Ron McArthur, President of WSI, says, “WSI strongly believes in giving back to the community through several outreach programs, including our Make Child Poverty History (MCPH) fundraising campaigns, our Young Entrepreneurship Scholarship (YES!) Program and our newest initiative called Investing in America. Though the recession impacted markets all over the world, the US economy especially underwent a considerable downturn. By launching our Investing in America Program, we hope to do our part in helping to re-build the US economy, while offering young entrepreneurs and military veterans an opportunity to start their own business at a 50% discounted franchisee fee – perhaps an opportunity they may not be offered otherwise.”

WSI has set aside 30 single unit franchises for this program, each available at a discounted franchise fee of $24,700 USD. This opportunity is applicable to all new franchise applicants entering the selection process effective August 10, 2010. Young entrepreneurs can qualify for this opportunity if they are under the age of 28, have completed their high school education and can provide proof of said qualifications. Meanwhile, military veterans can qualify by providing a valid DD214 or alternative proof of completing military service. All applicants must be US citizens and, if they are selected, will operate their WSI digital marketing franchise in the US at a local license level.

To learn more about Investing in America, please watch this video: http://bit.ly/dmbk8X

“The great thing about this program is its ‘pay it forward’ approach,” says Ron McArthur. “All those who receive a WSI digital marketing franchise through Investing in America will be asked to invest back into their local communities. For example, they could donate a website or digital marketing services to a local church, non-profit organization, children’s program or community center. A young entrepreneur could offer to give a motivational speech at a school about business success or donate time to teach a class about digital marketing to a local college or university. These are just a few suggestions; all those in the program will have creative freedom to give back in unique ways best suited to their skills and the needs of their local communities.”

All franchisees in the Investing in America Program will have 5 years to complete the task of donating charitable acts in the total value of $25,000, which is equivalent to the 50% discount they received on the franchisee fee. Through the “pay it forward” component of the program, WSI hopes that not only will the US economy experience growth with the opening of additional digital marketing offices, but that local communities around the country will benefit through charitable acts delivered by their Investing in America franchisees.

All eligible, US-based young entrepreneurs and military veterans are invited to apply for the program by visiting www.wsiinvestinginamerica.com.

For more information, please visit www.wsiinvestinginamerica.com or contact Valerie Brown-Dufour at 1-905-678-7588 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1-905-678-7588      end_of_the_skype_highlighting ext. 1370 or vbrown-dufour@wsicorporate.com.

When I found out about www.municibid.com a couple of days ago, I didn’t realize that actually buying stuff from Uncle Sam might be a good thing for small businesses. After talking with my friend Jen, I realized I was actually missing two important things: municibid is a great example of finding a niche need and turning it into a business and second, small businesses can cut costs by purchasing from the government.

It never crossed my mind the US government didn’t have an efficient way to sell surplus and forfeited / seized goods and that you could actually find a way to start a business just from knowing this, but Greg Berry, municibid’s founder did.

In 2005, while serving in his first year as a town counselor in Pennsylvania, Greg felt the pain, first hand, of selling no longer needed items for far less than the market value using the sealed bid process… It was clear there were two issues… 1. No one knew the items were for sale and 2. The bidding was not truly competitive.  He knew there was a better way! So in 2007 municid.com was born.

But how does it help small businesses?

I believe that the crisis made purchasing from the government a viable option in 2 ways:

• small businesses need to cut costs but continue to grow; then buying cheaper it’s good news;

• government is trying to sell plenty of inventory to coupe with the budget and personnel reduction.

And here is municibid.com coming into place and helping small business owners have easier and more convenient access to the goods on sale as explained by Greg: “a town wants to sell a no longer needed police car…  they list the car on municibid, the listing is immediately pushed out all over the web (Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn (and many more) and item specific sites, such as the First Responders Network).  The car is exposed to a much broader, nationwide & global audience.   It is convenient to bidders (no travel, can bid when they want, no paperwork, etc) and is a much less intimidating process.  It opens the auctions to everyone, not just the “professional bidder.”

Through my interviews with entrepreneurs and my own experience  I’ve came to realize that success in entrepreneurship has little to do with education, luck or the economic environment. Of course, things can be easier or harder depending on where you are, but apart from this, the universal entrepreneurship essence says that entrepreneurs are people that find ways to adapt to the market and start successful businesses where everyone think there is no opportunity. For example, would a fashion business thrive in Africa? Well, it does, against all odds.

What I did find through the interviews was interesting: successful entrepreneurs have special personality traits. Determination to succeed; commitment towards growing the business against all odds; positive thinking. And I’ve always said there is something wrong about entrepreneur’s mind.

So what’s special about successful entrepreneurs personality? I’ve did a bit of research and I’ve came across a report called “Six Dimensions that Characterize Success-Oriented Small Business Owners” from The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute:

• Collaborative. Success-oriented small business owners learn how to delegate effectively to others within their business as well as build strong personal relationships with their management team, employees, consultants, vendors and customers. They are more committed “to creating opportunities for others.”

• Self-fulfilled. Success-oriented small business owners place a high value on the personal fulfillment and gratification that their companies provide them, relishing the self-determination and respect that come from being their own boss and being in control of their personal income and long-term net worth. They are more desirous of “doing something for a living that I love to do,” “being able to decide how much money I make” and “being able to have the satisfaction of creating something of value.”

• Future-focused. Planning for both the short- and long-term future are key traits that characterize success-oriented small business owners. They are more focused on cash flow and more likely to have “a well thought out plan to run our business for years into the future” as well as “a well thought out plan to run our business day to day.”

• Curious. Success-oriented small business owners are more open to learning how others run their businesses. They actively seek best practice insights regarding management, business innovation, prospecting and finding / motivating / retaining employees.

• Tech-savvy. Technology is a key point of leverage for success-oriented small business owners. They more intensely value their company’s website and are significantly more likely to “rely a great deal on technology to help make our business more effective and more efficient.”

• Action oriented. Finally, success-oriented small business owners are more proactive in taking initiative to build their businesses.  They are more committed to “taking the business to the next level,” “differentiating ourselves from our competitors” and “having something to sell when I’m ready to retire.”  They also see adversity as “a kick in the rear to help move you forward.” Not surprisingly, they are less concerned than other small business owners about the overall state of the economy.

Don’t have these personality traits? Don’t worry, Steve Welch, a successful entrepreneur says  We Are All Born Entrepreneurs and wrote a book about this.

Health and Wellness with Dr. Nancy Mramor of Transformedia

Dr. Mramor, a psychotherapist and Spiritual Fitness Coach with 25 years of experience, will address modern heath concerns for women and steps women can take to maintain and improve health. She will share proven techniques that engage and synthesize mind, body, and spirit for total wellness to protect your most valuable asset for wealth – your good health!

Finding Funds For Your Small Business with Lindsay Biddle, Institute of Entrepreneurial Excellence

This session will identify sources of cash flow, as well as the types of investors needed to back a small business. Womens small business (http://www.wbsa.ws) growth and development will be the focus. Ways to budget creatively and to avoid financial pitfalls will also be discussed. This session will be presented by Lindsay Biddle, who brings years of experience to her role at the Institute.

Success From Saying, “No!” presented by Sharon Eakes of Hope Unlimited

As a personal and executive coach with backgrounds in psychology and management, Ms. Eakes helps clients thrive in both their personal and professional lives. Her session will help attendees learn how to avoid over committing, focus on their unique strengths, and prioritize responsibilities without guilt.

Branding and Marketing Your Business by Liz DeWitt of Liz DeWitt Marketing Consulting

Ms. DeWitt, a marketing strategist who specializes in helping clients create authentic, differentiated brands and develop marketing/public relations plans for increasing market share, will presenton the importance of building and selling a brand. Tools for brand building that will be shared include utilizing the media, online networking, licensing, and strategic partnerships.

