1.     Industry-specific Research Tools and Resources

Once you have your brainstorm you’ll need to find out if someone else has already had a similar one or if your idea looks like one the market is craving.  The best way to find this out without spending a lot of cash is to delve into the various resources that are at your disposal.  Certainly, online searches are the first place to look, but don’t discount books & magazines that you can find in your local library.

A good, helpful librarian is invaluable in cases where you might stumble a little with your online search terms or keywords.  A librarian can help you find the volumes with competitors/products data sources and demographic info. that you might otherwise have to subscribe or purchase on your own.  Some of these resources that you can access for free at the local library can be very costly to access online.  Believe it or not, not EVERYTHING is accessible online for free.  Depending on your product/service idea, you may also want to look up government contracting info. to see if the government is already using your idea.  If you still feel that you have the next best thing since sliced bread you may want to pay a patent or copyright service to confirm that it’s not already protected by someone else.

2.     Money

At this point you have an idea and a direction.  Now you need the most basic thing in an entrepreneur’s tool kit:  MONEY.

There are various resources for assistance with funding.  However, without a network of contacts with ‘angel investors’ or venture capital funding sources, you will probably have to start looking closer to home.  If your credit is good, credit cards and small-business loans are always an option.  Many startups begin with money from family &/or friends.  In many cases, depending on the field you are entering, grants can be available, especially if you qualify as a minority- or women-owned-business.  In many cases, you may have to have already established a track record with your product or service, which is somewhat of a catch-22 when you’re trying to get started.  In any case, you will need to perfect your ‘elevator pitch’ with modifications for friends/family vs. other types of investors.  You have to stir up some interest in you and your idea(s) if you expect to get any kind of help no matter how great you think your idea is.

3.     Skills

Aside from the necessary skills inherent in your chosen field, there are several skills that you will have to ‘get the hang of’ or master to be a successful entrepreneur.  You may have some or all of them already; you may develop them by the ‘seat of your pants’, or; you may have to learn these skills as soon as possible or retain the ‘close up and personal’ intimate help from another person who will become like an appendage to you.

Public speaking and leadership skills can be acquired through group education.  There are tips and techniques you can be taught to boost your understanding of how best to deal with people and present yourself, especially if you’re having trouble obtaining funding.  This type of education will also help you with networking, which is an invaluable skill you will also have to develop, especially if you don’t already have much of a network.  How are you going to share and promote your idea(s)/product(s)/service(s) without being able to talk to members of a network?  Public speaking is one of the top five fears of people everywhere; in some cases, even more than the fear of dying.  You can overcome that fear and you must to be a successful entrepreneur unless you have a partner who can speak for you.

Depending on the successful acceptance of your idea by the people who can help you make it happen, you will probably have to have or develop some selling/marketing skills.  Removing any fear you may have of speaking in front of strangers is the essential first step.  Selling and marketing are not the same and require different skills, but these can be learned if you’re not a natural salesman or marketing whiz.

There’s also a good chance you will be called on to perform some customer service after your product(s)/service(s) are put out there for all the world to comment on.  In that case, you will not only need to know your product(s)/service(s) inside out, but you will have to display the customer rapport skills necessary to thrive in the world where most people follow the old adage, “The customer is always right.”, unless you have the funding to hire the best people to handle that for you.

4.     Outside Services

I can’t stress enough the importance of a good mentor who is qualified and well-educated in your field.  You should start the mentor acquisition process as soon as possible, and in many cases it may not cost you anything on the front end to get started.  You may even be able to find a good mentor who just wants to help you succeed as he/she has already done that in their field.  There are many forms of mentorship available and you should not be averse to spending what you can afford to acquire the services of a good mentor.  Personally, I avoid those who self-proclaim themselves to be mentors or gurus – I want that label provided by others in the know – but that may make it a little more difficult to find a true mentor or guru.  Look for references.

With that being said, you will almost certainly require good legal help specific to your field at some point in time.  The sooner the better if you want to protect your idea(s) and your money if/when you’re considering investors or partners.

You will most likely also need some help with financial management, accounting and record-keeping.

Banking, whether online or bricks-and-mortar, will be necessary to process all those checks you’ll have coming in.  But, while I advocate automated systems as much as possible, automatic banking systems can prove to be rather expensive in the long run and frequently as hard to get out of as health club memberships.

You may also need, depending on your idea(s) and direction, freelancers to help you realize you vision on the appropriate scale.

The right ‘outside services’ can help you profit and keep you out of trouble.    Do your research and talk to your network.  Look into mastermind groups in your area of interest/expertise, or start your own.

5.     Product/Concept Development and Manufacturing

Whether your product is a physical one, such as a ‘better mouse trap’, or a virtual electronic product, such as an e-book, you will probably need some help in creating and producing the final prototype and then mass-producing it.  Even with a new e-book, do you know how to set it up on a website?  Do you know how to code your great idea?  With physical products, the use of 3D printers has become a fast and convenient way to produce a prototype of most products or components, including those with moving parts.  Is your product design an electronic device?  Do you know what it would take to mass produce it in a manufacturing plant?  What if you have come up with a new service that nobody’s ever thought of before.  Your service could be the next Domino’s pizza.  But it’s not likely to happen right away if you don’t know anything about franchising.  Use your network and your industry-specific research tools and resources to find the people who can assist you in this area.  If you’re putting a budget together to present to funding sources, you will probably need to take care of this area before you even start creating such presentations.

