Tag: vision

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How do successful start-up founders and entrepreneurs find their purpose?

You may have a strong vision to build websites but enter the market when website building has been commoditized and you have to advertise like this on street poles.

Do you just fall into doing something you love or do you visualise it and plan it?

It’s got be one of the most difficult things to do. Deciding on pursuing what you want to do in life. Some people never seem to know what they want. They just carry on and accept whatever fate is handed out to them. Others, a minority, just seem to know where they are headed and even if circumstances change they redirect and move on.

The great difficulty is that there is so much happening in the world, so many options, so many different choices, that it’s difficult to know what you really want to do. That might be the case for someone who has grown up in a family with reasonable means but what about those who have fewer resources? Even if they dream big, what are the chances of them making a personal breakthrough? Continue reading “How do successful start-up founders and entrepreneurs find their purpose?”

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Do you just fall into doing something you love or do you visualise it and plan it?

Do you just fall into doing something you love or do you visualise it and plan it?

It’s got be one of the most difficult things to do. Deciding on pursuing what you want to do in life. Some people never seem to know what they want. They just carry on and accept whatever fate is handed out to them. Others, a minority, just seemed to know where they are headed and even if circumstances change they redirect and move on.

Continue reading “Do you just fall into doing something you love or do you visualise it and plan it?”

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No matter how brilliant your idea if you don’t have resources, you won’t be able to get it off the ground

For most people generating new ideas is the exciting part. But the next phase which is idea selection, pilot testing and gathering resources to put behind the prototype or sample can be challenging.

A McKinsey multi-year study involving in-depth interviews, workshops, and surveys of more than 2,500 executives in over 300 companies found that innovation involves a set of “crosscutting” practices and processes to structure, organise and encourage innovation. Continue reading “No matter how brilliant your idea if you don’t have resources, you won’t be able to get it off the ground”

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It’s important to find your “Why” but how?

English: Energy Arc, central electrode of a Pl...
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you’ve been through one of these change management exercises, you will know that a lot of focus is put on finding your “purpose” or your “why”. Your purpose, beliefs and key drivers provide the fuel that motivates you to change and excel. But I haven’t experienced any of these sessions that pause for a while and give you opportunity to work on finding your personal “why”. Continue reading “It’s important to find your “Why” but how?”

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How hard are you prepared to work for your small business?

English: Jack Ma speaks during The Future of t...
English: Jack Ma speaks during The Future of the Global Economy: The View from China plenary session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China 28 September 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An interesting video surfaced on the Internet just after the Alibaba IPO in the United States about how Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of the Internet e-commerce site, started his business.

If you look at the video, you will see that Jack had a clear vision for his Internet company, Alibaba right from the outset. In other words he came up with a creative vision for not only having one of the top e-commerce site in China but also in the world. In his address to his five or so new employees he tells them that their goal is achievable but they must not underestimate how much hard work the Silicon Valley crowd put into their companies. He said that it was going to take them three to five years of tremendously hard work to get up and running and to build their company with the international presence of an eBay, Yahoo or Amazon. He went on to point out that they would not be an eight to five pm company but that they would have to put in the hours, working hard, if they were to succeed. Continue reading “How hard are you prepared to work for your small business?”

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How would you describe your character type as an entrepreneur?

(Copyright © 2014 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)
(Copyright © 2014 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)

A study some time back looked at the characteristics of an entrepreneur. What the researchers found was that entrepreneurs tend to be highly creative, daring decision-makers, visionary, usually the first-hand born child, imaginative and have a high need for achievement.

Yet the study also show the shadow or dark side of the entrepreneurial character including that they may be stubborn and resist change, typically not be the best manager, and although imaginative may be rigid. The researchers also noted that the entrepreneur may have had massive psychic upheavals as a child. Continue reading “How would you describe your character type as an entrepreneur?”

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An overlooked characteristic of successful start-up innovators

Vision | ArtPrize 2010
Vision | ArtPrize 2010 (Photo credit: Fellowship of the Rich)

When we admire successful small businesses we often think about the innovation or new idea that led to the business being started. But what really lies behind the success?

Consider how well some small businesses are doing that began with basic ideas. There is Midas, the car accessories and spare parts business with branches now all over South Africa. Cash Converters, founded in Australia 34 years ago, has 62 outlets in South Africa and plans to open more. The Sandwich Baron has tasted success in the country begun on an idea that almost anyone could have come up with.

Continue reading “An overlooked characteristic of successful start-up innovators”

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What you should know about owning a start-up – 8 must-have qualities for entrepreneurs

Test your concept on real customers first.
Test your concept on real customers first.

I wouldn’t want to put you off about owning a start-up but there’s some things you ought to know before you decide to go it on your own.

And that the one major thing you’ll have to realise and accept: when you start something, you are totally on your own. You will need to do everything in the beginning. Nothing will happen without you making it happen. Continue reading “What you should know about owning a start-up – 8 must-have qualities for entrepreneurs”

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How entrepreneurs can benefit from innovation in these times

1005577_506641316068140_11700165_nGoogle X has launched its experimental pilot Loons project in Christchurch and Canterbury, New Zealand, a project that has mounted broadband transmitters on high-altitude balloons. The idea behind the project is to give people in remote areas access to the Internet.

This is a project from Google’s secretive research lab whose mandate is to come up with new technologies. It has been experimenting with a Google driver-less car, Google Glass, similar to a normal pair of glasses but with an HD display over the right eye, and an airborne turbine prototype works for electricity-generating propellers at high altitudes. Continue reading “How entrepreneurs can benefit from innovation in these times”