experiences good cash flow.

6.) Location: The place where the business is located is critical in determining its success. Small businesses have failed because of them being located in areas that are not ideal for business. They should be located in areas that are accessible, populated with people and has demand for their products and services.

7.) Personal Use of Business Money: This is the biggest challenge facing many small business owners. They withdraw money meant to operate their businesses to meet their personal wants and needs. If they continue to withdraw money from their businesses without returning it, their businesses will eventually run out of finances therefore forcing them to end the operations of their businesses.

8.) Lack of Delegation: Small enterprises have failed due to owners not delegating some of the duties to their employees. They think that if they delegate them, then their employees will not perform these duties as they would personally perform them. When such owners fall sick or are away from their businesses, then the operations of some tasks will be paralyzed till they resume to work.

9.) Not Diversifying: Small enterprises which have only one product/service to offer are prone to fail easily compared to those that have a variety of products/services.

10.) Procrastination and Poor Time Management: Postponements of tasks which the small business owners feel to be unpleasant to perform has made the small businesses to fail. An example of such tasks include following debtors to pay their debts (debt collection).

Time management remains to be a challenge for many people who own small businesses. If important tasks like delivering products to customers, purchasing stock etc are not handled in the appropriate time, then the business will lose its customers.

The above are not all the reasons why small businesses fail, there are more reasons.

Hustler Vs Entrepreneur – Which One Are You?

To hustle or not to hustle?

Currently the use of the word “hustler” is thrown about as a positive way to describe oneself as having an entrepreneurial streak, or starting a new business.

From the 1800s, hustler meant “thief”, and in particular, someone who was aggressive with their victims. Nowadays, the dictionary still holds this definition true, describing a hustler in a negative light: a thief or criminal; a gold-digger or prostitute; an overly pushy salesman (OED, 2015). In modern music (mostly ghetto rap), “to hustle” refers to a way of making money and doing it against all odds. Maybe the latter is where startups are drawing their inspiration from?

Hustlers work for immediate gratification to obtain cash-flow, without a long-term vision. It’s about a foot in the door, a constant drive to keep making the money – it’s all about making the next sale.

As an entrepreneur myself, I would NEVER like to be referred to as a “hustler”.

Why hustle when you can “undertake enterprise”?

Being an entrepreneur may involve overcoming odds and making money, but it’s definitely NOT hustling. Startup entrepreneurs find ways of making money, but do so ethically and in terms of a defined growth strategy. Entrepreneurs build a business, own the business, delegate, strategize, and think ahead. They link things – they are connectors: businesses, ideas and people. Entrepreneurs create systems, contingency plans, they develop others, and (probably most noteworthy) entrepreneurs consider exit planning.

The actual meaning of entrepreneur?

It stems from Old French, “to undertake enterprise”. What’s enterprise? Well, that’s work. The characteristics of an entrepreneur were added in the 15th century: a person with “adventurous disposition, readiness to undertake challenges, and a spirit of daring” (Harper, 2015). In recent definitions, “One who undertakes an enterprise; one who owns and manages a business; a person who takes the risk of profit or loss” (OED, 2015).

Which side of the coin are you on?

Hustler vs Entrepreneur…

Semantics matters

Words change in meaning across time – that’s a common thing. But shifting from a negative use to a positive usage (pejoration to amelioration) is very rare. Between entrepreneur and hustler, we need to reflect. From a linguistics perspective, something to watch here. From a new business perspective, you should decide which side of the coin you’re on.

I guess the choice lies in this –

Are you undertaking an ethical enterprise as owner and manager, with adventurous disposition, readiness to undertake challenges, spirit of daring taking risks of profit and loss?

Yes?

Then you’re an entrepreneur NOT a hustler.

~A.

—

Direct references:

-Harper, D. (2015). Etymology Dictionary Via http://www.etymonline.com/

-OED – Oxford English Dictionary (2015). Via http://www.oed.com/

Starting a Women’s Group

Have you thought about starting a women’s group? Maybe you stop yourself because you don’t know where to begin or have some idea but can’t seem to find the time to organize the group. It does take some time to organize the group – though not as much as you may think – and the benefits all the women in the group receive are significant.

Women seem to naturally come together to share everyday activities. Life is easier when you can shop, exercise or share a problem with a friend. So creating a group around a specific topic feeds us emotionally.

We have different relationships in our lives, all of which are important. Yet it’s the women in our lives who add silly laughter, endless hours of conversation, caring for us when we are ill, and a loving ear when we are hurting. Are you more relaxed with your women friends?

We started our women’s group 11 years ago with the vision that women know how to naturally brainstorm and help each other problem solve. We meet once a month over dinner and the hostess picks a topic for the evening, usually around self-help. In the past, we’ve had psychic readings and massages, too. After 11 years, we have a special bond with each other. We’ve shared problems, joys, celebrations and grandchildren. More importantly, we have each grown because of our consistent connections with each other and the topics that we have chosen to discuss.