Networking Essential – by Barbara Schwarck of Clear Intentions

As founder of Clear Intentions, Ms. Schwarck offers executive coaching, training, and assessment to business leaders seeking to improve leadership skills and become truly effective and satisfied. Her session will focus on the benefits of face-to-face networking and techniques for productive networking to stand out in the crowd and drive profits.

Business Operations and Outsourcing with Ruby Wilkosz of Working Order

Ms. Wilkosz is the regional director of Volunteers of America of Pennsylvania’s Working Order program. Her organization offers a small business development program which develops and supports entrepreneurship for individuals with disabilities or other obstacles to traditional employment. Her session will address hiring the right professionals to build your business.

Using Technology Within Your Small Business by William Weil of Pittsburgh SEO

Mr. Weil is a marketing and technology expert whose firm specializes in website development and search engine optimization (SEO). His session will help attendees make sense of how to grow your business using strategic internet strategies.

This event is sponsored by The Pittsburgh Business Times, Keystone Benefits Group, and MedExpress. The cost of the event is $38.00 for WSBA Premier Members, $43.00 for general members, $48.00 for non-members or for admission at the door. The cost includes the Honoring Extraordinary Women Awards Luncheon and an afternoon networking happy hour. For additional information on the sessions and speakers, as well as event registration, please visit the calendar section of the WSBA website http://www.wbsa.ws.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business feature over 50 categories including Executive of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Company of the Year, Employer of the Year, Mentor of the Year, Female Employee of the Year, Women’s Blog or Web Site of the Year, and Marketing Campaign for Women of the Year, among others. The awards are produced by the creators of the prestigious American Business Awards.

All female entrepreneurs, executives, and the organizations they run, worldwide, are eligible to be nominated.

The discounted early-bird entry deadline is July 28 and the final deadline is August 31, 2010. Entrants save 25% by entering early. Winners of the seventh annual competition will be announced at a gala awards dinner in New York in November.

The survey, conducted at America’s Small Business Summit 2010, held May 17-19, 2010 in Washington, D.C., also found that nearly half of small businesses are operating without a Business Continuity Plan. Travelers is a corporate sponsor of the Summit, hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“Small business ownership, while potentially very rewarding, also carries with it great risks,” said Marc Schmittlein, President and Chief Executive Officer, Travelers Select Accounts. “Owners largely focus their efforts on growing their business and, too often, they overlook risks that could stunt that growth and/or even shut their doors for business permanently. The most successful owners are those that balance their pursuit of growth with a prudent approach to risk management.”

According to the survey, ranked in order from highest to lowest, business owners’ most pressing priorities are:

1. Marketing and sales

2. Managing cash flow

3. Attracting financing

4. Attracting and retaining employees

5. Identifying and managing insurable risks

6. Compliance with federal and state regulations

7. Protecting against litigation and lawsuits

In addition to the relatively low priority placed on risk management, 44 percent of small businesses are operating without a Business Continuity Plan and only 36 percent have ever spoken with an insurance agent about developing one, despite data from the American Red Cross that indicates that as many as 40 percent of small businesses do not reopen after a disaster.

The survey found that business owners are confident that their businesses are protected against insurable risks that can result in significant financial losses or even cause them to go out of business altogether. In fact, only six percent of business owners are not at all confident that their business is adequately protected; 53 percent are somewhat confident and 41 percent consider themselves extremely confident. This confidence comes despite the fact that 39 percent of business owners are unable to make the time necessary to effectively identify and manage operational risks, given competing priorities.

Schmittlein continued: “While confidence is key to a small business owner’s success, so much of what can derail a business is outside of the business owner’s control. There is no reason for a business owner to bear risks that can be avoided. Developing a Business Continuity Plan is a critical success factor for business owners with a long-term view.”

As one of the largest providers of small business insurance, Travelers has the background and experience necessary to offer small business owners superior products and services. By working with independent insurance agents that represent Travelers, small business owners have access to insurance coverages and risk mitigating services designed to protect against the unique risks and exposures they face, giving them the time to tend to their business and know that it is protected.

Full results of the small business owner survey are available online – Risk Management on Main Street. For more information on developing a Business Continuity Plan, visit Travelers Risk Control Services industry-leading website www.travelers.com/riskcontrol or speak to an independent insurance agent.

It starts with the story of Matthew Crawford, who has a PhD in political philosophy, gave up his job as executive director of a Washington think tank to start his own business as a mechanic of vintage motorcycles.

Then I’ve read this LA TImes article For backyard-farmer companies, business is bountiful, which tells the story of Todd Lininger, who co-founded Farmscape in 2008, walks through a garden patch in the backyard of a client’s home in Claremont. The company’s revenue jumped $22,000 this year, to $54,000.

So is an old school job better to get over the crisis?

In partnership with the New Economy Initiative (NEI) for Southeast Michigan, the University of Miami, Wayne State University and Walsh College, The Blackstone Charitable Foundation is making its first major grant to establish “Blackstone LaunchPad,” a program it hopes will become a national model for fostering entrepreneurship through higher education.

The Blackstone Charitable Foundation’s $2 million grant will bring Blackstone LaunchPad to the campuses of Wayne State University and Walsh College in Southeast Michigan. Blackstone LaunchPad advances the mission and successful methodology designed by the University of Miami. Founded in 2008, the University of Miami program promotes entrepreneurial thinking and activity among undergraduate, graduate students and new alumni. In its first two years, “The Launch Pad” at the University of Miami attracted more than 1000 students and young alumni who received support enabling them to create 45 new businesses and 102 new jobs.

Blackstone LaunchPad will help aspiring entrepreneurs transform untested ideas into vital businesses that lead to economic revitalization by providing practical skills, seasoned advice and professional contacts. As partners in implementing Blackstone LaunchPad, the University of Miami will work with Wayne State University and Walsh College in building a local network of entrepreneur mentors.

Blackstone’s Chairman and CEO, Stephen A. Schwarzman said: “A sustained period of job growth depends on the creativity, innovation and ultimate success of entrepreneurs in creating new businesses. That’s why The Blackstone Charitable Foundation is unleashing its capital and the firm’s expertise to help foster the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

Detroit Congressman John Conyers, Jr. said: “We are thrilled at the investment that the Blackstone Charitable Foundation will be making in our community. Job creation in the Detroit region is spurred by new businesses and technology grown here at home. This grant to Wayne State University reflects the strength of its TechTown initiative and the commitment of its faculty. With the opportunity that LaunchPad provides, our area residents are ready to show their talents and industry as entrepreneurs poised to lead the region’s economic revival.”

NEI, a collaboration of 10 local and national foundations committed to moving Southeast Michigan toward becoming a stronger innovation-based economy, intends to make its own grant of $800,000 to provide central coordination services and an evaluation tool to measure the success of the project.

NEI Executive Director Dave Egner said: “Entrepreneurial activity is often the catalyst in growing of successful businesses, industries and communities. The Blackstone LaunchPad program at Wayne State University and Walsh College will help support the need in our region to foster entrepreneurship through a higher education setting. This is an important new approach to educating the next generation of entrepreneurs who are so critical to growing the region’s economy.”

University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala said: “The Blackstone Charitable Foundation has made a visionary educational grant. It will enable students at Wayne State University and Walsh College to discover new careers in entrepreneurship and thereby to apply their talents and learning to help Detroit thrive. It is meaningful to the University of Miami that the model and programs developed at The Launch Pad on our campus can contribute to this exciting and novel project. We thank The Blackstone Charitable Foundation for inviting us to participate and are eager to begin this new educational collaboration.”