6.     Office/Productivity

Now that you are on your way to creating a company, there are a number of tools you will need to make your company a viable, day-to-day efficient, productive entity.  Even if you’ve started up your company in your garage, these are most of the tools you will need, some of which you may already have:  Equipment; Computers, printers, copiers (&/or scanners) are all essential pieces of office equipment.  If you are purchasing new, look for mainstream equipment that has a good warranty with on-site tech./repair service.  You don’t want to be spending your valuable time tinkering with equipment problems.  You also want to network everything together as much as possible while maintaining the highest security you can afford.

Communications; A versatile, reliable, expandable telephone system is an absolute necessity if you’re going to be anything more than a one-man, sole proprietor business.  There are several good choices available for VOIP systems if your broadband service is fast with little or no latency, so you’re not tied to a land line even in a multi-person office.  You will also want to invest in a good contact manager program (avoid proprietary programs that may be bundled with phone systems where possible) that can be shared among your staff members.  ‘Smartphones’ are a necessity if you &/or your staff are going to be ‘in the field’ with any regularity.

Software; there may be industry- or field-specific software for your endeavor.  You will also most likely need an ‘office suite’ of sorts for basic word-processing and spreadsheet work, and possibly presentation production.  There are free office suites available in lieu of some paid suites with which you may already be familiar.  You may also find a need for bookkeeping, project management and time management software, but these usually come with a tougher learning curve than you may be used to.  Be sure to invest in a secure data backup system as well, whether Internet or cloud-based or through equipment at your location.  Remember though, clouds don’t burn.

7.     Marketing/Promotion/Sales/Reputation

Since you’re all set up as a ‘going concern’ now, with a product or service to peddle, how do you get the word out to potential buyers/clients/customers?  Have you thought of a marketing plan?  Who can help you with the marketing and automate it as much as possible?  If you’re marketing is successful, who will tally the sales, call on customers, perform the service, etc.  Online marketing has become very inexpensive compared to offline marketing, but they are both still necessary to ‘blitz’ the media and get your product(s) or service(s) ‘out there’ where people will be aware of them.  Look into e-mail list managers and autoresponders if you’re going to mount an online campaign.  The cheapest way (in money, not necessarily time) to get started marketing and testing is online, particularly with social media.  If you aren’t as savvy at the various forms of social media then hire a firm that can take care of this for you.  Do your research.  Even if your product or service is very B2B within a specific industry niche, you can still use social media to create a ‘buzz’ and collect feedback as well as cover customer service issues.  Try looking into mobile apps for an eye-opener.  Social media also allows for easy collaboration and even management and there are social media tools whereby you can monitor and even manage your reputation as well as your brand’s reputation.

8.     Sales and Payment Acceptance

YAY!  You’ve made your first sale or acquired your first customer.  Now what do you do?  If your business is based online, then you will probably want to look into shopping carts and/or CPC & CPM revenue if you haven’t already.  Make it as easy as possible for your clients/customers to pay you and for yourself to be able to accept their payments and to make refunds when necessary.  A service such as PayPal is a great way to get started if you’re not yet in a position to accept credit cards as a merchant.  If your services are performed in the field, there are card scanners that attach to your smartphone and app’s that will allow you to process credit cards away from your office.  (Refer back to items #4 and #6 above.)

9.     Internal Characteristics

These may be the most important tools for an entrepreneur to possess.  The average person can be an entrepreneur, but they are more likely to succeed if they possess theses characteristics.  They are not, however, all necessarily innate and most of them can be learned, although many are much harder to learn if you are not taught or shown them through example at an early age.  Yet it is possible for a person to be born with some or more of them.  Imagination and creativity, drive, passion, optimism and tenacity are more easily brought to the surface if you have those tendencies genetically.  But they all can be learned and all are essential qualities of entrepreneurs.  Entrepreneurs must love business, love success and love money (hopefully as a tool for doing good).  But successful entrepreneurs must have a work ethic that drives them to be hardworking, committed, analytical and decisive.  They must also be, and believe they are, capable, competent and responsible – willing to accept the consequences of their actions, good or bad, no matter what niche they occupy.  And you cannot be shy and be a successful entrepreneur.  If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

10.    Education

Finally, successful entrepreneurs seem to always be on a quest to learn.  They are almost never satisfied with ‘resting on their laurels’, but are constantly looking to do something new &/or improved.  As such, they are almost always contributing to the greater good in some fashion or other.  You do not have to have much of a formal education in order to become a great entrepreneur.  Some of our best & brightest have been high school or college dropouts.  But they usually dropped out because they were not learning enough, or learning fast enough, about their chosen entrepreneurial field.  Start learning more about your chosen field immediately.  Begin your reading list right now and fill it, not only with information about the items on the above list and your chosen field, but with inspiration reinforcing the what if’s, why’s and how’s of your quest for entrepreneurial success.  Improve yourself!  Let me know if you need help discovering the ways you can do this.

~ MLM, or “Multi-Level Marketing” – This is a type of network marketing that uses a multi-tiered compensation plan. Unless you were one of the people who formed the company, you will have an ‘upline’. Normally, the person who signed you up for the MLM ‘opportunity’ is the next person above you in your ‘upline’. This is not always the case as you will find some people higher up in the company, perhaps even one of the original founders, will be out giving seminars (usually sales presentations with the fervor of an evangelist) and aggressively recruiting interested parties like yourself, and possibly anybody who came with you, to become new participants / distributors / representatives or other similar titles, now that you have heard the hype about becoming an ‘instant success’; a ‘millionaire’ who gets that way by making ‘money 24 hours a day’ while only actually working a ‘couple of hours a week’. Exciting, isn’t it? “Take your time. Promoters of fraudulent business opportunities are likely to use high-pressure sales tactics to get you to buy in.

