Take a look at this video and see what you think.
What are your thoughts?
Sep 29
When you work for someone else there is a tendency to want to ensure that you are motivated to do the work. But as an entrepreneur how do you keep yourself motivated? As an entrepreneur how will you keep others motivated?
If you have ever taken a look at the TED.com and their presentations of new ideas you’re bound to see some that change current viewpoints. Dan Pink spoke at TED.com about the science of motivations and gives a glimmer of hope of for those involved with motivating others. What’s the premise?
Stick and carrot intrinsic and extrinsic punishments and rewards DO NOT WORK in most of today’s business environments! Dan Pink’s answer: autonomy, mastery, purpose to being more productive.
“Gentleman, enlisted men may be entitled to morale problems, but officers are not. I expect all officers in this department to take care of their own morale. No one is taking care of my morale.” General George Marshall about leadership.
So, you’re a leader, get motivated and motivate others.
Sep 28
I have had a number of discussions recently with various types of entrepreneurs from graphic artists, videographers, restaurants owners, to construction owners and one thing that keeps coming to mind is what separates the good entrepreneurs from the great ones. But before I get to the issue at hand, let me tell you a story.
I was at one point very interested in Linux as my operating system of choice in the late 90′s. Why? Because the Mac OS was going to be based on FreeBSD UNIX based on it’s historical roots (you have got to see the lineage of UNIX). I wanted to learn the ins and outs of how it worked, getting “under the hood” of the OS. Going from the original Mac to Linux was like going from grade school math to calculus! Man, did I pull my hair out learning the command line interface (CLI). But that learning experience, as difficult as it was, made a profound affect on my understanding what a computer COULD do. I also began to understand Open Source Software (OSS) as it pertains to it’s development. Fast forward a few years while using Linux. I was talking with a photographer and I had mentioned that GIMP was a good OSS solution to try and it was FREE for his Windows system. He asked some more questions and as he was leaving he stated “If GIMP has one tool that PhotoShop does NOT have and it’s free then I’ll be getting it for sure!”
Fast forward to today. Talking with entrepreneurs I have stated that my book covers business essential steps and using the Mac to start a business. Because I was writing for a Mac nearly all have dismissed my book because I’m writing for a Mac, but only a few stated “Are you going to write one for Windows” and only one asked the most important question of all.
Can you tell the difference? Can you see where this is going? Can you see the progression?
If you have seen Dan Pink during his TED presentation he discusses the concept.
It’s about viewpoint and the degrees of viewpoint, focused versus broad.
I’ve bolded the hints, do you see it now?
So here’s the question:
What can I learn from your book?
That’s the difference maker between average entrepreneurs and good ones, the good ones learn from anywhere how to improve their business and apply it if it works and works for them!
But what about great entrepreneurs?
The difference between good and great entrepreneurs is the cost factor!
A good entrepreneur sees only a cost, a great entrepreneur sees the Return On Investment (ROI) of what they are purchasing.
Great entrepreneurs see the investment value of what they are buying, not the cost. A good entrepreneur sees a $20 cost, a geat entrepreneur sees a $40 investment if it saves/earns him $200!
So, which are you?
If you think this is wrong, here’s further info to back my comment up.
Sep 27
If you get regular files from others and they use numbers either in their file or email titles invariably they don’t think how the numbers are going to be sorted by your computer, the using a number in the title. For example, using a list number or year, month, and date in the file name.
Here’s what it looks like when you sort things.
|
Alphabetical |
Single Number |
Double Number |
Single Only |
|
Apple |
1 Charlie |
01 Bravo |
1 Bravo |
|
Bravo |
2 Echo |
02 Apple |
11 Apple |
|
Charlie |
Apple |
Charlie |
2 Delta |
|
Delta |
Bravo |
Delta |
Charlie |
|
Echo |
Delta |
Echo |
Echo |
How do you fix this? If you intend to have any numbers in your file or email titles add the number of digits to how many numbers you intend to use. If you are only using 1-9, then use only one digit. If you intend to use from 1-99, then use two digits such as 1 being 01 and 9 being 09 so that the sorting keeps things inline. If you intend to use 1-999, then you would use 1 as 001 or 34 as 034.
If you don’t use this type of numbers you’ll look like the far right column and the sort will look awful to your customer, especially if you use a sequence of numbers somewhere in your title.
Sep 23
Just a quick comment. As an entrepreneur, how good are you at doing things? Are you good at only one thing? How about some things? Are you good at everything?
As a startup you might not have the bucks to shell out to others to do things in the beginning, but as a leader it does come down to the most important question: while you may be good at doing everything, as a leader, SHOULD you be doing everything?
A great leaders learns to tell the difference over time and knows when it’s best to “let go” and someone else to do the doing.
Sep 22
For those that are former or current Apple employees there is now another competitor to Apple Retail: Microsoft. Microsoft is now seemingly beginning to poach Apple’s retail staff to staff it’s own up and coming retail stores. Read this article “Microsoft is supposedly stealing Apple retail staff” to get the scoop.
What does this mean for Apple? Apple’s expected loyalty to itself by its employees is now going to challenge Apple’s leadership values and expectations, do they need to change? Can they change?
Does this mean that the coveted Specialists/Concierge jobs will further deteriorate into “Wal-Martish” mentality and tarnish Apple’s brand? Or will Apple respond to this Microsoft challenge with something innovative? Or keep everything as is?
How do you think Apple’s leadership will respond to this threat?
Sep 16
If you have seen Mint.com you’ll know that it’s a great little web site/iPhone application that allows you to keep track of all of your finances from one location. Read the story here about how it was done.
Many high powered venture capitalists said “NO!” but a higher risk super angel investor said “Yes!” because they saw the pain point of customers was greater than the obstacles to overcome.
As was reported, the upstart Mint.com actually startled Intuit and they were threatened with legal action, but was taken by most as bullying of the David and Goliath type.
If you have a good idea, pursue it!!
Sep 15
“If you feed your mind as often as you feed your stomach, then you’ll never have to worry about feeding your stomach or a roof over your head or clothes on your back.” Albert Einstein
Sep 14
Watch this one minute movie to get to the hear of being an entrepreneur by Randy Komisar of Kleiner Perkins in 2007.
Sep 13
The iTunes store has over 75,000 applications for the iPhone, but which ones will work for businesses in such as way that makes you money and won’t take a lot of time? How do you find out which ones will work for you?
Well the folks at Infoworld.com have just made your job easier by putting together a more detailed listing of all of the business applications that you can get on the iPhone. As of today’s date here are the areas covered:
- Calculators (19)
- Commerce (20)
- Communications (6)
- Contacts (12)
- Database (7)
- Email (8)
- Enterprise apps (4)
- File sharing (10)
- IT tools (12)
- Job search (7)
- News and Info (7)
- Office apps (17)
- Presentation (9)
- Print and fax (4)
- Real Estate (7)
- Recorders (13)
- Remote clients (12)
- Scanner (6)
- Scheduling (20)
- Security (4)
- Task managers (15)
- Travel support (14)
Which ones do you like and why?