Wayne State University President Jay Noren said: “The training of new entrepreneurs is one of the primary foundations of Michigan’s return to economic prosperity. Through Blackstone LaunchPad we have an opportunity to groom students and provide them opportunities to build entrepreneurial skills and explore their ideas in a supportive environment. The university has created a lively entrepreneurial culture among our research faculty and at TechTown, our business incubator, and we are a logical and accommodating environment in which Blackstone LaunchPad may thrive. This is an important and timely program, and we look forward to collaborating with NEI, The Blackstone Charitable Foundation, University of Miami and Walsh College to make it successful.”

Walsh College President and CEO Stephanie Bergeron said: “Blackstone’s vision for entrepreneurship and higher education is a model to drive economic growth in the toughest-hit areas, and is inspirational. With the largest graduate business school in Michigan, innovative academic and community outreach programs, and survey results that show students asking for entrepreneurial support, Walsh College is committed to a powerful collaboration with The Blackstone Charitable Foundation, NEI, Wayne State University, and the University of Miami, which will bring the Blackstone LaunchPad to our students, the community and Michigan.”

About The Blackstone Charitable Foundation

The Blackstone Charitable Foundation was founded at the time of The Blackstone Group’s Initial Public Offering in 2007 with substantial commitments from the Firm’s employees. Influenced by the enterprising heritage of the firm and its founders, The Blackstone Charitable Foundation is directing its resources and applying the intellectual capital of the firm to foster entrepreneurship in areas hardest hit by the global economic crisis. Through its investment expertise across several asset classes and geographies, Blackstone has a unique perspective on the global economy and a heightened understanding of how entrepreneurial activity is often the crucial catalyst in the growth of successful businesses, industries and communities. For more information, please visit: www.www.blackstone.com/CharitableFoundation.htm

About the New Economy Initiative

The New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan (NEI) is an innovative philanthropic effort to accelerate the transition of metro Detroit to an innovation-based economy that expands opportunity for all. Ten national, regional and local foundations have committed $100 million to this unprecedented eight-year initiative, including the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (Detroit), the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation (Southfield, Michigan), the Ford Foundation (New York), the Hudson-Webber Foundation (Detroit), the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (Battle Creek, Michigan), the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (Miami), The Kresge Foundation (Troy, Michigan), the McGregor Fund (Detroit), the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (Flint, Michigan), and the Skillman Foundation (Detroit). The participating foundations are leading the implementation and governance of the Initiative. The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, which initiated the collaborative, is serving as its administrative home. For more information, please visit www.neweconomyinitiative.org.

About the University Of Miami

The University of Miami’s mission is to educate and nurture students, create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of our diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. For more information visit www.miami.edu

About Wayne State University

Wayne State University is one of the nation’s pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information on research at Wayne State University, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu.

About Walsh College

Walsh College (www.walshcollege.edu) is a private, independent, all-business college in southeast Michigan where application and theory are integrated to prepare graduates for successful careers. The College offers upper-division business and technology degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels. Walsh College is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (www.ncahlc.org) and the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE, www.iacbe.org) and is a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB, www. aacsb.edu).

Yesterday for example I was at SMAEB – a motorcycle tradeshow here in Bucharest. I went to the Honda stand and I could feel that the crisis have hit hard. And I couldn’t stop thinking that because of the bad servicing I received last time, I’m also unlikely to purchase again from them. Now, the Honda dealer here is a small business, so you can’t say they are failing to provide good service quality because they are big company and things are harder to keep under control. So why companies have un-happy customers?

Reasons why companies have un–happy customers

There are a lot of reasons, and most are particular to each business. These are the first generic reasons that come to my mind:

• Big companies. When you have a small business with up to 10 employees is easier to control everything. As the business grows bigger, is harder to impose the same quality even if you do a good job at enforcing quality processes.
• There is a balance between price, quality and profits. I know it might sound strange, but sometimes providing the customer with the best service is not the best thing you could do. It’s actually a matter of positioning. Providing less quality for a better price is not bad as long as it targets people looking for cheaper alternatives.
• Not all employees are equal. No matter how good your recruitment and training process is, there will always be employees that don’t do very well.
• It’s actually not a good idea to make everybody happy. Of course you could try, but instead of trying to keep everybody just happy enough not to complain is not so good than having some raving fans telling about your business further.
• Customer needs are different even if they are purchasing the same product. Me for example, I’ve recently purchased a lightweight long batter hours laptop. My colleagues classified my laptop as having less processing power that they would want. Correct, my laptop would make them un-happy, but it makes me happy.

So ok, where un-happy customers really become a problem?

• When they expect something else, because you sold them quality or build a brand based on quality. If I buy a Mercedes and it’s crap I would be pissed off. If I buy a Renault and it’s not so great, well, nobody says their build quality is great.
• When you make sudden shifts in quality. For example I was very happy with my Honda motorcycle dealer here in Bucharest. Until they made things bad, while I was expecting the same services.
• When un-happy customers are so many that it affects your sales. Not much to say here, but if you don’t have enough customers telling other people you are doing a good job, then who is going to buy your products?

How do you know you have a quality problem?

There are many ways to find our you have a quality problem, both as an entrepreneur and as a business. As a business, if you manufacture a product you could find the number of returns. Number of complains per shipped products. Any other metric related to the quality. As an entrepreneur is a bit harder. You have to feel it.

Among the compelling findings are that “personal freedom” and “maintaining work-life balance” – often key reasons why an entrepreneur starts a company – decline as small businesses grow larger. On the other hand, “creating opportunities for others” – an unexpected pleasure of running a growing business – increases. The Institute’s analysis is based on a comprehensive and methodologically innovative new study, The Guardian Life Index: What Matters Most to America’s Small Business Owners.

Maintaining productivity becomes increasingly difficult for small business owners as the size of their company grows. Businesses of 2-9 employees tend to revolve around the owner and typically generate far higher revenues per employee than ones with 50-99 employees – between 100% and 400% higher on average, according to The Guardian Life Index. At the same time, expanding the business becomes a more dominant focus of small business owners at larger firms. Among owners of companies with 50-99 employees, 53 percent say they are planning to expand their business. However, at the other end of the spectrum, 58 percent of owners of companies with fewer than ten employees say they are just trying to maintain business as usual.

“Growth unleashes immense opportunities and challenges for small business owners,” explained Mark D. Wolf, director of The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute. “As companies move beyond a small, tight-knit team and become larger, more complex organizations, they increasingly look beyond their own expertise for information, operational support and professional guidance.”

According to The Guardian Life Index, the following trends emerge as small businesses grow larger:

• The importance of the management team and employees rises, including the need to adopt effective practices for finding, motivating and retaining good employees.

• Professional services advisors, such as accountants, lawyers, financial advisors and insurance agents, increase in value.

• There is a growing focus on the disciplines of professional management, with an intensifying interest in improving productivity and stimulating business innovation.

• The business increasingly begins to shift its focus externally, rather than looking inward. In particular, the small business owner places greater value on membership in – and information from – professional associations, and the value and importance of the company’s Web site rises.

In analyzing the shifting focus, needs and priorities of small business owners, The Institute segmented and defined four types of small businesses based on the number of employees:

• 2-9 employees – The smallest business entity, often consisting of the principal and a small, dedicated support staff. The focus is on “the principal.”

• 10-24 employees – At this small business growth stage, an organizational structure exists but is informal, collaborative and collegial. The focus is on “the business.”

• 25-49 employees – The enterprise is beginning to look like a formal corporation but lacks the resources for rigid departmentalization. The focus is on “the team.”

• 50-99 employees – The business has grown to a size that resembles a larger corporate entity but with fewer resources. The focus is on “the organization.”

