What are the laws of entrepreneurship?

All entrepreneurs create businesses, but all entrepreneurs are not created equal.

The business mastery series is a collection of unusual articles that will take you through the essential skills necessary for successfully starting and running a SIGNIFICANT company –a business that is changing the world and profiting from purpose.

The world of business is characterized by intense competition. Meaning, there’s very little room for mediocres. If you must go into business, you must be prepared to learn and apply the required skills.

There’s a funny trend amongst many entrepreneurs starting out in business. They often have this wrong mentality that business is simply common sense. So they go into the world of business with only this mindset – to apply common sense.

How I wish business was that simple. If it were, there wouldn’t be a high rate of failed businesses.

Common sense is an inadequate skill for running a business successfully. Even your life is too complex to be handled with common sense talk less of a business.  The major reason for this erroneous approach to business is this; the acquisition of technical skills.

Technical skill is the required body of knowledge for practicing a particular profession or career.

For example; the technical skill required for being a musician is singing and song writing. In other words, you cannot be a musician if you don’t know how to sing and write songs. Also, the technical skill required for being a doctor is the knowledge of how the human body functions and knowledge of the medicines to correct any malfunctioning.

 Why Common Sense Is NOT Sufficient To Run A Business

In business likewise, common sense is insufficient. That you have been trained and equipped with a particular technical skill which qualified you to operate as a professional, doesn’t make you a savvy business person. I‘ve been in business for over 5 years now and I’ve been observing many a business as they  come and go due to the  incompetence of the founders.

Why do you think majority of businesses started by highly successful professionals fail? Because running a business successfully requires more skills than just your technical skill as a professional. Your technical skill as a professional is just one of many skills needed by an entrepreneur to run a successful business.

As a professional, you may be the best at what you do (technical skill) but don’t think that’s all you’ll need to successfully manage a business. Banking on your technical competence alone won’t get you far; in fact, it will only get you trapped. You need to acquire other relevant fundamental business skills if you desire to succeed.

I’ve written this unusual article to help you identify the essential business skills, qualities and mindset necessary for entrepreneurship. These combinations of business skills, qualities and mindset are what I collectively refer to as the 27 irrefutable laws of entrepreneurship.

Let’s get started!

The 27 Irrefutable Laws Of Entrepreneurship

Prior to starting up your own business as a self employed professional, you were probably an employee being paid to dispense your technical skills for an agreed fee.

Now that you are in business for yourself, the first skill you must possess to not just succeed, but to also survive before success comes is entrepreneurship.

In my experience as a business owner and business developer, the greatest obstacle for many start-up self employed business owners is the employee mindset. You see the gap and reality of being an employee and that of an entrepreneur is not just different, but entirely opposite.

Below are a couple of the opposite realities of being an employee VS being an entrepreneur          

The list is endless, but the main point of this analysis is this, entrepreneurship is a whole different ball game from employment which will require a totally opposite mindset of its own. In other words, to succeed as an entrepreneur you must stop thinking as an employee and start thinking as an entrepreneur.

To develop your entrepreneurial skills, here are 27 irrefutable laws you need to follow;

Your turn

As with every list, this is not the end. There are a million and one more items that can be added to this list. Being a smart student of business, I trust that you will not take this as a final list but rather as a work in progress. So, I’m really looking forward to your addition to this list in the comment section below.

ONE LAST THING!

If you enjoyed reading this unusual article, Please retweet on Twitter, share on Facebook, Linkedin, google+ and forward via email. Thank you.

Thank you for your time! Now over to the comments ….

Related posts:

1. BUSINESS GROWTH 101: How To Attract, Keep And Grow Profitable Customers
2. The Dark Side Of Entrepreneurship And How To Survive It

The Extra-Ordinary Jon Morrow!

Here’s another edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews and today I am very honoured to have gotten this Unusual Entrepreneur in question. His name is Jon Morrow, the Associate Editor of one of the greatest blogs on earth, Copyblogger.

If you are just joining us for the first time, this is the second interview of the unusual entrepreneur interview series. It is a parade of unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. Profiting from purpose by changing the world isn’t an impossible dream as many tend to think of it, but a realistic one as many unusual entrepreneurs have extraordinarily proven. It is my life mission to understand the unusual qualities of such unusual entrepreneurs and inspire as many others to profit from purpose by changing the world.

This is the purpose of naijapreneur and the essence of this new category of information tagged “Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews”. In these interviews, I’ll be profiling several unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. The interviews are divided into 3 parts;

• Part 1: ENTREPRENEURSHIP – these are questions that focus on how these unusual entrepreneurs awakened the Spirit of business within.

• Part 2: STRATEGY – these are questions that focus on the unusual execution of business best practices adopted by these unusual entrepreneurs.

• Part 3: MISCELLANEOUS – these are resourceful recommendations, tools, books, and ideas necessary for unusual entrepreneurs.

If you’re just joining us here and is not yet familiar with our philosophy of unusual entrepreneurs, kindly download our free ebook: The Entrepreneur’s Journey. This is the official manifesto for anyone who wants to change the world and profit from purpose.

Without further ado, let’s begin!

How Unusual Is Jon Morrow?

He graduated from high school at 16, started three businesses by 18, graduating college with a 3.9 GPA by 21, and buying and selling millions of dollars in luxury real estate at 22 without ever being able to see the inside of a single property. Here’s Jon’s unusual view of his life;

 

“I would rather die doing what I want to do than die in a nursing home bed somewhere watching TV for 15 hours a day surrounded by other people waiting to die. To me that is the scariest thing imaginable.”

There are entrepreneurs and there are truly rare unusual ones, Jon belongs to the second category. He is an epitome of what I refer to as SIGNIFICANT –the art of being different [unusual uniqueness] and making a difference [unusual usefulness].

This is someone who has gone through several seemingly insurmountable problems in life, right from the very moment he was born. He literally conquered death. His life is a living testimony of these two sayings; “where there’s a will there’s a way” and “All things are possible to those who believe”.

