Category: Business Tips

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5 Essential Must-Have Skills To Succeed As An Entrepreneur

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Any entrepreneur can earn considerably well from owning a firm if things go well. Still, they also take on a significant level of risk—far more than a typical employee of the business. This entrepreneurial risk can take many forms, including financial risk, career risk, emotional risk, and overall business risk.

Because there is so much at risk when it comes to the beginning and maintaining a successful business. There are very particular talents that every entrepreneur should have to be successful. We’ve highlighted five of them below.

1. Communication

Every entrepreneur must have excellent communication abilities. Whether a person is a lone founder or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, they must be able to communicate effectively with all stakeholders and potential stakeholders who have an impact on the company. An entrepreneur must communicate effectively with workers, investors, customers, creditors, colleagues, and mentors.

If an entrepreneur cannot explain the value of their product, it is doubtful that the business will be successful. They must also be proficient in all modes of communication, such as one-on-one and in-person interactions, group discussions, written communication, and email or internet messaging.

2. Sales

Develop entrepreneur skills in sales. The soft skill of sales is inextricably linked to the communication skills necessary for success. As an entrepreneur, a person must be able to sell everything and anything. A business person must have the skills to sell the idea to potential investors, the product or service to customers, and oneself to employees.

An entrepreneur who can effectively communicate is better positioned to promote their original ideas and products. Entrepreneurs are accustomed to being the first salespeople at their numerous businesses. These selling skills are necessary to demonstrate value to all stakeholders, both inside and outside the company.

3. Focus

Attention is a crucial one among the numerous must-have characteristics for an entrepreneur. The road to success as an entrepreneur is fraught with ups and downs. There are highs from triumphs and lows from disappointments. A successful entrepreneur must be able to focus on staying on track when things become difficult.

This skill is also known as thinking with the end in mind. Regardless of the difficulties an entrepreneur faces, a successful entrepreneur has the attention required to keep steadfast sight of the final objective and drive himself to achieve it.

4. Curiosity

A healthy curiosity has always been the most exemplary business talent. This will prompt you to investigate what your rivals are doing and use new technology to simplify your business and even reach out to new clients. When your only limitation is what you can envision and apply, almost anything is conceivable.

5. Strategy For Business

While a competent and successful entrepreneur must have developed a successful firm, business planning is the fifth most essential talent that every entrepreneur should have. Entrepreneurs frequently attain success in their firms by sheer force of will.

An entrepreneur may develop a company plan on the fly by using good communication skills, sales abilities, a keen focus, and a sense of curiosity. However, while establishing and expanding a firm, the structure and development plan must be founded on strong business sense and talents. Among the traits of successful entrepreneurs, business strategy is a must.

Final Words

These are the top qualities of a successful entrepreneur. While there is no perfect formula for becoming a successful entrepreneur, those who do tend to have mastered the following set of skills: excellent and effective communication; the ability to sell both themselves and their idea or product; strong focus; curiosity to learn, and be flexible; and a solid business plan.

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5 Crucial Ways To Lead A Business Through Crisis

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Running a business is already a psychologically complex undertaking under normal conditions. Taking the helm during a moment of crisis and uncertainty, on the other hand, is a whole different ballgame. The Covid-19 epidemic was the type of disaster that may rock the global economy. The sort compels corporate executives to reconsider and rethink our entire strategy for dealing with a catastrophe.

Unfortunately, for many, this procedure seemed more like an autopsy, with you gazing back in regret at what you wished you had done differently. Others were luckily able to eke out a living but are fully aware that drastic adjustments are required. For the business leaders, the previous two years weren’t without their worries; however, the following five tips for leading a business through a crisis will help you.

1.    Keep The Core Intact

A good leader in a crisis will definitely keep the core intact. When the entire economic impact of the epidemic became clear, many businesses promptly furloughed or lay off personnel to save money. If a crisis occurs and the first question your employees have is, “Will I still have a job next week or next month?” they will not be focused or involved in the problem-solving effort.

If your organization conducts onboarding and hiring well — that is. Suppose you invest time and money finding individuals who are a good fit for your company culture. It would help if you acknowledged this as your most valuable asset. If you work in a service-oriented industry, such as the event industry, you understand that the experiences your employees create for your clients are everything.

2.    Deliver Consistently

Even though many obstacles and causes are beyond their control, the most exemplary leaders manage a crisis and accept personal responsibility in every situation. They coordinate team attention, develop a culture of accountability, and build new measures to assess success.

As a business leader, you must be aware of and connected with a daily dashboard of priorities. Leaders should record their top five goals clearly (on half a page or less) and ensure that those above them are on the same page. Examine performance against those things regularly — if not daily, then at least monthly — and ensure that leaders communicate this information with direct reports. At the end of each day or week, go over and update your “hit list.”

3.    Adapt Bravely

Strong leaders anticipate, respond to changing situations, and effectively lead through a crisis. They seek feedback and information from various sources, are not embarrassed to confess their lack of knowledge, and bring in outside experts when necessary. You and your leaders should do the following:

  • Determine what you will not do. Put a stop to primary activities and costs, and prioritize ruthlessly. Make your “what not to do” decisions public.
  • Toss out the playbook from yesterday. The past acts that drove outcomes may no longer be applicable. The most outstanding leaders adapt fast and devise new strategies.
  • Improve (or create) direct linkages to the front lines.

4.    Participate To Make A Difference

No job is more vital than taking care of your employees during a crisis. Influential leaders are aware of their team’s conditions and diversions. Yet, they find methods to engage and encourage their team members by clearly and completely delivering vital new goals and information.

This aspect demands particular emphasis since, while the COVID-19 epidemic is, of course, a health problem, it has also triggered a financial crisis. In this time of continual and intense change, your leaders must constantly reiterate new goals to maintain sustained alignment.

It would help if you interacted with specific team members to lead through a crisis. Reach out to at least five people daily for a “pulse check”; set out a time on the calendar to do so. First, relate on a personal level, and then focus on the job.

5.    Get Prepared To Reallocate Resources

Identify unnecessary costs and programs in various functional areas that might be reduced to save capital and resources during a crisis. Evaluate and identify the significant business drivers and the sales and lead generating areas that are truly pushing the needle.

Prepare to eliminate laggards and underperforming projects while reallocating resources to the stallions that provide the most returns. Everything, large and little, is tracked and managed. Know your numbers and handle them with vigor. Concentrate on critical and consider delegating, automating, or eliminating anything else.

Final Thoughts

Consider taking these actions while leading a business through a crisis; we believe you’ll come out stronger and better positioned as a consequence. As a leader, you must navigate new and shifting priorities with little response time. Small efforts in support and coaching may go a long way toward increasing the effectiveness of your leaders.