“These categories provide a much richer way of understanding what matters most to small business owners at different stages of business development,” said John Krubski, the researcher who designed the methodology and conducted the study underpinning The Guardian Life Index. Added Krubski, a former Yankelovich Research executive and futurist, “Regardless of the type of industry, a clear progression takes place – as employee base increases – across a wide spectrum of management and professional development issues.”

About The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute

The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute is an intellectual resource devoted to better understanding America’s small business owners. It combines ground-breaking research the company commissions with the expertise of people within the Guardian Life family who have deep experience in the small business community, to yield deeper knowledge, insights and wisdom about small business owners and the businesses they build.

For more information about The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute, please visit: www.smallbizdom.com.

About Guardian

A mutual insurer founded in 1860, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and its subsidiaries are committed to protecting individuals, business owners and their employees with life, long term care insurance, disability income, group medical and dental insurance products, and offer 401(k), annuities and other financial products. Guardian operates one of the largest dental networks in the United States, and protects more than six million employees and their families at 120,000 companies. The company has more than 5,400 employees in the United States and a network of over 3,000 financial representatives in more than 80 agencies nationwide.

For more information about Guardian, please visit: www.GuardianLife.com.

Joe has used his marketing and networking expertise to help raise several million dollars in donations over the past four years to the Virgin Unite charities which range from health and medical projects, to combating youth homelessness, to establishing entrepreneurship schools to train a new generation of business owners in Africa.

For a link to the entire article and to access Joe Polish’s Interview with Sir Richard Branson: www.JoePolish.com/PR

Piranha Marketing was founded in 1994 by Joe Polish and has provided thousands of entrepreneurs the tools and resources to add millions of dollars to their bottom lines.

Through my series of entrepreneurship interviews and my own experience I found out that both can be successful so there isn’t a good one or a bad one. Different, yes. Let me define the type of entrepreneurs (or at least the ones I got the chance to get in touch with so far):

• Programmer starting a business (you can put anything you want instead of programmer, but as I’m mostly involved with software businesses it’s easier for me to use it as an example). Has an excellent product idea and wants to turn it into a business.
• Entrepreneurs looking for opportunities to make money out of a market need and that get involved into running the business.
• Entrepreneurs spotting opportunities and hiring a CEO to make it work.
• Necessity entrepreneurs that don’t necessarily follow opportunities but are more or less forced into entrepreneurship to make a living.

Let’s get down to business and see what are the characteristics of each type of entrepreneur.

Necessity entrepreneurs

Necessity entrepreneurs are more likely to be found in emerging economies – they need to make a living and they open a shop or a small production factory to provide income for their family. They usually run only one business. Even if their business grows, the necessity entrepreneurs don’t really evolve towards spotting opportunities; they fall more into the self-employed category than in a real entrepreneur category. Running the business is done mostly on real life management skills. They do good on a local scale because they get to know very well what they are doing and usually fill in a niche that is not interesting for the other type of entrepreneurs. As an example I would name the small grocery on my street corner – they do provide an useful service, are likely to survive times and will always be run in family because but it’s unlikely to be purchased by a bigger business. Necessity entrepreneurs are focused on running the business. They fail if local market environment changes (for example if a bigger shop appears in the area and gets the customers).

Entrepreneurs getting involved in running the business

They are different from the necessity entrepreneurs because they start a business because they spot an opportunity, not because they need income to provide for their families. As they base their decisions on spotting opportunities they are likely to start more businesses, but either they want to be in control, either they don’t do well enough to hire a CEO. They will apply advanced management techniques because getting things organized at their best will offer them time to think about other opportunities. Their businesses are for sale – they could start another one at any time. They get involved in the well being of the people they are hiring and nurture the business as their own child. Most start-up entrepreneurs fall into this category, start without big outside investment, make the business run up to their best abilities. Entrepreneurs running the business are focused on the business and spotting new opportunities. They fail if they don’t outsource their tasks to employees or don’t see the forest because of the trees.

Entrepreneurs hiring CEOs to run the businesses

This type is probably the purist entrepreneur. Spots an opportunity then invest money into starting and running it, while hiring a CEO to actually run it. They can have many businesses because they can focus exclusively onto finding ideas, seeking investment, selling the business. As a downside, they get less involved and sometimes don’t really know all the details. Usually they come from accomplished business running entrepreneurs that got successful to the point where they don’t need to get involved into running the (new) business. They are most focused in getting the best return for their investment, but most of the things that happen in the business itself depends on the CEO. They fail if they hire the wrong CEOs.

Programmers starting a business

Again, programmers is just a template name for any professional.  They think about opportunities in terms of getting new products done and not about different businesses areas. They do apply management techniques and invest a great deal of efforts into making the business run. They make it big if their product is truly innovative and there is a market for it. Mostly focused on a product and not into finding more business opportunities. They fail if they don’t understand a business is more than the development of the product.

The website periodically organizes business seminars and teleconferences with lectures being delivered by world renowned business personalities. The added USP of the seminar is that even if you cannot be present physically, there is also the option of attending it via the teleconferencing or online mode. Add to it the fact that you get to talk and even ask questions related to How To Start A Profitable Small Business’ from such knowledgeable business people. The cherry on the cake is you can be the part of the seminar for free.

The seminar includes lectures by other internet marketing experts too. During the event happening over the six days, one speaker will grace the occasion each day. On April 2nd at 6pm PST, Gil Ortega will talk about ‘Lead Generation And How And Where To Find Potential Leads’, April 3rd at 6pm PST Pat Gage will talk about “How To Use Web 2.0 To Grow Your Business Without Spending A Ton On Advertising” April 4th at 6pm PST Mark Maupin will give out secrets on ‘How To Dominate The First Page Of Google’, April 5th at 6pm PST Jeff Mill will give tips and tricks on “How to Outsource the Mundane Chores of Your Business and Double Your Sales AND Your Time Off” and on April 6th at 6pm PST will talk about ‘How To Build Your Subscriber E-Mail List’.

Ed King, the man is currently pursuing MBA from the University of Michigan and also holds a CPA. His expertise over various subjects is exemplary and includes subjects such as copywriting, accounting, financing, taxes and opportunities evaluation, which together form the core of any business be it large or small. Mr. King has also authored few business books namely ‘How To Run A Profitable Small Business’, ‘How To Start a Profitable Small Business’, and ‘The Accountant’s Guide to Small Business Consulting’.

In this particular lecture, ‘How to start a Profitable Small Business” Ed King will intricately explain as to how to proceed in setting up a new business and what goes into being successful with it. These are after all a result of 35 years of business experience, from which 500 odd companies have benefited and therefore can vouch for.

The seminar thus can help you learn a lot and become a successful entrepreneur. Therefore, come and be a part of http://www.InfoSeminarsClub.com/ed_king and the seminar and learn from the best in the business.

For the under-$5mm category, awards were given to Clementine Art and Red’s All Natural. Clementine Art is a Boulder, Colorado-based marketer of natural, environmentally-friendly children’s art supplies. The company sells its products nationwide through Whole Foods and Starbucks. Based in Fairfield, Connecticut, Red’s All Natural sells a line of frozen burritos that are made with antibiotic and hormone-free meats, all natural and organic ingredients, delivered with slightly irreverent marketing. Red’s provides twice the size and more than double the protein than competitive products. Red’s distributes in the Northeast through specialty groceries. Clementine and Red’s All Natural received complimentary one-year subscriptions to SPINS data. SPINS is the leading provider of syndicated consumer sales data for the natural grocery channel.