I know you might not fully grasp the magnitude of my words, so I am going to say it as it is; Jon is one of those people doctors refer to as physically challenged or disabled. He was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a degenerative neuromuscular disease that progressively weakens the body to the point of complete atrophy, and eventual death.

Meaning, the only part of Jon’s body he can move is his head; from his neck down is paralyzed. But I can tell you this, outwardly Jon might fit such a description due to his unusual ailment, but inwardly, Jon is far from that description. He’s an unusual breed!

You need to read the full account of his story here to understand how much hurdles he’s had to cross to come this far in life. Many so called able people haven’t even done 10% of what he’s been able to accomplish in his 29 years on earth. This goes to say that, in life or business, when it comes to winning, physical or any form of disability is no excuse or hindrance to fulfilling your purpose or destiny. Only YOU can hinder YOU!

Interview Questions Part One

ENTREPRENEURSHIP – Awakening the Spirit of business

1.           Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?

 
Some people would call me a writer. Some people would call me an Internet entrepreneur. Some would say I’m a professional marketer. All of those things are true, but really, I just focus on helping bloggers get the attention they deserve. So often, smart people with genuinely awesome ideas get ignored, and to me, that’s a tragedy, because the world needs as many smart voices as it can get. I try to stop that from happening, raising those voices above all the other noise out there through the power of blogging.

2.           How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business?

Two steps forward, one step back. Ever since I was a child, I’ve been making and selling things, so you could say I’ve always been an entrepreneur, but I didn’t get serious about it until I turned 16 or so. I started my first business as a freelance videogame consultant then, made a decent income during high school, and then I expanded into funding a full-fledged software development company when I turned 18. It failed miserably, of course. I lost over $100,000 of capital invested by family and friends, and failure cost me several dear friendships as well. I waited a few years until starting my next business, this time a real estate development company, and I helped grow it into a $50 million company before the real estate crash, where I again lost everything and had to start over. Every time I’ve had to start over though, I’ve learned extremely valuable lessons, and I’ve gotten closer to building a business that would stand the test of time. In the case of helping bloggers, I think this one will actually last at least a decade.

  3.           Where there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?

Not really. Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. Maybe it’s because my father was an entrepreneur and I wanted to be like him, or maybe it’s just my makeup. I’m not really sure, but there isn’t one particular event I can point to.

4.      When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?

Well, I started out with a horrible purpose, which was to prove to the world that I was a child prodigy and reap the fame and riches I deserved. I wouldn’t have admitted that purpose, of course, but that’s what I wanted. It was all about me, and it’s one of the biggest reasons I failed. Nowadays, I’ve matured, at least a little, and I try to make the business about helping people. The more people whose lives I can change, the more successful I believe I am, and that success is accurately reflected in the profit the business brings in.

 

5.      What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?

I think it’s overemphasized. Yes, loving what you do is important, but it’s not important in the way most people think. Loving what you do has nothing to do with the success of your business. It has to do with your longevity. You can absolutely hate what you do and build a very successful business, but you’ll probably quit or sabotage yourself before long. On the other hand, you can absolutely love what you do and be dirt poor. In my opinion, the smartest thing to do is look for ways you can serve other people, and then ask yourself which of those ways would you like most. That way, you have both, but what’s really important is you do it in that order. Your customers come first, you come second, never the other way around.

6.       What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?

 

My personal life mission is to make enough money to cure the disease that is slowly killing me. It’s called Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and it’s the #1 genetic killer of children in the world. At 29 years old, I’m one of the oldest people in history with my form of the disease, and there are thousands of children per year it kills. Scientists are very close to curing it though, and the major hang-up is money. Over the next decade, I would like to donate at least $10 million to research, as well as raise another $10 million from other people. If I can do that, I believe that will be enough to cure the disease and save the lives of countless children, not to mention my own.

 7.      What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?

Entrepreneurs make the world better. Really, if you think about it, that’s what we do. We find some way the world can be improved, and then we improve it in exchange for payment. In my opinion, it’s the most valuable role you can have in the world, because we are the drivers of progress

 

8.      How are you changing the world through the business, products or services you create?

I’m helping smart people connect with hundreds of thousands or even millions of people who need to hear their message. Eventually, it’s quite possible my students will have communicated with everyone in the developed world.

Interview Questions Part Two

STRATEGY – The unusual execution of business best practices

 

9.      What would you describe as your secret formula for business success?

Find out what people want and need, and then give it to them in exchange for a fee.

10.     How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?

There are several different ways to identify business opportunities, but my personal favorite is to look for a void in the market where people really have a problem and need a better solution. I then develop that solution and sell it to them. The most important metrics are the size of the market, the price of the average sale, the margin, the passion of market, and the ease at which I can access the market through existing marketing channels.

 11.     Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?

Yes, of course. I think every successful entrepreneur does. In my case, I have several mentors, the most important probably being Brian Clark of Copyblogger.com. His impact on my business has been absolutely enormous. Without him, I know for certain I would be nowhere close to where I am today.

 12.     How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?

Well, in the beginning, you pretty much have to do everything, right? You can’t afford to outsource or bring in employees, so you have to do it all, but eventually, as your business grows, you can start hiring people and then picking and choosing what you do. In that case, the most important place to put your time is marketing. Nothing else even comes close to the dollars per hour. Every super successful entrepreneur I know is a master of marketing.

 

13.     How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?

Blogging, webinars, teleseminars, free videos, free reports, all kinds of ways. For the most part, I promote my products and services through joint ventures where other people tell their audiences about what I do in exchange for a percentage of every sale. I’m also starting to do some advertising as well.

 14.     Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?

Adequate funding is almost never the problem. The problem is inadequate marketing. If you can’t write down in specific details how your business will make a profit within six months, then there’s a 98% chance your business model is broken beyond repair.

15.     When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?

Well, I would recommend you begin outsourcing as soon as possible. My favorite place to find great outsourced workers is odesk.com. It’s a truly wonderful service. In terms of partnership, I recommend seeking out the leaders within your industry and figuring out ways to partner with them.

