Posts tagged as:

entrepreneurship

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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