In the over-$5mm category, the Entrepreneurship Award was given to Seattle’s Sahale Snacks. Sahale makes great tasting, all natural snacks that help consumers to “Snack Better.” The company’s product lines include nut blends and glazed nuts and the recently introduced Seasoned Nuts and Biscotti Crisps. Its products feature unique and surprising combinations of flavors and ingredients, such as organic blossom honey, lemongrass, or Moroccan harissa. Sahale sells its products nationwide through Costco, Starbucks, Wal-Mart and Whole Foods. Sahale received access to Affinnova’s innovative optimization technology that can be utilized for anything from concept development, to package conceptualization, to advertisement messaging and design. Affinnova is one of the fastest growing marketing service companies in the US, providing cutting-edge optimization technology for innovation and marketing for leading consumer packaged goods companies worldwide.

About Sherbrooke: Based in Newton Lower Falls, Massachusetts, Sherbrooke provides growth capital to fast-growing and unique branded consumer products and service companies. Existing and former portfolio companies include FoodShouldTasteGood, Immaculate Baking, Ciao Bella, Adina For Life, Izze and Oregon Chai.

Gig Harbor, WA (PRWEB) March 11, 2010 — Artbeads.com, a Gig Harbor, Wash., online retailer of beads and jewelry supplies, is proud to celebrate its tenth anniversary and tenth consecutive year of record sales.  Like many small businesses, Artbeads.com began as a part-time venture operating out of the garage. Two years off the ground, Devin and Cynthia Kimura found themselves struggling to balance one full-time job to pay the bills and a quickly growing web business, while raising two young children ages two and four.

“Cynthia, like most moms, was burning the candle at both ends, making sure that orders were filled and in the mail while at the same time taking care of family,” says Artbeads.com CEO & Strategist, Devin Kimura. “But we liked beads. I worked with glass, Cynthia began to develop an interest in making jewelry, and there was space in our garage for something new.” Launching a new online retail business in December of 1999 at the peak of the dot-com boom gave the Kimuras motivation to chase their dream of building a world-class bead and jewelry supply company.

As their business started, however, the Kimuras would soon find themselves in the midst of the dot-com crash and a major economic downturn, much like the situation many small businesses are facing today. Aware of the risks associated with debt-leveraging a business, Devin and Cynthia “bootstrapped” growth, reinvesting every penny of profit back into the company and tightly managing expenses. “The lessons we learned by bootstrapping in the early days have continued to serve us well especially now in this latest economic downturn,” says Devin. Artbeads.com came up with creative ways to reduce costs without layoffs and focused on launching low-cost marketing programs to grow free organic search engine traffic and generate word-of-mouth advertising through social media. They also became more aggressive with their pricing and promotional strategy, using email marketing as the primary channel to reach value-seeking customers. Devin credits these and many other efforts along with the entrepreneurial spirit of the Artbeads’ employees for leading Artbeads.com to their tenth straight year of record sales and solid growth in profits.

“2009 was a fantastic year for us,” says Artbeads.com President and Chief Creativity Officer, Cynthia Kimura. “We’ve been able to expand our efforts to educate and inspire jewelry makers and crafters with our Learning Center, which has grown to include over 600 inspirational jewelry and craft ideas along with numerous how-to-make-jewelry videos that are all freely available to the public. We’ve also made great strides to support the beading community while encouraging others to share ideas and discuss projects and events.” In 2009, Artbeads.com sponsored numerous beading events; supported jewelry-making instructors, bead societies and bloggers; launched a forum on their “Blog for Beaders”; and drove significant growth in its social-media sites such as Facebook, which now supports over 20,000 fans.

As Artbeads.com enters their tenth year, the Kimuras are proud to have built one of the largest online bead and jewelry supply companies in the United States that has served hundreds of thousands of customers from all corners of the world. Their dream that began in a garage now operates out of a 24,000 square-foot warehouse and provides jobs for over 140 employees in the Pacific Northwest while supporting countless artisans and craftsmen from around the globe who contribute to the more than 25,000 products carried on the Artbeads.com website, ranging from beads, findings, and tools to unique hand-painted pendants.

About Artbeads.com
Artbeads.com is a leading provider of beads and jewelry supplies for jewelry designers and the beading community. Artbeads.com caters to the quality-conscious designer with products like Swarovski crystal beads and the finest sterling silver beads, but also works vigorously to provide an exceptional customer experience while maintaining competitive prices. Thanks to Artbeads’ buying power, those looking for wholesale beads are attracted by wholesale pricing discounts, no minimum order requirements and fast, free shipping anywhere in the United States. With a vast Learning Center, Artbeads.com is also a popular destination for beginners looking for jewelry designs and tips on how to make jewelry.

Gail Parker
28284 Franklin Road
Southfield, MI 48034
888-903-7262
gail@franchisesforsale.com

Entrepreneurship education is one of several key factors, along with access to finance, government policies, infrastructure, and others, that influence attitudes about entrepreneurship and people’s willingness to start businesses, according to GEM. Interviews with experts in 31 countries around the world found that in almost every country entrepreneurship education and training was inadequate, especially in primary and secondary schools.

In surveys with more than 100,000 individuals, GEM found that 80% of entrepreneurship education and training is provided through formal channels such as primary and secondary level schooling, and through university degree programs.  This is significant because most formal training is at the primary and secondary school levels.

“Training at a young age cultivates an entrepreneurial spirit early on, but college-level training is important too, because it validates entrepreneurship as a potential career path,” says report author and Babson Professor Donna Kelley. “Besides skill-building, training increases an individual’s awareness of entrepreneurship and their intent to start a business, and improves perceptions about their ability to do so,” says Kelley.

Sixty percent of individuals engaged in entrepreneurship training acquire it from informal sources, which GEM defines as non credit-bearing courses at a university, local business organization, or government agency, or self-study using books and Internet courses. “Access to informal programs is a good thing too, because entrepreneurs can obtain the specific skill sets they need to achieve their immediate goals,” says Alicia Coduras, from IE Business School in Spain and lead author of the report.

GEM also learned that entrepreneurship training is of most benefit to individuals in wealthier countries where the entrepreneurial environment is rich in conditions that allow new businesses to thrive. “For entrepreneurship training to be productive in low-income countries, it needs to be complemented by beneficial government policies, infrastructure, and other basic requirements,” says Kristie Seawright, GEM Executive Director.

To view the full report go to: http://www.gemconsortium.org/download.asp?fid=1005

For more on GEM go to:  www.gemconsortium.org

Other GEM findings:

• Across 38 countries, where training in starting a business was measured, only 21% of the adult population had received training.
• Training appears to have the greatest effect on early-stage entrepreneurial activity in wealthier, innovation-driven countries with favorable institutional frameworks.
• The highest levels of training were found in Finland and Chile, countries with government initiatives aimed at stimulating and preparing individuals to start businesses.
• Men are more likely than women to seek training.
• Younger individuals are more likely to have received training in starting a business, reflecting a recent rise in entrepreneurship education in many countries’ formal educational systems.

About the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor has conducted surveys worldwide on entrepreneurship since 1999. GEM was co-founded by Babson College and the London Business School. Babson College maintains a position as lead sponsor of the project, and Universidad del Desarollo in Santiago, Chile, and Reykjavik University in Iceland are also sponsors of the project.

GEM has become the world’s most comprehensive research consortium dedicated to understanding the relationship between entrepreneurship and national economic development. It has provided the most comprehensive comparative data about attitudes toward entrepreneurs, start-up business activities, and plans for starting and building businesses, globally, by geographic region, and by country.

GEM publishes annual global reports and GEM national teams publish individual country-level reports. In addition, GEM publishes special reports on topics including women in entrepreneurship, high-growth ventures and entrepreneurial finance.

This special report on entrepreneurship education and training draws on additional questions developed around this topic for the GEM 2008 APS (adult population survey) questionnaire. Data for this report was gathered by members of 38 national GEM teams. The report was authored by Alicia Coduras, IE Business School, Spain; Jonathan Levie, University of Strathclyde, Scotland; Donna Kelley, Babson College, USA; Rognvaldur Saemundsson, Reykjavik University, Iceland; andThomas Schott, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.