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The Big Reason Sydney’s Residential Property Will Be The Winner In This Pandemic

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By: Justin Wang

At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, I said that Sydney’s residential properties will become the winner out of this epidemic. This confidence is based on my long-term research and unique understanding of Sydney’s real estate market, and it is based on the “PIA investment philosophy” that I have concluded over the years. I always have great confidence in Sydney’s residential property market. In 2004 and 2005, whilst many people were pessimistic about the market, I said that there was no problem with Sydney’s residential market. The problem was that we lack an understanding of Sydney’s residential properties. During the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, the value of real estate assets in the United States fell by 30% and by more than 20% in the UK. Many international institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, predicted that Sydney’s residential property would suffer the same decline, yet I held the opposite view. And I was right.

The impact of the COVID-19 on the economy is unprecedented. So, why am I still confident in the Sydney residential property under the current circumstance?

The epidemic will have an impact on all assets, however, some will resist the negative impact based on the characteristics of the assets.

One of the characteristics of Sydney residential assets is that the character is mainly based on the internal factors of supply and demand and high development costs. The residential asset is less dependent on other external factors. So when external factors negatively impact the economy, the Sydney residential assets always stand out in the crowds.

The value of Sydney’s residential properties, or their ability to withstand price drops, depends on two demands. One is housing demand and the other is investment demand.

Regardless of the development of the epidemic, people still need housing. When people cannot go to the office to work or have food at restaurants, housing becomes even more important.

Although border closure and the rising unemployment rate will have a certain impact on the demand for housing and rental affordability, 95% of the demand for housing is still there, and it is still very strong. The NSW Government has recently decided to spend 500 million dollars to buy residential properties from private developers to meet the needs of society. Although this is not enough, at least we can see from the government’s action that residential properties are still in short supply.

The second demand for housing is investment demand. I said earlier that the residential properties in Sydney are Noah’s Ark of wealth. The Bible records that when the flood came, the righteous Noah escaped the disaster using Noah’s Ark. Under the trend of economic downturn and wealth loss, we cannot expect wealth to grow. We shall learn how to preserve our wealth first.

In judging whether an asset is suitable as a carrier of our wealth and to ensure the longevity of our family wealth, we need to consider the following aspects: 1. Whether the ownership is permanent; 2. Whether the asset can maintain its value; 3. Whether the asset can appreciate. 4 Whether the asset can generate passive income.

Those assets are quite limited and examples of those assets are cash, stocks, shares, gold, collection, etc.

Cash has permanent ownership, but it cannot appreciate or maintain its value. Under normal circumstances, it will depreciate due to inflation. Normally cash deposits can generate income by gaining interest. However, when the epidemic caused an economic downturn, the interest rate kept dropping to a record low level. If the global epidemic cannot be controlled, the interest rate will remain low for a long time, we may even see a negative interest rate. If a person has a deposit of $ 2 million in the bank and the interest is 3%, then he can live with $ 60,000 per year. If the deposit interest drops to 0.5%, the interest will suddenly become $ 10000 which is not enough for him to live. If he wants to maintain his living standard, he has to make good use of the principal. From this perspective, the cash had devalued. Governments all over the world are borrowing heavily to issue more money, resulting in a huge deficit. Who will make up for this black hole? The easiest method for governments is through the depreciation of the existing cash deposits. On top of that, some people say that the world’s debt will be paid by the entire generation. This means that the interest is likely to remain low for a long time.

For stocks, it’s needless to say, not only may the stock price fall, but we may not expect to receive any dividends in the near future either. However, a lot of public companies may go bankrupt, then the value of their stocks will become zero. Not even mentioning return, stocks can’t even guarantee ownership.

Though trading stocks are shares issued by publicly listed companies, companies that are not publicly listed and their shares can face the same issue too.

We say the collection market flourishes when times are good because everyone has money. Now that everyone has no money, many companies can no longer survive anymore, and life can not be carried on in the same way. Under this circumstance, the collections naturally will not appreciate. The collections are merely embellishments of economic prosperity unless they have significant value to human heritage and history. 

What about gold? I have never advised people to invest in gold. Though the ownership of gold can be guaranteed, it cannot be preserved, appreciated, and it cannot generate passive income.

What about real estate? Commercial real estate, retail real estate, and tourism real estate are already facing problems. And the problem will not get too much better after the epidemic. Because the epidemic has changed the way we work and consume. The longer the epidemic drags on, the bigger and stronger this change will be, and the world will not be the same again. E-commerce and the home office has already become a trend. This epidemic has made these changes come faster and more thorough. So in the foreseeable future, the world no longer needs that many offices and retail stores. For the shops and offices that lost their tenants during the epidemic, it will be difficult for them to find the same rental demand as before. It will take a long time to find new ways to use those office buildings and shops.

No matter what happens in the world, people must have a home. When the border was closed, some people could not enter the country. But for people who remain in the country, they must have a home.

Residential property as a form of real estate will never lose its advantage. As its ownership is permanent, and its living function will never disappear. Because of the epidemic, people may choose to order food online, shop online, or work online, but those activities need to be done at home, so the value lost in commercial properties is being transferred to the residential properties. From this perspective, the residential property has gained a new utility value because of this epidemic.

When disaster strikes, no one can escape its impact, so does Sydney’s residential property market. Many people worry about whether this epidemic will affect their rental income. The impact will definitely be there, but even if it does, it will not affect Sydney’s housing market being the winner in the wealth race.

Interest on long-term deposits is less than 0.5% p.a only.

The yearly return on government bonds is only 0.75%.

Stock dividends can not be counted on at all,

Business operations are very difficult.

Only Sydney’s rental market has a return of 2.5-3% after deducting 1% of outgoings. Even if the vacancy rate rises to 6%, which is double the historical average vacancy rate, the rental return rate can still reach 2.35-2.5%. This is still considered a good return compared to other investments.

If we see Sydney’s residential property as an asset, not only we need a stable rental income, we also want capital growth. There are five Don’ts in PIA’s business philosophy. One of them is not to make subjective judgments on the market. Here I will not say when the house price will grow back and how much it will grow. But here we can give you a few tips and, you can think for yourself.

1. Under immense financial pressure, the residential housing prices in Sydney have not fallen so far.

2. Two of Australia’s major construction and real estate industry associations have joined forces to lobby the government to provide tens of billions of dollars to support property development. The reason is not just to stimulate the economy, but responding to real demands.

3. The government has started to discuss canceling stamp duty to stimulate residential property sales. Although the sales of off-the-plan properties are not good at the moment, we are not seeing a significant drop in land prices. On the contrary, because of the epidemic, and the stricter building standards set out by the government, the construction cost has begun to rise. If the land price does not fall, and the construction cost increases, there is no room for property prices to fall.

4. Although it is estimated that net immigration will decrease in the future due to the epidemic, the facts may be on the contrary. Some people currently living overseas with an Australian permanent residency visa will return to Australia because of Australia’s ability to keep the epidemic under control. In addition, as Austliaa built upon immigration, increasing immigration is the best way to solve the crisis and revitalize the economy. This happened in the past, so it will happen this time. The only difference is that this time only the high net worth immigrants who create job and investment opportunities will be welcomed. Those who are only there to get welfare payments or do low-end jobs will be kept out.

5. News from today says the Government is considering priority entry of international students into Australia.

Because international students will not only affect Australia’s education export industry they will also boost the real estate market again.

