Sunday, May 4, 2014

9 Tips for Beginning Entrepreneurs


1.    Don’t start a business unless you have a passion for it. Passion moves us to excel and thrive as individuals. You have to love what you do to be successful.
“There is no greater thing you can do with your life and your work than follow your passions – in a way that serves the world and you.” – Richard Branson

2.    Hire a team with different strengths. If you’re an entrepreneur, hire people who are strong where you are weak. Allow your employees to challenge you and each other. Don’t be afraid to answer or ask the tough questions.
“The smartest business decision you can make is to hire qualified people. Bringing the right people on board saves you thousands, and your business will run smoothly and efficiently.” –Brian Tracy

3.    Your team should be as enthusiastic as you as. Hire people who have a passion for what they do. They should have a strong work ethic. They should be happy working for you and your company. They should be comfortable in their work environment. Enthusiastic employees contribute to the overall success of your business.
"Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it . . . ; Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine." — David Ogilvy

4.    Have a business plan and a marketing strategy. Businesses with goals and objectives achieve far more than those that don’t. If you’ve reached your goals, make more. Never be content. Strive to thrive in your business and I promise, it’ll always be worth it.
“People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy.” – Tony Robbins

5.    Consumer validation is vital. Know your customer/client/patient/consumer. If you don’t know who you’re targeting, you’re wasting your time and money. So spend the time to get to know your consumers so you can target them. Focus on people, not numbers. This is the key to starting your business off successfully.
“What the people in the business think they know about the customer is more likely to be wrong than right.” –Peter Drucker

6.    Understand, know and focus on your core competencies. Know what you’re good at and use it to your advantage. In order to establish a footprint, you have to have a solid reputation and strong brand recognition. This will give you an upper-hand on competitors. Focusing on your core competencies will provide your business with the best opportunity to grow, survive and succeed.
"Focus on a few key objectives ... I only have three things to do. I have to choose the right people, allocate the right number of dollars, and transmit ideas from one division to another with the speed of light. So I'm really in the business of being the gatekeeper and the transmitter of ideas." — Jack Welch

7.    Don’t lose control of your business. As a beginning entrepreneur, you are in charge. You should know everything that is going on in your business. Don’t waste time or money hiring managers to do what you, as a passionate entrepreneur should be doing. In the start-up phase, having managers report to managers gives your business a 99.9% chance of failing.
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” – Warren Buffett

8.    Seek out new experiences. Take risks and explore opportunities. You’ll never know the potential for you and your company unless you seek it out. Try something different. Challenge yourself. Learn, learn and keep learning. The wider the experiences you pursue, the more you will get out of life as you will be exposed to different individuals, ways of life and standpoints. This is a secure key to success.
“My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long University education that I never had — everyday I’m learning something new.”— Richard Branson

9.    Have some fun! Life is short not to have fun at work. Your employees should be happy and have low stress levels. When they excel, reward them. Celebrate individual and company accomplishments and successes. Nothing is wrong with having nerf guns in the office for a little bit of fun and excitement. It’s always nice to plan a night out with your employees. Who said work couldn’t be fun?
“Some 80% of your life is spent working. You want to have fun at home; why shouldn’t you have fun at work?” – Richard Branson


Michigan Premier Marketing Team is a uniquely full service marketing firm that handles absolutely ALL of your business needs. We guarantee that.

We are located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. We service firms both in Michigan and all over the United States.

If you’re a start-up company looking for business or marketing advice, we are more than happy to answer all your questions. Call (248) 956-0246 to set up a FREE consultation. 

Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” – Richard Branson

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