Business

7 Behaviors of Millionaire Entrepreneurs

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Becoming a millionaire isn’t an accident. It takes business owners decades to accomplish this rare feat. Many people look at these successful individuals and assume they must be lucky or born into wealth. But in reality, this is usually far from the truth. Becoming a millionaire takes work, focus and productive habits.

Emulating the behaviors of millionaire entrepreneurs can help you develop discipline and the habits that catapult entrepreneurs to the next level. With that in mind, here are seven behaviors of millionaire entrepreneurs you can learn from:

1. Start early.

Do you rush into your day responding to dozens of emails and letting other people define your priorities for you? Successful entrepreneurs, such as Peter Shankman, founder of HARO and The Geek Factory, are early risers. Shankman gets up at 4:30 every morning to allow for a workout before networking and building relationships — all before his competitors even sip their first coffee.

 

2. Learn constantly.

Keeping up in their industries is important for millionaire entrepreneurs, but so is regularly expanding their mindset and worldview. Russell Sarder, who runs the multimillion dollar NetCom Learning, makes time to read every day. Even during the business week, he reads one or two hours a day. By consistently learning, he’s able to bring new insights into his work that help define his business.

 

3. Make a budget and stick to it.

As unexciting as it sounds, budgeting in both your business and your personal life is essential to becoming a millionaire. In the book The Millionaire Next Door, authors Thomas Stanley and William Danko discovered that self-made millionaires diligently tend to the ebb and flow of their bank accounts. No matter how wealthy they become, that behavior doesn’t change — which is why they stay wealthy.

 

4. Don’t be afraid to work hard.

The reason “get rich quick” schemes are so popular is that it’s very appealing to get something for nothing. Not for millionaire entrepreneurs. Gary Vaynerchuk makes this very clear in his hilarious rant about people’s focus on “passive income.” He points out that no one gets truly wealthy without putting in the serious work.

 

5. Make clear goals.

Millionaire entrepreneurs know exactly what they’re working towards. They have clear timelines attached to their dreams. They know what they want to do in the next four weeks, the next six months and the next five years. Studies show that writing down your goals, making clear action steps and sharing those goals with supporters makes it 78 percent more likely that you’ll achieve a goal than simply thinking about it.

 

6. Be willing to fail.

Being afraid of failure is going to hold you back from becoming a millionaire. Successful entrepreneurs aren’t afraid to step outside their comfort zones and take a new risk, because they realize that failure is a learning process — not a final judgment on their ventures. Millionaire entrepreneur Farrah Gray discussed the importance of depersonalizing failure in an interview with Black Enterprise.

 

7. Take time off.

Stopping is hard for any entrepreneur, but many millionaires have realized its importance. Arianna Huffington admits she wishes she could go back and tell her younger self that her performance would actually improve if she committed to unplugging, recharging and renewing herself periodically. Taking time to relax allows new creative ideas to come to the forefront, which helps increase your wealth.

Becoming a millionaire isn’t something that happens by luck or heredity — it’s a matter of hard work and intention. Embrace the habits of these entrepreneurs and hone your own habits to follow in their footsteps.

Which one of these behaviors can you implementing today? Make a commitment to it by leaving a comment below.

Sources: Entrepreneur.net

7 Reorganizational Strategies for Work and Life

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Do you know someone juggling a million different projects, yet looks fit, healthy, happy and is somehow reliably there to tuck their kids into bed? They have day jobs, yet they’re always looking to the next thing. They go on vacations, or run successful businesses on the side, or have heavily demanding jobs that they love.

The key is no big secret once you dig in, they’re still living to the same clock as you or I; we all have he exact same hours and minutes in a day. These people simply have amazing time management skills and are focused on the things they want to accomplish. I’ve learned in studying 1000’s of successful entrepreneurs that most of this success comes from being extremely organized.

Here are a few things to get a healthier and more organized life:

1. Organize with a realistic goal in mind.

People who try to make a significant change in their lives with only an abstract idea of their goal find themselves falling back to their old habits. There are thousands of reasons why people may want to organize or re-organize their lives. Perhaps you want to be a better boss or just have a little bit more time at night with your kids. Whatever your goal, it should be fully visualized and attainable with small, actionable, day-to-day steps.