If the business opportunity is legitimate, it’ll still be around when you’re ready to decide.” -(from the FTC)- “Consult an attorney, accountant or other business advisor before you put any money down or sign any papers. Entering into a business opportunity can be costly, so it’s best to have an expert check out the contract first. If the promoter requires a deposit, ask your attorney to establish an escrow account where the deposit can be maintained by a third party until you make the deal.” Once you have signed on, you will be expected to build a ‘downline’ of equally passionate ‘followers’ (participants / distributors / representatives / etc.) underneath you who will purchase DVD’s, magazines, flip charts, order forms, websites and other training / selling aids, just like you did when you signed up, and of course, inventory. Your ‘downline’ in an MLM will usually consist of one, two, three, or even sometimes more, people directly under you.

Each of those people will be expected to build a similar ‘downline’, for which you will usually receive some form of compensation or company ‘credit’ whenever they make a sale or recruit a new participant / distributor / representative / etc. This first tier (under you) may provide a source of ‘residual income’ for you as long as they are actively selling &/or recruiting in the organization. Historically, that is not long. ‘Downlines’ are typically the factor most critical to your success in most MLMs. Depending on the compensation plan of the MLM, you may receive compensation, or ‘bonuses’, as far down as seven levels. In the meantime, your efforts will most likely be providing compensation to the members of an equal number of levels above you – your ‘upline’. In the U.S., there is little actual regulation of MLMs, other than on a state level, and that is usually complaint driven after-the-fact. In California, there are some legal requirements spelled out in its Seller Assisted Marketing Plan requirements, but they are only applicable when the initial investment to participate in a company’s MLM ‘opportunity’ exceeds $500, an obstacle that most MLMs easily navigate around with a ‘did you want fries with that?’ strategy.

~ Single-tier marketing (a term not widely used) is also network marketing to other people, similar to MLM, but without the complicated compensation plans. It is a more traditional approach to marketing and selling and is more prone to be successful with total strangers (like the old ‘door-to-door’ business model and the current in-home-party / presentation model) than MLM as it usually does not involve aggressively recruiting or selling an ‘opportunity’ – just a product. If the product is a good product, usually so is your compensation. That compensation is based primarily on the success of your own efforts and sometimes those of a sales force under your direct control, but not the thousands of participants that MLMs can potentially involve. You are almost never more than three levels down from the main office or supplier (Ownership / Regional Manager / General Distributor or such structure). Your commissions on products are usually many multiple times that of those in MLMs.

~ Many people use the term “Direct Selling” or “CDM” (“Consumer Direct Marketing”) interchangeably with Network Marketing and MLM, and there is even a Direct Selling Association that seems to be trying to be all things to all network marketers. But calling most MLMs ‘direct selling’ companies seems to be somewhat spurious when most MLMs make more than 80% of their, and their participants’, monies by recruiting, rather than by selling products. This never-ending recruiting by so many MLMs and their complicated compensation plans is what has gotten the entire business of network marketing associated with the term, “pyramid scheme”. Regardless of whether a compensation plan is structured for you to have two, three, or more people on the first tier directly under you, diagramming the plan on paper gives it the appearance of a pyramid. Most single-tier network marketing companies that provide a good product at a fair price are still unfairly looked at by most of the general population as being pyramid-like in nature and thus share the negative connotation. But this is no more true for them than it is for any business employing independent sales people. In reality, Network and Multi-Level marketing has been around for more than half a century, with three of the top 25 companies based in the U.S., according to Nexera, still going strong after all that time. Eight of them have been in business at least 30 years. Many famous businessmen, such as Robert Allen, Donald Trump, Mark Victor Hansen, Robert Kiyosaki, etc., are proponents of network marketing.

~ One other term that many people use in error when discussing Network Marketing is “Attraction Marketing”. This is a style of marketing that can be used in nearly any venue and is not limited to network marketing.

~ Some of the attractions of network marketing are the ideas of working for yourself (being your own boss, setting your own hours/schedule), creating residual income, and (usually) little up-front investment (unlike franchising). The idea that you can create a business and an income solely from your own efforts has always been part of the entrepreneurial, or pioneer, spirit. But are you really your own boss if you want to be successful in network marketing, particularly MLM? How many hours a day or week will you have to work at this? Are you seeking an alternative source of income? What are your motives? Do you like people? Can you accept the responsibility for the failures and mistakes as well at the rewards?

BE YOUR OWN BOSS:       Robert L. FitzPatrick of PyramidSchemeAlert.org reports in his “The 10 Big Lies of Multi-Level Marketing” that “MLM is not true self-employment. ‘Owning’ an MLM distributorship is an illusion. Some MLM companies forbid distributors from carrying additional lines. Most MLM contracts make termination of the distributorship easy and immediate for the company. Short of termination, downlines can be taken away with a variety of means. Participation requires rigid adherence to the ‘duplication’ model, not independence and individuality. MLM distributors are not entrepreneurs but joiners in a complex hierarchical system over which they have little control.” To be your own boss, you will have to be able to generate the same amount or more of the hype, excitement, and passion that attracted you to this business in the first place. Even if you are a gregarious person by nature, you will still have to develop the marketing and ‘people skills’ that it takes to gain followers.

SET YOUR OWN SCHEDULE:       Will you be joining a network marketing company on a full-time basis or continue to maintain your current work schedule and ‘work the business’ on a part-time basis? For success in any venture, you will have to put in the hours. Can you spare the time without losing any income? In network marketing, by definition, you have to ‘press the flesh’ with your potential customers. In MLM, as ‘downlines’ are crucial to your success, that interaction requirement will be magnified immensely for you to acquire, not only customers, but, new recruits on an ongoing basis. Your schedule will be dictated by when they are available and when your ‘upline’ is having sales and/or training meetings. At some point, when you are educated enough in your product or promotion, your marketing methods and routines, and the business end of networking / relationship-building, you will have to start scheduling your own presentation meetings, based on the availability of your potential customers &/or recruits. Almost all of these meetings will be in the evenings and on weekends.