 16.     The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?

I always try to price my products and services higher than the competition. That gives me the ability to spend more money on marketing than everyone else and dominate them. The key is to be able to make a value proposition that justifies the premium pricing. Dan Kennedy has a great book on the subject I would recommend checking out. It’s called No BS Pricing Strategy, I think.

Interview Questions Part Three

MISCELLANEOUS – Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for unusual entrepreneurs

17.    Were there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here.

Jon didn’t give an answer to this question, so I will simply share with you how you can get to see some of what Jon is involved in and how you can stay connected with him online.

Follow Jon on Twitter

Add Jon on Google+

Guestblogging.com

BoostBlogTraffic.com

Your Turn

You’ve met Jon, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur?

Share your views below in the comment section.

Thank you for your time!

ONE LAST THING!

There are a million and one unusual entrepreneurs out there in your network, this site was built strictly for them. Help spread the word if you have been blessed by this unusual article. Please retweet on Twitter, share on Facebook, Linkedin, google+ and forward via email.

Related posts:

1. Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With {r}evolution Apparel: How 2 Unusual Women Are Changing The World And Profiting From Purpose Through Clothing
2. THE ORIGIN OF MADphilips – The UNUSUAL Story Of How I Became An Entrepreneur!
3. The Origin Of Profits: An Unusual Strategy For Increasing Profitability
4. Business Mastery: The Unusual Qualities Of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs
5. Why CREDIBILITY Comes Before PROFITABILITY

What is your business?

When asked what was the most important business question ever, management guru Peter Drucker answered;

“What is our business?”

Defining your business is the most important task all entrepreneurs need to do in order to succeed in their venture.

Your business is not the product/service you offer. Your business is not the industry you are in.

That you sell dogs, is not your business; so do many others like you. That you make clothes, is not your business; so do many others like you. That you manage events, is not your business; so do many others like you.

Your business is the difference your company sets out to make in the world!

Your business is the difference your dogs make in the life of the customer. Your business is the difference your clothes make in the life of the customer. Your business is the difference made in the life of the customer as a result of your managing their event.

“What is your business?”

Your business is the PLUS FACTOR you bring into the life of the customer as a result of coming in contact with your products/services.

Your business is the problem you’re helping your customers solve; the need you are meeting and the change you are creating.

Your business is the value you are adding!

Here’s a perfect example of what Apple’s business is as described by Neil Patel, one of my favourite unusual entrepreneurs in his recent article on branding.

 

“Start with why

Too often companies start their branding journey by building a product they hope will change people’s lives. They’ve spent thousands of hours in research and development on an idea, but when they ship, the product flops.

Let’s look at Apple to learn why that is. Instead of the typical what-how-why advertising message, Apple has always promoted the why first. They’ve promoted the reason behind why they exist. You can imagine them saying this:

“Apple exists to challenge the status quo. We emphasize beautiful design. And we make computer devices.”

That’s totally different than if they said, “Apple makes computer devices. They are beautifully designed. We exist to challenge the status quo.”

One starts with the why…the other one ends with the why. This is one of the reasons that Apple is innovative year-after-year and is one of the biggest companies in the world.

Apple established a movement based on their why and created a following. They enhance the deal by creating beautiful and useful products… so sales rush in year after year.

The lesson is that when everyone involved… from the founder all the way down to the customer… knows exactly why your company exists, then you create a meaningful way for people to see your brand, instead of just another company wanting to make millions.”

Apple’s business is challenging the status quo!

Not making computer devices as many think. That comes second. The difference they are in business to make is to challenge the status quo and to help their customers do the same through the unusual products/services they create.

So again, what is your business?

Or put another way, what is your company’s why?

To answer this question, you have to go back to the very beginning –why did you become an entrepreneur? Why are you in business? Why do you exist?

The PLUS FACTOR is your purpose!

 

What are you in this world to change?

Remember, you are the driver of your business; if you find your purpose –a greater reason for living beyond survival, what your business is will become much clearer.

I have written the greatest manifesto on earth for unusual entrepreneurs titled “The Entrepreneur’s Journey”. It’s loaded with so much unusual information that will show you how to discover your purpose as an entrepreneur, awaken the spirit of business within you and teach you how to build a SIGNIFICANT company that is profiting from purpose by changing the world!

It’s completely FREE, all you need do is enter your full name and email address in the box at the end of this unusual article and I will send you the download link.

 Your turn

What is your business?

I really want to hear from you, so use the comment box below to answer this greatest business question of all time. If you need further assistance in answering this question, I suggest you first read the FREE manifesto and then shoot me an email.

 ONE LAST THING!

There are a million and one unusual entrepreneurs out there in your network, this site was built strictly for them. Help spread the word if you have been blessed by this unusual article. Please retweet on Twitter, share on Facebook, Linkedin, google+ and forward via email. Use the floating bar by your left to spread this unusual article.

Thank you for your time!

Related posts:

1. BUSINESS GROWTH 101: How To Attract, Keep And Grow Profitable Customers
2. Business Mastery: The Unusual Qualities Of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs
3. Business Mastery: How Should Entrepreneurs Be Spending Their Time?
4. Business Mastery: How Should Entrepreneurs Successfully Startup A New Business?
5. Business Mastery: How Should Entrepreneurs Be Profitably Marketing Their Business?

Kristin (L) Shannon (R)

Profiting from purpose by changing the world isn’t an impossible dream as many tend to think of it, but a realistic one as many unusual entrepreneurs have extraordinarily proven. It is my life mission to understand the unusual qualities of such unusual entrepreneurs and inspire as many others to profit from purpose by changing the world.

This is the purpose of naijapreneur and the essence of this new category of information tagged “Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews”. In these interviews, I’ll be profiling several unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. The interviews are divided into 3 parts;

• Part 1: ENTREPRENEURSHIP – these are questions that focus on how these unusual entrepreneurs awakened the Spirit of business within.