When you first start a group, it may seem a bit awkward. The excitement is there yet you haven’t bonded as a group. Over time, the group creates itself and the power of gathering together impacts each one of you individually.

Why would you want to start a group? There are many reasons why women gather. In the old days, women formed “quilting bees” where they talked and shared the sewing together. It’s all about sharing. So what would you like to share with other women?

To jumpstart your thinking, here are some ideas that women are interested in:

– Parents gather together who have similar aged children.

– Women want to become financially savvy so they start investment clubs.

– Spiritual circles – sharing a spiritual lifestyle together.

– Women at work – professional women creating mastermind groups to move them forward in their careers.

– Working moms – Moms don’t have to be alone in finding solutions to the challenges of working and creating a satisfying home life.

– Community oriented – helping impact the communities we live in.

– Building a stronger family – helping each other brainstorm on how to create a loving and caring family.

– Cultural – plan outings to different cultural events.

-…and more!

Society has changed significantly. For women in the past, we were part of a large, strong and extended family network. For some of us that may still be true. For many of us, our families reside in different places nowadays. So our women connections fill in the gaps. Each one of us can build stronger lives on the strength of our connections with other women. Why not gather in one room, each member bringing their unique selves to share with others, so all of us can grow and build stronger lives.

In today’s busy world, we need to find a place that is there for us, and building a community of women adds a lot of value to your life.

Finding the Best Business Idea For Your Home Based Business

How many home based business opportunities are available to you? If you want to make money online at home, you really have many options to choose from. The big question is – which one will give you the biggest chance of success? Is there a ‘one size fits all’ answer? The simple truth is that not every opportunity is right for everyone, and not every opportunity will bring you the greatest amount of profit.

So, what are some home business ideas that can make money online for you? The quick and dirty answer is: the one that best suits your particular set of needs. Make a list of your priorities, including a high income; a low-risk schedule; freedom; flexibility; work-life balance; independence; something in your range of skills and expertise; and interesting work that you have an interest in… You can take this list with you and talk to people who are working from home on the same things that you would be considering. Chances are that you will find some great niches that fit your standards and your desires.

But what if you want to get started right away? It’s easy to think that you can jump into a new business idea and be successful immediately, but this often isn’t the case. It takes many different things to make sure that you will be able to get through the hurdles and actually make it to a point where you are seeing profit. If you don’t work at it slowly, you will be setting yourself up for failure. Here’s the lowdown on some different things that you should consider as you create your own business idea:

First, you need to think about what you have to offer. If you don’t have any ideas as to what to do as a freelance writer, a lowdown on finding a niche is very important. Many beginners go into this completely clueless. But if you know that you have a skill that others are desperately seeking, you may be able to provide them with the service they are looking for without having to spend much time building up a website or getting traffic to it.

Another thing to consider is what kinds of products or services would best fit a niche that you would like to get started in. In this case, the lowdown on finding the best business idea for you would include taking a look at what you love to do and what you can offer others. If writing is not your strongest point, but you love to get creative, consider freelance data entry. Freelance data entry does not require a lot of startup capital, but you still need to have the skills that will allow you to be successful in this area. The best lowdown on finding the best business idea for you is to simply start looking at what you like to do and what you can offer others.

There are many other areas of freelance writing that you can explore in order to make the most out of your home based online business. Freelance writers are in high demand online. If you have the skills that are needed to do well in this field, there is no reason that you should not be able to find a great home-based online business that will give you the income that you want.

How To Tell If Someone Is An Entrepreneur

One thing defines an entrepreneur – constructive action.

Typically, they’re the salesman – doing *everything* to get people to buy their stuff. We all have the image in our heads; the “wheeler-dealer”, picking any opportunity to try and exploit (and other people) for profit.

Indeed, the term “entrepreneur” seems to have drifted around the present lexicon – from “something you did” (typically to improve people’s lives) into a blend of “money mad hustler” and “someone who doesn’t ‘follow the rules'”.

The reality is the modern meaning could not be further from the truth.

Entrepreneurship isn’t a vocation or job. It’s not a label which you apply to yourself in order to make yourself more endearing to a particular party, or clientele… it’s a way of doing things.

Many “entrepreneurial” types actually have jobs. They’ll never admit they are “entrepreneurs”, although they exhibit all the traits of one. The question is what these traits are, and whether you – or someone you know – has them.

What Is An “Entrepeneur”?

Entrepreneur is a word derived from French – loosely describing a “problem solver”.

Whilst its connotation has changed over the years, the premise persists – an “entrepreneur” is someone who creates a “widget” and has the ability to encourage other people to buy it.

What this “widget” is can be a commercial product, service or idea.

It’s actually interesting… some of the greatest “entrepreneurs” of history actually had nothing to do with money. They were completely focused on the development of a particular “result” and committed themselves whole-heartedly to its realization.