 

2. Refocus your schedule on your most important daily priorities.

Your schedule reflect your goals. Right now, my goal is to be more fit. I mark everyday from 11-12 to go to the gym. I have to schedule this time so that I go. It’s the same with dinner time at home or going out with your spouse. If you don’t prioritize it, it generally doesn’t happen.

Cal Newport, who runs the Study Hacks Blog, recommends scheduling every minute of the day the night before (what he calls Time Blocking) to maximize your productivity by avoiding time wasted time between tasks. That puts you in control of the time you dedicate to creative endeavors.

 

3. Automate whatever possible.

Some things some of us do daily or weekly don’t deserve our time. Updating your computer, planning meals and even household shopping can be automated, depending on how much you’re able and willing to pay for the convenience. Setting up an automated payment plan for your bills is a no-brainer, and you’ll save money by never paying late fees!

 

4. The KonMari method is a huge overhaul and a new frame of mind.

For an organizational overhaul there’s no better guide than The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Japanese “organizing consultant” Marie Kondo. The has swept over the world with a wave of joy-sparking decluttering ideas.

The KonMari method is elegantly simple: get rid of anything you own that no longer sparks joy in your life, from items in your wardrobe to kitchen gadgets. Once that’s out of the way, reorganize your items to fit your most practical life. The KonMari method includes respecting your belongings by teaching you to properly thank the items to be discarded for their service and giving more respectful treatment to the items you keep (“Never, ever ball up your socks… They take a brutal beating in their daily work”).

Regardless if it sounds a little dippy, those who have committed to the Konmari treatment are overwhelmingly supportive about its results.

 

5. Pursue one ambitious organizational goal at a time.

After applying the method above, give yourself a little break. I recommend a day. This allows you to settle into your new decluttered environment, get familiar with your newly re-empowered items, and learn to live with a cleaner home and office. Then, try to implement organizational goals one at a time.

It takes at least 21 days for a new habit to form, whether it’s as small as making your bed every morning to working out every day, so go slowly and don’t overwhelm yourself.

 

6. Don’t interrupt important work looking at your smartphone.

Anyone, even the most organized, laser-focused worker bee is susceptible to FOMO (fear of missing out), Internet addiction, and mobile rabbit holes. The insidious nature of smartphones befall all who bow at the altars of the Android and Apple gods, which is why the key to a focused workday is a hard and fast rule: put away your phone.

Don’t even look at it. Nothing that can be transmitted in a pop-up notification can’t be checked later, and you risk derailing ten minutes to checking it, checking your feeds, clicking on a catchy headline, commenting on it, then waiting for a response. Stay socially active by scheduling time to check your Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram. Keep a timer running — in the next room, if you have to.

 

7. Talking remains the most efficient way to communicate.

The fewer emails you send out, the fewer emails you have to check! It’s much more efficient to pick up the phone or walk down the hall to talk with coworkers and clients whenever practical. By getting the answer you need on the spot, you waste less time waiting for a response.

Resources: Success.net

The 5 Traits of Great Future Leaders

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Finding leaders isn’t about finding those with the loudest or even the most reasonable voice, or even finding the one with most impressive skills. How often have you seen someone with great skills be promoted to a leadership position, only to see him become a harried, crazed person making outrageous decisions that demoralize the team? It happens, but it doesn’t have to happen to your team, when you understand how to spot people with the potential to become leaders, people who will help achieve the vision you’re working toward.

There are five traits of potential leaders that make them easy to spot:

1. They like people.

This is non-negotiable for leaders. Those who are following want to be around and be a part of things led by someone who likes them and is helping them succeed. People don’t want to be around someone who is clearly impatient with them and considers them a nuisance. In other words, they won’t follow someone who doesn’t like them.

 

2. They are possibility thinkers.

Challenges don’t stymie them. Potential leaders aren’t Pollyannas; they are willing to admit that problems exist. But even if solutions aren’t readily apparent, they can find the workarounds that help the team move forward toward the goals.

