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The Business and Life You Want to Build
In the early days of my first consulting business, I knew I needed some sort of plan to give me the greatest chance at success. I took many a wrong step, yet in the end I managed to put a solid business together. I had learned through bitter experience that forming a successful business is to be conscious about the kind of business, and the sort of life, I wanted to have. I spent long hours thinking and writing about what I believed, what I wanted from my life, why I wanted to start a business, and the things I did well. Only after that initial work was I able to look at the How of creating a sustainable business. The Conscious Business Being conscious about creating your business and your life will set you apart from 99% of the other businesses in your industry. Setting your intent and clearly visualizing and defining your goal gives you the clarity and energy you need to take what you do best and focus it on success. Many a business plan has been slapped together using one of the business planning tool software packages available today. The problem with such tools is that they start you off in midstream. Make the mistake of thinking that a quick business plan is all you need for success and you will be gnashing your teeth before you're through. There is a lot you need to know before you begin a business plan. And all the software in the world will not substitute for the background you need to create solid business plans, investor presentations, and communication strategies. Never Too Late to Start For the small business it's never too late to reexamine your foundation. But it is far better to begin well. In the beginning you have a smaller team. Your minds are not contaminated by what you think you know, by the sorts of experiences you get in the first few years of a new business. Don't get me wrong -- experience is a wonderful teacher, but experience without focus is worthless. You have an opportunity to create a mindset and the right focus. Spend the time early on and you can manage most of the difficulties you'll encounter while they're still small. You'll mitigate the risk of launching a new business or product because you'll have spent time understanding the territory. Remember: Knowing the territory comes first. Maps come later. Starting a business is risky. Take the time to assess your concept and develop a clear picture of your resources, your abilities, and what's needed to make your idea a reality before diving into the planning process. It's in our culture, unfortunately, to not be conscious about the choices we make and to blame others for the circumstances of our lives. Why not be different about the choices you make today? Make what happens in your business and your life a conscious decision. Create the path that's right for you! Michael Knowles, co-author of The Entrepreneur's Concept Assessment Toolbook (available at http://www.booklocker.com/books/1988.html or Amazon.com) helps businesses take what they do best and focus it on success. A Principal in One Straight Line LLC, Michael has over 25 years of experience helping companies create communication strategies help them engage customers, employees, investors, outsourcing partners, and the community. Michael can be reached at mknowles@onestraightline.com. Sign up for the One Straight Line newsletter by sending email to subscribe@onestraightline.com.
MORE RESOURCES: Terry Murden: A give-and-take Budget, with business picking up the bill (The ... 20 Mar 2010 at 7:43pm ACCORDING to Lloyds Banking Group, Friday's surprise trading statement was issued ahead of an update that chief executive Eric Daniels is due to deliver to shareholders th Apps are a Goldmine for Developers (PC World via Yahoo! News) 18 Mar 2010 at 11:24am A new study from Chetan Sharma Consulting claims that the market for apps will skyrocket to $17.5 billion by 2012. The independent study, commissioned by the world's second-largest app store GetJar, predicts that the number of app downloads will explode from around 7 million in 2009 to over 50 million by 2012. South Africa : Street Knowledge is Power for a Hands-On Marketer (AllAfrica.com) 19 Mar 2010 at 6:50am Johannesburg ? KGAUGELO Maphai is a young Johannesburg entrepreneur who believes his township roots are a business asset far more useful than any black economic empowerment deal. Engineers revolutionizing Third World housing and infrastructure featured at ... 19 Mar 2010 at 11:18am The recent earthquake in Haiti graphically demonstrated to the world how the impact of a natural disaster is magnified by poorly constructed housing and unplanned infrastructure. Apps are a Goldmine for Developers (PC World) 18 Mar 2010 at 1:02pm A new study predicts a huge market for apps, and illustrates what a significant business opportunity app development represents. Handel's star rising in Georgia governor's race (Appen Newspapers) 18 Mar 2010 at 11:17am March 18, 2010 ROSWELL ? Former Secretary of State Karen Handel continues to rise in the polls while front runner John Oxendine continues to lose ground, and the redoubtable Undecided leads GOP candidates with 32 percent. Vital Voices Honors Extraordinary Women Innovators From Around the World at 2... 18 Mar 2010 at 3:43pm In recognition of International Women's Day and the fifteenth anniversary of Vital Voices founder and then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's historic declaration at the UN Conference on Women in Beijing that "women's rights are human rights," Vital Voices gathered over 1,000 supporters to honor and celebrate innovative women leaders who are working worldwide to strengthen democracy, increase ... CIOs who tweet ? a useful list for IT professionals (Computer Weekly) 17 Mar 2010 at 3:14am Are IT bosses doing enough to understand and use social technology? Some still brush it off as irrelevant, but others are embracing it - here is our list of UK CIOs who tweet. Do You Have "A Number"? (Inc Magazine) 16 Mar 2010 at 12:52pm Every business owner, it seems, has "a number"--a dollar figure at which they will have considered their entrepreneurial endeavors a success. But whenever we examine that number more closely, it quickly withers in the light of scrutiny. There are so many essential questions to ask when thinking about one's exit strategy, yet all too often, common sense is lost in the emotional swirl of "the ... FCC's eagerly awaited Broadband Plan unveiled today -- here's why it matters ... 16 Mar 2010 at 8:28am FCC's eagerly awaited Broadband Plan unveiled today -- here's why it matters By Steve Borsch | Tuesday, March 16, 2010 Broadband experts and entrepreneurs are adamant that nothing is more important to Internet innovation than ubiquitous and fast broadband (except for startup funding, of course). But moving from a plan to congressional action is another matter entirely. |
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