When the government announced the mandatory closure of multiple industries, it was specifically mentioned that the construction industry will be business as usual. When easing the restrictions, the open home inspection is among the first batch of restrictions that have been lifted…..

I personally feel that the prosperity of Sydney’s residential property market will come sooner than most people think, and the real estate industry will recover faster than many other industries.

Some people say that living through this COVID -19 is like being through a world war. Then you may wish to take a look at the historical data on and how property prices in Australia have risen right after the First World War and the Second World War.

The above is just my personal opinion for your reference only.

Disclaimer: the above article contains information about PIA and the investment philosophies of its founder and MD, Justin Wang. The information and material are purely for information and general marketing. In reviewing this document you acknowledge and accept that no representation or warranty in any way whatsoever and howsoever is meant or intended in or from any information or material appearing at any time and you do not rely on such. Persons reading this document should always rely on their own independent advice and judgment, and further in making any inquiry with PIA or its employees the enquirer may not rely on any statement whether in writing or verbally made by any members of PIA unless PIA confirms in writing.

Source: PIA

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5 Realistic Tips To Build A Successful Startup Business

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Getting into the business world is not easy because it comes with many risks and chances. Most entrepreneurs think that having a business plan, some capital, and a workforce is enough to survive in the market. The case is not so. Even the most confident entrepreneurs who have all the resources to maintain a strong position in the competition fail. This is because they do not consider the minute things that will determine their position in the market.

Here are some essential points that can make your business an instant hit with the masses:

Overestimate the Expenses and Underestimate the Revenue

Keep this in mind; there is a high chance that your expenses will exceed your expectations, whereas your revenue will realistically be relatively less. When you are conservative with numbers, your ability to accept reality is weak. Therefore, it is better to estimate figures that will not be shocking for you and not put your morale down.

Let Your Customers Create Your Business

No one is a bigger marketing genius than the customers. It is up to them to decide whether something is worth staying in the market or not. Do not get into a guessing game while assuming what your customers might be looking for. Instead, do the market research and actually find out the current demands of the people. Talk to them and identify their problems and their needs.

Know Your Competitors More Than You Know Yourself

Stepping into the market is definitely not easy. You need to know what you will be facing. It would help if you won the hearts of the consumers, so you can be a step ahead of your competitors because that will make your business stand out in the crowd.

Keep Discovering New Cost-3Effective Method 

Obviously, there is no success in the business until a handsome sum of money hits your bank account. One of the best saving methods is discovering new and reliable techniques to save your cost and increase your profit.

Keep Learning During the Process and Never Miss on Expert Advice

Remember that the process of learning never comes to an end. You will keep discovering new methods, and innovative creations will continue to pop in front of you. If your first formula was a success and ensured a good running of your business in the first season, then the second one doesn’t have to do the same. You might need to strike a new chord to maintain your success.

Keep the points mentioned above in your mind, and you are good to start your venture. Make sure that you never run out of capital to cover up for small losses, which might sum up to create a massive problem in the future.

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How To Style Your Property To Get The Best Property Sales Result

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The Sydney real estate market has really taken off and has become very competitive. To get buyers’ attention and secure sales, your property must stand out.

Property styling is essential in achieving this. Beyond being a visual selling tool, property styling allows prospective buyers to see the full potential of a space and envision their future home. It is about capturing their imagination with rooms styled to reflect their ideal lifestyle and trigger that urgent desire to purchase.

Deciding on how to style is a task which experienced property stylists are equipped to help you with. Armed with interior decorating and design expertise and a keen understanding of your target market, they know which look will suit your property and delight your potential buyers.

To ensure the best results, here are key points to remember

1. Style to complement your property and attract your target market

Before selecting a particular look, one must ask the following questions – Who is the target market, and what makes them tick? What look and kind of lifestyle appeal to them? What type of property is being presented? The answers to these questions will determine which look to choose.

As each project is different, we at Valiant Property Styling enjoy this initial stage. One day, we’re creating a coastal luxe look for an up-market coastal penthouse unit. On a different day, we’re doing a traditional look with modern touches for a heritage home.

With the growth of urban units, one of the styles we often use is ‘contemporary.’ This look does wonders for city apartments aimed at young middle-class families. It’s modern, practical, and effortlessly flatters a wide range of properties. Its versatility allows for a variation of looks – you can do luxe, chic, or even arty – and it appeals to a wide range of potential buyers.

2. Play up the property’s best features

Each property has features that make it special and give it character. It is one thing to recognise these; it is another to know how to highlight them. There are subtle yet effective touches to bringing out the potential of these amazing features and adding that extra dimension to a space.

The property boom has brought many brand new apartments and units into the market. Two amazing features these tend to have in common are great views and/or generous light beaming through the space. There are different ways to take advantage of these, but some our favourite tricks are:

– The use of low furniture pieces with slender legs
– Furniture with reflective surfaces such as marble tabletops, mirrors, or pieces with shiny finishes.
– Introduction of a mirror to amplify the natural light in the room
– The use of light colour

3. Picking the correct furniture sizes

It is vital to use appropriately sized furniture to showcase the optimal use of space and further play up its best features. A small room doesn’t necessarily mean you should use small furniture or a large room and big furniture. Using the wrong scaled furniture only highlights the room’s weaknesses and misses the opportunity to showcase its real potential.

For small spaces, many assume that small furniture and accessories are the way to go. On the contrary, a few strategic large pieces can do wonders in widening the feel of the space. For example, a rug that spreads all the way under the lounges creates an illusion of a larger lounge room. Additionally, using rounded edge pieces, like a round coffee table, help create flow. Edges can slice up a room and make it feel even smaller.

When it comes to larger spaces, it’s about furniture positioning. One trick is to float furniture off the wall and arrange pieces to form living spaces within large floor areas. This way, you don’t leave blank spots, and you create a sense of coziness and intimacy while allowing potential buyers to feel the largeness of the room still.

4. Create consistency throughout the home

Having one style applied throughout the property creates a strong sense of continuity and brings different parts of the home together. Doing otherwise disconnects one room from the other. It’s important to create that cohesive viewing experience and present the property as a whole, no matter the size of the property.

5. Leave ample space for people to walkthrough

Part of styling property is finding that balance of empty and filled space. The rule is to allow a little more than enough space for people to move open for inspections comfortably. The aim of property styling is to enhance to fill every space with furniture or accessories.

6. Enhancing with the right accessories

Accessories are always a lot of fun. Like icing on a cake, it’s amazing to see how the space comes together once the little details are added. To maximise the effect accessories can create, balance is always needed. One can easily over accessorise and distract viewers from seeing the features of the space, while with under accessorising, you miss the opportunity to bring a space to life.

Always remember, styling to sell a property isn’t just making a space look beautiful; it’s bringing the correct design elements together to appeal to your buyers. Make sure this is done well to enhance your selling prospects and get the best results.

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3 Simple Ways to Fatten Up Your Wallet

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By: Michelle Baltazar

Just like your body, there’s no point putting your purse under a crash diet. Slowly but surely, getting rid of high-sugar expenses is the way to go.

