Become An Entrepreneur Archives - The Career Success Doctor

Thinking Of Entrepreneurship? 10 Facts You Didn’t Know

Written by Natalia

When we are thinking of entrepreneurship -either in terms of thinking to start our own business, or in terms of thinking the real people behind companies- we tend to have some specific stereotypes in mind. Did you know that it’s not always the case?

For example, one of the most common stereotypes has to do with age. Almost everyone thinks that you have to be in your mid-twenties to be an entrepreneur, but we have already discussed that there’s no such thing as “too old to be an entrepreneur”.

A Kauffman Foundation report called “The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur” proves that almost everything we think we know about entrepreneurship and holds us back, isn’t (completely) true; but it’s mostly based on stereotypes. Facebook, Apple and Google were all started at a college student’s garage after all!

According to this survey, the most common barrier to entrepreneurial success is not age, time, or work-life balance. It is the lack of willingness and/or ability to take risks (98% of respondents).

I saw on social media today a very interesting article by Jeff Haden on Inc., which is based on this report.

” Picture the average entrepreneur and you probably think of someone young, living the ramen noodles lifestyle, working a crazy number of hours — and often sleeping under the desk.
(…)
And, if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, the report also offers hope that there’s still a time – and a place – for you. “

Read the whole article here: “10 Facts About Entrepreneurs That May Surprise You”

Are you thinking of entrepreneurship? What holds you back?

Are You Too Old To Be An Entrepreneur (by Neil Asher)

Written by The Career Success Doctor

One of the options for anyone wanting to change career is to be an entrepreneur. One of the things that stops people from even thinking about becoming an entrepreneur is the idea that it’s a young person’s game, that anyone over 30 has no chance. A couple of weeks ago I was at an internet marketing seminar where I swear the average age was about 60. They clearly thought you could become an entrepreneur later on in life.

Yesterday, this great email arrived in my inbox from one of my mentors, Neil Asher. Neil has a Digital Marketing Agency, called RoarLocal. They do an amazing job on the digital marketing front, with a powerful command of the best ways to attract traffic and sell your wares, and if you’re looking for help in that department, they are well worth talking to, or at least following. Neil is a living, breathing, example of career success as an entrepreneur. He has spent a lot of time studying what works in business, both in terms of practical strategies and mindset. This one is all about mindset.

So let’s hear it from Mr Asher. It’s a great read.

“Last week I turned 42

As usual I spent the day with family and friends  and lay awake at night contemplating life and my  place in it.

This habitual philosophising has become a  hallmark of my birthdays and I’ve found it an  interesting intellectual exercise.

This time however I got to thinking about getting  older and being an entrepreneur as I age.

I know many of my friends who work in jobs have  thought about breaking free and starting their  own business and so I thought I’d share some  insights into slaying the “I’m too old to start a  business” dragon that lurks in us all.

First up, for many of us (myself included) the first thing we’ll try is rational thought, we’ll try and  reason with ourselves.

Just know that this will NEVER work…

Shrinks spend years with patients trying to get them to be more rational about their lives  with little effect.

Instead, know that the super ego inside your head is the scolding parent’s voice, or the dark  asshole living inside you who refuses to allow you to claim victory for anything (or to ever feel pretty, or competent, or anything above the pure shame  of being a flawed, horrible person).

That’s the voice that rises in volume late at night  and during times of self doubt… and yes, it really  is trying to crush your spirit.

Nobody truly understands why our “brain  software” has this quirk in it. Sociopaths don’t  have it, which is how they rise so quickly to  powerful positions in business, politics and life.

They’re operating with shameless (and often  ethical-less) efficiency, while the good people  around them struggle with feelings of inadequacy  and shame.

You can’t “think” your way around this voice. You  gotta just roll up your sleeves and deal with it like  you would a home invader — with viciousness  and ruthless counter-moves.

Step One: Identify the voice, separate it from the  other random chatter in your head, and give it  form — I imagine mine as a snake in a suit, a truly  despicable creature who’s just trying to ruin  things. Giving the voice a “shape” makes it easier  for the following steps.