CREATE RESIDUAL INCOME:  “Residual Income” is cash flow that recurs continually as a result of your initial efforts. This is the goal of almost any participant in MLM, but is statistically rarely achieved. Other than the entertainment industry, there are few industries that can claim success at generating residual income without additional action, such as servicing their clients by way of maintenance. To help achieve this goal, most network marketing companies deal in “consumables” – products that, once used up by your happy customer, will be automatically sent out to the customer for as long as the customer likes without saying, “NO!” A few well-known network marketing companies have been very successful at this with their own unique lines of products, but not many MLMs; particularly those who provide a mediocre product at an inflated price to more recruits or participants than actual retail customers.

WORK FROM HOME:  As long as you are working with a ‘small circle of friends’ you can probably hold most of your meetings / presentations in your home or theirs (if they’re looking at joining into your business model). But to actually make a profit in network marketing, you will probably have to widen that circle substantially, or augment your marketing with brilliant use of the Internet (The FTC offers some excellent advice to consumers considering an Internet-related business opportunity). The demographics simply don’t work to support yourself on sales of nearly any single line of products by staying in your own neighborhood. Although you can start out with a ‘localism’ approach, success with limited products &/or services will require you at some point to extend a broad reach. Some network marketers are leveraging the Internet for sales as far away as China. Credible research from the Consumer Awareness Institute and others has deduced that less than 1% of U.S. participants in MLMs make an annual profit. You will likely have to leave home to increase your income to the point of profit.

~ The odds of making a profit in an MLM (remember, not ALL network marketing is MLM) are worse than making a profit from gambling in Las Vegas. The rewards can be very high if you are one of the early-adopters in a company, are gregarious and people “know, like, and trust you”, if you have a large pool of potential customers &/or recruits to work with, and can provide all the support your ‘downline’ needs to prosper. Most network marketing companies have a very low initial investment requirement, or ‘buy-in to play the game’, so the cost to you up front is one of time more than cash. But to increase your odds of success, there are a few things you should try to find out about the ‘opportunity’ before you jump in with both feet:

1.     Can the company show that they sell more products directly to consumers than to recruits &/or distributors / representatives / agents / participants / etc.? Most MLMs sell 80% or more of their products to their ‘downlines’ and less than 20% to retail customers. This is why the term, “pyramid scheme” is frequently applied to MLMs and why many of them are sued in states’ courts for their questionable business practices. Do your research.

2.     Are the company’s products the same ones you can find somewhere else for less money? If they’re not the same, are they similar? Do they have the same makeup or contents? Besides you, what would be your customers’ motivation for dealing with you as opposed to just picking up the same or similar product on their next trip to the grocery store or mall? The FTC says, “If the business opportunity involves selling products from well-known companies, call the legal department of the company whose merchandise would be promoted. Find out whether the business opportunity and its promoter are affiliated with the company. Ask whether the company has ever threatened trademark action against the business opportunity promoter.” Do your research.

3.     What kind of support and warranty does the company provide for both you and its products (They must provide excellent support)? Does it accept returns? Are there restocking fees? Is there 24/7 access to someone in customer support and your ‘upline’ management? Have there been any product recalls? What kind of history does the company have? How long has it been in business? What is its rating with the BBB? Have there been lawsuits against the company? Has Consumer Reports reported on the company or any of its products? What kind of marketing & advertising budget / plan does the company have over & above what you would have to do on your own? What kind of publicity has the company produced or plans to produce? If the company is new and you are looking to ‘get in on the ground floor’, what can you find out about its founders and top-line management and their history and backgrounds? DO YOUR RESEARCH.

4.     Who actually makes the money? Make sure that you completely understand the company’s compensation plan and just how & where you will fit into it, and what you will have to achieve to become a “success” with that company. How is that success measured (you can’t eat blue ribbons and trophies)? What percentage of participants in the company are successful. What is the dropout rate? Is the person who interested you in this venture making any money? The FTC says, “If a company claims its participants can earn a certain income, then it also must give the number and percentage of previous purchasers who achieved the earnings. Get these earning claims in writing.” “Results may vary.” The FTC requires most business opportunity promoters to give potential purchasers the names, addresses and phone numbers of at least 10 previous purchasers who live the closest to the potential purchaser. Ask questions. DO YOUR RESEARCH.

~ Besides the FTC, another government agency, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has information online in their Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition – This covers Direct Selling vs. MLM, Network Marketing, etc.

~ You CAN find well-established, reputable companies out there that depend on sales of their products &/or services to consumers more than recruitment or sales to distributors / representatives / agents / participants / etc. You will appeal to them because of your network of friends, relatives, and acquaintances (your ‘warm market’) who are more likely to listen to your views of a product or service – your ‘word-of-mouth’ – than they are proven to be from conventional advertising. Just remember to DO YOUR RESEARCH!

Let us know what YOU really know about network marketing in the Reply/Comment box below.  What has your experience been?

There are many children out there in the business world who are doing extremely well at things they enjoy doing.  Certainly child stars in the entertainment business will be one of the first things that come to mind.  But did you know there was even a nine-year-old who became a successful writer?  There is almost no limit to what a young person ‘on a mission’ can accomplish when they find their audience and are not burdened with the negativity and “can’t”s that most of us seem to learn to accept as we are getting older.  Imagination is the key to bring your budding entrepreneur into full blossom:  “Impossible” is not yet ingrained in their vocabulary and you should discourage your child from using that word, just as you should consider that it is possible your child is the next Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Henry Ford or Howard Hughes.  In reality, it’s even possible that YOU could be the next Colonel Sanders.