• Part 2: STRATEGY – these are questions that focus on the unusual execution of business best practices adopted by these unusual entrepreneurs.

• Part 3: MISCELLANEOUS – these are resourceful recommendations, tools, books, and ideas necessary for unusual entrepreneurs.

If you’re just joining us here and is not yet familiar with our philosophy of unusual entrepreneurs, kindly download our free ebook: The Entrepreneur’s Journey. This is the official manifesto for anyone who wants to change the world and profit from purpose.

This is the very first edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews. In this edition, I present to you 2 women [Kristin and Shannon] who are profiting from purpose by changing the world through clothing.

Since this is an interview and not an article, I leave these two unusual women entrepreneurs to speak for themselves.

Let’s begin!

Interview Questions Part 1:

ENTREPRENEURSHIP – Awakening the Spirit of business within

1.    Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?

We are the creators of {r}evolution apparel, a sustainable women’s clothing line specifically designed for travelers and minimalists. Right now, we are offering our signature piece, the “Versalette” — a versatile garment that can be worn as a skirt, purse, hood, scarf, shirt, poncho, and much more. We use 100% recycle fabric and source domestically, in an effort to improve environmental and labor conditions in the United States. We work from Austin, TX, and Denver, CO.

 

2.    How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business?

We are both travelers by nature, so the journey started there. For a few years after college graduation, we separately traveled to various parts of the world. When we returned, we both felt that the “9 to 5” wasn’t for us. We reconnected, chatted, and decided to start a business.

 

3.    Were there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?

Kristin: It was certainly the sum of many parts: my desires to keep my own schedule, lack of interest in any specific career category, and a wish to use all of my skills instead of a small set. The lifestyle I have always wanted is that of an entrepreneur, even when pursuing other career paths.

Shannon: After taking two years to travel and see the world, there was no going back. The idea of doing anything “conventional” after living so unconventionally was unfathomable in my mind. Entrepreneurship evolved out of the desires to do passionate work each day, be free from time constraints and be more or less location independent.

 

4.    When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?

We simply wanted to do good business — we wanted to create a social enterprise that would benefit fellow citizens and the environment, and that was the sole requirement of our business. We tossed around ideas for a few months, and thought about different avenues we could take to create a livable wage for ourselves and also help others. Working with artisans and focusing on fair trade was one of our big ideas in the beginning. We eventually whittled down the ideas to one thing that stuck with us — and it was shaped in large part by our travels and wishes to preserve the places we’ve been lucky enough to visit.

 

5.    What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?

We keep up with a lot of creative entrepreneurs, and certainly believe that those who pursue their passions in the arts do well for themselves. There is, of course, a mix of business savvy, confidence, and natural ability required to be “successful,” but those who love their work seem more capable of creating a mix that works.

 

6.     What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?

It’s important that we make a difference. Big or small is irrelevant; we want to feel as though we have impacted someone to think twice about where their clothes come from, how they are made, and how our fashion choices affect the world.

 

7.    What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?

The role of the entrepreneur is to facilitate trades that improve the living conditions of all participants. An entrepreneur sources materials, and provides a living for her suppliers. She then creates a product that adds value; one that improves happiness or advances society, without harming people or planet in the process. Ultimately, entrepreneurs are the people who move society — in which direction depends on the entrepreneur.

8.    How are you changing the world through the business, products or services you create?

We try, through our designs, to create conversations about the fashion industry, both the good and the bad. We create versatile clothes, that use fewer resources yet allow for maximum use. We use 100% recycled fabric, made in the USA, and we source domestically and/or organically for all of the elements to our garments. Above all, we attempt to use our business as a platform to talk about something much bigger: the current state of the fashion industry and what it’s doing to our planet.

15 Ways to Wear the Versalette by {r}evolution apparel

Interview Questions Part 2:

STRATEGY – The unusual execution of business best practices

9.    What would you describe as your secret formula for business success?

Ha! We are first-time entrepreneurs, so everything is trial by fire. We don’t have a formula; we simply go with what feels right, and jump in. So — perhaps — the secret formula is a good partnership, confidence/passion, and the ability to run with it, even when you have no clue what will happen next.

 

10.    How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?

Opportunities haven’t been about numbers to us. We saw a need for sustainable travel clothing for our demographic, researched it with Google searches, and determined that no one has done what we were attempting to do. It felt right, and that was the only metric we needed.

11.    Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?

No, but this is something we have identified as a “mistake” in our year-end review. We do ask for advice from time to time from others, but we don’t operate with a board, or with any hired consultation. Lots of people have helped us along the way, but a goal for 2012 is to incorporate experts more heavily into our day-to-day. More brains are better than two!

 

 

12.    How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?

We do almost everything in our business, from web and logo design to clothing design to videos and photography. We have outsourced a few projects, but for the most part, we do much of the work ourselves as we’ve been a bootstrapped company from the start.

Moving forward, we will be surrounding ourselves with great people who can take over design concepts, web responsibilities, and sales representation, so that we can focus on things like sourcing, connecting with our market, and innovating the business in other wacky ways.

 

13.    How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?

We have been blogging about the process of starting a business since September 2010, so we share a lot of our day-to-day happenings via the internet. People have followed our journey from idea to product creation, and it’s probably unusual for businesses to share their mistakes and successes in such an intimate way. For us though, it has resulted in a small community that cares about what we do, understands our passion for the environment and fashion, and ultimately purchases our products.

 

14.    Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?

Money is always lacking, isn’t it? In life or business, it seems that there could always be more. We started our business by each investing 5,000 dollars, and working multiple jobs to pay bills as we worked on our business concepts. There’s always a way; especially with the likes of Kickstarter and Indiegogo where businesses can be funded. If the idea and presentation is solid, the money will follow.

 

15.    When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?

It’s hard to say because we really didn’t seek out professionals ourselves! All along, we’ve developed our business with the mindset that anything we don’t know we can “Google.” We made a commitment to being problem solvers because we simply didn’t have the financial means to outsource tasks we didn’t know how to do.

