May 12th, 2008
The 2nd Step to becoming an entrepreneur is finding a mentor or mentors. Starting out in entrepreneurship definitely has it’s ups and downs. Especially for a young entrepreneur. Jim will tell ya, I’m not the smartest cookie, but I’ve done like 1 or 2 things right in life. One of them was married my wife, and the other was found a bunch of mentors.
Mentors are so crucial to a young entrepreneurs but why do so many 20-somethings not have mentors? I think the biggest reason is because when we get out of high school or college, we sometimes think we’re hot shots, that we can take on the world because we just accomplished something. I have no problem with thinking you’re a hot shot (cause I think I’m one myself…jk), but it’s super important to make sure that you’ve got someone in your life that is coaching you, motivating you, there when you fail, to keep you accountable, and help you become the person you become.
A mentor doesn’t always have to be someone that you talk to, it can also be someone that you read about, someone that you buy CD’s from, it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re following someone. Someone once said, “The day you stop following is the day you stop leading.” Leadership is a key component of an entrepreneur because you’re leading either your business or other people that are following you.
I owe most of what I know about entrepreneurship from folks that mentored me years ago. They taught me many things, but the main thing they always taught me was to always be following someone because they did the same thing.
Go out there and find someone that can help you learn about entrepreneurship, help you grow, pick you up when you fall, someone hat has YOUR best interest in mind. Real leaders LOVE pouring into 20-somethings cause they know we’re the future of the world. Here’s some things that you need to bring to the table when being mentored:
1. Be coachable
2. Have a strong desire to learn
3. Dont ever be late to your appointments whether they’re face to face or on the phone!
Don’t let yourself get in the way of finding a mentor and achieving all it is that you wanna achieve. Remember, in entrepreneurship, you don’t always have to be the leader, it’s okay to follow. Find a mentor and trust me, you’ll learn so much about yourself and it wil be well worth your time!
How has a mentor helped you out? How did you approach your mentor? I think these are questions that we all can learn from?
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By Alejandro Reyes -- 0 comments
May 11th, 2008
I would tell you to buy her everything she deserves, but I am pretty sure the universe isn’t for sale.
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By Jim Gordon -- 0 comments
May 11th, 2008
You have a business opened in the middle of downtown and the city says they need to work on some water pipes below your building. They have found some leaks which could potentially cause water contamination or other, more complicated issues. Unfortunately, the city insists on working on it immediately - so you have to shut down your business for a few days. Lo and behold, you receive a phone call from the city saying there have been some complications with the repair. The water that was leaking has actually caused some serious erosion below your building and has collapsed the center of your shop due to a sink hole (this is an actual situation). What should your next step be?
Tags: city, insurance, oh crap situation, sink hole, structural damage, water problemsShare This
By Jim Gordon -- 0 comments
May 9th, 2008
WHY?
That’s what YOU have to ask yourself as an entrepreneur. A couple days ago I wrote about the 5 steps in becoming a Young Entrepreneur. The first thing that any young entrepreneur needs to be thinking about is the ‘why’ behind them becoming one.
Your “WHY” is your reason for doing what you do. It’s your drive, your purpose, that thing that you’re working for. People become entrepreneurs for many different reasons. Here are just a few reasons why:
- Time freedom
- Family
- Travel
- To be your own Boss
These are just a few. Did you notice I didn’t mention money. Money will only take you so far. But it’s what money does for you that’s more important than money itself. If it’s all about money for you, I PROMISE you that you’ll never be fulfilled.
For me, it was to be in a position where my wife can raise our kids, be able to pack our luggage at any moment and travel anywhere at any given time, and to be able to give back. Your reason might be different than mine, but you’ve gotta figure it out. A hint on how to find your why, is to figure out what you’re passionate about, what you love most, who you love, that thing inside of you that you LIVE for!
Another reason this is so important in my opinion is because being an entrepreneur can sometimes be rough. Being you’re own boss can get to you sometimes. Lets say that money isn’t coming in, you’re being rejected, you can’t strike up business, your friends and family might think you’re crazy, if you have no ‘why’ it’s very easy to give up and throw in the towel. When you’re absolutely clear about your reason why you’re an entrepreneur, there’s NOTHING that will stand in your way of becoming a successful young entrepreneur.
What’s your reason why and how has it helped you?
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By Alejandro Reyes -- 0 comments
May 9th, 2008
Hey, we are getting $500 - let’s spend it! What is the most effective, beneficial use of your stimulus check?
Here’s a few ideas I came up with:
- Pay debt
- Test a new form of (online?) advertising
- Nest egg
- Invest in organizational tools
- Upgrade computer (assuming it can’t accomplish all the tasks you need)
- Buy some useful software
- 5-hour back massage :)
Where else can you put your stimulus check? … You know, for the benefit of your business!
Tags: $500, investment, Money, stimulus checkShare This
By Jim Gordon -- 0 comments
May 7th, 2008
Last week I wrote that I would be discussing some of the first steps that I believe every Young Entrepreneur should take. I didn’t get this out of some book or watched it on Donny Deutsch, these are things that I have seen help myself as well as successful entrepreneurs that I know.
I’m a firm believer in following, studying, and sometimes copying what other successful people do. Bestselling writer and motivational speaker Tony Robbins said, “If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results.”
Don’t copy everything step by step and produce the same products, services, or business models, what I think Tony is referring to are the processes, systems, methods that successful entrepreneurs use. The difference should always be your USP or niche.