What happens if your bank account is fat-free? When you count the minutes to your next paycheque? Or maybe your credit card blues are starting to give you the twitch?

Don’t stress. Millions of Australians are in the same boat. According to research, many are weighed down by their mortgage payments, mounting credit card bills, and rising prices of just about everything (food, petrol, and alcohol included). No wonder there are plenty of Aussie battlers!

But with the new year comes a new chapter in your life – a good excuse to scratch your money problems in 2022. Here are three tips from the experts.

1. Don’t go ‘cold turkey’.

Find out what you can cut from your expenses and what you can’t – but go slow on changing your lifestyle or else you’ll revert back to old habits, says experts.

For example, if you buy coffee from your favorite deli every morning, cut it down to only twice a week (to coincide with the days you really need a pick-me-up).

New year’s resolution? Buy your own percolator and coffee beans. It’ll cost you a fraction of what you usually pay and you can avoid those long 9 am queues.

2. Visit the markets.

For sightseeing on a lazy Saturday morning, go to the Bondi Markets, the Glebe markets, or the one in Paddington. But for a serious “oh-my-god-I-can’t-believe-how-cheap-it-is” feeling, go to Paddy’s Markets or somewhere away from the city (like the suburban markets of Blacktown and Flemington).

In Paddy’s Markets Chinatown for example, a bag of snowpeas cost $2 (can cost double that at major groceries), or a punnet of strawberries for $1 ($2.99 in groceries), or a bag of mushrooms for $2 (can be $4 for the same bag in groceries).

Markets are also great for buying birthday and Christmas gifts. Pre-loved items that look good as new are a-plenty. In Blacktown markets, for example, one happy buyer snagged an uber-cool lamp for $5 while another bought a rare, retro doll for $2. Less practical but more memorable than the usual soap and shower gel set!

3. Get running

Research shows that all types of exercise can help keep your brain sharper than if you didn’t do any exercise at all. Aerobic activity (gets your heart pumping for more oxygen) also prevents you from getting mental-related illnesses in the future. It has something to do with the synapses in your brains remaining connected and fired up with regular exercise.

Why is running a money-saving strategy? You don’t need a gym membership for it and you can save on huge healthcare bills in the future. Oh, running to your favourite store during a sale doesn’t count as exercise. Sorry.

Source: The Australian Filipina

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How To Attain Your Life Goals Through Self Improvement

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Always remember that as long as you are alive, you can change your ways and succeed in life. You have the power and the opportunity to do what you want and be the person you want to become. If you want to improve yourself and achieve your goals, you should follow these self-improvement tips.

  • First and foremost, you need to accept that you need to take full responsibility for your self-improvement. You need to know your true self, the things you’re interested in, and how you’re going to actively pursue them. If you don’t have any idea where you should go, you’ll definitely end up where other people want you to go.
  • You need to set realistic goals and stick to these objectives as well as find ways to achieve them. Such a thing, however, is not enough.
  • Learning continuously is also important. There are skills and techniques that you can adapt to improve your life. Never stop learning. Many people know how important this tip is. You need to continue learning in order to succeed.
  • Look for effective ways to learn new things and improve your skills. Realizing the power of learning can encourage many people to become better in various ways and achieve what they really want. Remember that if you learn new things enthusiastically, you’ll achieve self-growth and succeed in living a more content life. You will become happier and live the kind of life you have always wanted.
  • You also need to change your bad habits. There are many times when a person’s life is dominated by bad practices. If you really want to become a better person, you need to change these habits and stick to the positive changes you’ve made.
  • Being persistent is also important. Some people give up too easily. Always remember that your perseverance will serve as the driving force that will encourage you to do things you think you cannot do.
  • When you focus on a goal, it is important to keep your mind on it. Don’t let yourself get distracted by other goals. Many people cannot focus on anything related to work for a long period of time. It is difficult to do especially since our culture is full of reasons and distractions that force us not to bother a lot with attaining real success.

There are a lot of excuses that we can say so that we don’t do anything productive. If you want to improve yourself and achieve your goals, you need to prioritize every action. Even when you’re not seeing any major progress, you should keep going towards the completion of your goal.

Keep at it and you’ll reap the rewards in the end. There are self-improvement books that provide life-changing ideas and advice that you can integrate into your life. Discover and learn things that can benefit your pursuit of self-improvement. Always remember that learning new things can do you a great favor. Continuous education will certainly help you succeed.

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5 Surefire Ways to Protect Your Mental Health During COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak

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While you’re in a global pandemic, it’s natural to feel that you’re letting your mental health slide during this stressful period. Not interacting fully with others face-to-face, having to conform to new guidelines that may seem foreign to you, and working at home may leave you feeling unsettled and that life has become beyond your control. This, although it may be common, can be dangerous if you don’t take the time out to give your mind a rest. Therefore, here are 5 ways you can be in control and protect your mental health in these uncertain times.

1. Take a stroll through the park

Going for a walk (unless you’re self-isolating) is a great way to cool your mind down after a struggle. Getting a breath of fresh air and exercising not only stretches out your muscles thus relaxing the body but going outside and looking at the green in one’s surroundings is scientifically proven to improve your mood, by the brain releasing endorphins, a chemical that reduces sensitivity to pain and makes one happy.

2. Try and laugh more

Listening to or reading a few jokes is an easy pass to become happier and more relaxed. Laughing reduces anxiety and burns a fair number of calories, for those who are wishing to slim down during the pandemic. Also, research suggests that laughter improves the activity of NK cells, a type of cell in the immune system that takes part in combatting tumours.

3. Express your feelings

Bottling up your emotions is never a good idea. Venting your frustrations and negative emotions to a friend or family member instantly lifts a weight off your shoulders. Even if you can’t find a person to talk to, you can write your emotions down on paper and tear them up. Sharing your thoughts and worries helps you reason with the problem and getting a second opinion may help solve it.

4. Eat a good meal

It’s no secret that ‘comfort eating’ works. This is because your brain tells itself that you wouldn’t be eating if you were in danger, which then lowers your anxiety. In addition to this, an empty stomach can make you feel much worse, and not eating enough lowers the immune system. Being vulnerable to disease is trouble, especially with Covid-19 about and you need to be ready to combat it so that it doesn’t make you feel worse. Therefore, eating a healthy and satisfying meal is fundamental in keeping your mental health stable.

5. Do something you enjoy

Although with new schedules constantly popping up, you must find the time to do something that makes you happy. While on a work or school break, find something to keep you occupied. It takes your mind away from what’s around you so that you can clear your mind effectively, along with causing your brain to produce happy hormones. Be it watching a cool video, doodling something funny, or even taking a nap, taking time out from your busy day does wonders for your wellbeing.

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4 Millionaire Success Habits That Will Definitely Inspire Your Life

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The road to becoming a millionaire is not through those typical infomercials that will make you believe that you will be rich by buying a distressed property and then selling it for millions of bucks. The only thing that you will likely get with them would be eye bags due to lack of sleep. In case you are one of those people who was lured on their false advertisements, you probably have more debt now.