Encourage your child to use his/her imagination at every opportunity.  Playing “What if” is an excellent way to stimulate your child’s imagination and can be done almost anytime, anywhere.  Do not restrict your child’s creativity by responding with words like “can’t” or “impossible” when they seem to be imagining things that are totally foreign to you.  Remember, they have an entirely different point of view than you and their minds are like blank sheets of clean, white paper.  With genetic engineering, “When pigs fly” is not such a foreign, ‘impossible’ concept anymore.  They will probably have dreams and visions unlike any you’ve ever had.  Expose them to as many different characters, environments, and problems-to-be-solved as you possibly can and encourage them to ask questions.  Never betray their trust by being dishonest and claiming knowledge of things about which you are ignorant, but, instead, show them where they can find the answers to their questions.  Trust may even end up being more important than love.  Betrayal of trust can cost you love.

You are not in competition with your child.  As a parent of a young entrepreneur, you must be the coach/advisor.  Some of the best coaches were not necessarily the best players, and you can’t both be the chief if your child has an idea that he/she wants to ‘run’ with.  But you also cannot put too much pressure on them as children are fickle and the brilliant idea they had today may be much lower on their priority list tomorrow as, say, playing video games with a friend.  If your child displays a solid interest and level of excitement in any sort of business venture, you may even consider entering into a ‘contract’ with your child that provides for a course of action to follow that you both agree on and penalties if the child abandons that commitment.  An important aspect of entrepreneurism is a person’s ability to make a decision and commit to it.  This is also a fundamental characteristic of leadership and most entrepreneurs automatically take on a leadership role because of it.  It’s never too early to teach you children games, and business is the greatest game in the world.  Your child should learn to love business and the basics are not hard to learn.  You are more experienced with people’s moods than your child is, depending on age and maturity, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for you to be able to judge your own child’s mood at any given time and adjust your response to that mood to create the most positive outcome.  Any entrepreneurial endeavor on the part of your child has to maintain a ‘fun’ element, as should most aspects of your lives.

There are certain ‘people skills’ that your child will learn to develop, if he/she does not already have a natural inclination in those areas.  These are all inter-related as they have to do with (public) speaking to people, selling to people (even the front yard lemonade stand requires some marketing), networking with people, and customer service (what if the lemonade tastes strange?).  As when you improve by competing against people whom you believe to be better, faster, more experienced, etc., than you in sports or even working tasks, your child will improve when he or she is given challenges to overcome.  The more exposure to others with developed skills in the areas where your child may be lacking, the greater and faster his/her improvement will be as long as you are there to support your child and act as the ‘cheerleader’ as well.  Never discourage your child from interacting with others, even strangers, as long as you are there to protect him/her and he/she understands the parameters.  Find out who your child likes or admires and take him/her to where that person is speaking or conducting presentations in front of audiences.  Even if you are uncomfortable with public speaking, selling, networking, or customer service, make sure you don’t project that onto your child’s ‘blank slate’.  You are your child’s parent, not their ‘friend’, and your job as a parent is to make your child the best person that he or she can be, which often means giving your child the tools and opportunities to become something more than the person you may be.

How can you recognize the entrepreneurial ‘spirit’ in your child?  There are certain characteristics, or traits, that most successful entrepreneurs have been shown to have.  Some your own child may display that suggest an entrepreneurial bent can be imagination, creativity, commitment (once an idea has been formed) and passion (to execute that idea), and tenacity or stubbornness (once the commitment to the idea has been made).  Remember the thousands of light bulb filaments Thomas Edison experimented with before discovering the one that he always believed was there.  Your child may also be someone who is willing to ‘put it all on the line’ for something that he or she is passionate about.  And, it is important that the young entrepreneur have a passion for solving problems once one has been brought to his/her attention and caught his/her interest.  Introspection is also an important trait when it is used to analytically self-examine motives and reasons for failures.  With these traits on hand, other ‘tools’ can be had through education, which is where you come in.  You may not display the traits listed above, but you can, and must, be the support system for your young entrepreneur.  Education for a young entrepreneur is not likely to come from the local school system, so you have to augment it, or provide an alternative.  Home-schooling is a possibility, and some organizations provide entrepreneurial programs for children, albeit teenagers, mostly.  Even the U.S. SBA actually has a teen business site.

It is your responsibility to see your child is educated, but also is grounded in reality should his/her endeavors start to bear fruit.  Children typically have no concept of money or fiscal responsibility until they have started receiving an allowance, or making money themselves, and spending it on the things they want.  If your child is to be an entrepreneur, then you have to teach that child to understand and be comfortable with the idea that he/she may not be able to rely on a ‘regular paycheck’.  You may not have had training in money-handling as a child yourself, but now, as an adult, you have some of the knowledge that you will have to impart into your child should his/her efforts start to ‘pay off’.  You have to educate your child in the concepts of ‘income’ and ‘profits’ and make sure that you do not attach a negative to making profits as some of us ‘economic martyrs’ have a tendency to do.  One of the other traits that successful entrepreneurs have is the love of making money, as it allows them the freedom to do other things and to contribute to the world’s bigger pictures.  You need to teach your child about money and to love making it because of its value as a tool.  If your young entrepreneur want to be “rich”, then play that “What if” game with him/her and explore the possible outcomes of having riches.  Would they share?  Who would they help?  With those questions in mind, you will also be equipped to teach your child about the value of saving and, ultimately, investing.