Having said that, it’s always good to have a sounding board, but it doesn’t necessarily mean seeking out professionals. Find people whose work, life goals and philosophy you admire and bounce ideas off of them. And then of course as your business progresses, it’s always smart to have an accountant and lawyer!

 

 

16.    The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?

Our pricing is quite conventional according to standards in the industry. We truly don’t do much different than the average clothing company, except that we try to provide more value (for example, our Versalette can be worn 15 ways) per garment and allow our base cost to reflect as much “true cost” as we can account for. For our consumers, it ultimately comes down to the price of knowing that what you’re wearing didn’t damage anyone or anything.

Interview Questions Part 3:

MISCELLANEOUS – Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for unusual entrepreneurs

 

17.    Were there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here.

Honestly, this was incredibly thorough! Thanks so much for including us.

Kristin Glenn and Shannon Whitehead are the co-founders and designers of {r}evolution apparel. They recently created of their first masterpiece, the Versalette. You can follow them on Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook.

Your Turn

What did you learn from these two unusual entrepreneurs?

Share your views below in the comment section and remember to use the social sharing icons floating on the left of the page to share this unusual interview with your friends online.

Thank you for your time!

Related posts:

1. Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With Jon Morrow Of Copyblogger.com
2. THE ORIGIN OF MADphilips – The UNUSUAL Story Of How I Became An Entrepreneur!
3. Discovering Your Purpose As An Entrepreneur
4. Discovering Your Purpose As An Entrepreneur (Part 2)
5. REMEMBERING STEVE JOBS: How You Can Change The World As An Entrepreneur

How do you plan effectively for the New year?

Happy New Year!

I’m so glad to have made it into 2012 and gladder that you also made it. At the start of a New Year like this, people are always in such high spirit having far reaching expectations for their life and business. As a result, many start the New Year with a list of to-dos for vital areas of their life or business.

This list of to-dos popularly known as New Year Resolutions is created in the same high spirit that naturally accompanies the New Year.  Little wonder they barely help you achieve much!

Why New Year Resolutions Fail

The reason is this; New Year Resolutions are usually created with too much optimism that often makes the list overrated with unrealistic goals. Sooner or later, when the high spirit of the New Year begins to wear out, optimism begins to give way to reality. This is when you begin to lose faith in your overrated list of to-dos having realized that there’s just so much you can realistically accomplish.

The funny thing though is this; this wouldn’t still stop you from going over this process all over again in 2013. Why? Because the popular thing is often naturally easier to do than the unusual. Since everyone else is creating New Year Resolutions, it becomes quite easy for you to keep reinventing the wheel without evaluating its effectiveness.

In this unusual article, I will be sharing with you the unusual alternative to the popular New Year resolutions. Let’s begin!

Effective Planning For 2012: The Unusual Approach

Forget about New Year Resolutions, it’s just a list of to-dos that never gets done. Here’s the smart way to go; thoughtfully pick 3 words that will guide your thoughts, plans and actions throughout the Year. Then create daily, weekly and monthly goals for each of these 3 words and go to work.

These 3 words will serve as the underlying theme or framework that will influence your thoughts, decisions and actions in 2012. I first learnt of this idea in 2010 from Chris Brogan who since 2006 has given up on the ineffective idea of New Year Resolutions. I gave it a shot last year and found it very effective.

Why was it so effective?

Simplicity breeds focus.

As humans, we do better and are more accountable with a few things than with a lot of things. Streamlining the regular complex list of to-dos known as New Year Resolutions into a strategic 3 word theme helps to sharpen your focus.

The year will naturally bring its own share of challenges which you have to contend with. The fewer items you have on your to-do-list the better for you. When your thoughts, plans and actions are drawn from a list comprising of only 3 words, you will think better, plan better and act better. Why? Because you see clearer. Simplicity breeds focus.

My 3 Words For 2012

For practical sake, I will share with you my own 3 words for 2012 which are; Produce. Promote. Prosper.

Produce

This year, I will increase the quantity as well as the quality of creative work. Like I did mention in the email messages I sent out to naijapreneur subscribers, one of my primary focus this year is to help you achieve more results in your business.

Meaning, I have to step up my game making sure that I create more unusual stuffs besides articles that will better equip you to build SIGNIFICANT businesses that profit from purpose by changing the world!

This is why I am introducing a new category of unusual information on naijapreneur tagged; “Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews” where I’ll be profiling unusual entrepreneurs from across the world in an interview series.

All along, I have built this site sharing my personal lessons and ideas I have acquired in my journey as an entrepreneur. This year, I want to take it a step further by bringing you up close and personal with other unusual entrepreneurs out there changing the world and profiting from purpose.

They will share their unusual journey into the world of business and also reveal their unusual approach to business. You will learn from their experience just as you’ve learnt from mine since the inception of naijapreneur.

Besides this, I would be creating a physical platform where unusual entrepreneurs can meet up regularly to share best practices. This can be in the form of seminars, workshops, talk shows etc.

And lastly, I want to produce more creative work such as unusual web design, social media consulting, strategic business support and corporate training for my clients.

Promote

My promotion goal for the year revolves around two key objectives; packaging and collaboration. This year, I want to get the word out about my company and our cause of helping people, businesses and lives to be SIGNIFICANT –different [extraordinarily unique] and making a difference [extraordinarily useful].

By this, I mean I want to enhance my company’s brand with the publication of a book [packaging] and by collaborating with major complementary partners like traditional media houses [radio, TV, Magazines and Newspapers] in promoting our cause.

Meaning that this year, I will deliberately go out of my way to equip myself with marketing tools that will enable me expand my professional network both locally and globally!

Prosper

Like I have always been known for; money is a byproduct of fulfilling purpose [adding value with your life]. In the same vein, this year, I want to profit more from purpose by seeking out more unusual ways to make the world a better place.

Rather than a goal, I see this 3^rd word, prosper more like an outcome of my dedication to executing the first 2 words of produce and promote. However, there’s a little twist to this which I will like to mention. This year, I want to bring my products and services to the attention of the rare few who value the kind of unusual value my company offers.