Throughout the interviews I could sense there is a fundamental difference between the 90% people coming from troubled companies and the 5% troubled freelancers or small business owners. I didn’t know what it was until this evening when I’ve had a breakthrough:  panic levels where different.

Panic level was different

For the vast majority of the 90% group getting laid off was a fundamental problem. For the 5% small business entrepreneurs, shutting down the business, having a hard time surviving looked like a surmountable situation. How is that possible when most people are more afraid of opening a business and failing than having a job and loosing it? After all having your own business is a big risk, right? Well, the interviews showed differently. And I think I know why.

Why do entrepreneur cope better with the crisis than employees?

Well, to start, having your own business is not really riskier. John Crickett from www.businessopportunitiesandideas.co.uk has an interesting point of view regarding the risks taken by an entrepreneur versus the risks of being an employee. His article kind of supports my discovery regarding the panic levels, so I’m going to take some of his ideas and add my owns.

• Being an employee means you have only one customer; being an entrepreneur comes with more customers. While most employees don’t think that way, they are actually selling. They sell their work to the employer. Entrepreneurs are also selling but have more customers, therefore an employee is more dependent on “his customer”.
• Employees have less control. Let’s say you are a programmer. That’s good, but if your employer gets into trouble with sales, revenues, funds for paycheck you can’t really do much, because you only code. You can’t do much if you’re getting laid off. Entrepreneurs on the other hand can do whatever it takes to make things work – change business line, do partnerships, get help, find funds and investors. They have a chance to improve things.
• Entrepreneurs know from start-up they might be failing. Employees don’t get a job with the thought they might be failing. And therefore the crisis don’t change that much for entrepreneurs, which prepares them better mentally.
• Entrepreneurs are business problem solvers (regardless of the crisis). Crisis or no crisis, entrepreneurs have challenges and need to find solutions on a constant base. This shapes their minds to cope better with challenges, it’s like getting trained for the crisis.
• Entrepreneurs remain entrepreneurs even if they are failing; employees become un-employed. Having your business turned to ashes doesn’t make you less entrepreneur.
• Entrepreneurs have more people helping them getting past the crisis. Employees are on their own. What I’m trying to say is that basically an entrepreneur through the people he hires gets an entire group of people that work to make the business work: sales, marketing, production – more minds to help stay afloat.
• Entrepreneurs have better exit plans. Probably because they know from the beginning they might be failing, most entrepreneurs have exit plans. Including getting a job. It’s not the end of the World.
• Entrepreneurs have an asset to sell, something more than just their work. Coming back to the initial idea that employees sell their work, entrepreneurs have a business to sell and that’s usually more valuable than one man’s work. Might be physical assets – buildings, machinery, might be customer base, might be the idea. It’s more.

I didn’t realised so far, but last year my decision to be more than an employee with a “secured job during the crisis” might be just the best thing I did in years. Even better than 5 years ago when I started my first own business in non-crisis times. Glad to be an entrepreneur. It puts me on the better side of the crisis.

But wait! If you don’t have customers, funding and what to do, it should mean a start-up would fail in what? 3 months? I don’t have at hand any statistics, but I bet most business don’t fail in the first 3 months – they say they fail in the first 5 years! I don’t know how this sounds to you, but to me it sounds that they fail for some other reasons. And wanna be entrepreneurs fear about the wrong things! I’m not really an expert in why small business are failing in the 5 years (I’m sure there are statistics to show why), but if you are reading my blog for some reason, let me tell you my version of things.

Not so obvious reasons why your business might be failing

• You can’t see the forest because of the trees. That’s one of the classics, you have so many things to do as an entrepreneur that you need to become the hardest long hours employee of your own business. Everything that can’t be done by one of the employees, gets to be done by the entrepreneur, regardless of the work load. So, what happens is that before you know it, you develop some sort of business autism: you care  so focused on the daily business that you are left with little time to watch for opportunities, competition and what your bigger goal is.
• Doing well, or too well. Why on Earth doing too well is a reason to fail?? Simply put, there is nothing that puts you in motion better than hunger and if you stop being alert and looking for opportunities things will change. Can be a legislation change, a new competitor entering the market or anything else. And because you felt well secured because of your well being it might happen that you won’t have the best product, best marketing or best sales to cope with the business environment changes. I think the current crisis is the best example, way too many business were caught off guard.
• Changing interests and goals. Usually, when starting a business, entrepreneurs are well focused on making it work. Ask any start-up entrepreneur and they will say there is nothing more important and requiring more attention than the new business. Problem is that people interests are changing: family balance sometimes comes first, having some time of your own, getting sick. So unless you manage to build a healthy enough business that is going to sustain itself without your intervention, it’s going to go belly up.
• Building a business on wrong values. I use to say that your business is your little baby. So, you want your child to leave a healthy moral life, with good values? Well, you should, because sooner or later a business build on bad values will go down: employees will leave, deals will get harder to get, bad mana and negative aura will build up against you.
• Starting the business with wrong partners (wrong as in not suitable). While a start-up it’s sometimes hard to know what are the best partners you should get. You’re selling them the business idea, so not so much to sell. If you don’t have much to sell, then you can’t ask for much in exchange. In the beginning it might not be much of a problem, but if money will come, trouble will come. They have something to win, you might be having something to loose. And if these fundamental issues arise business might end up badly.
• Failing to adapt. Again, I haven’t looked lately on any statistics on this, but from my experience, a lot of businesses end up doing something else than they were supposed to do as focus. I will give you my own business example – about 5 years ago I started my first business (exited about a year ago) with a clear goal: making software products. Along the way it turned on doing Web Design and PR. This doesn’t mean the business failed, it means the business adapted to do something better, accordingly to its strong points and market opportunities.  So if you’re not prepared to adapt and do something completely different following opportunities it might spell trouble.
• Un-willingness to let someone else take control if you are not up to the job. As said earlier, every entrepreneur has paternal feelings about his business. You’re the all mighty creator, you’re the absolute ruler. Thing is that this doesn’t mean you’re the best CEO. In fact being an entrepreneur is quite opposite of being an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs have an idea, spot an opportunity, then do whatever they need to do to make it work, including hiring the right people to manage the business. If you think being a CEO is what entrepreneurship is about, then you might be a business owner, but not an entrepreneur after all.
• Non-ability to cope with problems. No matter how successful you think a certain entrepreneur is, you can be sure he has to deal with problems. When you start up you think that if the business will make enough money, you won’t be having any other problems. Wrong. If you business makes money it just means you won’t have the money problem, but have all the rest. Problems with competition, hiring people, launching new products, all problems are still there except the money problem. Having a business making money does not bail you out of the rest of the problems. So if you’re not prepared to be a problem solver all your entrepreneurial path, things will go down eventually.
• Backup exit plan. Wait, exiting your own business doesn’t mean you failed? If you believe exiting your business means failure you’re dead wrong. Remember, an entrepreneur is the person that spots opportunities and make something out of them – this could mean one business ore 100 businesses. In fact, not having an exit plan makes you fail for real – you’ll get so obsessed that you need to make things work for you in that particular business that you won’t be able to act toward the real goals.
• Loosing life balance. Life balance can be lost in many ways as an entrepreneur and I’m not talking only about not having enough time to spend with your family or to do whatever you want to do. There is also greed. There is also health. There is goodwill and leaving a social life in your community. Loosing control over your own life and destiny.

Of course, I can almost hear you saying: I don’t need to worry about these now. Now I just need that money making idea to start a business and have it turn into a successful thing now. I will worry later about the other things. And that’s why most business are failing in the first 5 years.