Other things that may come up if your little entrepreneur hits an innovation homerun:  Do you need an investor?  How do you find one?  Is this an idea that is better served by taking it public as opposed to keeping it private?  Will you need additional help?  The answers to these and many other questions may not be in your area of expertise, so you may have to enlist the aid of an outside consultant or mentor.  They are out there, so don’t panic – you may even have someone close to you whom you haven’t considered.

Certainly there will be times when your child makes mistakes &/or fails at something.  Your job is to keep the level of motivation up and maintain the child’s passion and elevated mood that he or she may have temporarily lost, regardless of whether he/she is destined to be an entrepreneur or not.  Unlike the way most adults deal with failure, almost every setback with children is temporary.  Mistakes and failures are all part of it and you will probably find yourself becoming a happier, more productive person by teaching your child these life lessons.  Let us know about your kid in the Reply/Comment box below.

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Money.

     Whether it be resources, assistance, or funding, ‘cash is king’.  Money for the entrepreneur can be had through family, friends, partners, investors, and/or grants.  But right here our focus is on the internal tools, which are best illustrated as traits:

An entrepreneur has to embrace risk in every endeavor.  He/she has to be hardworking, capable, competent, and committed enough to labor on without any expectation of a regular paycheck whilst so doing; he/she has to envision a need and dream of a solution to that problem passionately, with a nearly irrational optimism about being able to achieve that end goal; the entrepreneur has to have the ability to carry on in solitude, if need be, if no acceptable or equally passionate partner or investor is readily available.

Entrepreneurs have to have an iron-willed tenacity in their beliefs in their abilities to attain the goals of their dreams and visions, while, at the same time, having or developing leadership skills as well as the ability to handle failure with thoughtful introspection and analysis.  Failures are almost inevitable and almost always temporary, but true entrepreneurs take full responsibility for both their failures and their successes.  Entrepreneurs have to love business, love success, and love money, for those are the tools that allow them to realize their goals as well as to protect their efforts.  Entrepreneurs cannot succeed without these traits.  Even the most civic-minded, altruistic, individuals whose loftiest ideals are achievement for ‘the common good’ cannot progress far enough with the tools of commerce.

Will success as an entrepreneur change you?  Undoubtedly!  How you handle that change is the challenge.  Here are some of the world’s most famous, modern-day entrepreneurs – Look them up and see what kind of changes success had in store for them from their typically humble beginnings and start upgrading your belief systems if you think you’ve got what it takes to be an entrepreneur:

Mary Kay Ash, Richard Branson, Simon Cowell, Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Hugh Hefner, Jenna Jameson, Harvey Mackay, Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, et al.

Successful entrepreneurs seem to develop a sense of social responsibility and most often end up contributing, because they have the means that they didn’t have before their entrepreneurial successes, to problem-solving and causes that frequently have nothing to do with their basic entrepreneurial endeavors.  Even better than achieving a goal through laser-like focus and tunnel-vision diligence, wouldn’t it feel GREAT to have enough money to contribute to good causes as a result of developing a love for money as a tool and wielding it as a warrior wields a sword against tyranny & injustice?  This is all part of what it is to be an “Entrepreneur”.

What do YOU think it takes to be an “Entrepreneur”? Post your answer in the Reply/Comment box below.

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FIRST of all, nearly everyone has a home they can work out of.  Figure this as a great starting place, as you can usually find a time & place in your home to work undisturbed for one or more hours per day.  You will avoid some of the common negatives that may be oppressing you in a (your?) standard work environment, such as office/corporate politics, sexual harassment, ageism and other forms of discrimination &/or bias, office bullying, workplace violence, demeaning duties &/or titles, favoritism, personality clashes, lack of privacy, gossip, etc.  And of course, there’s always the potential for unexpected downsizing and layoffs.  In your workspace at home, you are your own boss.  You set your hours, your goals, your rules, and your rate of progress, and you collect the rewards.  But if you’re not willing to consider the possible necessity of hard work and long hours for yourself, don’t take that step off the curb.

SECOND, you probably have a hobby, interest, area of expertise, or brainstorm that you would like to spend more time exploring.  Why not make an extra, or even full-time, income from something you enjoy doing?  Or learn how to enjoy making money from something new?  You already have a computer, so start researching things that interest you and how other people are making money in that area.  There are even some seasonal jobs you can do from home.  Check out the library, book stores, and magazines.  You have to decide to take action and then follow up.  You do not have to be your own stumbling block.  Learn how to educate yourself and success will follow.  Improve Yourself!  Remember, everyone on the Forbes 400 list had to start somewhere.  Write down your goals and the details of how to proceed as you can envision them, then take that first step and START!  Your lists will probably be a moving target as you have to adjust your position based on the market, your ever-increasing knowledge, and other circumstances.  Do not write these down in wet concrete, as they are subject to change.

THIRD, figure out how much you have to invest.  This is not just an issue of money.  Frequently, the most important investment is one of time.  In many ways, one will offset the other, so that, when you have a larger amount of money to invest, you may not need to invest as much time if you hire the right people (employees, advisors, consultants, etc.).  Conversely, if you don’t have much money to invest, or even zero, you will need to invest a lot more time.  But there ARE opportunities available to you out there that take little or no monetary investment, but, instead, rely on your investment of time; i.e. – ‘sweat equity’, such as when you clean up a ‘fixer-upper’ to move into.  RESEARCH!  Again, YOU set your rate of progress.  Investing the time in doing the research is the single most important activity you can do before deciding on, and starting up, your own home-based business.