As a company, this year, we will only expend our best efforts on projects with high Return On Investment [ROI]. Meaning, we will only work with clients who can pay us what our worth. This will require a hard decision of politely saying NO to all those who don’t recognize and are unwilling to pay the premium fee our unusual solutions deserve!

Conclusion

Besides choosing these 3 words, the most important aspect of this unusual approach to planning for 2012 is this; execution. It doesn’t matter what you’ve got on paper or up your head, what matters is the results achieved at the end of the day.

So, it becomes very crucial that you develop a daily, weekly and monthly goals or activities for each of the 3 words chosen for the year. For example; I have shared with you my 3 words for 2012 and the major objectives for each. The next line of action would be to think up daily, weekly and monthly goals or activities that will bring me closer to the fulfillment of each word.

Here’s what I mean.

For example, if your 1st Word is CREATE, this year, ask yourself what do I want to create? How much do I want to create? Why do I want to create? That becomes your creation goal for the year. From that, you break it down to monthly creation goals, from monthly to weekly from weekly to daily.

Like me, my first word is PRODUCE, just like Create. Here are my production goals for the year;

- Publish A book on business and entrepreneurship
- Consult for atleast 24 companies
- Develop atleast 50 Unusual web sites for individuals and businesses

Then, I break them down to monthly, weekly and daily goals like this;

Monthly

-Write 4 articles to be used in the book
-Strategically Contact 10 companies introducing my business

Weekly

-Write 1 article for the book
-Strategically contact a minimum of 2 companies

Daily

-Research for materials and interviews to use for my book
-Network with other entrepreneurs online and offline to market my consulting services
-Research for companies that don’t have an unusual website or needs an upgrade for their existing one

You get the idea now?

You start with a yearly goal for each of the 3 words and you begin to break down the goals from there into monthly, weekly and daily goals/activities that will eventually accomplish the yearly goal.

Your Turn

What has been your experience with the popular New Year Resolutions idea? Do you find it effective or ineffective?

How do you see this unusual approach to planning a New Year? What will be your 3 words for 2012?

Share your thoughts, views and comments below. I really would love to read about your 3 words for 2012. For more ideas on how to come up with yours, click here to see more examples from other unusual entrepreneurs out there!

And don’t forget to share this unusual article with others; you can do this by using the floating icons by the left side of this page. Thank you for your time. This is wishing you a purposeful and profitable New Year!

Related posts:

1. 7 Reasons Why Most Entrepreneurs Fail in Business
2. The 3 Highly Effective Habits of Business Success
3. The 4th Highly Effective Habit of Business Success
4. The 4 Elements Of Effective BRANDING
5. BUSINESS GROWTH 101: How To Attract, Keep And Grow Profitable Customers

What kind of business should Entrepreneurs go into?

This is yet another unusual article under the “Business Mastery Series“, a collection of unusual articles that focuses on helping entrepreneurs answer highly fundamental questions on how to successfully manage both themselves and the businesses they run profitably.

If you are new to naijapreneur or probably haven’t been following this series, I really wouldn’t want you to miss out on any of the unusual articles previously published. So, below are the links to them, the smart thing to do, if I were you would be to read them first, before coming back to finish reading this.

Business Mastery: The Unusual Qualities Of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs

Business Mastery: How should entrepreneurs be spending their time?

Business DNA: Why Your Company’s Success Desperately Depends On It!

Business Mastery: How Should Entrepreneurs Be Profitably Marketing Their Business?

Business Mastery: 4 Smart Ways Of Getting More Profitable Customers Always

How to be your own boss

As the day goes by, more people are realizing that the allure of a secure employment is just a fantasy; one that is often short lived. The search for the next alternative which in most cases is entrepreneurship is growing rapidly. Never a time in human history has there been such a massive quest by many to be their own boss.

Recognizing this growing global trend is what inspired me to create this unusual article to help as many out there who want to embark on this unusual journey of entrepreneurship. It’s important I make this clarification; these are not all the possible FAQs on starting up a new business, there are many more. However, based on my consulting experience with clients, the ones covered here are quite fundamental and will serve as a guide to answer other likely questions you would most certainly need to answer as you progress on the entrepreneur’s journey.

 FAQs About  Starting up A New Business

First here are the questions at a glance on how to be your own boss;

1. What kind of business should I go into?
2. How Should I start; small or big?
3. How Should I fund my business; use my own money or get external funding?
4. How do I choose a name for my business?
5. How do I differentiate my company from other competitions?
6. What do I need for marketing my new business?
7. Do I need to have a business plan or not?
8. Do I need to have an office space or not?
9. Do I need to hire employees or not?
10. How do I price my products/services?

Let’s begin!

1.       What kind of business should I go into?

This might appear funny, but believe me when I say this; “I can’t count the number of times I get asked this question”. The reason is quite simple; many people are clueless about what business to go into. This is because in most cases, the idea of being their own boss had never crossed their mind until when it’s probably too late.

So what kind of business should you go into?

Simple; go into a business you have a strong liking for.  This is what is popularly known as passion. Start a business doing something you would naturally do for free because it is something you love to do. In other words, build a business around what you naturally love doing.

Like I always tell my clients, and have often repeated throughout my writings on entrepreneurship; find a greater reason for living beyond survival [purpose] then start up a business to help make that reason a reality for many. Why? Because your purpose is the spirit of business within you waiting to be unleashed!

For example, my passion [what I naturally love to do] is writing, talking, learning, creative thinking and meeting people.  These are my God-given gifts or talents or strengths; they came installed from birth. I could use them to earn a living doing several things, but I wanted more from life other than just surviving [making a living], I also wanted to leave a mark in the sands of time [make a contribution]. Meaning, I had to find a reason; one that was far greater than just meeting my needs [survival]. So I sat down and asked myself this soul searching question;

“What one effect or impact using my gifts, talents or strengths do I want to have or create in the lives of the people I meet?”

