From the category archives:

Business

Fail miserably by spraying and praying

by Prashant on June 23, 2010

in Business

I think spraying and praying has to be one of the worst mistakes new entrepreneurs can make. You know the story… Dale, new business extraordinaire, builds a new widget designed for the real estate industry but soon after sees applications in all sorts of industries ranging from janitorial to precision manufacturing. While it’s always nice for John to think big and outside the box, entrepreneurs trying to serve the masses can easily walk right into failure.

If you can’t keep that ego in check, sorry… you’re screwed

I believe the problem at the core root of things is simply, our ego. Thoughts of financial freedom, living a self-sufficient life, being known, being “the man”, etc. are all are all areas that newbies need to keep in check. You can write up all the business plans you want, have as many advisors around you as possible, but if you can’t keep that ego in check, sorry… you’re screwed.

You need to keep a leash on yourself

What entrepreneurs need to understand is that it’s ok to dream and think of different ways to apply product/service to different industries, but at the same time, you need to keep a leash on yourself. When I have the spare time, I am personally always thinking of new industries that I’d love to be involved with. I have an excel file that I keep these kinds of notes within and when I get close to learning one industry, I move to the next.

Yes, this is a slow approach and in the past 3-4 years, I’ve personally only moved to my second major industry (from automotive to wine). I take things step by step because I have a small business and I don’t have the financial and talent resources to invest into a dedicated R&D team. Not to mention being the sole decision maker at the end of the day means I just want things to run smoothly with as little headache as possible.

[ Why you need to unlock the power of the niche... ]

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Freelancers are not entrepreneurs

by Prashant on May 16, 2010

in Business

Now, this might be a touchy subject for some of you, but just hear me out before you start firing back. In my opinion, freelancers are NOT entrepreneurs. Well actually, I believe that freelancers are for the most part people who are on their way to entrepreneurship but are still figuring their situation out—a “half entrepreneur” if you will. I’ve polled a few people on this subject a few weeks ago and overwhelmingly it seems like the majority of you disagree. That’s fine by me, but let me explain my thought process.

To me, a freelancer is someone whose income is directly correlated to their work output. In other words, if a freelancer stops working, their income comes to a halt. On the other hand, entrepreneurs build sustainability. They can leave the business, take a nap, go on vacation, and expand their skills while STILL making money in the process. Just looking at this one comparison of freelancers vs. entrepreneurs, who do you think is more likely to be stable in the long run?

[see my breakdown of freelancers vs. entrepreneurs in an easy-to-read table format...]

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How to start a business in 30 minutes

by Prashant on March 26, 2010

in Business

In a previous post, I discussed why it’s important to set goals when starting a new business. With that post in mind, it’s always nice to occasionally complete those goals ahead of schedule. One of my personal goals was to finish all the paperwork that’s required to setup a business (for a sole proprietorship or partnership anyways) by the end of March, 2010. Instead of waiting until the end of the month and potentially being busy with something else, I said to myself at approx 3:55pm that I should go, file the paperwork and get it done.

The only problem, after looking up what time the Napa Recorder-County Clerk’s office closes, I found out I had less than 30 minutes to get it done if I included my driving time.

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Setting business goals

by Prashant on March 25, 2010

in Business

Setting goals is important to not only your personal life, but your business life as well. The thought process is that if you don’t set goals for the business, you won’t be able to achieve what you want on time. Not to mention, it makes tracking your progress more difficult. If you don’t set goals, you might not know what exactly you’ve accomplished over a given period of time, become frustrated at your lack of results, and give up. If you set goals, you will be able to see exactly which milestone you hit, when you hit it, and what your end results were.

But it’s not just as simple as saying, “I want $15,000 a month by the end of the year.” Instead, you have to set SMART (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound) goals.

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Yes, I am starting a new business

by Prashant on March 24, 2010

in Business

Currently, I’m in the process of starting a new marketing company which will primarily offer internet marketing services locally to Napa businesses and at a future date, the greater Bay Area. I suppose you can call it my fourth company but I’m counting it as #3.5 (since it’s a rebranding due to expanded service offerings of a previous venture).

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