Realistically, the best possible way to become a millionaire one day besides winning the lotto is to work for yourself. This is why most businessmen are brave to face the possible risk of failure, the emotional roller coaster and the vulnerability of the economy because there could be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

To help you get started on your journey towards becoming a millionaire, we have created a rundown of regular habits that successful people normally do.

Create Choices

The average people will usually choose on the existing choices. Successful people will try to examine the existing choices, and they will then create their own choices. In case you are in a particular situation, you will often choose the best case scenario and stick with it. However, if you want to know how rich people think, you may start the habit of analyzing the best possible option and then make this choice available. This is the reason why most millionaires are doing the impossible.

Believe in Yourself

If you want to be a millionaire, you will stumble upon numerous obstacles in your journey. There are people who will disapprove, and there are those people who will criticize you. The rich people look at their opinions as a mere data. They tend to filter the data and look at the things that they can use. The rest of them will be ignored. We do not necessarily mean that you should disrespect the idea of others. We simply say that you should believe in yourself, your ideas, dedication, perseverance and abilities.

Think About how You Play the Game

In case you want to know how to be a millionaire, the way you play the game is more vital than winning or losing. Everyone wants to win. In fact, you will not be reading this if you are not determined to win. However, you should not be playing the game that you are just forced to play. You will need to alter the existing rules, create the arena and win the game on your own terms.

Hate the Comfort

There are some people who once they acquired essential skills they just work hard and stay within their comfort zone. We’re not saying that it is a bad thing; the definition of success differs from person to person. However, if you really want to be a millionaire, you should hate the contentment that is brought in by acquiring new skills. Look at this as a step towards achieving a higher skill. Achievement is a foundation towards another achievement.

Dream big and try hard, there is really no impossible thing for you to achieve. If you are determined to be a millionaire, the right amount of perseverance, dedication, and these habits will guide you on the right path.

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Six Things You Need to STOP Doing if You Want to Be Successful

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Becoming successful is already a difficult feat but staying successful is far more difficult. Most entrepreneurs have some sort of idea of what it takes in order to become successful.

But what most don’t have, is an idea of what NOT to do in order to be successful. A number of entrepreneurs spend much of their lives stuck in this conundrum and as a result, suffer highly.

This article lists and explains some of the things entrepreneurs should stop doing in order to be successful.

  • Return to What Didn’t Work

This is one of the most important aspects of what shouldn’t be done for maintaining success. Once something does not work, it should be avoided at all costs in the future. There is simply no point in believing that a certain idea will work the second time when it failed the first time.

  • Change Yourself

Changing yourself in order to ensure success is not recommended. Yes, one should step out of their comfort zone to explore new avenues but this does not mean that they should change their personality and values completely. Staying true to yourself is one of the most basic principles required to be successful.

  • Change Someone Else

Change is inevitable whether it’s for yourself or someone else. However, forcing the issue is not. Changing someone and manipulating them for personal gains and advancement will only result in a loss of respect and trust from the side of the other party. Success should be done in a competitive manner but within the bounds of ethics and morals.

  • Please Everyone

One can simply not please everyone at the same time. There will be many hurdles and individuals in your path to success. Managing them and planning strategies and goals accordingly is essential you stay successful in the long term.

  • Think Short Term

In the history of successful individuals, there has been no such case where the individual thought of the short-term rather than the long-term. It is simply not possible to achieve and sustain success if one constantly thinks about the short term and avoids strategies and planning required to sustain success over a longer period of time. Thinking short-term will only get you so far but looking over the horizon and smarter than your competitors will not only result in personal satisfaction but also financial gain.

  • Look at the Smaller Picture

Highly successful entrepreneurs always devise strategies by looking at the bigger picture. They always have a backup plan or contingency measures that will be implemented if an unfortunate situation or event arises. This ensures success is not short-lived and any potentially threatening scenario does not prove to be catastrophic.

All in all, keeping in mind all of these factors can enable an individual to come back from a debilitating failure. What is needed is an optimistic frame of mind and the will to be better than your previous self.

Photo Credit: Andrea Piacquadio

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5 Small Business Success Tips For Emerging Young Entrepreneurs

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Establishing a company might be one of the hardest things that a young entrepreneur could ever do. And starting your business might also be a door to financial freedom however if it doesn’t work out based on your plans it might as well ruin personal finances.

As you build a business, it would be of great importance to have a smart plan to make sure that your personal wealth is being protected. Here are some tips that can help you when it comes to protecting personal finances due to business risks:

Put your eggs in many different baskets

There is a need for you to be prepared for every different situation therefore you should never invest all your money in your business. Allocate your money in different places like in assets, investment, cash, and emergency cash cushion. This emergency cash cushion would be needed for you to fall back on once you need it. Once bad things happen, you would already have money set aside to keep you afloat in tough times.

Hope only for the best and plan for the worst.

Once you are in the world of business, there is a need to hope for the best and plan for the worst. There is a need for you to be optimistic however when shits occur you just have to be prepared. Avoid taking all your money out of cheque accounts to fund all the operational business costs. So that even though one of your businesses fail, you will have other sources of income to continue the business.

You must consider separating your business and personal expenses

This is indeed a must once you are starting a business. With regards to tax reporting, the business expenses are simply deductible from the business income. And also the more deductions that you would have the lesser tax that you are to pay. Just simply open a separate bank account for the business and personal finances.

Learn to manage your cash flow

Running out of cash is one of the reasons why a company fails. Cash flow is considered as a king and so the queen is the documentation. The first financial planning lesson that you must consider once running a company is to have a manageable cash flow. You will be at risk if you don’t know where your money will go and comes from. Just simply create your budget and then stick to it.

Ask for help

Being new as an entrepreneur, you must not forget to track the business expenses and keeping the documentation as well. It would be very important to consider a simple accounting system in order to record as well as track the spending every month for you not to scramble for the information once you need it. Or you might as well use free financial tools once you don’t have the budget in investing in an accounting software. Freelance bookkeeper might be of great help as well.

Those are just some among the best tips about finances that you might consider once you are starting up with your business.

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How to Increase Social Media Engagement: A 5-Step Guide For Entrepreneurs

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Is your social media page not kicking off the way you’d hoped? Perhaps you wish to share your knowledge with others, or you want to start a career with social media, but you’re not getting enough engagement. Although making an account may seem easy, there are certain things that you need to look out for so that you catch your audience’s eye. Publicity plays a large part in what makes a social media page successful and so you need to do it right. Therefore, here are 5 steps you need to take in order to improve your social media engagement.

1. Have a good layout

Graphic design is the very starting point of gaining engagement. Be sure to give your social media page a clean look that is welcoming to your target audience. Keeping the right fonts, having a consistent colour scheme, and spacing things out helps a lot when it comes to attracting others. Organising things so that your content is both chronological and flows well motivates people to pay attention to what you have to say.

2. Advertisement

Finding ways to promote your social media page in other places such as other sites is a good way to gain engagement. People are more inclined to associate with things they are more familiar with and if they have seen an advertisement about your page somewhere else, they would be driven to see what you offer. Also, it increases your page’s chances of getting noticed among a countless number of others, as your page would then be what comes to mind first because they’ve seen it before.

