Tag: entrepreneur - Page 7

Never give away everything, it's as simple as that.

Too many entrepreneurs get so desperate that they give away the kitchen sink when in fact all their prospect wanted to know was that they could do a good job.

As an entrepreneur, it's hard to start a business and to keep it going year-after-year profitability creating value and jobs. But many do so very successful, and yet those who fail seem to do so falling often on their own sword.

Somehow we got through the end of financial year in Australia. There's a lot to be done to make sure that everything is in order; every box ticked, every invoice accounted for.

My team made that deadline and for that I am thankful. No late nights, just a lot to be considered. My headspace over the past 2 weeks feels like there is so much in there, that it is impossible to take in any more.

I am in strategy phase. What's next? Where to from here? Who is doing what? What does the next 5 years look like? What does the next 10 years look like? 

Then of course, what about me? What is going to make my life more fulfilling in the next 5 years? Next 10 years?

It was enough to make me burst into tears.

Yesterday I caught up with one of the founders of Kookai, Rob Crombe, to talk about a community initiative that I am working on in Charters Towers in rural Queensland.

He asked me a question about success and I paused for a moment to reflect on how I would answer a question which eluded to me being successful.

I've recently changed the narrative of my business. It's not something I took lightly. Re-defining what value you provide to the market place can be game-changing, or business destroying. 

If you look at Uber for instance, they could have failed, but yet they succeeded. Is it sustainable? Most probably. Is it worth the market value associated with the business? Not really. Did they not only change their original narrative, but create a new narrative for the entire industry - disruptive in design?

After spending some time in New York talking to hundreds of entrepreneurs from around the globe, I am rejuvenated and ready to tackle my next challenge.

The world is your oyster... yet so many of us still spend far too much time behind our desks.

It's hard to leave the comfort of your cushy office chair, surrounded by what has become our most familiar items; our desk, our computer, our coffee cup and an endless ream of notepads.

I challenged myself as the new year came around to be more effective in the office. While I will never have a 4 hour work week (who really does?), I certainly plan to utilise my time in the office on productive "on the business" not "in the business" tactical items.

The sharks were circling. Their prey nervous. Beads of sweat popping and streaking. Hands raised to wipe their brow.  Vocal chords faltering. Knees buckling under pressure. Sensing weakness the sharks go in for the kill.

That’s the basic principle of a television show called Shark Tank and the show on which it is based Dragon's Den. Shark Tank has just started airing in Australia and has been running in the US since 2009. The Sharks comprise of four entrepreneurs, with a combined wealth of somewhere in the billions of dollars who must judge the business presentations of ‘wanna-be’ entrepreneurs.

Never die wondering. It's not just what I say, its what most people would say, even you, had you not been so afraid to take the risk.

I don't know about you, but I am tired of people coming to me for advice, and then never doing anything about it. I am not talking about coming to me for advice and not following my advice. I am talking about coming to me with an idea, and never executing it, mostly due to fear of failure.

There are blogs and then there are, well, blogs. Some bloggers are one hit wonders, others stay around for the long haul continually reinventing themselves and bringing out new material.

I asked marketers to give me an insight into what they believed was the top 50 blogs that every entrepreneur should read at least once. This is what they came up with:

1.             https://neilpatel.com/blog/

Neil Patel has run two successful software companies, Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics, he has worked with clients of all sizes in almost every industry, in return getting results in some of the most competitive online niches like car insurance.

What is one person’s tradition may not be another’s.

It’s the 24^th December 2014, and like many families around the world, we are gathered in one place to celebrate Christmas.

While I don’t necessarily think that Christmas is a good excuse to get together with family, preferring to take the one of day of the year off the calendar and instead spending that time giving to others and serving those less fortunate – I am grateful.

My life is blessed in so many ways and enriched by those around me. I am grounded by family and friends, and always aware that there are people around me that will be there no matter what.