Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

This post`s of particular interest to the people who joined us at the 8th Annual Entrepreneur`s Conference at Duquesne University.

In our keynote, we talked about seven of our Small Business Blasts--our nickname for "pearls of wisdom"--for entrepreneurial success. But at the end of our talk, there were requests for some "bonus" Small Business Blasts.

So, as promised, the bonus "Blasts" are:

• Don`t Buy Into Your Own Hype

We`ve seen it over and over... yes, entrepreneurs who are so intoxicated by their own business ambitions that they`ve completed convinced themselves that they`re going to do amazing things without any great case-building or grounding behing their attitude.

This is a very dangerous thing. Of course, entrepreneurs have to be passionate and salespeople and maniacally committed to what they`re working on. But that doesn`t mean becoming a hype machine! You MUST research, listen, gather facts, analysis those facts, and then base your claims, plans and business pitches on REALITY. Otherwise, your great ideas could fall victim to the hype. What happens in that case? You make claims you can`t back up, you spend your money too quickly, you have to become reactive and play catch-up instead of being proactive and staying ahead of the curve. We want you to succeed, and if that`s a goal you share with us (and no doubt it is!), whatever you do, don`t buy into your own hype!

• Adhere to the Cheese Disk Philosophy, which, as oddly named as it may be, has proven to be a great contributor to our success over time. It`s all about cultivating opportunity. Since it`s explained through the included link, no need to go into detail here.

NOW, Pittsburgh folks, We can discuss these principles as well as address any other questions that you might have. And I`m hoping you use this forum to cultivate discussions with one another.

Great meeting many of you this morning...

Way to Start It Up!

Rich

 

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Rich Sloan , Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist, StartupNation

Rich,

For those of us who weren`t fortunate enough to hear the talk in Pittsburgh, what are the Seven Small Business Blasts you speak of?

Steve


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Steve - Kirk Foods, LLC home of the Gluten Free Cookie Factory - To reach any significant goal, you must leave your comfort zone. - Hyrum W. Smith, Founder, Franklin Quest

steve,

i have a challenge for you:

what would YOUR seven tips be? give us a bullet list. or, if you want, for every one tip you give, i`ll give you back one of ours! how does that sound?

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Rich Sloan , Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist, StartupNation

I`ll work on it tonight. 

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Steve - Kirk Foods, LLC home of the Gluten Free Cookie Factory - To reach any significant goal, you must leave your comfort zone. - Hyrum W. Smith, Founder, Franklin Quest

Rich,

Here`s my list of seven.

• You must be willing to go it alone. Don`t expect everyone to see your vision and understand what you`re doing and why.

• When you decide what you`re going to do, start moving forward. If you can`t start big, start small. It`s better to own a hotdog cart than to sit there wishing you owned a restaurant. And don`t wait until you have all the answers to begin. There will be questions you won`t even know to ask until after you get started.

• Keep a positive attitude. Forgive yourself for mistakes made. View each one as a learning experience; the tuition in the school of hard knocks. But make sure you actually learn from them.

• Don`t spend money today on things you don`t need today, no matter how great a deal you think you`re getting. My Dad used to say, "hold onto your money - another deal will come along".
  

• Be flexible enough to change your direction when an unforeseen opportunity presents itself. But learn to tell the difference between an opportunity and a distraction. There will be plenty of distractions; great opportunities will be rare.

• Learn to tell the difference between a negative attitude and a sober, yet realistic, opinion. You`ll hear both, sometimes from the same person. Not long ago I discounted some advice I now wish I`d followed, because it was preceded by a negative opinion about the whole venture that I felt was wrong.

• Expect down days. Have a support system in place to encourage you when you get down. It may be a partner, a like minded friend or the StartupNation community.

It was a good exercise; thanks for the challenge.

Steve


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Steve - Kirk Foods, LLC home of the Gluten Free Cookie Factory - To reach any significant goal, you must leave your comfort zone. - Hyrum W. Smith, Founder, Franklin Quest

Wow Steve that`s a great list and thanks for sharing that.  I think most of us can relate to the "7" in a personal way. 

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CustomerTrend Inc. / Albert Barneto
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here are seven of the "small business blasts" we shared with fellow entrepreneurs at duquesne u:

1)   Go for 10% of a watermelon instead of 90% of a grape

v     Be willing to share equity and revenue in order to create a much bigger opportunity – at the end of the day, it’s all about creating value!

 

2)    Use the "CEOs" of communication

v     Create a regimen of communication with Customers, Employees, and Owners, and make it a two-way street for maximum impact

 

3)   Outsourcing is in!

v     Delegate certain tasks and activities to outside experts and service providers to reduce distractions from what you`re truly good at doing

 

4)   Hitch your wagon to a star

v     Team up with strategic partners who can accelerate your growth and help you achieve your goals

 

5)   Harness the power of PR

v     Getting your press releases picked up in the media is a low-cost, extremely powerful way to boost awareness and ultimately sales

 

6)   Manage your burn rate

v     Control the outflow of dollars so the dollars don`t end up controlling you. Use our battle-hardened Cash Management Report to be sure you’re smart about your burn rate!

 

7)   Know thy end game

v     Work backward from your ultimate "dream-come-true" to where you are today and define all the steps necessary to achieve your desired ending. Remember, “life plan” comes before “business plan.”

 

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Rich Sloan , Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist, StartupNation

Thanks, Rich.

I`m trying to get a handle on the PR. Melanie Rembrandt has provided some good information in that area. Now it`s up to me to make it happen.


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Steve - Kirk Foods, LLC home of the Gluten Free Cookie Factory - To reach any significant goal, you must leave your comfort zone. - Hyrum W. Smith, Founder, Franklin Quest