3. Listen to others when it comes to improvement

When someone has an idea on how to improve your social media page, take it into consideration. It shows that you’re willing to respond to people’s constructive criticism, which will then lead them to respond to you, thus increasing engagement. It shows that you are within reach and that they can level with you, which is rare for sites and pages nowadays. This means more people will interact with you as they feel they can without being pushed to the side.

4. Hold events that the audience can take part in

Putting up an event that others gain from is a fast-track to increase your engagement. Occasions such as conditional giveaways and competitions are very appealing to those who are looking for something to gain. Announcing something that the audience can compete for, be it an actual item or a chance to be promoted on your page, piques the interest of many as they have a chance of winning.

5. Introduce something with a limit

You could put on a one-time-only sale or introduce a product or theme that will only be up for a short time. This gives people the impression that they must go to your page and get whatever it is you have introduced before the deadline. This is because they have the fear that they’d miss out as once something is gone, it’s gone.

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An Essential Guide To Managing Your Remote Team

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A little over a year into the pandemic, most professionals have more or less gotten a hang of how to make remote working work for them. In fact, one particular study published by the Harvard Business Review notes that knowledge workers became more productive after the lockdown helped them focus on tasks that really matter and required them to take responsibility for their own schedule. But even then, it can’t be denied that there’s still a lot of things business leaders can do to improve remote work from a management perspective. That being said, here are some tips on how you can better manage your remote teams.

Be smart about meetings

Meetings these days happen on different video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and many more. And while video chats have become an indispensable tool in keeping teams connected, the truth of the matter is they can be pretty tiring and draining most of the time. To alleviate ‘Zoom fatigue’, what business leaders can do is ensure that meetings are short, sweet, and focused. Thrive Global recommends putting a 30-minute cap on meetings to keep them meaningful and productive.

It would also be a good idea for you to have a set agenda, meeting guidelines, and a simple timetable for every matter that has to be discussed. When it comes to less formal meetings and virtual social events that are meant to help employees deal with self-isolation, make sure to keep them open, but not obligatory. If, for example, you are working with an introverted employee, you can ease their anxiety by making phone calls and emails an option alongside video calls.

Pay attention to your team’s financial wellbeing

Employee financial stress has doubled since the pandemic began. In a survey conducted by John Hancock Retirement, the percentage of individuals reporting high levels of financial stress more than doubled from 11% pre-pandemic to 27% since the onset of the crisis. Aside from providing support packages and giving out cash bonuses for good, what business leaders can do is provide financial literacy workshops and budgeting advice.

Surprisingly, CNBC claims that 40% of Americans don’t actually know how credit works and a lot of people may find themselves relying on credit cards in dire financial times. Petal explains how your credit score relies on how much of your credit you use in relation to your total credit limit. This can be helpful when it comes to getting approved for a loan or credit card. By helping your team build healthy spending habits, they’re more likely to be more empowered and driven in the long run.

Manage expectations

During this period of time, it helps to have realistic expectations of what can be achieved by your team. Inc. explains how clearly defining the scope of work, deadlines, and deliverables for each part of a project can help keep individual members focused. To avoid frustration on both sides, try to avoid micromanaging each member’s actions and allow them to work independently. As highlighted in our post ‘3 Ways to Keep Your Business Alive and Thriving’, it would also be good for entrepreneurs to listen to their team’s suggestions and insights about how they can be better managed.

Instead of prioritizing the number of hours worked and overall activity, keep an eye on the outcomes of their assigned tasks, so you can adjust if necessary. Try to keep communication lines clear, and encourage your remote team to ask questions that will give them access to any feedback that they need. Being culturally sensitive and using concise language can also help you clarify any complex details and ensure that everyone’s on the same page.

Overall, remote working is here to stay. To fully harness the multiple benefits it entails, you have to learn how to be smart about meetings, pay attention to your team’s financial wellbeing, and set aside some time to properly manage expectations.

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5 Surefire Ways For Entrepreneurs To Stay Visible During the Pandemic

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Starting out as an entrepreneur can be challenging, and with the current limitation toward social gatherings such as conferences, it’s even more challenging. As an entrepreneur, you have to be your own marketing department, PR team, and provide the product. Entrepreneurs should seek alternative ways to stay visible during the pandemic with the lockdown entering into its second year and a considerable skepticism toward physical meetups. In this article, we’ve suggested five ways to stay visible during the pandemic.

  1. Virtual appearances

What seemed strange only a year ago is the new normal for many. Conferences, meetings, and other work-related interactions have moved away from conference halls or meeting rooms into digitals spaces such as Zoom and Teams. Many companies and organizations have started offering digital conferences to stay engaged with their audience or clients, which provides a tremendous new opportunity for entrepreneurs to market themself.

Set out to make a list of companies that could be interested in hosting you on their virtual conference, reach out, and offer to hold a talk, Q&A, Webinar, or Livestream for their audience. This way, you can provide value to someone else in this challenging time and simultaneously expand your network.

  1. Be your own PR agency

Put your knowledge to use by pitching yourself to traditional media. Maybe the local newspaper would run a story on entrepreneurial struggles during the pandemic? Or your local TV station is looking for interview subjects for a case their running? Start out by offering your services as a source. You’ll help someone else in their job and gain free publicity in the process. Sign up for HARO (Help a reporter out), a free tool used by journalists to access sources and a great way to gain some publicity.

  1. Be the connector

Most are in the same situation during the lockdown. Home office or remote working has people feeling isolated and lonely. This can offer a great way to increase your network. Everyone is looking for a way to connect with people through new methods, reach out to your network, and be the connector. Check-in with your network and listen to what they are struggling with during the lockdown. Offer ways for people to connect, collaborate, or brainstorm new ideas. You’ll not only build a massive network but also stack up on some good karma.

  1. Seek out new ways to interact with your following

One of the main ways we market ourselves is through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. While these are frequently used for publishing content, they also offer great new ways to interact with your audience through live streams or webinars. What better time to go live than now that everyone is stuck in front of their computers? Try out new ways to interact with your following. Maybe live streams can turn out to be a vital part of your content schedule in the future!

  1. Help companies in the digitalization process

Entrepreneurs and startups often lead the way in digitalization. Use this as a marketing point and create content to help others adjust to a digital environment. Something that might be an everyday activity for you might be a huge adjustment for someone else. Put that experience into action and get marketing value for your brand at the same time.

The Bottom Line

Entrepreneurs need to be flexible and adjust when conditions change. While many might see it as a challenge, these adjustments also provide great opportunities to grow and expand in new ways.

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5 Demand Generation Best Practices to Boost Your Brand’s Awareness

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Building a long-term relationship with your customers is as tough as keeping your product in demand. We are all aware that the industry trends come and go so as an entrepreneur so you need to be able to sustain this rapid change.

To be successful in your chosen field, you have to maintain your brand awareness no matter how many large competitors come your way. Following these five practices will help you sustain the challenge and succeed in the long run.