The answer I got became my purpose; my greater reason for living beyond survival and that is to use my gifts, talents or strengths to make a positive difference in the lives of everyone I come across during my stay on earth. Backed with this sense of purpose, I decided to go into a business that will enable me fully utilize my gifts of writing, talking, learning, creative thinking and connecting with people to help make a positive contribution in the world.

The business I created is called MADphilips [Making A Difference philips], a development company that focuses on developing people, businesses and lives to be SIGNIFICANT –different [unique] and making a difference [useful]. By SIGNIFICANT, it means we empower people to lead extraordinary lives and build extraordinary businesses that change the world. My gift of writing is used to craft compelling stories for clients’ businesses, products, services or brands that naturally convert their target market into profitable customers. This is the content development aspect of my company. My gift of talking, learning and creative thinking, I use to provide strategic support to clients as a business consultant and life coach and speaker.

The key thing to note is this, think about the processes [work] you love to naturally engage in and find out the different services or products that can be created from those processes. That’s how you build a business around your passion and purpose. I have written all about how to discover your purpose as an entrepreneur and how to build a business that fulfills purpose profitably in my free ebook; “The Entrepreneur’s Journey”. Enter your name and email in the box at the end of this unusual article to grab your copy now!

Also, here are three more unusual articles on why you should start a business that allows you to profit from purpose by doing what you love;

Business: what’s love got to do with it?

How to change the world as an entrepreneur

The almighty formula for business success

2.       How Should I start; small or big?

This is another question I also get asked a lot. Here is the simple truth, you can take it or leave it; dream big, but start small.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Every great achievement began by accomplishing several smaller ones. I have met several entrepreneurs who have refused to start up their own businesses all in the name of waiting to start big. The fact is; you will keep on waiting if you never seize up the courage to start small.

I am not against big dreams, I am against delayed actions. You see, you need to realize one universal truth; we are never perfect, everything we do and create is not in their final states; they are all work in progress. Meaning, there is always room for improvements. So stop waiting to take perfect actions, start taking imperfect actions that will help you fail faster from your mistakes and gain the necessary momentum to succeed.

Apple was started in a garage; Facebook was started in a university dormitory; Wal-Mart started with one shop, so did McDonalds. The problem with waiting to start big is that you will never know the joy of growth. When you start out from the top, what story, lessons and memories do you fall back on when the going gets tough?

It is in the early stages of your business that you develop the foundation on which your big dreams will be built. This is when you develop the winning team, the winning culture and the core ideologies that will lead your business to greater heights. Starting small means you can take on more risks, you can experiment and adapt to market changes faster than the big names in the industry.

Business is not a sprint race, but a marathon. Start from where you are with what you have, as the needs arise, grow!

3.       How Should I fund my business; use my own money or get external funding?

This is very much related to starting small. The reason why many never start at all is because the funding needed for their big dream is often out of their personal reach. I am not going to say it calmly; put your money where your mouth is!

Meaning, start with your own money. No one is permitted to give you any money to start up your own business if you the pioneer haven’t put down all your own money to make it work. I often hear a lot of entrepreneurs complain that banks won’t offer them loans, here is the fact; loans are given on the basis of track records and not on lofty speculations.

If you think your business idea has great potentials, the best way to convince banks or any other investor, is to execute your idea with the little you have and can gather from family and friends then go to them with some results. Like I said about starting small, there is always room for improvements. It is better you approach banks and investors for expansion rather than coming to them for startup.

One other way to get funding if it is bigger than what you alone can raise to start small is to partner with others. Be willing to give up some share of your new business with reliable partners if you ever want to see your idea thrive. Your major concern should be about bringing your dream to reality rather than bothering over who take what percentage. If you so care about your dream, you will not stand in the way of its actualization in the name of being the founder!

Your turn

So far, I have been able to discuss only 3 out of the 10 FAQs about starting up a new business. This is a series as I have mentioned above, so stay tuned by entering your name and email in the form at the end of the article to ensure you get the other concluding articles of the series.

Again, here are the 3 FAQs About  Starting up A New Business discussed in this edition;

1. What kind of business should I go into?
2. How Should I start; small or big?
3. How Should I fund my business; use my own money or get external funding?

Kindly share your thoughts and comments on any one of three with the community. As always, naijapreneur is a platform for entrepreneurs to support one another through collaborative sharing of knowledge and best practices. So, it’s your turn to contribute as I have done my part by opening up the discussion. Over to you, use the comment section below and don’t forget to share this unusual article with your friends on facebook, twitter, google+ and via email!

Thank you for your anticipated corporation!

PS – One Last IMPORTANT Thing!

This is a series you really shouldn’t miss for any reason, and there’s ONLY one smart way of ensuring this don’t happen, enter your details below to get the newest additions of the Business Mastery Series.

Related posts:

1. Business Mastery: How Should Entrepreneurs Be Spending Their Time?
2. Business Mastery: The Unusual Qualities Of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs
3. Business Mastery: How Should Entrepreneurs Be Profitably Marketing Their Business?
4. The Most Important Business Question EVER For Entrepreneurs
5. 11 Fundamental Business Questions For Every Startup Entrepreneur

How can entrepreneurs find more profitable customers?

This is the third article of the business mastery series, if you’ve missed out on any, you can catch up by clicking on any of the links below.

BUSINESS MASTERY: how should entrepreneurs be spending their time?

Business Mastery: How Should Entrepreneurs Be Profitably Marketing Their Business?

In our previous discussion on how should entrepreneurs be profitably marketing their business, 3 elements of holistic marketing were highlighted;

• Finding profitable customers
• Keeping profitable customers
• Growing customers profitably

In this unusual article, I will be continuing our discussion from where we left off on the first element of holistic marketing –finding profitable customers.

The last time, I shared 3 fundamental marketing processes you need to undertake in finding profitable customers; market research, market segmentation and target marketing. They are fundamental because they provide the technical knowhow of finding profitable customers without which all your practical attempts to attract profitable customers for your business will be futile.  In other words, they provide the technical information you need to take strategic actions.