 

3. They communicate.

Leaders must have a desire to interact with others. Excellent communication skills can be learned, but leaders innately want to express vision, goals and tasks to others. Those whose go-to coping method is to silo themselves away from the community are not yet suited for leadership.

 

4. They are willing to learn.

Leaders are usually finding ways to learn and grow, and they are motivated to share that information. There will always come a point in a leader’s life where the vision they are pursuing requires them to learn and become more: a better communicator, a dynamic re-director or a stronger motivator.

 

5. They can catch a vision.

Leaders may not come with their own vision at first, but they can be inspired to catch an existing vision. Their determination to be possibility thinkers and willingness to learn will aid them in learning from a mentor how to create their own visions.

 

While some people have a natural bent toward being a leader, good leadership skills can be learned by people who have these five traits. You’ll grow as a leader as you identify these people and help them develop into all that they can be. I’ve discovered that one of the most satisfying parts of my life, both professionally and personally, has this process of finding and growing successors.

Resources: Success.net

6 Things Effective Leaders Always Say

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Too often we forget our most basic goal in business—to create relationships with clients, customers, prospects, colleagues, shareholders and, at the center of it all, employees. Everyone at every level needs appreciation and meaningful feedback about their work. If you think that’s an obvious and practiced element of leadership, think again. Nowadays, leaders are prevented from being effective by not showing appreciation to employees.

 

Communication is the fundamental element of an organization, and the pattern is established by leaders. Healthy communication requires trust, inclusion, recognition, clear directions, meaningful interaction and feedback at the nerve center of the company.

The most effective leaders understand that clear communication helps a company’s bottom line and can increase productivity. They are diligent about building a sense of connectedness with their teams and appreciation of their employees by saying and asking:

 

1. “Here’s what I appreciate about you and your contribution.”

The basic “atta-boy” or “atta-girl” doesn’t satisfy people who put their heart and soul into their work. Instead, say something specific like, “I appreciate the way you pull in people from other departments to reach your team goals—you’re a connector.” Leaders need to notice employees’ unique, specific contributions.

 

2. “Thank you.” (personal and public)

From the elevator to the parking lot, daily interactions represent opportunities for leaders to engage in dynamic interactions and show appreciation for their employees’ efforts. Public recognition at a staff meeting, or a thoughtful “thank you” in a newsletter, are also meaningful.

 

3.“What do you think?”

Employees often withhold their best ideas from leaders who always have the “right” answer or take credit for others’ ideas. Ask questions such as, “What have you noticed?” “How do you think we could improve?” “What is keeping us stuck?” and “What do you love about it?” Establish a safe environment in which people have the opportunity to express themselves and be recognized for their ideas and they will take ownership of the results.

 

4. “Here’s what’s happening and what you can expect.”

Companies today often operate in a state of change, and all too often, information is withheld until the last minute. This is a huge distraction for employees who need “real speak” about their futures. Leaders often underestimate employees’ ability to accept “why” if it is shared in an honest way. Leaders will gain deep respect when they share as much as they know as soon as they can share it. Explanations are better than no explanations.

 

5. “I have some feedback for you.”

Don’t wait for a performance review to tell people how they’re doing. A culture of continual feedback is healthy and nimble.

 

6.“Let me share a time I got it wrong.”

Smart, capable leaders who know their stuff are well respected, but employees like and trust leaders who are not only smart but can occasionally lean back and laugh at their own mistakes and who are generous with what life has taught them. The effective leader says, “Let me tell you about something I learned the hard way,” instead of dictating the course to take.

Resources: Success.net

There’s Nothing Sexier Than a Passionate, Hard-Working Entrepreneur

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Passionate is 1st rules in Entrepreneur 

 

1. The passionate.

There’s no two-ways around it, a relationship with an entrepreneur is filled with emotional ups and downs. One day you’re riding the wave of a huge acquisition, next moment you’re biting your nails as you wait for your next round of funding to come through. The great thing is that they express their emotional roller coaster. They’re passionate and excited about their business, and you get to come along for the ride with them — if you like roller coasters, that is.