Premises

Ok, let’s say you are working on a new product and you need to decide what features should be in. I will start by assuming you are knowledgeable enough to lay down the features of the new product and you probably have a reasonable idea about what’s needed to make it a successful one. So what do you do? You write down what the product is about, list some features, maybe do some research upfront and here you go, you set up a meeting with your employees to let them know the plan and what they need to do to create the product.

Meeting starts. Probably for the first 10 minutes nobody says anything, they just listen to what you say. Then the first questions appear and together with them (if you are lucky enough) the first sign of opposition – some of the guys will tell you are dead wrong. First reaction? You will get upset. In fact, you are so damn sure about what needs to be done that you feel things are so obvious and everybody will agree from the beginning and all opposition is just because your employees don’t know what they are talking about.

Things will heat up. Maybe someone will raise the voice. Your blood pressure is going up. Who are they to challenge you? Why the 1 hour meeting turns into a 3 hours meeting and nothing is decided? Why does everybody is convinced they are right and everybody else is wrong?

Why is it a good sign that your employees don’t always agree with you (and you are lucky)

• It means you created a working environment where your employees feel free to express their opinions. I’m going to argument this with a question: what would you prefer having your employees executing your decisions (good or bad) without feedback or brainstorm on ideas?
• It means your employees speak up based on their best knowledge. And that’s good because even if you are in a leading position you might never have as much knowledge, experience and skills as the sum of your employees.
• It means your employees are well committed to bring value to your business. Actually if you don’t get feedback and opposition should be an alarming sign: nobody cares enough to make things better or to take responsibility.
• Having a different opinion is way different from doing things wrong and not executing duties. As long as stuff gets done the right way and everybody does what is supposed to do it means everybody does his job.
• You might actually be dead wrong and not knowing it. Yes, you, the absolute ruler, might overlook things.

But what might get wrong? Lots of things.

• People might get angry and stressed. Remember I told you that the product features seem to be so obvious that is hard to accept your employees might have a different opinion? Well, their experience, knowledge and skills tells them with the same emphasis that you are wrong and they are right. They get angry and stressed the same way you do and unlike you, employees fear repercussions. What if you fire them or don’t give them the raise they deserve because they told you are wrong? And what happens if your employees are angry and stressed? Their productivity drops. And you don’t want this.
• You might prevent your employees from expressing their knowledgeable thoughts in the future. It happen to me when I was employed. I just wanted the meeting to finish and to do whatever the boss wanted me to do just to get at the end of the day. I’m quite sure it happens to all employees at some point if you get out of control. And you don’t want this.
• Burn a lot of time with no constructive results. Don’t you hate when it takes you 3 hours and nothing gets decided in the end? Or nothing new and constructive gets added to the product? You need to schedule another meeting and burn some more time. That’s expensive because you keep a lot of people from actually doing something. And you don’t want this.
• Confusing decisions that might slow down the creation of the product or lead it in the wrong direction. This usually happens when you fail to make clear conclusions or when your arguments don’t convince. Employees will leave the meeting without a clear “What needs to be done” vision and come back for more details or even do things wrongly because they understood things wrongly. And you don’t want this.
• Lose employees commitment due to low acceptance or misunderstanding of the product vision. Ok, now, what will happen to some employees is that if you fail to present your vision with strong arguments they will still not agree, but go ahead and implement stuff without truly believing is “What needs to be done”. And you know what happens when you don’t believe that what you do is good: you work slow and don’t really show interest in doing it. And you don’t want this.

Through my professional experience, being an employee myself or an entrepreneur I got to deal with being in an environment that permitted or even encouraged different opinions to an environment based on despotic management. It doesn’t make me an expert in meetings management or decision enforcing, but what I can do right now is to lay down my own observed rules in mitigating different opinions from up to bottom.

Golden rules when your employees don’t agree with you

Prepare the meeting like you’re doing it for a group of investors

Are the investors going to be convinced and give you some money? Have you made your everything to preset things to the best of your abilities? Your employees are the first ones that will have to buy into your idea. Whatever you do, slideshow presentations, executive summaries, features lists, expected outcome, market opportunities, all should be sold to your employees first.

Deal with anger/stress and keep the meeting at reasonable levels

You shouldn’t forget who is leading the meeting and what is the scope of the meeting. After introducing the product concepts, state a clear list of achievable for the meeting, what should be the output: a list of features, a specification, whatever it is. When things are heating up let people know through your own attitude that opinions, language and deliberations should be constructive.

Never rise your voice (hard to do if things are heating up)

If you’re raising the voice it will just stress people more. Nobody wants the boss yelling at them and sometimes your employees will yell more just to impose their view. It’s going nowhere.

Never say “Because I say so”

If you do, it means you run out of valid arguments and just use your position to impose decisions. It stops employees from expressing their knowledge. Of course that in the end, employees will have to do whatever you are setting as their duty, but just don’t say it as an argument.

Ask for constructive feedback

Whenever someone has a point that is not obvious, ask for argumentation. A list of examples, market research or previous experience might clear up things, steer the product in a better direction or show flaws in the original vision.

Write down opinions and points of view

Sometimes some opinions seem out of space, but they might prove valuable later on when product is being created. Maybe a feature might not look important now, but will differentiate your product later. Don’t let these ideas being washed away in the heat of the discussion.

Don’t let the meeting slip up

It might take hours to let everybody speak on every piece of information. Meeting direction might slip – usually focusing on details and missing the main points. Whenever you feel this is happening ask for resolutions and decision making.

Meeting minutes

Meeting minutes are a must in more ways: everybody has a clear list of things to do and second if they got confused at some point they can check with the minutes if they got it right and come back if they didn’t.

Don’t forget to thank everybody for the contribution at the meeting

I know it sounds a little cheesy but it helps people de-stress and give them the feeling that they accomplished something.

Never ever take things personally

If your employees have the courage to not agree with you it’s not probably because they have something with you personally. They just think at what is best for the company.

Milpitas, CA, February 07, 2010 –(PR.com)– SimpliFun Studios to Donate 50% of Proceeds to Haiti Relief Effort

SimpliFun Studios, in cooperation with several of its business affiliates including Samantics, Haley Productions and Treasure Adventure, announced today its plans to directly contribute sales of its printable party games and party supplies to benefit victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti during the month of February.

The company’s founder, Lou Anne McKeefery, felt that by joining forces with SimpliFun’s partners and launching a cooperative charitable initiative, more funds could be raised to help provide aid to Haiti in the aftermath of the devastation than would otherwise be possible. She commented, “After seeing the heart-wrenching conditions in Haiti and so much suffering, I wanted to find a way to generate a larger amount of collective financial support than I could contribute individually.”

Customers who visit the SimpliFun website between now and the end of February can help make a difference for the people of Haiti when they purchase any of the company’s family-friendly downloadable entertainment products. Buyers simply need to enter the code “HelpHaiti” at http://www.SimpliFun.com/haiti-donations.html during checkout, and half the purchase price on downloaded parties will go to the Haiti Relief Effort.

McKeefery added, “We hope our customers will be as enthusiastic as we are at the opportunity and privilege to come together and contribute to this very worthy cause, sharing our comparative wealth with those who are much less fortunate in this time of great need.”

For additional information regarding this fundraising campaign, please contact SimpliFun Studios at (408) 946-8632 or visit the company website at http://www.simplifun.com/haiti-donations.html

• Know all that is going on: Small business can suffer great losses when there is internal theft or when your employees do not get along with each other. Unless you have your finger on the pulse of things, you’re not going to be able to manage your business efficiently. When you don’t take a hands-on approach to running your business and instead delegate most of your work to a subordinate, you run the risk of running your business to the ground. So make sure you know all that is going on in your business by keeping your eyes and ears open so that you can catch any problem early and nip it in the bud.