Today, I will be sharing some strategic ways of finding profitable customers that you can practically put to use now and continually reap the rewards.  Mind you, these strategic tips must be applied in line with the technical information obtained from undertaking the 3 fundamental marketing processes of market research, market segmentation and target marketing.

Let’s begin!

4 Strategic ways of finding profitable customers

1.       Go Online

As obvious as this may sound, many entrepreneurs, especially those who are not into internet related businesses tend to overlook. The harsh reality is this, whether your business us internet related or not, one thing remains certain, your customers are online. They have emails, hang out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Youtube and even on BB and iPhones. Can you deny any of these facts?

If not, why then is your business not online? How come you aren’t targeting your ideal customers via the internet? The answer is not farfetched, you are either living in the past or you already have more than enough customers on your hands. In either case, you are missing out big time because your marketing is one-sided.

You see, we live in an information age where everything and everyone is going digital; still holding on to your old school marketing will get you nowhere. Your customers now lead two lives; a physical one and a digital one. You must go to them with your marketing campaigns in both worlds.

In fact, that you have an office space [offline] is no longer sufficient, you must secure a corresponding spot for your business on cyberspace [internet]. It’s time to balance your marketing efforts; match your offline marketing with online marketing. Remember our discussion on holistic marketing, it means leaving no stone unturned.

For example, I just got a new three bedroom apartment, in fact, I moved in yesterday. Guess where I found the real estate agent? You guessed right, online! Because he was smart enough to go online, he’s grabbing a large portion of the market that his competitions are still overlooking. He’s currently helping my vision partner and I to secure another office space in the New Year. Now just think of how many more people I will refer to him. Click here to visit his office on cyberspace.

How to successfully market your business online is a topic for another day. However, here are a few assignments for you that will better position your business for online marketing.

• Pay for a professionally designed website for your company/business [my company can help you out with this]
• Create a blog for your company/business [we can also help out with this]
• Create a Facebook page for your company/business
• Create a Google+ page for your company/business
• Create a Twitter account for your company/business
• Create a LinkedIn profile for yourself
• Hire an internet marketing consultant to strategically guide you [you can talk to me]

2.       Educate your market

This is seldom done by many businesses. It’s such a pity. How else do you hope to convert prospects into profitable customers if you don’t prove you are worthy of their hard earned money?

Customers like to buy from businesses that care about them first before asking for their money. If you can show your prospects that you care about them first by educating them for free on how to deal with the problems your products/services can solve, the easier it is for you to convert them.

For example, I’m working on a marketing campaign for a security company tagged “Threat Alert!” the purpose is to educate the market about the safety of their lives and properties by developing their security consciousness.  The approach is very simple, produce educational flyers containing security tips, hold free seminars for target customers on trending security issues, create a corporate blog that shares timely security updates and tips online and many other creative forms of educating the market on the need to be “Threat Alert!” – security conscious.

Now here’s the big question; “who do you think the market is most likely to come to for security services?”  I leave you to your imagination!

I have always believed that knowledge is a very strong competitive advantage in business. Meaning, there’s a lot you can do with what you know about your business and customers and their needs that will strategically place you way ahead of the competition. You just need to be a little more generous with your knowledge and creative in your sharing.

3.       Collaborate with complementary businesses

In economics, there’s what is known as complementary goods. These are basically goods that go hand-in-hand with other goods. Meaning, they can’t be used or consumed alone without the consumption of another product/service.

For example, you can’t own a car without a corresponding demand for fuel. Your purchase of a car will automatically bring about your demand for fuel. So, a smart entrepreneur who wants to sell more cars would be way ahead of his competition by collaborating with nearby filling stations. This is why you see cars on display for sale at some filling stations.

Likewise, an event manager would be way ahead of the competition in finding profitable customers by collaborating with managers of event centres, professional photographers, professional caterers, DJs, MCs and other complementary businesses that go hand-in-hand with an event.

The approach is very simple, think about your business, product/service and list out other businesses, products/services that will be consumed or needed to create a fully satisfied customer. Afterwards, contact each of these businesses and collaborate with them on the idea of referring clients to one another’s businesses. It’s a win-win relationship.

4.       Ask for referrals

No one is in a better position to market your business successfully than a satisfied customer. They are living testimonies of your business’ goodness and have more impact on a new customer than any other form of marketing. No wonder word of mouth marketing is still considered the best and most effective form of marketing ever.

So, don’t be ashamed of asking for referrals from your existing customers. They will be more than happy to refer your business to family and friends if your products/services made a difference in their lives.

How do you ask for referrals?

Simple, open your mouth and ask; “do you know anyone else who might be interested in this particular product/service?”

Be sure to follow-up on the leads/contacts you’ve been given. Not following-up will be considered rude and a sign of your unseriousness as an entrepreneur by your client. Another approach is to ask them, your client to forward your phone number or email to the person they want to refer so that they can initiate the contact first. This is not the rule, but an exemption. The best approach is to initiate the contact even though they have been given your own contact details in advance.

Also, learn to reward your customers who give you referrals. By so doing, you encourage them to do more naturally.

Your turn

How else do you strategically find more profitable customers for your business?

Which of these strategies had the most impact on you and how do you intend to implement it?

One last thing, kindly share this unusual article with others on facebook, twitter, linkedin and via email by clicking on the scroll button on your left.

Thank you for your time!

PS.

So you don’t miss out on any of the unusual articles I will be sharing under this series, enter your name and email address in the box below. I will be sure to send you an update every time a new article is posted under this Business Mastery Series!

Related posts:

1. BUSINESS GROWTH 101: How To Attract, Keep And Grow Profitable Customers
2. Business Mastery: How Should Entrepreneurs Be Profitably Marketing Their Business?
3. 5 Strategic Ways To Beat The Competition
4. 9 Ways How NOT To Start A Business
5. Business Mastery: How Should Entrepreneurs Be Spending Their Time?