Whether this meant conquering the Persian empire (Alexander), developing the light bulb (Edison) or creating stable PC systems (Gary Kildall), conquering the Aztec empire (Cortez), the term “entrepreneur” really denotes someone who wants to build something.

The BIG difference between “original” entrepreneurs and the swathes of new-age idiots (who typically aggrandize a hedonistic lifestyle + seem to have an infatuation for “crypto”) is that the former were typically committed to a single profession, and manage to “leverage” that through the development of increasingly ambitious “projects”.

These projects could be anything… but they all had a core “reason” to exist. This reason was what drove the originator to pursue the endeavour, and continue even when it was questionable whether it was even “possible” or not. Obviously, the reason we remember them is that they not only discovered it was “possible”, but entirely feasible… hence their success.

How To Tell If Someone Is One

The typical sign is they will do strange things…

interest in esoteric ideas
pursuit of interests not directly correlated to the accumulation of wealth
strong displays of passion for particular subjects
immersive nature with different ideas (trying to recreate historical events etc)

The point is that REAL entrepreneurs are not typically concerned about money at all.

Their primary concern is the creation of a “thing”. What that thing is, is determined by either their character or interests… but in every instance of someone who’s achieved a large amount of success, they were completely and utterly focused on doing “their” thing no matter what.

This is actually important.

The modern world seems to have every 18 year old male wanting to be an “entrepreneur” – like it’s a badge of honour or something. If you’re not “growing”, you’re “dying”… right?

The truth is that our society has become so focused on convenience that the majority of these money-grabbing idiots have absolutely no business even considering themselves “entrepreneurs”.

They have no experience, no skills and are only latching onto the latest “fad” in order to escape the mediocrity which has come to pervade the West’s consumerist culture.

Entrepreneurship typically follows YEARS of interest in a particular subject. It typically follows HUGE investments of time & energy into the cultivation of a skill set, experience and “involvement” in a particular space.

Most importantly – entrepreneurship is about doing something “your way”.

Stay Clear Of Modern Idiots

The BIGGEST problem I continually see from the hoards of idiots is they are ALL following a “book” or some other “rules” on “how” to be an entrepreneur.

I see it all the time… guys reading all the biographies, neural studies, latest books from the big wealthy fat cat – all trying to discover the “secret” to massive success.

What’s ironic is that all of this stuff just works on the “outside” of the issue – the same people who read all the “stuff” end up with the SAME questions… “what do I sell?”- “how do I know if I’m going to make money on a product?” – “what’s the secret to getting rich?”.

If you have to ask “what do I sell”, you’re not an entrepreneur.
If you have to listen to what a “successful” person has to say on a subject, you’re not an entrepreneur.
If you have to consider all the “rules” put forward by others, you’re not an entrepreneur.

The point is that the modern world is chock-full of wannabe losers. Even the “successful” ones aren’t actually truly successful – they may have made a bunch of money, but what did they actually achieve? The answer is relatively little (or even nothing).

The truth is that if you want to “be” an entrepreneur, you have to get to work.

EVERYBODY has their own work. Some are models. Some are footballers. Some are computer programmers. Some are painters.

The “trick” is to do ANYTHING in order to get moving forward in an industry; clean the floors if necessary.

Once you start to gain some progress, the “entrepreneurial” stuff comes from leveraging any progress made within it – either to create & market a product, or to help a market better appreciate the potential of another device/product.

Traits Of “Real” Entrepreneurs

Quiet (or at least reserved)
Fully capable of embracing failure (indeed, using it as a spur to change/adapt)
Working constantly on different elements within their “industry” (again, everyone has a place)
Unafraid of social constructs (just because someone said it doesn’t make it true)
Laser focused on what “they” want to do (you want to bring sustainable farming to Africa? This is the type of thing a “real” entrepreneur will actually do)
Unafraid to give freely (most “entrepreneur” types are not attached to money at all… typically not having much until they find mercantile success)

If you haven’t worked it out, the core is purpose.

The modern world has very little emphasis on purpose; rather it focuses on productivity.

Nothing wrong with this, but it devoids most people of their passion. It’s good for GDP and McDonald’s – but bad for the creativity lying latent within a large number of people.

If you want to adopt “entrepreneurial” traits, the key is to become attuned to a particular “purpose” – through which you’re able to invest your entire life.

If you’re just looking at Ferrari’s and thinking that you “kind of want to become rich” – entrepreneurship is not going to do that. It’s a very difficult road, with only the most persistent and enduring surviving.

You need to get to work, and only then will you discover hidden opportunities into which you’re able to apply your expertise, experience or network to build something of real value to the world. This real value is then absorbed by the market, who’ll either pay handsomly for it – or reject it. This is pretty-much what determines whether someone could be considered an “entrepreneur” or not.