• Work to improve your situation: If you’ve inherited your business or bought someone out, you must strive to better your predecessors. It’s not enough to just keep the business running as it was; you must take the initiative to expand according to your budget and your capability. Take risks that are calculated and that will generate decent returns instead of being greedy for large returns and losing all your money in the process. When you constantly strive for improvement, you keep your interest going and don’t lose the momentum you started out with. At the same time, be prepared to accept failure as part of the game and understand that it chalks up to the learning experience.

• Cultivate invaluable relationships: And finally, for a small business to flourish, you must cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with your customers and your suppliers. The advantage that small businesses have over their larger competitors is that they generally know personally the people they deal with on a regular basis. This makes it hard for people to value relationships based only on money. In a small business, people matter because you know the person behind the deal as opposed to them being faceless customers or suppliers. When you nurture your relationships, you know people will continue to patronize your business.

Small businesses are all about the people, the ones running them as well as the ones who form the clientele. So when you value relationships, work hard, and are ethical, you know you can make a success of your venture.
——

This guest post is contributed by Brenda Harris, who writes on the topic of online executive mba programs . She can be reached at her email id: brenda.harris91@gmail.com .

With her impressive enthusiasm and love for building and designing custom steel bicycles and components, Megan Dean, the owner of Moth Attack (http://mothattack.com/), instantly grabbed the hearts of Idea Café.com’ regulars and stood out amongst hundreds of other small business owners.

Megan Dean said winning the grant would help her start a small sponsored cycling team that would be racing on custom bikes built by her. She is currently a very active bike advocate, volunteer and donates to several non-profits that have similar goals and ideals.
She will pass on her business wisdom and entrepreneurial spirit to Idea Café regulars through monthly updates, posted on Idea Café blog (blog.ideacafe.com ).

Moth Attack joins a line-up of inspiring entrepreneurs, who have won an Idea Cafe grant in the past. The previous grant winners, Go Green Go and WOMbeat!, are well known for their insightful reports and useful tips. Another exceptional business owner, Leah Larson, not only won Idea Cafe grant but went on to win the $100,000.00 Wells Fargo’s Someday Stories contest. Yet another Idea Café grant winner, Percy Marchand and his company, Marchand Ink, have been featured in The London Times and New Orleans Magazine. “Winning this grant propelled me into a spiral of success and accolades,” commented Percy in one of his updates for Idea Cafe.

Established by veteran entrepreneur Francie Ward, the Idea Cafe Small Business Grants distinguish small business owners with extraordinary ideas and drive to succeed, who are dedicated to helping their local community and peers.

About Idea Café
Idea Café (http://www.ideacafe.com)

BusinessMorgue small business blog provides tips and tools to help entrepreneurs select the right franchise business opportunity. In a five-part article series, BusinessMorgue discusses the assumptions that can send would-be franchise owners down a path that’s likely to end in business failure.
The national unemployment rate in the U.S. doubled between April, 2008 and October, 2009. As quality employment opportunities dry up, experienced professionals may be looking to open a franchise business. Operating a franchise business may have its advantages, but the risk of failure can be high — particularly when the overall economy is unstable. Small Business Association data for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008, indicates that franchisee defaults rose more than 50 percent from the prior year.

The BusinessMorgue franchise content series urges prospective franchise owners to challenge their own assumptions when evaluating business opportunities. Buying a franchise should never be an emotional decision. It must be a decision that is justified by hard data. The BusinessMorgue articles provide entrepreneurs with concrete questions to ask about any prospective franchise opportunity.

The articles are available on the site and as download-able podcasts. Visit http://businessmorgue.com/category/franchise-opportunities/ to learn more.

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I’m from Eastern Europe and I’ve tried to make a mild description of entrepreneurship environment on several occasions. Through my entrepreneurship stories I’ve got to know how easy is to start a business for example in US. Let me give you my main thoughts on that.

5 reasons why is easier to start a US small business

• Business environment. There is no secret that it’s very easy to start a business and incorporate in US. Legislation, infrastructure is there to support small businesses. Plenty of supporting organizations.

Let’s take opening an online business – an shop for sporting gear. You will need an online shop, some stocks, marketing and internet merchant accounts . Online shops? The greatest ones are in US: Amazon for example. So you have some sort of a culture of well done online shops. Stocks? I don’t think there is any kind of merchandise you can’t get delivered in US. credit card processing ? That’s where it got invented. Elsewhere? Take Eastern Europe – people are not used to buy online, are afraid to pay by credit card and love to pay cash.

• Market potential. If you’re opening a wide audience business, you are already marketing and selling to millions of customers.

I was discussing last week with some local entrepreneurs and we were analyzing why there aren’t that many big investments in let’s say online shops over here.  Besides the things like less infrastructure, payment  methods and so on, frankly speaking if you are opening an online shop in Romania (I’m taking this example because it’s my home country) you are only selling to a maximum of 15 millions. If you take out people that don’t want to shop online, don’t use credit cards and so on, you are only left with very few millions.

• Entrepreneurial thinking. Generations of entrepreneurs created a strong “entrepreneurial culture”.

If your parents own a business, if your friends own a business and if you see even young entrepreneurs succeeding how willing would you be to start a business? I bet you are!  Elsewhere? People are used to work for the public administration. Stories say you could lose everything if you fail in business. Your ancestors have raised you saying you shouldn’t take any risks. Starting a business is an act of courage!

• Funding. Angel investors, venture capitalists, a banking system created to support small businesses.

Someone asked me a couple of days ago: What do you know about angel investors in Romania? Where can I find them? Any success stories? I didn’t know the answer – maybe because they don’t identify themselves as angel investors and belonging to a group. So most businesses around here start small and take long to develop. That’s way different from having a good idea, a good business plan and putting them to work with outside investment. That’s more likely to pay back!

• Education. Hands on education on how to run a business, plenty of supporting organizations, all great business teachers are in US

10 or 20 years ago the East European education system was praised for the quality of skilled force it delivered. Reality showed later that these so called skilled students know more in theory than in reality (at least this is my opinion). Have a look at this list of 200 Best Blogs, Free Courses and eBooks for the Business Student and you will see why you grep a better grasp of the reality with the entrepreneurial minded education system in US.

What to do if you are elsewhere?

Ok, so it might be harder to start a business elsewhere. But sometimes this offers just the right opportunities. I think I wrote in several occasions that if you take a small town in Germany for example is much harder to find an area that is not yet covered and make a business from it. Elsewhere there are so many needs that still don’t have a solution! Let’s take the above steps and see what if you are elsewhere.

• Business environment. It’s harder to start a business, more bureaucracy, expensive banking services and many more. The thing is that if the entry barriers are bigger, chances are that you could keep your market position for longer, have less competition and be more successful in general. Not sure if you ever thought about this before, but it really depends how you think about things. Sometimes being hard is good.
• Market potential. Ok, here we have a real issue that can’t be overcome that easily. If you want to start a mass business, let’s say toilet paper, you won’t get to sell that many in a small market and there is nothing you could do to sell more. Unless you plan for the begining to become a ‘regional’ player instead of a local one. On the other hand, niche businesses tend to do better. It’s far easier to take a niche business and make it mainstream in a small market.
• Entrepreneurial thinking. Your parents told you shoul get a safe 9 to 5 job. All your friends have a job. Thing is that if you get yourself to think and to feel that you are in charge with your life, and you get the power to go and do anything that drives you forward, entrepreneurship is something you could do. It only depends on your desire to take control of your own life.
• Funding. Yes, it’s hard to fund a new business. Good thing is that nothing pushes you forward better than being hungry. It makes you efficient, it makes you take more advantage of things. Don’t believe this is true? Read more about in the Interview with Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.
• Education. Well, you can’t really change what you learn in school. So the only way to do it is becoming a self educated entrepreneurs. Luckily there is Internet.