And it’s not just their business. They’re equally as passionate about life. And about their partners. No one will ever love you harder than an entrepreneur can. They love you with the fiery force of knowing that everything is impermanent, and the moment is all we have.

Intense, but totally worth it.

2. The persistent.

If you’ve ever loved an entrepreneur — or even been romantically pursued by one — you’ll know this all too well. When it comes to their business, they mean… well… business. Nothing will stand in the way of their dreams, and although they may have their off days, they bounce back quickly and become more focused than ever before. This transfers over to their relationships as well.

They know what they want, and they’re not afraid to go after it. They’re happy to wait as long as it takes to win your heart, and when they finally do, they’ll cherish it even more. They know a good fit when they see one, and even when your relationship hits an inevitable rough patch, they won’t falter.

They’re with you until the end.

3. Have a strong moral compass.

Most entrepreneurs get into business to help the world in some way. They want to make a difference. They can’t stand idly by, knowing that they could have helped make a change for the better. By nature, they are value-adders. They want to better the lives of their clients, their customers and society at large.

In almost every entrepreneur / entrepreneur relationship I’ve witnessed, both partners add extreme value to the relationship. They build each other up and drive each other forward. Their partnership is a constant upward spiral of growth.

They aren’t trying to change their partner — they’re giving them a leg up to their dreams, in whatever way they are able to.

4. Not afraid to show they care.

If someone works that hard for you, it’s apparent that they have strong feelings for you. When entrepreneurs go after their goals, they do so with drive and abandon. They’re not afraid to let people know that they care — their 80/20 clients, or their significant others.

They will tell you how much you mean to them, every day. They’ll make you feel special, because you are. It’s important to them that you know that they love you, because you are what they want, and they know they can’t stand idly by and expect the relationship to run on auto-pilot.

5. It’s fun!

Entrepreneurs have a yearning to live life to the fullest. They have an empire to build, and you get to be part of the building phase. Whether that means you’re helping build a startup from scratch or providing emotional support for your partner’s existing enterprise.

There’s an excitement that comes with being part of something big and knowing that you are an integral part of it’s success. If you have a hard-working entrepreneurial partner by your side — count yourself lucky. It can be one of the most fruitful relationships you’ll ever have.

Keep learning from each other and helping each other to grow, and your relationship will continue to flourish for years to come.

Sources: Entrepreneur.net

Small Businesses Need to Know About Digital Transformation and Disruption

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Although a small or medium-sized business’s digital transformation may not be as large an undertaking as it would be for a big corporation, it is every bit as significant.

Some small businesses think their size creates some kind of immunity when it comes to digitalization. They assume, because they are “small,” they don’t need to undergo a digital transformation to maintain a solid book of business. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Digitalization is changing everything about life today – from consumer purchasing to how we conduct business. As more devices become connected to the Internet, more brands have started to create content and customer connections that cater to the buyer no matter where they are. And In today’s market, every company is now responsible for living up to the “anywhere, everywhere” consumer expectation.

 

Digital transformation and disruption

Digital transformation refers to the company decision to deliver that seamless digital experience to consumers and to maintain an evolving customer relationship with new platforms and solutions. In practice, it means using data-driven analytics to get a better understanding of a target market, and then using that information to digitalize the internal and external processes to cater to the needs of the consumer.

The result of digital transformations may or may not be considered a digital disruption. Digital disruptions are the larger phenomena that take place in society and change the way people do things in their daily lives. Mobile banking, for instance, might be considered a digital disruption. It provides value to the customer and changes the way people work, but it also is a concept that revolutionized an industry. A software update probably wouldn’t be a digital disruption but any digital tool that is ultimately driven by consumer need could be considered one. As a small business, you may be affected by digital disruption, and you may have the opportunity to cause one — or both.

 

Transforming your small business

Your company’s digital transformation may not look like another company’s. A transformation isn’t about adopting every trend in the marketplace. Rather, it is a fundamental change in your business that adds value to the customer experience.