Owning your own home-based business is one of the most commonly realized dreams in America.  If it was that difficult to do, then home-based businesses would not account for 52% of ALL small firms in the U.S. (from The U.S. SBA – Office of Advocacy:  “Small Business” is defined as “an independent business having fewer than 500 employees.”) – That’s HUGE!  In 2009, there were approximately 14,285,700 home-based businesses in the United States.  Contrary to what you may have heard or read on the Internet or in e-mails from skeptical ‘friends’ about ‘95% of all small businesses failing within the first five years’, the SBA says, “Seven out of 10 new employer firms survive at least 2 years, half at least 5 years, a third at least 10 years, and a quarter stay in business 15 years or more.”  Similarly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data “…show that 49 percent of establishments survive 5 years or more; 34 percent survive 10 years or more; and 26 percent survive 15 years or more.”  Who are you going to believe?  Somebody must be doing something right – Why can’t that somebody be YOU?  Tell us your success story in the Reply/Comment box below.

     …Or are you depressed &/or frustrated by your perceived lack of power to change the things that affect you and yours in negative ways?

No matter what area, village, town, city, county, state or even country that you have chosen for your home, the recession has hit everywhere in the world to some degree — Some worse than others.

Has the recession caused you grief?  Have you suffered financial loss because of it?  Have you gotten angry?  Depressed?  Unfocussed?  Directionless?  Have you started feeling useless and friendless?

     BEWARE of the unhealthy repercussions of negative emotions, particularly unfocussed anger:  According to the journal, Stroke, you are twice as likely to have a stroke, if you are a male, than another guy who is otherwise similar to you but controls and focuses his anger.  Females are by no means immune to this, either.

     BEWARE of anger’s ability to slow, or even pause, your thought processes, making it difficult to impossible to make good decisions and to keep your goals in sight.

     BEWARE of letting other negative emotions build in you until they produce ANGER – Superstition, fear, jealousy, greed, hatred and revenge all go hand-in-hand with anger.  Each of them can trigger anger AND be reinforced themselves by irrational anger.

     BEWARE of the effects of anger on your relationships:  If your partner &/or others see you as quick-tempered, angry, controlling, jealous, aggressive or possessive, then you are headed for a life of isolation and misunderstanding.

     BEWARE of allowing the effects of anger to morph into fits, tantrums, conflicts, and aggression or violence (to others and to animals) – No one ever wins by being disliked, and even your pet(s) will turn on you if abused enough.

It’s time for you to find better ways to cope with all the different negative feelings you have right now by locating and assembling the best tools you can find to help you get  back on track to productively providing for yourself and your loved ones.  You can find most of these tools within yourself.

Anger, like fear, causes you to produce adrenalin – Make use of that internally-produced drug as a power for positive results.  Become an emotional athlete on performance-enhancing steroids!  You CAN make it work for you by directing that energy away from the thing that you feel is making you angry and focusing on WHY you think it is making you angry.  Then, use that energy to solve that problem or else turn that energy around and do the most physical thing you know NEEDS to be done that has nothing to do with what made you angry to begin with.

Whenever you even suspect that you are going into a situation that has the potential to produce anger, or any other negative emotion in you, before you get to that situation, immediately focus on a solution to the possible problem(s) that may cause this anger and the outcome, or goal, you wish to achieve.  Turn that potential, or kinetic, energy to your advantage.  Like so many modern, ‘techno-pioneers’, you will be a winner more often than not if you can focus and direct that energy in a positive manner.

Remember what the comedian, Steven Wright, was quoted as saying:  “Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.”  You are the only one who can choose, and control, your attitude and emotions.  Get enthusiastic and change your life.  And while you’re at it, help change others with your Reply/Comment down below — What makes YOU angry?

1.- BACK OFF AND SLOW DOWN – If you are emotionally hurting, then you can’t think as quickly and precisely as if your head and heart were clear. You may be compromising your own principles and values. In these tough times, many factors weigh upon you when you are making decisions. Snap/snappy judgments will most often be as damaging to your relationship with your partner as they can be for your financial bottom line. You are a human being, capable of self-awareness and independent thinking like no other creature. Use these inherent abilities to your advantage when you are faced with anything more than the most irrelevant decisions you are required to make. But you must be able to discern their relevancy, frequently to anticipated results in many areas, before you make those decisions. Plus, the way you physically respond to the required decision-making process can, and most likely will, affect everyone around you. If you are in a position of power and angrily shout out a terse proclamation of your decision to your partner, that partner might next have to deal with a group of employees, associates, friends, etc. If you and your partner are emotionally invested in one another, you can easily hurt your partner’s feelings. We all have them. Later, you may hear back that your partner took out those hurt feelings on those employees, associates, friends, etc., compounding the problem exponentially. Those people may have reacted by fuming around everyone they dealt with until, at the end of the day, they are still carrying the wounds when they return home and take it out on their domestic partner. After that, the partner takes it out on the kids and, before you know it, the kids are kicking the dog or cat! Slow down and let your principles and values guide you before you can have such a negative effect on so many other beings.

2.- PUT YOUR HEADS TOGETHER – Does this sound obvious? Financial problems are the number one cause of divorce, whether from your domestic partner or business partner. When you examine the underlying reasons, it almost always comes back to you or your partner’s unspoken expectations and feelings that one of you isn’t holding up your end. Anger, resentment and frustration can simmer under the surface of either or both of you if one of you feels that the other is not holding up his/her end. You or your partner may not catch all the signals and may misinterpret the ones they do. This is neither fair nor equitable for either of you. You MUST discuss your issues and concerns together, even if you have to enlist the help of a neutral third party. In this economic climate your very survival depends on being able to work together to maintain your mental soundness, emotional stability, and physical and financial health. Now, more than ever, is the time to work on your relationship skills as well as the skills you possess that are essential to your financial well-being. Improve yourself first. Even if you can deal with the emotional side of a split, can you handle the economic downside right now? If you can’t afford a separation, then call a truce and work for a common goal, one goal at a time if necessary. You and your partner have the capacity to bring out the best in each other.