With that said, here are the 5 Steps that I believe if you start applying today (not tomorrow cause “tomorrow” will never come) you’ll be in a much better shape down the road.
I’ll be going over these steps with you over the next week in detail and would love some feedback as well as what you think are some other steps that young entrepreneurs can take to have success.
5 Steps To Becoming a Young Entrepreneur
1. Figure out your WHY?
2. Find a Mentor
3. Network & Connect
4. Make a Plan
5. Take Action
There’s probably a lot more steps and things you can do, but to me, these are the most important things any young entrepreneur can start doing today.
Are any of you implementing any of these already? Have they helped? Are there any specific questions you might have in regards to these 5 steps so that I make sure to address them?
Looking forward to getting your questions answered and hopefully get things moving in the right direction for you!
Tags: tony robbins, young entrepreneurShare This
By Alejandro Reyes -- 0 comments
May 6th, 2008
Freaking out because you want to get an idea to some investors, but afraid they will steal your bait? Fear not! I have your solution!
NDA - Non-Disclosure Agreement… according to Wikipedia:
is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential materials or knowledge the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict from generalized use. In other words, it is a contract through which the parties agree not to disclose information covered by the agreement. An NDA creates a confidential relationship between the parties to protect any type of trade secret. As such, an NDA can protect non-public business information.
NDAs are commonly signed when two companies or individuals are considering doing business and need to understand the processes used in each others business solely for the purpose of evaluating the potential business relationship. NDAs can be “mutual”, meaning both parties are restricted in their use of the materials provided, or they can only restrict a single party.
Basically, you can’t use any of the information and you can’t disclose any of the information occurring to anyone. Let’s say you reinvent the wheel - if you show your friend the wheel without a signed NDA, he can steal the idea since it isn’t an intellectual property. If he signs it, you can show him every little detail - if it is replicated in any way, you have the rights to the property.
Fortune recently wrote an article on protecting ideas which outlines the importance of NDA’s.
You can protect yourself with a nondisclosure agreement. Ask the company you are approaching to sign it before talking to you.
“This is a relatively simple contract to protect the confidentiality of each side’s IP,” Stock says. “It states that you will not use any information you learn about the other party unless you are doing business together.”
Stock also suggests that when you do meet with the company, you present them with some of your technology as a first step, but not all of it: “Wanting it all at once can be a bad sign. The partner should understand that you want to establish a trust first.”
Don’t be dumb with your ideas… secure them.
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By Jim Gordon -- 0 comments
May 4th, 2008
Your site is up and you’re getting steady hits. Finding new ways to allow users to interact with your website is increasing your hits steadily. One feature, in particular, is the chat box. You have a few dedicated members of your site who continuously and actively use your chat box. Unfortunately, hackers have found a way to mess with your code by using the chat function. How will you secure this features and the others on your site? How should you re-evaluate your position on controlling security of all of your features?
On a side note, this kind of stems from a personal experience. I had a website with a message board (PHPBB) which would continuously experience DDOS attacks and ultimately led to my front page being hacked several times. After a day of testing, I figured out I had a version of PHPBB that wasn’t updated. So make sure all of your third-party software is updated properly!
Tags: hacked, oh crap situation, phpbb, updatingShare This
By Jim Gordon -- 0 comments
May 3rd, 2008
Hello everyone, my name is Alejandro Reyes and I’ll be co-blogging on here with Jim. Jim has done an awesome job so far and I just want to continue to add value to aspiring entrepreneurs as it’s something I’m extremely passionate about.
When I was 17 years old, I went to one of those “hotel meetings” that you might have or have not heard about. You might be thinking, “OMG you went to one of those pyramid scheme meetings,” but the cool thing about it was I learned something there that completely rocked my world!
The speaker that was invited in talked about a word that I had never ever heard before. He mentioned that “entrepreneurship” was a way that an individual can go out there and create the lifestyle that they wanna live vs. having someone else tell them where they need to be, what hours they have to work, and how much money they should make. I looked to the the guy that took me to the event and said, “I don’t know what an entrepreneur is but I want to make sure that I’m one of those.”
I ended up going home not signing up for this companies deal but that night I could not sleep. I had two things on my mind. One, this speaker guy had totally shifted my paradigm when it comes to the way I should live my life and two, I keep wondering what “entrepreneurship” was. I asked myself it had anything to do with a French chip or something.
My world was rocked because all I knew growing up was what I saw from my parents and grand parents. You go to school to get good grades so you can go to college. You get good grades in college so that you can get a good job. You get a good job (making someone else’s dreams come true) so that one day when you’re in your 60’s you can retire. Now there’s absolutely NOTHING wrong with this, but the problem that I had with it was that fact that I wasn’t given this option. I wasn’t taught this in school. Come to find out that most schools don’t even talk about giving you an option.
So what I did was started learning everything that I can about entrepreneurship and how to become an entrepreneur. It has been 10 years since I first heard about entrepreneurship and my goal is to hopefully give you a maybe a different point of view about starting a business, becoming an entrepreneur, or maybe just to give you options in life.
Next week I’m going to be writing about what I believe are some of the first steps that an entrepreneur needs to do to start off on the right foot.
Question for you in the meantime. What did you first think about when you heard about “being an entrepreneur” or about “entrepreneurship?”
Tags: , aspiring entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, Young EntrepreneursShare This
By Alejandro Reyes -- 2 comments
May 1st, 2008
Happy month of May everyone! I would like to start off the month by introducing my new co-blogger Alejandro Reyes!
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By Jim Gordon -- 0 comments
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