For example, going mobile may be a key part of your company’s transformation. More people access their mobile devices before making a purchase than they do a desktop or laptop. Companies that successfully digitalize their businesses make sure that responsive web design creates a seamless experience on every device a consumer might use. It fundamentally changes the way your consumers interact with your brand, transforming your business from a legacy enterprise to a digitalized company.

Although a small or medium-sized business’s digital transformation may not be as large an undertaking as it would be for a big corporation, it is every bit as significant. Digital transformation is vital for enterprise survival and growth.

Start making changes and ask for guidance and feedback from existing customers as well as employees who interact with customers on a daily basis. By focusing on the customer experience, you can make the digital changes necessary to streamline your business interactions online and in-store.

Once your company has made key digital changes, remember that the process is ongoing. Encourage innovation in your business and strive to evolve with the digital world in real time. Technology isn’t slowing down and businesses that stay relevant will have to keep up with the changing tides. Reach your customers by staying technologically current. Keep them by remembering what sets your brand apart.

Sources: Entrepreneur.net

How to reach today’s B2B buyer: A hybrid sales and marketing model

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Today’s buyer wields more power than ever before. They enjoy access to more information and are better informed about your company and products. Not only this, but they are more knowledgeable than ever before because they spend more time doing self-guided research.

The art of the cold call is dead to today’s buyer – they have fortressed themselves from intrusive sales tactics. They expect salespeople to have some knowledge of what they are interested in, and looking for.

It’s amazing to think that more than half of buying decisions are made before a sales team even gets involved. However, that doesn’t mean sales can step back and let marketing handle it all on their own. In order to win the hearts of buyers, sales and marketing must work hand in hand.

 

Sales and marketing learn to play nice

In the business world, marketing professionals and salespeople often struggle to collaborate or agree on anything. They question each other’s methods and love to play the blame game around the quantity and quality of leads versus the timely and professional follow-up on those leads. That doesn’t need to be the case. In fact, there’s a relatively simple solution to get everyone on the same page. The key is a new hybrid model that blends marketing and sales.

 

What is ‘hybrid’?

In science, hybrid refers to anything derived from heterogeneous sources, or composed of elements of different or incongruous kinds.

That simply means creating something by combining two different elements. This is what marketers and sales professionals must do. It’s time to blur the lines separating these two functions and have them learn from the other’s strengths.

 

The convergence of sales and marketing

So how does this merger of sales and marketing manifest itself? Well for one, sales professionals these days have to develop super-human senses. They must be tuned in to social channels, email opens, website visits and any other potential buying signals.

Sounds an awful lot like marketing, doesn’t it? Your potential buyers are a powerful force and they won’t wait around for you. That means marketing and sales teams have a very short window when it comes to responding to engagement. Potential buyers will visit a website, download content, and move on. Their interaction is recorded by marketing and passed on to sales.

The problem is that currently this process takes a couple of days…or longer! Would you still be interested in purchasing something from a department store if a sales attendant said they’d get to you in a few days? Not likely.

Sales and marketing must work closer together to make sure the way leads are handed over is as fast as possible.

 

Recipe for sales and marketing alignment

The need for a hybrid sales and marketing team is evident, but the real question is how can these teams work together to meet and exceed customer expectations and deliver on business objectives?

Here are a few simple steps to follow:

  • Listen intently to buying signals and personalise messaging to suit the buyer profile and the stage of their buying journey
  • Plan and build common objectives and compensation models as a team and make performance against those objectives highly visible
  • Specialise your lead qualification, prospecting and sales teams
  • Add structure and accountability into the lead management process – be sure to “mind the gap” for handoffs between marketing and sales teams

The era of functions operating independently in separate silos has ended. Engaging immediately and intelligently with qualified leads is more important than ever, which is why organisations need an intersection of sales and marketing.

Resources: marketingtechnews.com

Content marketing: How do you get value from it in email marketing?

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“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

It is all well and good developing programmes to drive sales and revenue, after all that’s what most brands are looking at as ROI from email. However, in this day and age where email is the most widely used form of communication with customers and prospects, is that enough? In my opinion it’s not.