Step Two: Confront the little bastard. This is a  Jungian tactic for nightmares (“turn and face  what’s chasing you”) that understands how our  fears shrivel under close inspection. Turn to your  invading snake (or whatever form you’ve made  the voice into) and say, quote: “Shut the fuck up!”  In your mind’s eye, move into the snake’s space  and back the little creep up into the wall.

Step Three: Now imagine either a closed door or  a big soundproof box. Force Mr Snake into it, and  lock it up. Don’t even imagine a muffled sound  coming out — he’s completely locked away, out  of sight and mind.

Step Four: Get on with your pursuit of specific  goals.

Sounds too simple to work, doesn’t it. Get over  your doubts — this is professional-level brain  management. (And yes, it works with nightmares,  too.)

You won’t banish your fears forever — they’ll get  out and try to slip into the conversation again  tomorrow, or even an hour later. Doesn’t matter  — you simply go through the process again. And again. And again, as many times as you  need to until his absences get longer and his  reappearances more brief.

It’s just a voice. A nasty voice that knows how to  wound you, but plays no proactive role in your  pursuit of a good life.

You do not “risk” any damage to yourself  whatsoever by doing all this. You won’t turn into a  sociopath (and you wouldn’t even need to know  about this process if you were one already, as  you wouldn’t even HAVE Mr Snake hanging  around in the first place).

He’s not performing some secret vital function for you — he’s pure non-essential crap, like crumbs  in your keyboard that play no positive role, yet  show up frequently (especially if you eat at your  desk, like most entrepreneurs do), and just need  to be pounded out of the keys occasionally so  you can get back to your work without the keys sticking.

I give you permission to use this tactic  immediately. It works every time. You may need  to get good at it, and Mr Snake may be better  than you at escaping right now, but you can  overcome that with a dedicated effort.

Good luck.

Oh, and the idea that there is some sort of  benchmark age you should quit trying to become  an entrepreneur is nonsense. Only in the rise of  Hollywood over the last century has the idea that being young is essential to being creative taken  hold. It’s bullshit. Older and wiser beats younger  and dumber every time. The ONLY thing youth  wins at is stuff that requires quick physical recovery or lack of regular sleep.

Extra Tip: Sleep is your friend. When I get sleep  deprived, I feel actual depression coming on. A quick nap obliterates it… which means the “down”  feeling was nothing more than my internal system  feeling drained. Sleep conquers almost all the ills  short of serious sickness.

Now get out and enjoy your weekend!

Neil”

If you want to know more about how to have a career success mindset,

check out my ebook, How To Have A Career That Really Works For You.

Is Having Your Own Business A Viable Career?

Written by The Career Success Doctor

Recently, a number of women who have asked for a Career Quickstart conversation with me have mentioned, almost in passing, that they would one to start up their own business, but ‘can’t afford to do it’. Which prompted me to write a few words about how you can set up your own business, and become an entrepreneur, in an affordable way. This is Part 1.

Now there is a caveat. It does take a particular mindset to run your own business. I’ve been doing it for 15 years, and have spent a lot of the rest of my life either advising small businesses or working in them, so I know this from firsthand experience. You need discipline, you need to be what the job adverts cal a ‘self starter’ – so you get on with things without being asked, with focus, and without anyone looking over your shoulder. It can be quite lonely, so if your job is your social life, you need to think about that. You also need to be willing to take some risks. There is no such thing as a risk free business. But there are ways to manage and reduce the risks.

One trap that many new business owners fall into is that of simply trading time for money. So it’s still a job, but you’re the one paying your wages, your national insurance your pension, your holiday pay and so forth. And a lot of small businesses owners don’t make enough to pay themselves wages.

There is also an issue of knowledge/expertise. The key lies in the word ‘business’. When you set up your own business you need to acquire a business brain. You need to get a grip on finance, marketing, selling, product acquisition (buy it or create it yourself?), customer service, relevant legal issues, and possibly: distribution and logistics, manufacturing, employment and people management.