Be consistent in proper communication with your customers

Always be attentive to your customers. As soon as your customers start to express their thoughts about your business, you need to respond as soon as you can so that your customers can feel that their concerns are being heard. This will help you produce the right product that your customers need. A customer will feel happy and satisfied whenever he/she receives the exact product he/she ordered and it arrives without a delay. Especially when the order is packed neatly and every piece is in good condition. This will urge him/her to reorder again and refer you to his/her friends and family.

Provide exceptional customer service

Handling a simple customer query can greatly affect your customer’s decision to buy your product. Aside from this fact, doing an extra mile for the customer will also let him/her feel they are truly valued. To ensure the order arrives correctly, make sure you keep in touch with your customers so you can also check if they encounter any problems associated with their order.

By doing this, you can provide an effective resolution in the early stages. Providing good customer service is a continuous process because your customers may change their minds instantly if you are not able to meet their expectations before, during, and after your transaction.

Be innovative and creative

Both of these qualities can produce a brand that is always tempting to the eyes and attracts the attention of your buyers. Millennials are always looking for new things. From the product you first use at your startup, never be afraid to perform an experiment so you can discover new things to improve your brand. You can always use the same product because you have already built your reputation with that one. You just need to be creative to enhance it so it continues to stand out among other trends.

Learn new sales strategies

Offering tempting promotions can be one of the best sales strategies you can incorporate into your business. This is the traditional way most entrepreneurs are still using because it is proven to be effective. Just make sure the discounts you offer will still generate an income though. You can also use other marketing channels to get better results and maintain your status in the industry.

Create sales metrics

A sales report can help you evaluate the aspects of your product which still requires your effort and attention. This is a smarter method to help you analyze if your sales strategy is effective or not. Your sales metrics also allow you to determine the marketing channel which contributes more to your revenue and which one should be eliminated if it is not working effectively. This is also helpful when you have other sales plans to promote additional income for the company.

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How To Manage Your Wellbeing During A Pandemic

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The world has certainly been turned upside down over the last couple of months. These unprecedented times have tested people and the impact of the pandemic will be seen for a long time. This has, however, given people a good opportunity to get to grips with their physical and mental wellness. If you are someone who exercises regularly then you will understand how important it is to a human being’s stability. Our emotional status is often very closely linked with our physical state.

Think about it, if you have a stressful day at work it is compounded by any physical ailment you may be experiencing. Stress is exponentially increased when we are out of balance with our bodies and the current situation has led to a lot of stress going around. We need to make sure that we are keeping tabs on our physical and mental well-being. This article will give you 5 tips to maintaining yourself during a pandemic and hopefully teach you to deal with stress a lot easier.

Here are 5 steps to get you going throughout the day:

Step 1: Wake up and make your bed.

Step 2: Eat a well-balanced breakfast.

Step 3: Take a moment to plan your day (without using your phone or technology).

Step 4: Pick a time to put on your exercise shoes and do it.

Step 5: Put on your shoes.

You do not have to be lifting weight or going for 2 hour runs every day. Simple exercises with simple movements can have a massive impact on your health and mental state. A good rule of thumb is that you should aim for half an hour of exercise every day. Regular exercise has proven to increase your brains ability to process serotonin and norepinephrine. These are the hormones in your brain that manage your ability to deal with stress. Simple exercise and getting the blood flowing can have a tremendous impact on your mood and stress levels. Another vital impact of exercise is that it will give you more energy. It may seem like a contradiction but the more energy you use, the more you actually have. If you spend all day on the couch your body will become accustomed to that lifestyle and you will find it harder and harder to get up and get going. During a pandemic, it is absolutely crucial that you keep your energy levels up because it is hard enough to deal with lockdown in a normal state, doing it while feeling tired and lethargic is much harder. Give yourself the boost you need by training your body and your mind.

Maintaining a healthy mindset is so important at this time. Everyone is dealing with the pandemic in different ways and you will find that those who are able to cope with the hardships are probably those people who have regular exercise routines. Taking care of your body creates a positive atmosphere and you will find that your mental state improves with each day that you spend on the go. You do not have to become a world-class athlete; you just need to get your body moving. Even a simple walk around the block can have massive effects on your well-being.

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5 Tips For Recognising A Golden Business Opportunity

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When you consider the statistics, including that only 2/3rds of business startups will survive 2 years in business, it makes the idea of starting your own business a little scarier. 30% of businesses will continually lose money, and that’s assuming that they have a stellar business idea, to begin with. However, your chances of success will be significantly improved if you have a golden business idea. Here are 5 tips that can help you see if you have a golden business idea in your hands.

1. Your idea can solve a problem

It doesn’t matter if your idea isn’t a new one; what matters is if it’s an innovative one. Every industry has their own flaws, but if you can solve a major problem that a particular niche has you will be more likely to succeed. Maybe you have figured out a way to be more efficient? Or maybe you found a way to offer those services for cheaper? By finding a solution to some weakness the industry has, you may have a great business idea in your hand.

2. You have an idea that people are willing to pay for

Ideas are one thing, but ideas that people are willing to pay you money for is another. If you have an innovative idea that can propel you to be the first business in that niche in the area, you need to be sure that you are starting a business people are willing to pay for. Any idea can sound great, but if you can’t convince a customer to buy it, then the idea isn’t obviously a good one.

3. There’s a niche market for your idea

If there isn’t a niche market that will be interested in your idea, you won’t even be able to get started on launching your business. If there is a market for your idea, then you will be in good shape as you launch your business, especially if you can solve a specific problem that niche is facing. To determine if there is a market for your idea, you need to do some market research that looks at the industry trends to find out if people are interested in your idea.

4. You’re passionate about your idea

Starting a business is time-consuming and stressful. There are a lot of things that you may need to overcome in the business to keep it going. If you don’t have any passion for your business idea, then you won’t be successful it’s plain and simple. Your passion will make sure that you dedicate the time that your business requires to succeed. This passion is what will help you keep moving forward even as obstacles stand in your way. You shouldn’t just pick something just because it will be profitable, otherwise, you won’t have any reason to stick with the idea when you face obstacles.

5. Staying realistic

Being an entrepreneur is about thinking big and following your dreams. However, you also need to be realistic. You need to stay grounded so that you can see any flaws in your plan. Maybe it isn’t as marketable as you think it would be. Staying realistic will keep you open to advice that will help you succeed or know if your idea isn’t really as great as you think it is.

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5 Secrets Of Building A Successful Brand

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Today, there are millions of brands out there scampering for a piece of the customer’s mind. A branding exercise can be called a success if it can invoke a certain emotional response when mentioned in a room full of people. But it is also so easy to get lost in the ocean when building a brand. So how do your consumers identify you in comparison to your competitors?

That’s your brand. Rolex and Daniel Wellington, both sell watches, but what sets them apart is the way they choose to communicate their attributes and merits to their respective segments.

And of course, a ‘product’ is not just defined by its attributes but also on how consumers perceive it. How a healthy snack is packaged can set it apart from a fried wafer. The colours on the design and materials used on the packaging can be just as relevant to building perception as the product itself.