What are you doing to differentiate yourself from everyone else in the inbox? What’s going to make you stand out?

There was a reason a subscriber took the time to sign up to your brand, why was that? They wanted something from you – were they interested in your proposition or product? Or was it all about your brand? Probably the first right?

So how do you get them interested and engaged in your brand? With content, that’s how.

There are different types of content you can use, so where do you start? Answering the question as to why the subscriber signed up and what they want is a great place.

What expectation does the sign up box/page on your website give?

  • Regular updates/tips
  • Member only information
  • Exclusive deals
  • Offers and discounts

If you’ve incentivised someone to signing up, or promised certain content, then you’d better follow through on that or you’ll find they’ll quickly be hitting that unsubscribe button.

In my mind subscribers sign up based on what you’ve offered, and that would be what they want from you. However, how can you be sure what you’re sending them is what they want? Lets not forget how fickle we humans can be and how often we change our minds. The best way I’d say you can qualify this is by simply asking them.

Very soon after someone new has subscribed to your email list, you’ll want to reach out to them to begin building your relationship. This is the perfect time to start with some valuable content, setting the expectation for what they’ll be receiving from your brand and collecting preference information through a well-designed Welcome Programme andPreference Centre.

Be mindful when collecting preferences – make sure you can actually deliver the different types of emails and content. The last thing you want are subscribers that have told you what they want and then don’t get it; a sure way to increase your unsubscribes.

Now that you know what your subscribers want from you, how are you going to deliver this? I have seen many brands use a hybrid approach and combine a newsletter with a sales email. Personally I believe these should be kept separate; once you combine these two types of email you are taking away from one CTA or the other. To me, it’s best to send a newsletter that contains news, with the main CTA being to drive traffic to the website and build a brand affinity – this is where your best valuable and relevant content should go.

Depending on your brand and industry, like travel or fashion for example, you may find that you have an abundance of content to share, and that’s great. There’s inspirational and informative content about where next to take your holiday or what’s trending right now with the latest A-lister wearing this winter’s coat.

For some though, this can be seen as challenging. What if you don’t have lot of engaging content? What if your product is more functional? For brands like this, user generated content (UGC) can be very useful. UGC can come in different forms – social posts, product reviews or customer forums for example. This content can be extremely valuable; who better than your customers and their peers to provide recommendations?

In summary, having a content strategy to go along with your sales and offer-led programmes can deliver great value to you. Receiving engaging and relevant content will keep your subscribers engaged with your emails, your brand in their minds and emails in their inboxes. Therefore, you have greater opportunity to get the right offer in front of them at the right time so they make the purchase.

Resources: marketingtechnews.com

10 Bad Work Habits to Eliminate Before Becoming an Entrepreneur.

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We all have bad work habits, and most of us are content to get away with them for the foreseeable future. Sure, they may make us a little less productive, and they might not look great in a performance review, but they’re relatively innocuous when they creep into our daily lives.

When you step up to be an entrepreneur, everything changes. You’ll have more direction, more authority and more freedom, but you’ll also have far more accountability for your decisions and habits. Not only will most of your actions have a direct and substantial impact on the health and future of the business, they’ll also set an example for the other people you work with, and set a tone for the entire organization.

Before stepping out fully as an entrepreneur, be sure to eliminate these 10 bad work habits:

1. Not planning your day (or week)

You can get away with this in a job you can muddle through, but, as an entrepreneur, if your priorities aren’t clear, you may never be able to dig yourself out of that hole. Each day, and each week, preview everything you need to do and organize those tasks based on order of importance.

2. Reacting to emails as soon as they come in

Prompt responses are almost always a good thing, so there’s no fault in wanting to respond as quickly as possible. However, responding to emails all day is an inefficient way to go about your tasks. Plan your projects and tasks in advance, and don’t let emails relentlessly distract you. One exception to this rule, however, is sales personnel, whose quick email response may prove essential for landing a sale.