Against this, running your own business has huge advantages like the freedom to choose what, when and with whom you work (can be a stone round your neck if you don’t control it), minimal commuting, you can fit it round your family (although you may have to work late into the evening or get up extra early) and you can often spend the entire day working in your pyjamas! There is the potential to make a lot more than you ever did as a wage-slave.

Given These Challenges, Can I Still Set Up A Business?

The short answer is, ‘yes, of course’. But let’s look at this in a bit more detail.

The first question is: why do you want to go into business? Are you in business because you have a passion about the thing you are in business to sell ( with me that’s helping people have successful and happy careers and lives)? Or are you in business because you’re passionate about business itself. I happen to be interested in business, and extremely knowledgeable about it, but I am probably not passionate about it for its own sake.

If your passion is business, you can create businesses to do anything. If your passion is – for example – knitting, and you want to sell your knit ware, then it’s going to be a knitware business, at least to start with. If you read the gurus of internet marketing, many of them will tell you to make your first business something you are passionate about. Certainly this works for some people, but it increases the risk that you will simply trade time for money, and never really make your business grow.

But Jane, I Haven’t Got The Money To Set Up My Own Business

You don’t need loads of money to set up your own business online. Bricks and mortar is a different question, however. You can set up a website for nothing more than the cost of your time, although if you can afford $10 a month, it’s worth doing so to have a genuinely independent site that is truly your own. If you run it using WordPress, the software to build it is free too. Depending on what you want to offer, you can create reports, ‘how to’ videos using your iPhone, android or other smart phone, audios/podcasts and sell all of these to your market. In fact, you don’t even need a website to do a lot of this. You need a bank account, but most of us have one of those, that you can link to paypal. Paypal don’t charge you for that – they take a percentage cut off whatever you sell.

You can have free Facebook business pages, free Twitter, free LinkedIn (especially if you are selling business to business), free Google +, free Youtube, and free software to enable you to keep in touch with anyone who might be a little bit interested in what you are offering. The ‘free’ list is a long one – so long, that I recently watched a video of a guy who set up an online business for $25, including paying for a product created by someone else that he planned to promote in return for a commission. That’s an extreme example, but you get my point.

You can make money by selling other people’s products, and getting paid a commission for doing so. No product creation involved, and you don’t even have to pay for the products. You can become an amazon associate, and get paid a (small) commission for things you recommend. You can buy and sell on ebay. I know a couple of people who have day jobs, and have set up ebay stores. You can set up your own ‘store’ where you promote other people’s goods, and earn a commission, without ever having to touch the products you are selling. You can promote products ethically – I only EVER promote products from people I know and respect, and very often I have already bought the product myself, and liked it.

And you can do all this while still working at the day job, or to fit around the family.

You don’t even need vast amounts of technical knowledge. The less technical knowledge you have, the longer it will take to learn the skills you need, although if you have tame teenagers available this can be a real bonus. You can also hire people for incredibly small amounts of money.

An internet marketer friend of mine once surveyed his high-earning internet marketing contacts to ask them what they’d do if they were starting from scratch and needed to earn $1000 in 30 days. The top answer was selling porn! That industry is way ahead of the game in internet marketing terms. Erotica is also doing very well in the Kindle and book department – think Fifty Shades Of Grey. Other answers included creating webinars to sell for $67+, and selling one very high value product as an affiliate.

In Part 2, I’ll be talking in more detail about where and how you can get these free resources to set up your own business. Truth is, though, the first step is to get into the right mind, and I’ll be talking more about THAT in part 2, too.

Meantime, if you want to get started on the path to wealth, checkout this offering from my friend and long-standing mentor, Nicola Cairncross. (Please note, this link has changed since I first posted this article). Nicola has an abundance of experience and success in the field of wealth creation and internet marketing (i.e. having your own business online). The product she’s offering here is all about how to manage your money successfully and start creating real wealth. It’s a snip at $9.95. When you buy it, you’ll also get the chance to sign up for her Internet Marketing Bootcamp: a seriously good introduction to the whole business of building an online business.