Getting started

Imagine you’re building a Bed and Breakfast business. Setting up a brand would require conjuring up images of convenience on the premise as well as on the website, friendly service, and a range of breakfast options, which comes with any BnB service and sharing the vision with your target customers every time they look up a similar service.

When coming up with a branding exercise it would be pertinent to consider the pointers listed below:

Let you brand colour talk

There is no stronger communication method than the right colour for your brand when it comes to driving recall. According to a report by the Seoul International Color Expo, 92.6% of consumers responded saying that the visual aspect is what makes them think of a particular brand.

Too much red on the cover and consumers would know that the product deals in and with passion. White could signify peace and purity like the Unilever soap brand ‘Dove’ whereas green would mean eco-friendly and organic nature of the brands like ‘Whole Foods’.

Digital presence

In the era we currently live in, consumers always want an open channel to engage with the brand. Make sure your digital presence is consistent with your brand image. The colours and the overall look and feel of the website should convey the same message as the brand. The same goes for social media. The offers, campaigns, or any other engagement should be planned to keep the brands’ core theme in mind.

Build a strong brand personality

A brand is more than just a product. It is a state of mind and it should be visible in its personality. When husband and wife duo, Jin Suk and Do Won Chang started Forever21, they built a youthful and vibrant brand for the young who aspired to look as fashionable as a luxury brand like Zara at a fraction of their cost.

Superiority and Longevity

The true purpose of branding is to become at the top of the mind recall for your customer. This can be achieved when your product or service is seen as superior to its competitors. Superior does not mean the best but consumers need to ‘perceive’ them as such.

Also, if consumers are convinced that you are going to be there for a long time, they start looking at you as a brand.

This has nothing to do with the quality or customer service but the emotional response that you can invoke within people’s minds.

Find your Influencer

In this exponentially growing digital world, Influencers are a recent breed that has amassed a following of internet users. People listen to what they have to say and believe in them. An influencer can reliably take your message to your target audience and create a perception in your favor. The best part is that the cost and time required is relatively lower than traditional marketing techniques.

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Five Inspirational Movies Every Entrepreneur Should Watch And Why

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Let’s face it; who doesn’t love watching inspirational stories right? And what better story is there than a story about someone facing the struggles of trying to succeed in business and in life? There are actually several significant lessons entrepreneurs can learn from Hollywood’s version of entrepreneurship as displayed in these movies and below are five movies every entrepreneur should definitely watch because all of them have important lessons especially for budding entrepreneurs:

The Pursuit of Happyness

Besides being an iconic and inspirational real-life tale that will have an effect on most people, it is especially relevant for those in pursuit of their own dreams.

It’s about investing in your life and never giving up for the want of a better life.

Some of the real-life lessons you can gain from this movie include:

– Hitting rock bottom; things may become worse before they get better; the road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.
– Don’t be afraid to aim high even if the odds are stacked against you.
– Work for it as if your life depended on it. Success comes with working incredibly hard.
– Increase your chances of success by not wasting time and using your resources wisely.
– Get back up whenever you get knocked down.
– Don’t let people’s opinions stop you, even if you are constantly put down by others.
– Show no weakness in business.

These further 4 movies will inspire and teach other valuable lessons in life and business. Whatever stage you are at – there’s a lot you can learn from these entrepreneurial-minded show-stoppers.

The Godfather (Trilogy):

Possibly the ultimate feature film for entrepreneurs to watch. Not just thrilling and thought-provoking but it also prepares you for the business world. It highlights why relationships and networks matter as well as alliances, why helping people leads to good business and why understanding the competition and competitive up with effective strategies is the key to success.

Erin Brockovich

Based on a true story that beautifully illustrates why it’s not about how much you have at the start, you can eventually win in the end just by sheer guts, grit, and determination. The movie also touches on social responsibility and doing good when the odds are stacked against you, sustainable business models, and female empowerment and gender biases in the business world.

Catch Me If You Can

A classic film, it’s based on real events that personify a person’s entrepreneurial journey. This movie touches on important skills like creative problem solving, business vision, sales techniques, how something good can come out of something bad, the skill and mastery of good old-fashioned hustle, and how charisma can actually help you succeed in life. The lead character may not be an exemplary example of how to go about being the model entrepreneur but it certainly makes for resourceful watching!

Jerry Maguire

Jerry Maguire is a classic movie that everyone loves and some of the most important take-aways from this movie are:

– When you are following your dream, everything else will fall into place,
– Take care of your clients and the money will take care of itself and not the other way around.
– You can succeed again after losing everything. And the journey will be worth it.
– Values and virtues are important building blocks of business.
– Personal relationships are vital.

To conclude, whether you’re an established entrepreneur or an emerging one and you’re looking for something to lift your spirits up and give you more drive than watch these films with a vengeance and take notes.

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3 Ways To Keep Your Business Alive And Thriving Despite The Rising Competitions

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Change is permanent in the industry and so are competitors. They are both associated with challenges, risks, and sometimes, failure. But fear not, if you can actually treat them as an opportunity to make your business grow and stand out. Surviving these dominating factors of the market will give you strength and flexibility whenever the worst things may happen. This will also help you get prepared if you are planning for a bigger business venture in the near future.

Through your constant engagement with your team, partners, and customers, you can consistently grow your business with focus. Competitors can be a distraction if you keep on focusing on what they can do – Why not focus on the bigger things you can do instead?

Even larger corporations have shortcomings and most commonly, some fail to provide the basic necessity of the customers. You can fulfill these shortcomings by starting on the very small thing that may lead you to the heart of your customers and that is customer service.

Green innovation

A continuous and green innovation can also be one of the keys which may help you throughout the business operation. Green innovation promotes environmentally friendly manufacturing process to prevent the harmful effects of pollution. This is also a cost-effective way to create your products and save energy to cut some manufacturing costs. Doing this strategy makes you a true leader and not just a business owner.

Build a brand of your own

You do not have to imitate what others produce. Use your product not just to gain profit but to influence your customer’s lives as well. Your influence will instantly connect you to them. If you are to use an advertisement for example, make sure the characters on the screen are not just compelling and attractive, but they should also emphasize a meaningful message. In this way, people will be aware of your own brand identity.

Collaborate with your team

Collaboration with your team will also ensure a good working environment. Accept feedback and learn to listen to your team’s suggestions. You may have talented employees who may have better ideas which can be helpful for your business. Collaborating with your team will lead to smooth-sailing business transactions and loyalty.

Build customer retention

Acquiring new customers is as important as retaining the old ones. You have already built the trust of your old customers so make sure to maintain this relationship. Remember, the word of mouth is also powerful. Therefore, ensure to keep your loyal customers because they can also contribute to additional sales revenue.

They can refer your company to other people who are also looking the same service you offer. It’s pretty much hitting two birds with one stone. You can maintain a long-term relationship with your customers while effortlessly adding new potential buyers.

Doing all these essential things will definitely keep your customers returning to you. You have also shown that being an entrepreneur is not just aboug making money for a living. You will serve as a leader because of your strong emotional engagement with the people around you while you maintain a safe and healthy environment.