3. Communicating inefficiently

Inefficiently written emails or conversations in meetings might cause a slight hiccup in someone’s average day-to-day work, but in the context of a budding business, these problems may cause serious headaches and make your company look unprofessional. Take an inventory of your communications skills, and make improvements where necessary. Don’t rush through anything, and think carefully about what you mean to say.

4. Settling into a firm routine

Routines are useful for productivity, especially for everyday tasks you might otherwise forget. However, settling too deeply or firmly into a routine could put you in a poor position when things change abruptly (and they will in a startup). As an entrepreneur, be flexible enough to change your approach when the situation demands it.

5. Never taking breaks

It often seems like a good idea to work through your breaks to get more done, since it’s basically a free hour or two to add to your total workday. However, working through breaks can take its toll on your psyche and productivity. As an entrepreneur, six hours of great work is better than eight hours of okay work, and you definitely don’t want to run the risk of burning out.

6. Running late

If you’re an employee coming in to catch up on emails, being 10 minutes late usually doesn’t matter. But, as an entrepreneur meeting with prospective clients or otherwise setting an example for the team, running late can damage your image. It’s okay to set your own schedule, but when you say you’ll be somewhere, you need to be there, and on time.

7. Procrastinating on tough projects

That monster project awaiting you might do fine sitting on your desk in your current day job, but procrastinating the tough jobs as an entrepreneur usually only makes things worse. If you can’t handle something, delegate it or seek outside assistance. Don’t just set it to the side.

8. Delaying hard decisions

You probably make few decisions in your current position, at least compared to the many you’ll make as an entrepreneur. Hard decisions may take their toll on you, but you need to come down on one side or the other. Even a bad decision is better than no decision, so eliminate your habit of delaying decisions now.

9. Never saying no

At the lower rungs of the corporate ladder, the word “no” is taboo, and the habit of saying yes to everything seems to stick around in our careers for years. When you become an entrepreneur, you need to get comfortable with saying no. Not every client is worth taking. Not every employee candidate is worth hiring. Not every idea is worth pursuing.

10. Multitasking

Multitasking is another one of those pesky habits that only seems to save you time. In actuality, it distracts your mind so you complete simultaneous tasks less efficiently than you would had you completed them individually, and with greater focus. As an entrepreneur, you’ll need all the focus you can get.

These ten habits won’t necessarily destroy your business, but they could interfere with your ability to work productively and in a way that ultimately benefits your organization.

It may take some patience to eliminate them entirely, but you’ll be in a far better position once you do.

 Source: Entrepreneur.net

12 Signs You Have an Entrepreneurial Mindset.

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If you were pressed to describe the stereotypical entrepreneur, which words would you use? Passionate? Dedicated? Optimistic? Sure, those apply. But insecure and troublemaker are more accurate, according to ’treps who know a success when they see one. Do the following traits, characteristics and quirks describe you? Well then, you might be an entrepreneur (at heart, if not yet in practice).

1. You take action.

Barbara Corcoran, founder of The Corcoran Group and co-star of TV’s Shark Tank, says people who have a concept but not necessarily a detailed strategy are more likely to have that entrepreneurial je ne sais quoi. “I hate entrepreneurs with beautiful business plans,” she says.

Corcoran’s recommendation? “Invent as [you] go,” rather than spending time writing a plan at your desk. In fact, she believes that those who study business may be prone to overanalyzing situations rather than taking action.

2. You’re scared.

“Many entrepreneurs judged as ambitious are really insecure underneath,” Corcoran says. When evaluating potential investments, she adds, “I want someone who is scared to death.” Those who are nervous about failing can become hyperfocused and willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. If you feel insecure, use that emotion to drive you to achieve your business goals.

3. You’re resourceful.

“One of my favorite TV shows growing up was MacGyver,” confides Tony Hsieh, lifelong entrepreneur and CEO of Las Vegas-based Zappos, “because he never had exactly the resources he needed but would somehow figure out how to make everything work out. Ultimately, I think that’s what being an entrepreneur is all about.” It’s not about having enough resources, he explains, but being resourceful with what you do have.