Have you, together, rationally examined ways to maintain your current income or augment it? Can you put in more time and energy or learn some new skills? Put down the remote or the mouse and make better use of your time. Maybe that even involves the remote or the mouse. Only you can make that final decision to take the correct action.

3.- MAKE CHANGES TO YOUR ENVIRONMENT – Even small changes can have a huge effect on you and those around you. If you feel like you have a lot of time on your hands, use it productively. It doesn’t cost a lot of money to paint a room or thoroughly clean an area that’s been left lacking for awhile. Make things sparkle and you will, too! Start with small areas that are your own private areas. Rearrange things. Put things that you associate with good feelings and happy memories close by, in plain sight. Find a picture of your partner that reminds you of a great time you once had together and put it on your desk, dresser, or the wall above your computer. If you have a reminder of a great time you had with your partner, you will find it much harder to be negative or overly critical of that partner now. Then move your positive ‘change’ attitude into a space that you share with your partner and see what you both can come up with for mutually inspiring changes you can make there. It can be a workspace, preparation, or maintenance area, whether business or personal. This will help relieve any tension between you and help you reconnect. Even if you have to downsize, such as moving into smaller offices or shop space, or a smaller house or apartment, treat it as a positive opportunity to start again and to redefine yourself. You are not alone in this respect, in this economy. Just make sure that those around you are not dragging you down with their negativity or lack of support. Change your friends and associates, too, if necessary to bring yourself up and out of your doldrums. Choose to be around those people only who you respect and admire. Act with respect yourself to anyone with whom you have dealings. Anything less won’t do and you will improve yourself and your situation without even noticing it.

4.- TAKE TIME FOR AN ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT – Most people have a tendency to retreat into themselves when times are tough, and that includes both you and your partner. This is the WORST thing you can do right now. Whether you are feeling useless and friendless, angry, depressed, unfocussed or directionless, you are the only one capable of changing those feelings. Whether you feel you need help of some kind, or you feel you can get over it by yourself, neither will happen without you taking action. Improve yourself. Your partner may be having similar feelings. You have value – both to yourself and your partner, in spite of your current feelings. You are probably being your own worst critic and will find that taking any kind of positive action toward resolving these feelings will make a huge difference in your life as well as your partner’s. You can help each other by discussing your issues with as much consideration for your partner’s emotions as for your own. Focus on the emotional issues first so that you can discuss the business &/or financial issues without losing any of your self-control or integrity. You have the capacity to step back from the situation and look at it, and yourself, through a more objective lens. It may take practice, but you can do it. Two of you, together, can exist more efficiently and produce more effectively than each of you, separately, could ever accomplish. Only consider divorce from your partner as a very last resort in these stressful and tough financial times. These are just some general strategies of which you need to have an understanding in order to survive The Recession and even prosper. Improve yourself. Even small changes can have a big effect on your emotional AND financial bottom lines.  What kind of small changes have had a large effect on you?  Reply/Comment on the bottom (we’d really like to hear from you!).

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Here are the three things you MUST do to “bite the recession” without losing financial ground whether you are male or female, employer or employee:

1.     Reduce costs

Before you can reduce your expenditures you must know what those expenditures are. Business owners, small or large, usually have spreadsheets and programs within which they keep this data updated on a regular basis. If you do not, or if you are an individual who doesn’t have such an accounting or lives without a budget, you must account for every dollar you spend. You must have a balance sheet. Only then can you step back and get a clear picture of where you are financially. Can you spend less on supplies, whether they be raw materials provided by vendors or the raw materials from the grocery store? Do you really need that new software, computer system or big-screen TV? Are you getting the best deals on services such as telephone, internet or insurance? Many suppliers and providers have lowered their prices during this recession to attract more new business, but haven’t been aggressive in letting their current customers in on the deals. Start reviewing all your costs and make sure you are getting the best deals possible.

2.     Increase income

Sound obvious? Absurd? Of course it sounds that way. But if you haven’t examined methods for augmenting your income, then you’re just standing still and letting the recession bite you in the butt. If you are a business owner, then you must look at ways to create new products &/or services to compliment those you already provide. As an individual or employee, you need to see if there are ways to increase your productive hours, promote yourself into a better position by providing more value to your employer, or add a ‘stream of income’ to the income you’re already making. Brainstorm with your family, friends, employer/employees, managers, teachers, coaches, etc. This is the time to discuss your ideas with those who can provide critical but positive feedback.

3.     Adjust your attitude

Only you can do this. Regardless of the outside forces acting on you, you can choose your response to them. Be slightly slower to react to your perceptions of negative forces so you can take the time to think of one or more positive ways to affect your results.

Even though you may think that you maintain a positive attitude, most of us react suddenly to certain emotional triggers, rather than crafting a response that will create the most effective, positive result. Always try to respond, rather than react. Don’t let other people or circumstances push your buttons. You’ll find this will give you much more time to use productively than the ‘cooling off’ time you may have needed before, especially during these stressful times.

Certainly these strategies are very general, but you need to have an understanding of the ‘big picture’ before you work on specific items to help you survive the recession, and even prosper. Without this understanding, you may miss the potential effects, both positive and negative, that making small changes will have on your bottom line. We’d like to hear what you have to say about this post and YOUR bottom line. Please Reply/Comment in the space below. Thanks…