4. You obsess over cash flow.

Prior to founding Brainshark, a Waltham, Mass.-based provider of sales productivity software, Joe Gustafson bootstrapped a venture called Relational Courseware. “All I ever thought about was cash flow and liquidity,” he admits. “There were seven times in [the company’s] eight-year history when I was days or hours away from payroll and didn’t have enough cash to make it.”

How did he respond? “In the early days, you could step up and put expenses on your personal credit card, but that can only go so far,” he says. “You need cash.”

5. You don’t ask for permission.

Stephane Bourque, founder and CEO of Vancouver, British Columbia-based Incognito Software, says true entrepreneurial types are more likely to ask for forgiveness than permission, forging ahead to address the opportunities or issues they recognize.

“Entrepreneurs are never satisfied with the status quo,” says Bourque, who discovered he was not destined for the corporate world when his new and better ways of doing things were interpreted as unwanted criticism by his bosses. Now, he says, “I wish my employees would get into more trouble,” because it shows they are on the lookout for opportunities to improve themselves or company operations.

6. You’re fearless.

Where most avoid risk, entrepreneurs see potential, says Robert Irvine, chef and host of Food Network’s Restaurant: Impossible. True ’treps are not afraid to leverage their houses and run up their credit card balances to amass the funds they need to create a new venture. In some ways, he says, they are the ultimate optimists, because they believe that their investments of time and money will eventually pay off.

7. You welcome change.

“If you have only one acceptable outcome in mind, your chances of making it are slim,” cautions Rosemary Camposano, president and CEO of Silicon Valley chain Halo Blow Dry Bars. She says that if you are willing to listen, your clients will show you which of your products or services provide the most value.

Her original vision for Halo was part blow-dry bar, part gift shop, “to help busy women multitask,” she explains. But she quickly learned that the gift shop was causing confusion about the nature of her business, so she took it out and replaced it with an extra blow-dry chair, and things took off. Smart entrepreneurs constantly evolve, tweaking their business concepts in response to market feedback.

8. You love a challenge.

When confronted by problems, many employees try to pass the buck. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, rise to the occasion. “Challenges motivate them to work harder,” says Jeff Platt, CEO of the Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park franchise. “An entrepreneur doesn’t think anything is insurmountable … He looks adversity in the eye and keeps going.”

Candace Nelson, founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes, agrees. Despite naysayers who questioned her idea for a bakery in the midst of the carb-fearing early-2000s, she persevered and now has locations in eight states. In fact, she was one of the first entrepreneurs in a business that became an ongoing craze, sparking numerous copycats.

9. You consider yourself an outsider.

Entrepreneurs aren’t always accepted, says Vincent Petryk, founder of J.P. Licks, a Boston chain of ice-cream shops. They may be seen as opinionated, quirky and demanding—but that is not necessarily a bad thing. “They are often rejected for being different in some way, and that just makes them work harder,” Petryk says. Case in point: Rather than copying what most other ice-cream shops were doing, including buying from the same well-known suppliers, Petryk forged his own path for J.P. Licks, developing made-from-scratch desserts in bold flavors.

10. You recover quickly.

It’s a popular notion that successful entrepreneurs fail fast and fail often. For Corcoran, the trick is in the speed of recovery: If you fail, resist the urge to mope or feel sorry for yourself. Don’t wallow; move on to the next big thing immediately.

11. You listen.

Actress Jessica Alba, co-founder and president of Santa Monica, Calif.-based The Honest Company, which sells baby, home and personal-care products, notes that “it’s important to surround yourself with people smarter than you and to listen to ideas that aren’t yours. I’m open to ideas that aren’t mine and people that know what I don’t, because I think success takes communication, collaboration and, sometimes, failure.”

12. You focus on what matters (when you figure out what matters).

“Entrepreneurs fall down and pick themselves up until they get it right,” says Micha Kaufman, co-founder and CEO of the fast-growth online freelance marketplace Fiverr. During Fiverr’s launch, instead of trying to deal with “an endless number of potential challenges,” Kaufman and his team focused on “the single biggest challenge every marketplace has: building liquidity. Without liquidity, there is no marketplace.”

Source: entrepreneur.net